What’s microdosing? It sounds like a scientific method for some fancy way to take marijuana. But it’s a pretty simple concept: Microdosing is when you take the smallest amount of cannabis possible to achieve the desired effects. This usually means small doses of cannabis consumed throughout the day to target specific medical conditions.
Because the doses are low, people can microdose cannabis without affecting their regular daily routine. People who microdose can still do things like work and exercise. Though folks may feel slightly altered, they generally won’t feel high.
Microdosing is especially effective for daytime medicating and is a safe alternative to treating medical problems while being able to function normally. Here’s everything you need to know about microdosing.
Why Do People Microdose Marijuana?
Low doses of cannabis offer people more control over medicating for their health issues and gives them tighter management of psychoactive effects. People microdose to feel the minimal perceptible effects of cannabis without experiencing some of marijuana’s side effects such as anxiety and lethargy.
People microdose cannabis to manage everything from chronic pain to social anxiety, insomnia, indigestion, inflammation and depression. Although it requires a bit of effort to stay on top of the quantities to achieve the effects you want, for many it’s the only way to harness the plant’s many benefits without getting a head high.
RELATED: MICRODOSING MARIJUANA FOR BETTER HEALTH
The Many Benefits of Microdosing Cannabis
Here are the major benefits of microdosing marijuana:
- Microdosing is a technique that anyone can use and is effective for treating most health conditions.
- It’s versatile. You can microdose using various cannabis consumption methods like smoking, vaping, ingesting edibles or taking oils sublingually. Though for the most precise dose, we recommend oils as you can measure out the oil using the dropper that comes with it.
- You can microdose to tightly control tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) amounts. This way anyone nervous about feeling the cannabinoid’s psychoactive effects can only take small amounts of THC while still reaping its benefits. Even if someone ingests more THC than they intended to while microdosing, because it’s such a small amount, the effects tend to only last for a few hours.
- Microdosing limits negative side effects such as cannabis-induced anxiety and paranoia.
- Microdosing can lift mood, spark inspiration and creativity.
- Taking smaller amounts of cannabis can save money.
How to Get Started With Microdosing
Here are a few tips if you want to try microdosing cannabis:
- Take small doses. This may sound like a no-brainer, but it’s important to think about what you want your starting dose to be. It may seem too low, but a dose of 1 mg of THC and CBD is a good place to begin microdosing. Monitor how you feel (a cannabis journal is handy for writing down the effects you feel in the moment). You can then increase the amount of cannabis slowly over a few days. Measuring and monitoring the effects of doses are essential. If something’s not working for you, change it.
- Start your process of trial and error with microdosing at a time when you’re free from responsibilities, just in case you end up ingesting more cannabis than you want to. Too much cannabis on your way to work is probably not the best way to start your day. It can take a while to find the perfect dose, but a period of experimentation will be well worth it in the end.
- Remember, marijuana edibles take a while to kick in. Even in small doses, the effects won’t be immediate, so don’t top up your dose until you’re sure that sufficient time has passed to allow for the effects to be felt. When you’re making the edibles you’ll use to microdose, be as precise as you can with the quantities of cannabis you use. If you’re worried about exact dosing with edibles, opt for a sublingual cannabis oil instead.
- Try to use cannabis strains that you’re familiar with and that you’re confident have been lab tested. If you get your cannabis from unreliable sources who give misleading information about the content and CBD-to-THC ratio, it will be harder to know what the best and most effective dose is for your needs.
- Avoid alcohol where possible and make sure that microdosing cannabis won’t interfere with any other medications that you take.
- Think about how long you want the desired effects of cannabis to last. Smoking and vaping will provide rapid, short-lasting relief. Edibles will release cannabis slowly for longer-lasting effects, while oils fall somewhere in between.
Photo credit: Evan Kirby
