Cannabis Forms & Dosing
Cannabis Forms & Dosing
Cannabis can be consumed in many ways; route affects onset, intensity and duration.
Common forms
- Flower (smoking/vaping): Fast onset (minutes), effects last 2–6 hours.
- Edibles: Delayed onset (30–90 minutes), effects last longer (6+ hours) and can be stronger due to hepatic metabolism (11‑OH‑THC).
- Concentrates (oils, waxes): High potency; higher risk of intense effects and unintentional overconsumption.
- Tinctures & sublinguals: Intermediate onset; dosing can be precise.
- Topicals: For localised symptoms; typically non-intoxicating.
Dosing notes
- Start low, go slow — especially for oral products.
- Be wary of product labelling; unregulated markets may mislabel potency.
Harm reduction
- Prefer vaping or edibles over smoking to reduce combustion exposure, but be aware of other risks (vaping-associated lung injury has been linked to adulterants).
- Keep doses small when inexperienced; wait before redosing.