The term microdosing is fairly recent in medical history, but the idea isn’t really all that revolutionary. For centuries, humans have tested in microdoses on themselves to see how foods and plants would affect them. Fast forward to today, and people are perfecting the art of microdosing cannabis for medicinal purposes. For those who are not familiar with the term “microdosing” it’s the practice of consuming substances like medical marijuana, or cannabis, in extremely low doses (2.5 mg to 5 mg). The doses are so micro that you don’t experience the feeling of intoxication, but still enjoy the benefits. People who microdose marijuana have reported improvements with issues such as anxiety, chronic pain, stress, ADHD, inflammation, and indigestion, among others, while mental and emotional enhancements are reported as well. All without feeling “high” so you’re able to maintain full function.
How Microdosing Works
The practice of microdosing is a less-is-more approach. A study published in the Journal of Pain in May 2012 on a small group of cancer patients who were showing little-to-no response to traditional painkillers concluded that the lower dose resulted in less pain versus the high dose. The patients were given a THC/CBD compound known as nabiximols. Each patient received different doses of the compound from low, to medium, and high. Somewhat surprisingly, the low-dose patients experienced the least amount of pain, while those who had taken the high doses experienced the most. A similar study on microdosing a synthetic cannabinoid for PTSD-related insomnia and nightmares, chronic pain, harm reduction, and other indications, showed the same results.
In terms of medical issues, low amounts of cannabis, or medical marijuana, has proven to be more advantageous than high doses. For those people unfamiliar with, or disliking, the feeling of a psychoactive high microdoses can minimize the effects while still giving you the benefits of medical marijuana like anxiety relief and depression and headache relief.
There are many patients who need higher doses of cannabis due to the amount of pain they’re experiencing. But often, when nearing the end of treatment and the patient is coming to their healing period, microdoses are highly effective.
Check out Lift.co for a full guide on how to microdose based on your preferred method of medicating with medical marijuana.
Microdosing Cannabis Quick Tips
- Avoid mixing cannabis and alcohol until you know how each affects you.
- Pay attention to the potency of your cannabis and the CBD:THC ratio.
- Try strains high in CBD and low in THC to benefit from CBD’s muscle-relaxing benefits while minimizing THC’s psychoactivity.
- “Start low and go slow.” As with anything, finding what works for you may take a little time so be patient.
Still have questions about microdosing cannabis? Visit one of our four Swell locations and chat with a budtender!