As of this writing, there are 40 of the 50 US states with some form of cannabis legality on their books. “In the United States, cannabis is legal in 40 of 50 states for medical use and 24 states for recreational use.”
With that said, that means that legal cannabis is more accessible now than ever before. Today, we talk about edibles. For clarity, we will be calling all oral consumables, drinks included – as edibles. Historically, edibles have been butter, brownies, cookies – sweet things that would satisfy the munchies and deliver THC in a non-smoke oriented way. When smoke or cannabis vapor is inhaled, it enters your blood stream via your lungs fairly quickly. That’s why those manners of consumption are most popular, if there’s lung concerns or it’s just not possible to go that route of consumption – edibles have become a good way to use cannabis without having to inhale anything.
Edibles are digested through the stomach, absorbed via the lower intestine, processed by the liver via the portal vein. The liver enzymes then convert THC into a metabolite called 11-hydroxy-THC which passes the blood brain barrier easier, meaning edibles could be more potent, or at minimum, feel more potent. If you are unfamiliar with a brand or type of edible – always stair step into use. As in most things, a third-third-third approach is wise. First take a third, follow with a third in an hour then last third in an hour.
Drinks that the general public can access have about 3% THC. There is a catch though – the presence of CBD dilutes the THC – so a beverage manufacturer can add 10% THC, if they also add 7% CBD to offset. It’s also a good idea to have some CBD handy for vape or use if someone has had a history of not enjoying cannabis use or panicking. CBD can dilute the experience a little, but use at your own discretion.
If medical patients choose to make butter at home with dispensary purchases, there’s an important step that needs to be done first to make sure that you receive full THC extraction. That step is called Decarboxylation, or decarb. That’s a fancy word for gently heating evenly ground cannabis to a precise temperature for a set amount of time. The reason for this is that THC is encased in an acid, and we need to gently heat the cannabis to drop the acid surrounding the THC. When we smoke cannabis flower, the flame quickly drops the acid to fully activate the THC.
“Decarboxylation (pronounced de-carb-OX-yl-a-tion), is a process that activates the psychoactive compounds in the cannabis plant so that you feel high when you consume it.“
There’s plenty of places to check out the recipes for making canna-butter, so we don’t need to focus on that here – you can also add other things to enhance the butter like herbs and spices. After you decarb the cannabis, add to the butter, let stew for a bit in a crockpot, then sieve out the plant matter. Once strained and cooled, you can enjoy your cannabutter on anything! The thing is have fun, try different recipes and know that the medical cannabis route is a journey, not a destination.
There’s historical evidence that the use of edibles and the dissolving the psychoactive ingredients of cannabis into different mediums dates back thousands of years. Imagine this, and yes, I digress – imagine you are a Neanderthal living in a cave/hut/lean-to. You have a bowl of wheat gruel that you harvested and don’t finish – but you also don’t dispose of; or even wash this bowl of wheat gruel. So you leave it on the shelf, for a while, and when you revisit the bowl of gruel – it’s kinda nasty, but you drink the water and amazingly don’t die! So, the open-air spontaneously fermented wheat water gave this Neanderthal his first drink of beer – and things haven’t been the same since.
Imagine then you have to spend the day hunting/gathering your meals and sustenance – tired Neanderthals it is believed would throw stalks of cannabis weeds & flowers onto the fires in caves and domiciles. Tired muscles and creaking bones relaxing and sleeping in a smoke filled cave along with the fermented wheat gruel water? Could you think of something more relaxing after a 40 mile hunt, belly full, wheat water consumed and a cave full of cannabis smoke to lull them into sleep? Modern bias can creep in when we think that we’re the only ones who have used cannabis and the calming, relaxing and healing properties it contains.
The ins-and-outs of cannabis consumption differ from person to person, can change over time and for the casual consumer, need to be stair-stepped into for the best experience. As always, cannabis use is a person-by-person experience, so not everyone’s experience is the same. Take your time, enjoy the ride. Email me: leo@leoweekly.com
Remember, we’re not telling you to use cannabis, but if you do, be informed.
This article appears in Oct. 1-31, 2025.