The following commentary is provided by the Medical Marijuana Education and Research Initiative (MMERI) of Florida A&M University.
STATEWIDE — Edible cannabis comes in many forms, such as candies, desserts, snacks, and beverages, but they should not be consumed like tasty treats, warn three cannabis experts.
“They’re yummy, and you don’t want to stop with one. Before you know it, it’s a really bad experience,” said Dr. Uma Dhanabalan, a family physician who is widely respected as an educator of cannabis and its therapeutic uses.
Her cautious approach to edibles is shared by Jacquie Cohen Roth, MS, founder of Maryland-based CannabizMD, and Dominique Gibson, a Florida-based chef who cooks with cannabis.
All three are proponents of medical cannabis edibles as a treatment for qualified conditions but with a caveat.
They all said it takes time for the psychoactive ingredient to kick in when someone consumes edibles infused with Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). This delayed release fools some people into eating another brownie or gummy before the previous edible has been fully absorbed into the body.
Consuming too many edibles can trigger an increased heart rate, paranoia, and nausea.
“My recommendation is always to have some CBD tincture on hand that will get into your system very quickly and help offset too much THC in your system,” Roth said.
In Florida, such variables with the potency of edibles are all the more reason to seek the guidance of a medical marijuana-qualified physician and to purchase cannabis-related products only from a dispensary regulated by the state and bear a certificate of analysis (COA).
“It’s going to tell you if it’s been exposed to water or pesticides. It’s going to give you pretty much all the information that you need to make an educated decision based on what you need as a patient,” said Chef Gibson.
