What to Expect With Cannabis: a Rough Guide to Its Effects & Benefits

Unless you have been living under a particularly sound resistant rock for the last few years, chances are you have heard about the recent cultural shift toward cannabis acceptance. Canada became one of the first countries to legalize the substance, and quite a few states in the US have made the same decision. Even more, countries globally have caught on to their effective health benefits, legalizing the use of medical cannabis.

With this growing awareness and acceptance has come curiosity. Adults who might otherwise not have tried cannabis now find themselves intrigued by the prospect. Thankfully, there are a number of ways to try cannabis (provided you live in a part of the world where it’s legal), catering to all sorts of tastes and preferences. You don’t even need to get high!

 

Let’s take a quick look at what you can expect with cannabis, including how to try it, what its effects are, and how you can benefit from it. For starters, you have to decide how you want to try cannabis. The most traditional way is to smoke inhalation, but this is certainly not the only way – nor is it the best. Here are a few different methods of consuming cannabis:

• “Vaping”: inhaling the heated vapor from the plant
• Cannabis-infused teas: Check this out to learn more about how steeping the tea can benefit you, without getting high. This is a particularly relaxing way to try cannabis.
• Edibles: Often, the cannabis is infused into the fat of some kind, and then either baked into a cake-like dessert or a gummy. It’s a delicious way to try cannabis but start slowly.
• Additives: these flavorless liquid cannabis extractions can be added to food or drinks for a pleasant culinary experience. They are perfect for users put off by the typical “weed” taste.

 

The effect of the cannabis will vary greatly according to strain and method of consumption. In general, THC is the principal psychoactive component in cannabis, whereas CBD is responsible for many of the health and relaxant benefits. Choosing a strain high in THC will result in more of a “high” feeling, where strains low in THC and high in CBD will be mellower. This same principle applies to the method: methods like tea infusion, which extract only the CBD, will be mellow and relaxing, whereas methods like edibles will be more psychoactive.

 

Research is consistently being done about the health benefits of cannabis. While it is known to help with anxiety, pain, migraines, appetite loss, and nausea, new research is uncovering all sorts of different preventative and remedial benefits of cannabis. Unfortunately, there is a lot of noise online surrounding this topic, with some making exaggerated claims on either side. This peer-reviewed scholarly article is a sober, informative take on the benefits of cannabis.

If you are curious about cannabis, hopefully, this rough guide has been informational. Ultimately, it is your choice to make, and having as much info as possible can only be a good thing.