Cannabis Dosing Guidelines and Best Practices

With cannabis research finally picking up steam, it’s an incredibly exciting time for those who want to access the benefits of this all-natural plant powerhouse. Scientists in the United Kingdom are coming close to answering the question of which part of the brain causes the sensation of being “high”; researchers in Spain and Japan are learning about the interaction between cannabinoids and how exactly CBD can block some of THC’s negative side effects such as memory loss. And closer to home, researchers at Vireo Health are perfecting the critical science of cannabis dosing.

As we’ve written before, how much cannabis medicine you take—and in what form—is essential to getting the most from this uniquely effective therapy. Now, by focusing on precisely dosed oral solutions and capsules, the clinicians who design these medicines are getting closer to eliminating the uncertainty that has hampered some cannabis dosing regimes in the past.

And just to remind you: An overdose of cannabis medicine isn’t dangerous (although some people find an excess of THC distracting or even unpleasant). Rather, we want to help you find the perfect dosage for your specific conditions and symptoms. So with that in mind, we’ll run down a few cannabis dosing options so that you can familiarize yourself with these new (and exciting) options.

Cannabis Dosing: Oral Solutions

For many of us, it may seem strange to take our cannabis medicine in liquid form from a dropper. But oral solutions—a suspension of highly refined and precise cannabis extracts in a neutral oil—offer many advantages when it comes to cannabis dosing. The most critical is that dispensing it from a graduated dropper offers precise and repeatable dosing.

Because each person responds slightly differently to cannabis medicine in terms of onset time, duration, and other factors, there is often some trial-and-error—what we call self-titration—involved in finding the optimal dose, which is usually defined as the minimum effective dosage. 

We’re excited to offer Vireo Health’s Spectrum™ line of oral solutions. Formulated and packaged in five easy-to-understand color-coded bottles, each one offers a different ratio of THC to CBD, depending upon your symptoms and needs.

The average onset time for these medicines is 90 minutes; the average duration is from 5 – 12 hours. That said, these times are influenced by multiple factors such as the patient’s age, cannabis experience, diet, and other medications. In addition, consuming fatty foods or beverages around the same time as the oral solution can reduce the onset time and increase the medicine’s duration. That’s why it’s a good idea to be consistent with your cannabis dosing, to wait at least 3 hours before taking another dose, and why keeping a cannabis journal is such a great way to get the most from your self-care.

Cannabis Dosing: Capsules

Cannabis capsules contain the same rich cannabis-infused oil as oral solutions, but they’re prepackaged into convenient, portable and discreet gel-type caps. They’re a great option for those travelling or on the go, but some patients prefer the flexibility of oral solutions for their adaptability in measuring out highly specific doses.

All the guidelines around onset time and duration are roughly the same for capsules as with oral solutions.

Cannabis Dosing: Vaping

One of the newest ways to consume cannabis medicine is with a vaporizer, typically a portable pen-style device that gently heats a cannabis extract to a cool mist that can then be inhaled. It offers a faster onset time than oral solutions or capsules—often only a few minutes—but there are drawbacks as well. Because most vape pens dispense cannabis medicine as long as you inhale, there’s the possibility of taking more cannabis medicine than intended. That’s one reason we feel vaping is a distant second option compared with other cannabis administration methods. 

If you have any questions or concerns about using these forms of cannabis medicine, we’d love to help. Please don’t hesitate to drop us a line at any time!