Marijuana edibles have been around since the beginning of cannabis use, and continue to be one of the most popular ways to use the plant. With many new edibles on the market, it can often be difficult to not only determine a safe dose, but to pick the right one. Edibles often get a bad rap due to individuals ingesting too much and not following the instructions on the packaging. Another issue in the edible world comes from the fact that every individual is affected differently by the substance.

Often times individuals can report having bad experiences taking edible marijuana, but these can be avoided if the dosage is properly calculated. The owner of Kiva Confections, one of the largest edible cannabis companies in the country, stated that “as a business owner, those are the nightmare scenarios that we have worked really hard to prevent over the years. You may feel like you’re going to die, but you’re not going to die — that’s not great marketing language.” Many times in the world of edibles, taking too much of a dose can result in a light amount of paranoia, as can happen with any form of ingesting cannabis, but often times individuals blame the product and not the improper dosing. The owner stated further that “dosing and storage are the two areas we need to bring awareness to.”

In California, the state Bureau of Cannabis Control and the Department of Public Health, have together created a series of new legislation and regulations to help keep the public safe from ingesting too much THC in their edibles. The rules that the two departments have put out include all aspects of the manufacturing process including, product design and ensuring that the product does not get in the hands of children. Much of the effort to keep edibles safe has been guided towards ensuring that children cannot get into the packaging, as well as ensuring that the packaging of the product does not look similar to something a child would ingest. The head of Kiva further stated that “child resistance is really a nice talking point. It sounds great on paper, but honestly, parents need to lock this stuff up. Like their guns and their alcohol cabinet, Cannabis needs to be in an area that is completely inaccessible to children.”

The law put in place by the departments states that one serving of an edible can contain no more than 10 milligrams of THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, with less than 100mg in a single product packaging. For those who are inexperienced in the world of edible marijuana, often times, ten milligrams can be too much. The heads of Kiva stated that they are large proponents of something known as microdosing. Microdosing means taking an average amount of between 2.5 milligrams and 5 milligrams of THC. This is considered to be a small amount, and will often result in mild feelings of relaxation and not too strong of a high. She stated that “it’s difficult to explain to people what the effects are going to be, but I try to use a glass of wine analogy.” She continued to state that “A microdose of 2.5 milligrams may be like one glass of wine for someone, and 5 milligrams might be like two glasses of wine. The frustrating part about cannabis is that every amount affects everybody differently, so you run the risk of not feeling it, then getting frustrated. And then you want to take more, which can be a mistake.”

With edibles, the best method is always to start with a small dose and then see how that feels after an hour to an hour and a half. If one follows this rule, they should be in the clear for using edibles safely!

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