Microdosing cannabis allows users to experience the health benefits of marijuana without getting too high.
What is microdosing?
According to Urban Dictionary, the microdosing definition is: “The ingestion of fractional doses of LSD, usually about 1/8 of a regular tripping dose, in order to increase thinking organization, and a sense of wellness.”
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When talking about microdosing cannabis, the same principle applies. Instead of smoking a joint or a bowl, microdosing weed involves just a small amount of cannabis.
Depending on your tolerance, this amount could be so small that you’re nowhere near feeling ‘high’ in the way you might be familiar with.
What does microdosing do? Well, it can be different for everyone. But, in general, a microdose of cannabis will make you feel good while still being functional.
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We took to Reddit to see what real people had to say about their experiences with microdosing cannabis.
Here’s what we found:
1. It can change your mood
“Sometimes when friends are visiting me and I don’t want to get too high, I just take one or two puffs and say thanks. After that, I don’t feel high but can feel different changes in mood, focus, thinking, concentration and so on.
I don’t say it’s all positive. e.g. focus and concentration: If something is interesting for me I can focus on it way better than when sober but it’s hard to concentrate when thinking about things I don’t care about.”
2. There’s euphoria
“Microdosing weed makes me feel euphoric like nothing else while still allowing me to remain level headed and functional with actually improved social confidence. It’s incredible.”
3. Less anxiety
“In my experience with this, (starting with no tolerance whatsoever) after one hit of a good sativa I’m pretty good all day, a bit less anxiety, more focused when I do physical activities, (as well as less sore during and after, letting me push myself a bit harder) much more willing to take a different perspective when doing mental activities (a bit of a creativity boost) and just all around more open and honest in general.”
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4. Makes things tolerable
“Eating about a third of a cookie with 1 g in it before work and another at lunch makes a shitty job tolerable.”
5. More giggly
“I microdose thc because I don’t enjoy the being stoned. I have a liquid edible that is 250 mg by volume. I am not sure how many ounces of fluid it contains at present. I have a bottle from a CBD oil I purchased with an eyedropper that holds 1ml of liquid.
Basically, I measure visually. Half an eyedropper is perfect for me to go to work and be perfectly functional, less anxious and a little giggly. It’s very mild. I also have a pretty low tolerance. I recommend it though, it’s just like a vitamin! On days where I feel like I need to be a little clearer I just skip it.”
6. Less irritability
“I’ve noticed weed, even in small doses, does slightly affect my focus/memory throughout the day negatively. Although, most of the time, the negative effects are not even noticeable, even in a fast-paced, people-oriented job like mine (tax consulting).
And the more consistent my consumption, the fewer negative effects there are. On the positive side, the days seem to go by faster, I’m less irritable, and overall way less stressed even when doing high-stress work. And of course at night, my sleep is terrific, as I go to sleep right when the THC high is ending.”
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7. Easier to relax
“I’ve been taking a nightly hit for years now, to help with relaxation and sleep onset, and it seems to work well. I’m very sensitive to psychoactive drugs, so the dose I take is really low.”
8. Increased motivation
“I decided to use a Sativa, Durban Poison, for microdosing, and I hoped that by taking small doses I would be able to increase my motivation, and focus. Overall I feel that it has helped and I look forward to microdosing in the future especially if I have a boring day ahead with laborious tasks.”
9. Less brain confusion
“The effects were largely sub perceptual, i.e I didn’t experience many of the traditional effects from weed: no brain games, no munchies and no obvious impact on my short term memory. I also used different dosages, the largest caused me to get slight dry mouth.”
10. It’s energizing
“I dosed using Chai Weed tea, basically simmering water/milk/honey/butter/weed/chai in a pan for 10 minutes and then straining out the weed.
I used stems and trim so I can’t recommend a definite weight, but if you want to try, I would suggest maybe .3 grams of bud. The effects creep up over the course of 1 – 2 hours; at about the mid 2 hour point everything seems more clearer, effects similar to coffee but without any jitteriness, and colours get much much much more vivid.
Music also seems more dancy and fun. Similarly to coffee it had an energizing effect but more of a motivating I want to crack on kind of energy.”
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11. No paranoia
“My boyfriend used to buy microdose breath strips from a dispensary. I believe they had 5 mg of THC in them. Normally weed makes me paranoid and I avoid it but these were okay if I cut them in half.”
12. General feeling of wellness
“Microdosing with my vape works amazing. Great balanced strain during the day. Check your Terpenes. They make the difference.Vaping will allow you to get benefits right away.
There’s no timing. Micro dosing give you a slight general wellness not a high.I will generally microdose maybe 5 or 6 time.
I mean like maybe 3 to 5 puffs from my vape and i’ll do a 1 or 2 bigger doses to focus while studying.
And then i’ll amp it up at night and do one big THC dose and use the time to focus on my mental health and reflect on the day. I think they both go hand in hand.”
13. Ability to control mental illness
“I used to microdose whenever I experience depression or Mania (i’m bipolar). Indica when i’m manic and sativa when depressed. Measuring it out took a while and depending on tolerance.
When I first started one or two hits was enough for me to get the buzz but not enough for very noticeable effects.
Focus wise if you do too much you get into a haze but if not it can be nice like especially working out, meditating, and even getting your butt out of bed or keeping me from doing anything stupid.”
14. Calm energy
“I microdose with edibles. I take 30mg sativa gummies & eat 1/6-1/3 of one. The effect is a calm energy & mild body high for most of the day.”
Microdosing cannabis is different for everyone. If you’re interested in trying to microdose yourself, start with a small amount and work your way up.