Although it is common knowledge that marijuana is smoked, it is not so well-known that marijuana can be ingested. Ingesting marijuana has many benefits over smoking it, the most important of which is the bypass of dangerous chemicals entering the respiratory system. Carcinogens and tars are largely left behind in the preparation for eating and are not released into the lungs. Also, for those who use marijuana recreationally, ingesting it leads to a markedly different experience from smoking. Eating marijuana-infused preparations usually leads to a longer, stronger, and much more physical high than smoking alone. Although eating is a perfectly viable way of absorbing marijuana into the bloodstream, higher amounts of the drug must be used in a cooking preparation in order to make the product effective. Consequently it is not always a cost-effective means to enjoy marijuana.
So how do people go about ingesting marijuana? Although THC can be absorbed through the digestive tract, one cannot just start gnawing on a bud or stripping fibers from a cannabis plant. This is because THC is both fat-soluble and unable to be released without binding to either fatty acids or alcohol. This means that one wishing to inject marijuana can neither try to eat it without heating it or mixing it with something with a water-base such as soda, lemonade, or water.
When binding to alcohol, the marijuana does not need to be heated. In fact, this is ill-advised due to the volatile and flammable nature of alcohol. Furthermore, since it is being ingested, one must use ethyl alcohol (the kind found in alcoholic beverages and extracts) and not isopropyl alcohol (the kind found in commercial cleaners or rubbing alcohol). The reasoning behind this should be obvious because ethyl alcohol is non-toxic (except at significantly high doses) whereas isopropyl alcohol IS toxic. In general, a high-proof alcohol such as everclear or grain alcohol is used to steep the ground-up marijuana in for a period of time before the THC has bound to the alcohol molecules. This preparation, often referred to as “green dragon” is a potent and effective means of ingesting marijuana. However, it does take a significant amount of time for the THC to leech out of the cannabis plant matter and into the alcohol.
The much more popular method of ingesting marijuana is to cook with it. This requires bonding the THC not to alcohol, but to butter, lard, oil, or other fat. Generally this is accomplished by heating the oil and marijuana to significant temperatures to release the THC and bind it to the lipid molecules. Once the “bud butter” has been created, it can be used in any recipe that requires butter, from cookies to pancakes. The most popular means of cooking with marijuana is to make baked goods from it. These are how the notorious “pot brownies” come about.
In conclusion, ingesting marijuana is a different and healthier alternative for those who use it recreationally or for medicinal purposes. Once again, the versatility of the cannabis plant shows its true colors.
