Cannabis is different than other medicines. Cannabis can be seen as a broad spec therapy – which means it can work on many different conditions and disease states throughout the body, and this is because the endocannabinoid system (ECS) is found all throughout the body. Unlike other medications, it often has stronger therapeutic effects at lower dosages, as we will see later. And most importantly, Cannabis is individualized – to get the most out of cannabis, we need to find the right dosage for you.
However, keep in mind that cannabis has a wide therapeutic dosing range; Which means some patients need very little to achieve benefits, while others need much more. So if you’re inexperienced, there may be some trial and error involved in finding out your optimal dose, but I have some tips and tricks to make it easy for you along the way!
#1: Cannabis initiation in new patients is ‘start low, go slow, and increase slow.
This is a MUST that is often overlooked. Regardless of your experience with cannabis, I think everyone should apply this method in the beginning – medical cannabis may be stronger than what you’re used to and its stronger today compared to the stuff back in the day.
What does ‘start low, go slow’ mean?
There isn’t really a standard of definition of what it means, but a good rule of thumb is: START SUB-THERAPEUTIC.
Start with a dose that doesn’t work! And methodically increase in small increments every few days until you find a dose that hits the sweet spot.
For general example, at night I would recommend using a tincture to start since they are easily dosed (see here) – start w 2mg of THC, if nothing, increase 1 mg every other night until effects are achieved. If you happen to do much and wake up groggy the next morning, you know to dial it back 1mg until you find that dose where effects are achieved at night and you wake up feeling refreshed
o This is called the minimum effective dose.
By starting out this way, you also avoid side effects and/or building a tolerance
I also recommend Combining CBD with THC when first starting out as CBD can further reduce the unwanted side effects of THC. There are products at the dispensaries known as “ratio’s or blended” products that contain a variety of CBD to THC ratios products, meant to serve as lighter options to full THC. We can view this as CBD “taming THC”
For no psychoactivity, start out with w 4:1 (CBD:THC) !
TIME CODES:
0:00 Introduction
0:56 No. 1 – Start Low, Go Slow
1:22 What Does Start Low, Go Slow Mean?
2:17 No. 2 – Start with CBD:THC ratios
3:00 Cannabis Cheat Sheet
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