Among the many, many, many articles on the booming cannabis industry, here’s one that caught me by surprise. I knew marijuana chemists were hard at work developing new ways to grab market share, but somehow I missed this one.
It’s fast-acting cannabis edibles.
I was under the impression that slower absorption and extended duration of effect were what made edibles both more effective for pain and less vulnerable to abuse than the inhaled variety. Turns out that some folks in the cannabis industry apparently saw that as a problem.
This showed up in our local paper: Businesswoman from just-say-no era pushes cannabis bill
The company’s new form of fast edible, patent-pending, is absorbed inside the mouth, via “water-friendly” molecules of CBD and THC. This allows the drug to bypass the gut and the liver, where THC is normally substantially degraded. As a result, where ordinary edibles may take 45-90 minutes to reach full effect, this newer stuff acts in just two to fifteen minutes after ingesting.
Wait up, says a colleague. There’s THC in the CBD? Why?
Good question. According to the makers, the benefits actually come from both chemicals. Where CBD is the part that is believed to help with chronic pain, THC is needed to aid sleep and suppress anxiety.
The CEO of the company compares this innovation to modern broadband versus old-style dial-up Internet service. They’ve already partnered up with a larger company to, according to one write-up, “bring our fast-acting culinary technology to a large universe of cannabis consumers… we look forward to long-term growth and success.”
I bet.
“It sounds like JUUL all over again,” my wife comments. Meaning it can be a covert path into that market of kids on the lookout for ways to get high without attracting unwanted attention. They can sit right in class – assuming we have classes again at some point – enjoying the buzz. At home, the parental units are less likely to stumble on paraphernalia hidden in the underwear drawer.
“Looks like we’ll never run out of new patients,” sighs a counselor.
As if there was ever much chance of that.
Anyway, hope I’m wrong. Suspect I’m not.
