Can you eat weed? 5 Benefits of Eating Marijuana

If you found this post while wondering “can you eat weed?” you may be curious about the benefits and effects of edibles are. Read on to understand the side effects of edibles and to find if eating an edible is right for you.

Over the past 7 years here at Wake + Bake, I’ve heard from thousands of people who said that using edibles was a turning point in their healing journey.

Those are the emails we live for here.

Our motto is “We’re here to help” and even though some consider edibles an “advanced” ingestion method, I’d like to help you understand how edibles can be used wisely with a minimum of the most reported side effects (munchies, lethargy, forgetfulness). 

I know that when you start moving away from smoking or recreational use and begin exploring cannabis as a health or wellness tool, things can get complicated.

Beyond all of the misinformation and things we don’t know, your experience with eating marijuana can be different every day.

Sometimes the edible effects are too strong. Sometimes eating marijuana does absolutely nothing.

Sometimes it makes you want to play around when you should be working.

Sometimes you’ll find that eating marijuana gets you super focused when you want to relax.

Or you pass out.

Or you get the munchies.

Eyyyye.

To keep it as simple as possible, let’s start at the beginning: ingestion method.

Today, we’re talking edibles.

Now, obviously I’m biased, but even though I don’t use that much THC anymore, I still infuse a LOT of my food with cannabis.

Just yesterday, a student at the Cannabis Coaching Institute said in our mentorship call, “If my food doesn’t taste like it has some CBD in it now, I don’t trust it.”

Obviously she was kidding, but eating marijuana has come so far and are also excellent delivery method for all of the cannabinoids.

We’ve gone beyond the weed brownie and the space cake and are entering a new era where we cook with this powerful plant medicine in a variety of ways.

When I started thinking about why edibles were awesome (and polling other people to see what they thought), these 5 reasons were at the top of the list.

5 benefits of Eating Marijuana

[note: This post is part of our series on ingestion methods. You can also explore the benefits of edibles, topicals, and other alternatives to smoking cannabis.]

1. Marijuana Edibles can be Fun and Delicious (and weed edibles motivate you to actually take it)

I’m moving this to the top of the list.

After working with clients and hearing from readers for years, this is what we always come back to.

I have a quick question for you that may convince you to join team edibles:

Would you rather take a pill 3 times a day or eat a piece of chocolate 3 times a day?

Which would you be more likely to stick with?

Yeah. Me too.

Hint: The answer is obviously “eat chocolate” (unless you’re allergic and that’s the only reason any other answer would be okay).

But that’s just one of the great things about eating marijuana edibles. They make it easy to stay consistent with timing and dosing regularly.

If you like making and eating your medicine, you’re just much more likely to keep doing it. We know from research that we humans repeat things that are pleasurable.

And while I don’t believe that you need a whole spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down, a little bit of maple syrup or a salad dressing infused with your medicine can make it much more easily to repeat regularly.

The best part is that you can easily make edibles that are healthy and that taste good, even if you’re not Gordon Ramsey.

Sure. You can buy mass produced chocolates from a dispensary, but making your own edibles can be simple and fun and way more delicious.

I promise… it’s not hard.

You can surf around the Wake and Bake blog and make tasty and healthy things like cannabis chocolates, cannabanana bread and more.

2. Eating Marijuana Edibles makes the effect last a Long Time

Because edibles typically last longer than other ingestion methods, many report consistent long-lasting relief for things like sleep support or chronic pain.

But their benefit can also be a drawback depending on your dosage and which cannabinoids are in your edibles.

Dosage, timing and balancing ratios are especially important when it comes to edibles because they tend to last for longer and overdosing is much more common.

You’ll begin to feel the effects anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour after ingestion, but some report not feeling anything for up to two hours.

The biggest mistake most people make is taking more before they feel the full effects.

For most people, peak effects come on at about 2-3 hours and effects can last for 7-12 hours.

After three cannabis cookbooks under my belt, I’m no stranger to the high THC edibles overdose.

I’ve experienced effects that last for up to 24 hours including a very groggy next day.

While you can’t die directy from a cannabis overdose, the effects of a high THC edibles overdose can be unpleasant and can potentially lead to paranoia, munchies, forgetfulness, loss of motor function,  lethargy and all sorts of other unfun stuff.

Tolerance and liver enzymes come into play here and some people can take an 100mg THC edible without feeling a thing.

But for sensitive folks like me, a 30mg THC edible may as well be a ticket to the moon.

Don’t get me wrong, THC can be a very helpful cannabinoid, but it’s important with any cannabis ingestion method that includes THC, to start low and go slow, and stay as low as possible.

You can find out more about microdosing/minimum effective dosing and balancing ratios here. 

3. Weed Edibles are Endlessly Customizable

Gluten sensitivity or going paleo? No problem.

Want to blend some CBD with CBG to balance your ratios? Go for it.

Use the ingredients and cannabinoids that work best for you for endless variety and customization.

Or skip this part and use a recipe that’s simple and consistent. It’s up to you.

4. Eating Marijuana makes the experience more psychoactive

This could be a benefit or a drawback depending on what your goals are and circles back around to benefit number 2.

Using THC in edible form turns it into a compound called 11-hydroxy-THC which is MUCH more intoxicating.

Balancing ratios with CBD or CBG and microdosing throughout the day instead of taking one large dose can limit these effects.

5. One of the edible side effects is saving money

Because you’re not lighting your plant material on fire, lower doses go further.

By making your own edibles, you can avoid high dispensary prices while making healthy and delicious edibles that work.

You can check out more edibles weed recipes on the blog

Cannabis Recipes and Tutorials

Questions, comments? Let us know below!

While we can’t answer every question individually, we put them on the docket for future blog posts and publish them so other community members can help.

P.S. This post was part of our series on ingestion methods. You can also explore the benefits of edibles, topicals, and other alternatives to smoking cannabis.