Are Marijuana Edibles Better for Your Brain than Smoking?

After a long day at work, nothing beats relaxing and having a pot brownie—or any other kind of edible weed. Take extra caution, though, as eating too much can lead to a less-than-pleasant experience, depending on your tolerance.

Edible marijuana is infamous for its ability to produce heavy and long-lasting highs, one that’s very different from the usual smoking high. Aside from the duration, the effects of oral weed are also a bit different. Read on and find out why, and if it’s true that edibles are better than smoking.

Method of Absorption

One very obvious way where orally ingesting and smoking weed differ is in the rate at which the effects are felt. This difference is because of how the body processes the THC in each of them. Smoking cannabis vaporizes the THC by applying extreme heat (the vaping method also applies heat, but at a lower temperature that’s easier on the lungs). This vaporized THC travels to the lungs where it comes into contact with the blood vessels inside the alveoli of the lungs.

The blood vessels absorb and then transmit the THC to the different parts of the body. Such rapid absorption causes the effects of the marijuana to manifest in just a few minutes. Eaten cannabis, meanwhile, will travel the full length of the digestive system after the stomach breaks it down and converts it to cannabis. This process takes longer, so the effects are felt for a longer period of time too.

Head vs Body High

The high that comes from marijuana edibles mainly impact the body, while the high of smoked marijuana is more in the head. This is because the body produces 11-hydroxy-THC before breaking it down to THC. These effects, produced during the metabolization of THC, are more analgesic compared to the effects produced by THCA. Generally, eating weed offers a safer alternative to other types of medication (and produces less severe side effects) for pain management.

A More Health-Conscious Choice

Marijuana edibles have less harmful physical effects compared to smoking weed. inhaling any kind of smoke into your lungs is bad, and weed is no exception. It’s still less harmful than smoking tobacco, but the smoke generated from the weed can still irritate the linings of the lungs. As we mentioned earlier, vaporizers are a better choice for the lungs than smoking, but vapor, being hot, can still irritate lung tissue.

The healthiest way to consume marijuana is probably through edibles. Aside from being good for your lungs and body, it can also be healthy for the brain. Consuming oral cannabis has been found to prevent psychological addiction, partially because you dose less often, which is possible because its high effects are long-lasting—even though its onset can take a while.

It Comes Down to Preference

When choosing between smoking or eating marijuana, just like most things, it all comes down to personal preference. Eating weed gives you a stronger and more long-lasting high compared to smoked or vaporized cannabis. A less intense high can be achieved with oral weed, but the main challenge is with dosing, which can be tricky because users tend to end up taking more than what they intended. Because of this, eating cannabis is probably best for recreational use and for people with chronic medical conditions.