Deciding whether smoking or ingesting cannabis is better for you depends on a variety of factors. There are many important differences between the experience of smoking and the experience of taking an edible. This article will outline the various differences and hopefully help you make an educated choice for yourself!
Why should I choose edibles over smoking?
Edibles are better if you have respiratory conditions. Ingesting cannabis is significantly easier on your lungs because you don’t actually inhale anything! For users of cannabis who have COPD, chronic bronchitis, asthma, or other lung differences, edibles can provide a way to get high without compromising your health.
You might also choose edibles because you just don’t like smoking. There are a variety of reasons why someone might not like inhaling cannabis products, whether it’s a family history of lung disease, or you simply don’t enjoy the feeling of inhaling smoke. If this is the case, then edibles might be a good choice for you.
Which one works faster: smoking or edibles?
Smoking cannabis definitely has a more rapid effect than ingesting edibles. You will generally feel the effects of smoking immediately, whereas the effects of edibles depend on your metabolism. Edibles can take anywhere from one to three hours to kick in, while smoking takes only minutes.
Though edibles take longer to kick in, the side effects tend to last longer than the high you get from smoking. Smoked cannabis is moving through your system at a faster rate than eaten cannabis products, which means that it will get you high sooner, but the high will not last as long.
Is smoking weed worse for my health than taking edibles?
Smoking cannabis may have the same effects on your lungs as a cigarette, because you are burning and inhaling plant matter, which is an inherently carcinogenic process.
What are the benefits of smoking over edibles?
One significant benefit of smoking weed instead of eating an edible is that smoking kicks in faster, so you are less likely to overindulge. When the high is taking a long time to kick in, many cannabis users are tempted to ingest more of the edible product and end up significantly higher than they intended to be. If you eat a large meal before taking a cannabis edible it can also delay the onset of your high. So make sure you always start low and go slow!
Another benefit is that edibles are far more likely to be consumed by children or pets than flower or other forms of cannabis. If you have nosy pets or small children in your home, it is imperative that you are careful to keep your cannabis edibles out of reach for their safety.
Are edibles more dangerous than smoking cannabis?
Edibles are not inherently more dangerous than smoking cannabis. It’s just easier to overindulge to the point of extremely negative symptoms with edibles than it is with smoking. In Colorado, for example, after legalization of cannabis there was a huge uptick in emergency room visits related to cannabis use. The primary source of these visits is consuming too much edible cannabis.
Because of the intensity of the high you can experience when you ingest cannabis, the symptoms which ER doctors saw in Denver after legalization were significantly more intense than if the patient had only smoked. This doesn’t mean that if you eat edibles you’ll end up in the emergency room – but it does mean you should be cautious when choosing how much to ingest.
Which form of cannabis is most discreet?
There are different considerations to make when determining whether an edible or a joint is more discreet. If you can smoke outside in a well-ventilated area, then smoking can be discreet enough. It also has the added benefit of coming on and ending after a shorter period of time. Edibles are definitely more discreet if you don’t have access to an outdoor space, like on the bus on your way to a movie theater or something like that.
Whichever way of using cannabis that you choose, there are many ways to help decide what’s right for you!
