Medical marijuana is a lifesaver for many people. I have been dealing with chronic pain with doctors basically telling me there's nothing they could do about it; I've been on all the medication suggested other than opioids and they didn't work and my situation was written up as being treatment resistant. I went to a pain clinic and the doctor there told me there was nothing he could do for me, while I bawled the entire appointment in frustration. What could be done? The only suggestions both the endocrinologist and spinal specialist had for me were that I should try medical marijuana, and apply for disability. Fortunately, I got approved for medical marijuana within 48 hours (I hear that is extremely quick) and I was lucky in that the medical marijuana almost completely takes my pain away.
I want to interject here and say that I generally call this pot. Or weed. Because why not? Some people think that if you're using something medically you should only call it cannabis, because that's the scientific name, and that using pot or weed makes you sound like someone using illicit drugs, but pot is pot, no matter what you call it. It should be legalized period, but at the very least if I have a license for it, I won't pretend it's something else other than what your "stoner" friend smoke just to sound more sanitized for people. Not to mention all the people that use it illegally either because they don't have a license or because of strict rules that they are in may very well be using it medically as well, since it helps so many different health issues. So throughout this, I will refer to it as either bud (the form it comes in), flower (its a flower bud), weed, pot, marijuana, medical marijuana, mmj (medical marijuana), or cannabis. They all are the same and I see no reason to stick to one specific name.
The thing is this. I never smoked because cigarettes are bad for you, and while smoking marijuana isn't nearly as bad for you as cigarettes are, inhaling smoke on a regular basis isn't amazing for your lungs. Edibles, though, can be really pricey to buy, or difficult to find if you have any food restrictions.
Homemade edibles theoretically would be the best option, but most of the recipes out there are complex with lots of steps and can be tricky to get right. But I learned about firecrackers and they have been a staple in my house now, the best way to consume medical marijuana without dealing with the smoke. They, unfortunately, can't be the only way for me to use it, because unlike smoking marijuana that goes into your lungs and then your bloodstream and has a close to immediate effect, edibles have to first make their way through your digestive tract and only then will start working, depending on your metabolism. I have a slower metabolism, and sometimes it can take up to an hour or two even for me to feel the effect of weed edibles, so if I am in a lot of pain and need immediate releif I still smoke it, but will use these more when I can predict that I'll be needing the pain releif in the future.
It is important to note that with edibles made at home it is hard to get exact dosing right, so you need to play around with this and figure out how to use what you made. The first time you eat a firecracker, take just a nibble and wait a few hours and see how long it takes to affect you and how much it affects you. This way you can guage it and know in future times how much you need to have the effect that you want.
The original firecrackers are basically a cracker spread with peanut butter and weed and baked together. I updated that and made mine with gluten free tea biscuits (petit burre) since we don't have gluten free graham crackers locally, and then I often add marshmallows and chocolate to make mine into smores, though that is just optional and fun and not required at all if you don't like those.
To make edibles, it's important to know and remember two important facts about marijuana. First is that it needs to be decarbed. This doesn't mean getting rid of carbohydrates, but rather, going through the process of decarboxylation, a process that actives the psychoactive compounds in the cannabis plant. The cannabis plant has both THCA and CBDA in it, acidic forms of THC and CBD that, according to Leafly.com have an additional molecular carboxyl ring, which prevents them from binding to receptors in the brain that make you feel the affect of the cannabis, and decarboxylation makes it more bioavailable. Heating the cannabis does this, so when you're smoking it happens automatically, but when you're eating it, that needs to happen separately.
The second thing to be aware of is that THC and CBD, the chemical components in marijuana that you want, are fat soluble. So if you want to eat them and have your body be able to digest them, mixing them with fats makes you get the most of it. (This is why cannabutter, cannabis infused butter, is so popular with edibles.) This is why you use peanut butter for this recipe, but you can also use other nut butters or even chocolate spreads like Nutella. If it's a fat and it's a spread, you're good to go.
I knew when making these that I ended up getting more bang for my buck with edibles than when smoking, but I don't have a quantifiable way to prove that since I'm not exactly testing THC and CBD levels in the firecrackers. But I tested it out and using approximately 30 small flowers, 1/4 cup of buds, I made 65 firecrackers. From my estimation, each firecracker gives me the same effect as one flower smoked, but this isn't a scientific thing. You'd have to test this out yourself and see about the effects yourself, trying just a bit at a time, and seeing its effects, to make sure you don't end up too high and uncomfortable.
I use primarily THC flowers because while both THC and CBD work for pain relief, THC specifically works for muscle spasms, and most of my pain is because of spasmed muscles because of subluxations due to my Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. I've found it to work really well, and surprisingly, when I'm in a lot of pain, the THC seems to go straight to the pain and doesn't make me high, whereas when I'm not in as much pain I get high more easily with the same amount. It is very curious.
I learned how to make this from this recipe on hightimes.com. And I either refer to these as my pot cookies or my medicine, depending on my mood.
Firecracker Peanut Butter S'mores Recipe -- Easy Homemade Cannabis Medical Marijuana Edibles Recipe, Gluten Free Vegan
Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter
Yield: 65 cookies
Let's discuss marijuana here. Is it legal where you live without a license? Do you have a medical marijuana license? If you've used cannabis before, was it edibles? Smoked? Something else? How much do edibles cost where you live? Have you made edibles before? How did you make them? Does this look like something you'd try?
And just to make this fun, anyone want to debate why or why not cannabis should be legalized for everyone?