COVID-19 has brought a lot of uncertainty around smoking cannabis. If you’re looking for other options besides flower, pre-rolls, vapes, and concentrates, look no further. We have a HUGE selection of other alternatives and our budtenders will happily answer any questions you may have.
Edibles and tinctures are the two most popular alternatives to inhaling cannabis. While normally these products are discussed by category – cookies, vs gummies, vs tinctures, vs tablets, it can be a lot more helpful to separate them by absorption method. There are two ways that THC/CBD contained in edibles and tinctures makes its way to your endocannabinoid system – consumed orally and absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract, or taken sublingually and absorbed through the mouth.
If you’re not familiar with the endocannabinoid system, do yourself a favor and start with our article on the subject here.
Oral Consumption
Oral consumption means the cannabis product is swallowed. This is the traditional method for edibles – eating it. Chew it, swallow it, and wait for the effects. With this method, your gastrointestinal tract does the heavy lifting and it gets processed through your liver before hitting your bloodstream. This process takes longer to feel the effects, anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on the person and other external factors.
For the majority of people, edibles eaten orally are intense and longer lasting than other consumption methods. Researchers believe this has a lot to do with the way it’s processed in the body. When you eat cannabis products, the THC is converted to 11-hydroxy-THC, a metabolite that is very effective at crossing the blood-brain barrier. As a comparison, when you inhale or consume sublingually, THC is converted into Delta9-THC, a less potent compound. This is thought to be the reason behind the edible experience being so much different.
Cookies, gummies, drinks, chocolate bars, chips, and many other forms of snacks all fall under the oral consumption category. While you could chew and hold the traditional edible under your tongue, it’s probably not going to be the best experience and your results might not be as great as if you just used a product designed for sublingual consumption.
Delicious flavors, dessert-like forms, and the intense longer lasting effects are some of the many reasons people prefer traditional edibles.
Our favorite traditional edibles for oral consumption:
Big Pete’s cookies, Venice Cookie Company, Kiva chocolate bars, Kiva Terra Bites, Kiva Camino Gummies, Plus Gummies, Cannabis Quenchers, Enjoyable Edibles, Protab, and Chill.
Sublingual Consumption
Sublingual consumption involves holding the product under your tongue to be absorbed directly through the mouth to the bloodstream. The effects come on significantly faster and tend to not last as long. During this process, THC is converted to Delta9-THC and does not go through your liver or digestive tract.
Tinctures, sprays, and sublingual strips are the most common forms of products designed specifically for sublingual consumption. It’s important to note, if you swallow these products immediately, they will go through the oral consumption route and you’ll feel effects similar to traditional edibles. If you allow the products to sit in your mouth for absorption according to the directions, you can usually expect effects and onset closer to what you experience with smoking/inhaling cannabis. Just because a product is designed for sublingual or oral consumption, how you actually consume it makes the difference in how the effects come on.
Sublingual consumption allows you to enjoy the effects of THC products without having to process the products through your lungs or liver. The effects come on faster and tend to not last as long. For these reasons, many cannabis lovers are starting to include sublinguals in their cannabis routines.
Our favorite sublingual edibles:
Nano5 tinctures and sprays, Yummi Karma tinctures, Select tinctures, High Gorgeous tinctures, Papa & Barkley tinctures.
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You can check out our current inventory of edibles and start an online order through these links:
High Note Culver City store menu.
Still have questions on edibles? Please reach out to our team at any time at info@thehighnote.com!