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Sales of edible cannabis products are increasing, with cannabis brands promoting gummies and brownies as a healthier alternative to traditional water bongs and spliffs.

Despite this sounding very plausible, there is little research comparing the health effects of edibles versus smoking. Companies that produce cannabis cookies and fruity gummies emphasise that “edibles allow you to enjoy cannabis without the negative side effects of smoking”. But it’s not that simple.

Ryan Vandrey, a professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine who studies cannabis says, “You can’t black and white say edibles are safer than smoking, or smoking is worse than vaping — there are different risks for the different routes.”

“There’s tons of nuance there.”

For one thing, edibles are harder to dose, and the risk of overdosing is higher. As where a joint hits you on the second puff, edibles take longer to travel through the gastrointestinal tract, so you might feel nothing after 30 minutes, and then eat another gummy.

Five minutes later you’re teaching a squirrel how to drive.

A study of emergency department visits related to marijuana in the US found that people who took edibles were more likely to end up in the emergency room. So it’s a timing problem.

There is a correlation between addiction and how fast something hits you. The quicker a person feels a drug’s effects, the greater the chance the user will become dependent. A study last year found that roughly one-fifth of people who use cannabis develop ‘cannabis use disorder’.

“The risk of getting addicted to gummies may be low, but people who take edibles are more likely to experience cardiovascular or acute psychiatric symptoms than those who smoke”, according to James MacKillop, director of the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research at McMaster University.

“Edibles can sometimes induce a more intense, intoxicating high than smoking, because of how the body metabolizes T.H.C., the main compound in cannabis.”

So it’s an intensity problem too. The risks associated with edibles should by no means be singled out. Smoking anything will damage your lungs, and since humans need to breathe, the risks are obvious. Bongs and vapes might mitigate against compounds like carbon monoxide and tar, but putting anything but air into your lungs causes damage.

Edibles may mess with your mind, but smoking marijuana can give you lung cancer, which is bad. No matter which way you consume your weed, there will be short, and long-term effects – just as with all other vices.

You buy your ticket and take your ride.

[source:nytimes]