If you’re considering trying edibles, there are a few things you need to know ahead of time. The following will explore the basics of edibles, as well as provide a few tips and tricks to help encourage a pleasant first edible experience.
Everyone’s High Is Different
Anyone who promises you a certain feeling when high doesn’t understand the complexity of the human persona in combination with marijuana. Your mindset, mood, history, levels of dopamine and serotonin, nutrition levels, hormonal balance, and your previous experiences with weed, including the things other people have told you about weed, are all going to influence your high. Combine that with the impact of the people around you and the environment you’re in, and you have a recipe for a completely unique experience.
While there are no guarantees when it comes to edibles, there are ways to get a hint of the experiences you’re likely to encounter. Weed is considered a psychedelic by some, and one of the ways you can think about it is by assuming that it is going to take things you’ve buried and bring them to the surface. This is why childlike, fun-oriented perspectives can occur as well as why people can have moments of clarity related to their past experiences when taking edibles. Of course, if something is bothering you, that can also be revealed. If you’re feeling nervous or unsafe in your life for any reason, this can also be revealed.
Everyone’s high is different. This means you can’t accept someone else’s experience as likely to occur to you. This also means you can’t expect that your experience can be recreated by someone else.
Set And Setting
Given the above information, it’s important to think about the environment in which you take edibles. Studies are producing a ton of information regarding environmental psychology, and it’s becoming clearer and clearer that the space you’re in impacts your mood. At the minimum, clean up the space you’re planning on taking an edible in. Make sure that you have all the basics you need nearby, like water, snacks, weather-appropriate clothing, and any artistic tools you like to use (if you’re a writer, keep a notebook nearby; if you’re a sketcher, have a sketchbook and pen), as well as things like soap and toilet paper.
You also want to be cognizant of the people you take edibles with. If you have friends or acquaintances you find insensitive, harsh, cruel, rude, or embarrassing or people around who tend to bring you down for whatever reason, you might want to wait and do your edibles another time.
People Matter
Given how aggressively the people you surround yourself with impact your life and your mood, you should probably be reconsidering your interactions with a person that negatively affects your experience every day, not just on the days you take edibles. Removing toxic people from your life is hard, but it can be one of the most vital steps you take toward protecting and respecting yourself. It can be incredibly healing to remove dangerous or harmful people from your life.
Start Small And Wait Two Hours
One of the biggest mistakes people make when first trying edibles is taking too much or feeling like what they took wasn’t enough and taking more without realizing the edible hasn’t kicked in yet. Foremost, start with a very small portion. If you don’t know much about weed, it’s a good idea to purchase a measured edible rather than trying your hand at following a recipe; tale of two strains has a lot of reasonably-sized options to give you an idea of what standard portions are. You might want to start with a quarter or even an eighth of a standard portion if you’re inexperienced with weed.
You also need to know that edibles can take two to three hours for you to feel the full effects. For this reason, you want to wait at least two hours before taking more if you are looking to increase your high. When you hear of negative experiences, it’s common to hear that a person felt nothing and so ate more and then was shocked when the full impact began to take effect.
Edibles Can Last Six Or More Hours
It’s also important to know that edibles can last several hours. You don’t want to be taking them when you have work or some other task you need to do at a certain time. The best days to do edibles are ones that are wide open and free of any obligations.
Grounding Is Magic
If you find yourself having an experience you don’t love, you can try grounding yourself. Touching rocks, soil, or water, as well as walking barefoot or sitting on the ground (provided the temperature allows for this), can really help settle your experience. Deep breathing in tandem with the above can also help keep you comfortable.
The above information should help you get a sense of edibles and the basics you need to know about them. It’s a good idea to take edibles for the first time with a close friend or someone you trust, as this can help alleviate nerves.
