Ingestion of Cannabis

The oral route of administration has been widely used in other cultures and in early American history.  As a fat soluble substance the cannabis plant material is soaked in alcohol to create a tincture that is usually very concentrated.  Medicinal edibles include various baked products, cannabis  butter and even cannabis ice cream.  Steeping the leaf material in water can make a relaxing cannabis tea.  Along with medicinal cannabis preparations made from the leaves or flowers of the female cannabis plant, another ingested cannabis product that offers great nutritional value comes from the hemp seed and can be consumed as roasted seeds, a cold-pressed oil, or a hemp seed flour.

Medicinal Edibles and Cannabis Butter

Today, "edibles" are an important part of many patients' treatment regimen, delivering phytocannabinoids with longer lasting and more subtle effects than inhalation. On a cautionary note, the oral route results in a delayed onset of action sometimes as long as 40 minutes until the effects are experienced, thus making it more difficult to tritrate the correct dose.  Also when cannabis is taken orally it is metabolized in the liver prior to entering the blood stream (first pass metabolism) and the THC is broken down to a more potent psychoactive metabolite.

Cannabis Tea

A traditional utilization of cannabis is gaining attention as a efficient and efficacious method of ingesting cannainoids, as well as other beneficial compounds like phytosterols. One of our conference presentations examines the use of tea made from cannabis leaves and roots in Jamaica. Another features new government sponsored research from the Netherlands on the properties of cannabis tea, which turns out to have high concentrations of highly medicinal cannabinoids other than THC.

Hemp Seed Oil and Protein

Also, the seed oil of cannabis hemp turns out to be an exceptional healthy food oil, high in Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) in proper balance for human nutrition, making it more healthy for long term use than the oil of hemp's cousin, flax. Up to eighty percent polyunsaturated fat and also containing gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), oleic acid and stearidonic acid. Presentations on the nutritional properties of hemp oil and food products have been made at our 2002 and 2008 clinical conferences on cannabis therapeutics, including comparisons to other well know food oils reputed to benefit health.