Marijuana edibles affect every individual differently.
However, most people can expect edibles to stay in their system for around 3-12 days. In this article, we will let you know everything that you need to know about Marijuana edibles, including how they might affect you.
What are cannabis edibles?
Marijuana edibles are essentially food products that have cannabinoids in them. However, the category can be opened up to other ingestible products such as drinks, capsules, and sweets. As edibles became legal in some US states, more products started to increase on the market. Just a tip for parents…marijuana edibles can look like normal candy!
How are edibles processed?
Here’s how it works. When you consume an edible, the process starts with the edible making its way through the digestive system. As the edible is digested, cannabis makes its way to your liver. The body will now convert delta-9 THC to 11-hydroxy THC. When this happens, the effect is more psychoactive than what you experience when you smoke cannabis.
The crucial difference here is that when consuming THC in edibles, it will take longer to affect you in comparison to when smoking THC or vaping. Digestion takes a little bit more time, causing a delay of up to two hours between consumption and getting high. Inhaling THC allows it to reach your bloodstream which means that you will have a quicker impact, sometimes only taking five minutes. For regular smokers, this lag when eating marijuana edibles might lead to overconsumption which can be dangerous.
Candy or chocolate might work quicker than other products such as baked goods. This is because candy and/or chocolate can melt in your mouth, allowing the THC to pass through and easily reach your bloodstream.
Another important factor to take note of is that the high is significantly longer when consuming edibles when comparing it to smoking cannabis. Marijuana edibles effects can last up to 12 hours whilst smoking can only last a couple of hours.
How long do edibles stay in your system?
How long the effects of edibles stay in your system depends on a few factors. The exact length of duration is usually impacted by the quantity that has been consumed as an edible. It also depends on your tolerance towards cannabis and whether you are simply a casual or frequent user. The latter is due to the fact that habitual use will build up your tolerance towards marijuana effects.
Edibles take longer to get processed by the body which is why they stay longer in your system than when inhaling THC. When you smoke marijuana, the THC levels decline as the high starts to wear off. When you are consuming an edible, THC levels can take around a day to start to decline. Frequent users may keep THC levels from edibles for around a month. Casual users tend to get rid of it quicker, normally around one to two weeks, depending on the amount of THC consumed.
Edibles and Drug Tests
Let’s cut to the chase. Yes, edibles still show up on drug tests. Ingesting, as opposed to smoking, does not change the fact that THC is entering your body. In fact, since edibles might mean that THC levels stay longer in your body, a drug test might detect THC levels for a longer period of time. Blood, saliva, urine, hair and sweat can all detect ingested THC. Here’s a rough timeline for each:
- Blood: 3-4 hours
- Saliva: 24-72 hours
- Urine: 3-30 days
- Hair: Up to 90 days
Conclusion
Our biggest tip when consuming edibles is to do it slowly. It’s hard to gauge the strength of an edible before it is consumed. This might lead some to misjudge the power of their dose, causing a stronger effect.
Keep checking out our blog for more tips and updates on cannabis in Malta!