Microdosing is a small dose of a recreational drug, so that the “entertainment” effects are avoided, but some other, beneficial effects are experienced.
Some people microdose cannabis to reduce anxiety.
The amount of cannabis to microdose depends on the person consuming the weed.
Typical adult dosages of edible cannabis are 10mg for an average adult. People with greater tolerance for THC might eat up to 50mg. The effect of 10mg, on people who use THC infrequently, could be a 5-hour long trip.
Microdoses of cannabis can be 0.5mg to around 5mg.
You can save a lot of money by making edible cannabis snacks.
The easiest way to microdose is to make your own edibles.
When you purchase 1/8 oz, an eighth, or 3.5 grams of marijuana, you’re typically going to get up to 900mg of THC.
This is estimated by looking at the THC content of the buds. If you purchase weed that’s 30% THC, then, each gram of it will contain up to 300mg of THC.
However, just eating the weed won’t get you that high, because cannabis doesn’t contain much THC. Instead, it has THCA, which must be converted to THC via a process called decarboxylation, or “decarb”.
When you smoke weed, the heat decarbs the weed, converting the THCA to THC.
If you’re preparing marijuana to make edibles, you need to decarb the weed with heat.
Start with 1/8 oz, or 3.5grams of bud.
Decarbing in the Oven
The oven technique is to bring the temperature up to 220F, and then bake the cannabis for 25 minutes.
Decarbing in a Rice Cooker
I used a rice cooker, which is a little more complex, but has the advantage of shutting off so you don’t burn it out.
I took the weed and wrapped it in aluminum foil, around three layers. Fold it to make it somewhat watertight.
I put a small bowl into the rice cooker, and put the foil pouch in there.
Then I put around a half cup of water into rice cooker pan – not in the bowl, but outside the bowl. This would cause the cooker to heat up, and then steam a while, before it shut off after the water evaporated.
I ran it through the cook cycle three times, adding a bit of water each time.
Upon opening up the pouch, I found the buds were brown and damp. I dried them off, and they turned crispy.
The crisp buds could be ground up pretty easily.
Grinding
I think a coffee grinder works well.
Bring it to a dust.
Infusion
Get a jar of coconut oil from the dollar store. It’s usually 7 oz of oil.
Melt the oil by placing the jar in warm water. Pour half of it into a glass measuring cup or pyrex bowl.
(Don’t put the oil jar into the microwave. It has a metal foil seal that will arc and break the microwave. The plastic bottle will also melt.)
Heat it in the microwave oven until it’s hot to the touch.
Add the ground cannabis, and let it sit until it cools.
Then, heat it into the microwave again, bringing the heat up to the same level as before.
Let it cool a bit, and then pour it into a clean, small jar, for storage. Alternatively, you can use the oil immediately.
Infusing Crackers
I like using Cheeze Itz, but you can use any kind of small cracker.
Warm the pot oil, so it’s liquid.
Count out 100 crackers, and put them into a plastic storage container, like a ziploc or glad plastic box.
Pour the pot oil onto the crackers. You should put the jar, open mouth side down, to let all the oil drip out. Give it time. (Once it’s all out, you can pour some milk and coffee in there, and drink it. You’ll probably feel the effects.)
Cover the cracker box, and rotate it, so the oil gets on everything. Then, let it sit. Over the course of a day, all the crackers will get oily and contain thc.
If there’s excess oil, add crackers, maybe 10 at a time. Keep track of how many crackers you added.
Then, once it’s all done, do a “taste test”.
Eat 1 cracker, and then wait half an hour to see if you feel anything.
Drinking water can help speed the process. It causes the oil to flow through you a bit more.
If you don’t feel anything, have a second one, and then wait an hour or two. You should be feeling something.
Make notes about how many you ate, and how long the effects lasted, and how strong the effects were.
To get an idea of how much THC is in one, you can consume 10mg gummy edibles, and compare the effects.
Microdosing
Based on my tests, I guessed that each cracker had around 3mg of THC, maybe a touch more. In any event, it was less than a single THC gummy.
To microdose, I tried using 1 cracker. It was a bit strong.
The next day, I used half a cracker. It worked okay. I didn’t feel high, but was better able to focus for a few hours. My distractions decreased.