Cannabis is more than a hobby and a plant for enthusiasts. Its reputation as a medicine has grown, which means it only makes sense to examine healthier ways to consume it — besides smoking out of an apple, of course. In fact, besides smoking at all.
That’s why we’ve come up with a list of the best five ways to consume cannabis for non-smokers to allow you to maximize the health benefits, while minimizing the potential harm of smoking.
1. Juicing
When you think of juicing, you might think of a Santa Monica yogi or as a thing vegans do (nothing against vegans). Actually, juicing cannabis is a perfect way of reaping all the good without the side effects.
Blend the fresh, raw marijuana leaves with any variety of fruit juice. Juicing also means you get to enjoy the CBD component and the flavor without the intoxicating effects of the THC that comes from the heat.
2. Topicals
Cannabis-infused creams and balms, also known as topicals, can be used for skin care and pain relief when applied to that particular area of the skin. Topical users receive the perks without burning up their lungs. Furthermore, there are no effects from topicals to the brain.
Topical products are growing more popular as a treatment for skin cancer, among other things.
3. Tinctures
Tinctures are essentially cannabis extracts created through a process involving alcohol. Most of the time, tinctures involve the leaves and the flowers and the liquid itself taken in drops under the tongue.
Many bars are beginning to use tinctures as well as cannabis terpenes in their drinks for the flavoring.
4. Edibles
Consuming cannabis-infused foods is a potent way of ingesting marijuana, while still avoiding the harmful effects of smoking. For cannabis-loving foodies there is perhaps no better option than edibles. Bring the best of both worlds together and experiment with making your own recipes or trying some of the delicious recipes recommended by CanIDeal. For starters, you’ll want to substitute the fat (butter, olive oil, or whatever you usually use in your cooking) with cannabutter.
5. Tea
If you’re feeling sophisticated or you want to wind down after a long day of work, perhaps a cup of cannabis tea would tickle your fancy. Extraction is not always a simple task, but you can dissolve cannabutter into your tea.
To add more of a do-it-yourself element, you can heat the resin and cannabis along with butter on the stove to make sure you know exactly what’s going into your system. If you don’t mind not getting majorly stoned, soak the leaves in hot water — just as you would tea leaves, and drink away.
