Brad Lamm, CIP
Like booze, some will smoke to unwind, or for medical need, with no negative impact, but the effect of the somewhat new edible industry (candies, snacks, and drinks infused with THC, the active ingredient in marijuana) have delivered far worse consequences.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse states that a single serving of an edible for recreational use has 10 milligrams of THC in it. However, most products have at least 5 -7 servings in the package. So one candy bar can have up to 10 servings or 100 milligrams of THC. You can see where I’m going with this. When’s the last time you ate one square in a chocolate bar?
If you consider that smoking marijuana delivers about 5 mg of THC in one puff, eating that candy bar is like hitting a bong 20 times.  And because it can take up to 2 hours to feel the effects of an edible, even experienced smokers will eat much more than the recommended serving, wrongly thinking that they didn’t ingest enough.
Beverages containing cannabis are even more confusing. For example, you buy one product which is comparable to a can of soda. But the pot juice contains 7.5 servings.  That means you are supposed to take a sip and a half!
It’s easy to see why overdosing is such a problem when eating your high. And if you didn’t think you can overdose on weed, think again. Symptoms include overwhelming dizziness, hallucinations, and severe stomach sickness. You can’t sleep it off either.
Twenty states and the District of Columbia now allow medical or recreational marijuana, and regulators have ordered some stores to sell them in child-resistant packages and bars labels designed to appeal to children. They also require manufacturers to list ingredients, serving sizes and expiration dates. But the danger is clear.
Smoking weed may be hazardous to your health, but ingestion takes it to a whole new level.
