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Microdosing cannabis is a relative newcomer to the microdosing scene. The logic behind microdosing cannabis is that you can experience the benefits of the plant without experiencing the high, and it has really caught on. Its popularity seems to be fueled by those who experience significant benefits from cannabis: by reducing anxiety, helping sleep, managing pain, and enhancing creativity, among others. Many who enjoy these benefits aren’t seeking a high; they simply want to enjoy cannabis for the beneficial elements it brings to their lives.
A microdose is generally defined as less than 10mg of cannabis. For some, a microdose is as little as 1-2 mg. For ways to microdose that are effective and how microdosing might help you, read on!
What is Microdosing Cannabis?
As previously mentioned, a microdose of cannabis generally falls within the 1-10mg range of cannabis consumption: far too low to get high, but enough to experience the legitimate benefits of the plant itself.
Definition of a Cannabis Microdose
Physicians define microdosing cannabis as the consumption of 3-10mg of cannabis at a time to help consumers harness the plant’s therapeutic benefits while minimizing its psychoactive effects.
Why Do Some People Choose Microdosing?
Microdosing ensures that some of the unpleasant side effects of cannabis consumption, like anxiety and paranoia, having laughing fits or eating too much following consumption, aren’t felt at all. For individuals whose cannabis consumption is concerning because of how they experience side effects, microdosing is a safe way to enjoy the benefits of the plant without those uncomfortable effects. Smaller doses allow individuals to benefit from the therapeutic properties of cannabis without discomfort.
Microdosing vs. Traditional Cannabis Consumption
While traditional consumption is really all about the consumer getting high, microdosing is all about maximizing the therapeutic effects and minimizing the side effects. Due largely to the opening of conversations around cannabis consumption in the United States due to state after state legalizing medical cannabis and/or recreational cannabis at record speeds over the last few years, cannabis enjoys a more refined status as dispensaries open to take care of the needs of its consumers.
Understanding the “High” from Cannabis Use
Several physicians, as well as other relevant players in the industry, indicate that cannabis should not be used simply to get as high as possible, that doing so, in effect, is like taking toxic amounts of ibuprofen for a muscle injury. A toxic amount of ibuprofen isn’t called for; in fact, a minimal therapeutic dose is what doctors recommend. This refers to a dose large enough to give you the therapeutic benefits of the drug without also giving you the toxic side effects. Each person’s minimum therapeutic dose will be different.
While microdosing may be more effective for some consumers in terms of genetic or biological differences, just about anyone can lower their tolerance to THC within just two days and start microdosing. If you have noticed a dramatically different metabolism of cannabis by you versus friends, colleagues or relatives, this may prompt a discussion with your doctor. Most people, however, can take two days completely off from cannabis and start microdosing with as little as 1 mg on the third day effectively.
Benefits of Microdosing Cannabis
The therapeutic benefits of microdosing cannabis are many, and the explosion of cannabis microdosing in our society demonstrates this. Cannabis microdosing has been shown to effectively:
Reduce Anxiety and Stress
There is evidence, based particularly on a University of Illinois study, that microdosing on cannabis can offer long-term, therapeutic benefits for anxiety and stress relief. While high doses of THC indicate short-term improvements in resolving anxiety and stress, microdosing is the means for achieving proven, long-term relief in terms of cannabis consumption.
Increase Focus and Productivity
Different strains of cannabis can help with different therapeutic effects. While indica strains may be better for reducing anxiety and stress as well as help with sleeplessness, sativa strains are more likely to help you focus on that group project, that upcoming event you’re planning, or that friend’s birthday party you’re organizing. Sativa strains are the “get stuff done” strains and microdosing with them can help you benefit from their therapeutic effects to allow you to focus and increase productivity.
Manage Pain and Inflammation
Long before cannabis was legal, doctors -particularly in Arizona and California- were calling for its legalization as a therapeutic remedy for chronic pain, terminal pain, unmanageable pain and more. These physicians fought, using the data from their patients, for at least 20 years and possibly more, to legalize marijuana for pain. A study by the National Institutes for Health concluded that “in adults with chronic pain, patients who were treated with cannabis or cannabinoids are more likely to experience a clinically significant reduction in pain symptoms.”
Enhance Creativity and Imagination
From graphic designers to sculptors and painters, the thinking has shifted from getting high to get creative to microdosing for the same effect. While many creative folks may see this as a direct effect, further research shows that, in fact, microdosing cannabis may actually increase the joviality or sociability of others, leading them to positively evaluate creative works or be more open-minded to others’ creativity.
Improve Sleep Quality
When it comes to sleep quality, microdosing cannabis has been on everyone’s radar for quite some time. However, it’s not the THC in cannabis that helps people sleep: it’s the CBD. CBD in the patients studied by the National Institutes for Health in a large-scale study was well-tolerated and nearly everyone reported decreased anxiety and improved sleep scores.
How to Microdose Cannabis
Various different methods for microdosing cannabis can be used, even inhaling (smoking or vaping). In order to control the amount of cannabis in your system, it’s recommended that, if you are a regular cannabis user, you stop using cannabis for two full days before beginning your microdosing regimen. After 1 hour, if you feel no effects, you can try another mg, and so on.
It is important to note that some methods are easier to control than others. Edibles or tinctures will make measuring more simplified than inhaling. Additionally, using CBD at the same time -in a 1:1 ratio of THC to CBD- may help increase the entourage effect and help you to feel more of the microdose than by simply using THC alone.
Start Your Microdosing Experience With Euphoria Wellness
Overall, the research as well as the experience of cannabis users indicates that less really is more when it comes to cannabis. Microdosing cannabis is largely safe, effective, and an excellent means to introduce the plant into your life without worrying about getting too high or too involved in the effects of THC. If the “minimal therapeutic dose” is all any cannabis user really needs, then microdosing does give cannabis consumers considerably more for much, much less in terms of use and investment.
Have you tried microdosing cannabis? We’d love to hear from you. Stop by Euphoria Wellness in Las Vegas to find the perfect strain and method to begin your journey into microdosing. We look forward to seeing you.
This content is not intended as medical advice. The information provided is meant to encourage cannabis education, not replace direct patient-healthcare professional relationships. Always consult your primary care physician or other healthcare provider prior to using cannabis products for treatment of a medical condition. Any statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Products referenced are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Products are only available where the consumption of cannabis is legal.