Dosage is essential. A proper dose means safe medicine, a bad dose means discomfort and danger. Fortunately, cannabis is remarkably safe; so, patients can find their perfect dose by ingesting it in small increments.
Avram Goldstein, MD, Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology at Stanford University, stated the following during a medical marijuana conference on Feb. 20, 1997:
“We know that there are no extreme immediate toxicity issues (with marijuana). It’s a very safe drug, and therefore it would be perfectly safe medically to let the patient determine their own dose by the smoking route.”
With that said, it’s safe to experiment when finding your perfect dose; Knowing your dose is of utmost importance, and therefore, should be taken seriously. When you make any purchase of medical cannabis (everything from flower to edibles) always look for the lab results of that product. Laboratories test the premium medical cannabis
products (like us! Auntie Dolores uses Halent Laboratories) to help guarantee your safety.
Would you ever buy an unmarked bottle of Advil? Of course not! Medical Marijuana (Cannabis) is a medicine – expect a pharmacy-grade experience when you go to purchase medical cannabis. Auntie Dolores delivers lab-tested products to your dispensaries door; however, this doesn’t mean you should only buy Auntie Dolores. Your dispensary can have their entire inventory assessed on your behalf (if they aren’t already), all you have to do is demand it.
Once you’ve found your products, lab-marked and safety sealed, you can begin to consider your dosage in real medical terms. On proper medical cannabis products, you’ll find a laboratory label displaying: Cannabinoid content (percentages of THC, CBD, CBN, CBG etc.) and whether the item was assessed for molds and pesticides. Once you know your total cannabinoid content, you can divide it into your standard dose of mg per cannabinoid.
For example: a dose could be 10mg of THC every 3 hours.
In order to find this number, divide your favorite edible into a series of equally dosed pieces.
For example: if you have an edible with 10mg in it, break it into 10 pieces for 1mg doses,
or break it into five pieces for 2mg doses. Breaking the edible into multiple pieces will let you get a precise dose. If you already know the perfect size to use as your dose, determine the cannabinoid content in it, and record that as your current dose.
| Strength of Cannabis (assuming neglible canabidiol) |
Daily dosage of cannabis corresponding to 2.5 – 90 mg of THC |
| 10% THC | .15 g . 5.55g |
| 15% THC | .12 g . 3.69g |
| 20% THC | .08 g . 2.79g |
| 25% THC | .04 g . 2.25g |
| 30% THC | .01 g . 1.86g |
Smoked cannabis is the same way – quantifying a dose in terms of mg of a cannabinoid (i.e. 20mg THC). If you have the lab data for the flower, use the chart below to determine your dose; with smoking or vaporizing methods, its best to consider your dose in terms of weight consumed. For example: .2G bowl of 30% THC flower.
Donald Abrams, MD, Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, et al., in their research paper “Medical Cannabis: Rational Guidelines for Dosing,” published Jan. 2004 on CannabisMD.org, wrote:
“An experienced cannabis smoker can titrate and regulate dose to obtain the desired acute effects and to minimize undesired effects. Each puff delivers a discrete dose of cannabinoids to the body. Puff and inhalation volume changes with phase of smoking, tending to be highest at the beginning and lowest at the end of smoking a cigarette…
Oral ingestion of THC or cannabis has quite different pharmacokinetics than inhalation. The onset of action is delayed and titration of dosing is more difficult…
Thus, a patient-determined, self-titrated dosing model is recommended. This self-titration model is acceptable given the heretofore-discussed variables as well as the low toxicity of cannabis. This construct is not unique to cannabis. Many other drugs have relatively low toxicity and high dosing ceilings (gabapentin being one notable example), and are titrated to effect.”
Their “final dosing recommendations” are displayed in the following chart:
Ethan Russo, MD, Senior Medical Advisor at the Cannabinoid Research Institute, told ProCon.org in a Dec. 13, 2001 email:
“The dosage of clinical cannabis depends upon the individual patient’s need and tolerance toward side effects….Many patients require only a few inhalations a day. Often symptoms of disease are well controlled with doses equaling 10 mg or less of THC a day. The IND patients average 10 grams of smoked cannabis a day.”
ProCon.org [http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000334] offers a wonderful array of research: some of the most notable, concerning dosage, are included above.
See why Auntie Dolores Cannabis Edibles are patient’s favorites!
Submitted by @CannabisStrains on Twitter. Check them out for more informative information on Cannabis.
Thank you for the excellent posts!
One of the hardest facets to eating medical marijuana instead of smoking it is that you have to ingest the dose and then wait. IF you wait an hour or more and realize the dose wasn’t as strong as you wanted, if you eat more, it probably isn’t going to produce much of an effect unless you eat a portion twice the size of the first. Once the amount of each dose has been determined it’s a lot easier. The other thing about edibles is that if you are taking gel caps, or other products that come in capsule form, be sure and take them on an empty stomach. If you eat and then take the medicine there’s a very good chance you won’t feel it for hours, and sometimes not even then or very mild. Take the meds on an empty stomach and then eat a little something, a piece of toast, crackers with peanut butter, etc. with it. Lastly, sometimes the dose can be too much and very strong. The good news about over dosing on marijuana? You fall asleep. No matter how rough the high you can ALWAYS comfort yourself with the knowledge that in three or four hours you’ll be back down. Ingesting pot is the best way to consume it. Smoking anything is bad for your lungs. Even pot.
Dosage is the most important part of a proper medical cannabis treatment. Terry is right in saying that it’s important to incrementally increase your dosage over time to allow your body to metabolize the edible you consumed. Edibles take at least 30 minutes to reach their therapeutic potential; and, another interesting fact is that Delta-9-THC is converted by the liver into 11-hydroxy-delta-9-THC – which is understood to be more potent than Delta-9-THC!
The moral of the story? Start every edible with only one bite :)