If you’re looking for a discrete, smokeless low calorie, convenient way to consume cannabis that isn’t (technically) an edible, you might consider trying cannabis tinctures. Tinctures are alcohol infused with a type of medication. It can be cannabis, but it doesn’t have to be, since tinctures can be made from an of nature’s herbs. However today, we are focusing on cannabis tinctures, which are simple, smokeless packs that allow you to store, transport, and dose cannabis in the simplest way possible, and without the calories of an edible or the dangers of the crossfade high.
Tinctures contain a range cannabinoids and can be administered orally, sublingually (under the tongue), or added to a beverage. They are often packaged in small glass bottles with droppers as caps for convenient dosing, which bypasses the need for combustion or inhalation. Sublingual consumption is the simplest method and allows users to feel the full effects quicker because the medication is absorbed directly into the bloodstream.
Finding the right dose is just a matter of micro dosing until you reach the desired effect. Most, if not all, tinctures come with a dropper that allows consumers to measure how much they consume. This is because all consumers are different, it’s best to start with a 1mL dose hen add on. Place the drop under your tongue, hold for 30 seconds, then swallow. Cannabis tinctures are fast-acting and will deliver the desired effects quickly, comparable to combustible cannabis. Although, if you were to drink your tincture or add it to food, effects can take up to two hours to come on which are more like edibles. If you’re happy with the effects, you’re done. If you’d like more, take it one eyedropper at a time. Edibles always take longer to feel the effects, and it could take up to two hours, so start small and be patient. That way, you don’t end up uncomfortably high.
If tinctures sound like a medical solution, that’s because they used to be considered just that. The first official account of cannabis tinctures being used in Western medicine was in an 1843 medical journal. The piece also included a recipe, so it didn’t take long for apothecaries and patent medicine producers to begin making and selling tinctures to the general public. Just over a decade later, in 1851, tinctures occurred in the United States Pharmacopeia, an almanac that outlined medicinal drugs, along with their effects and usage instructions. Cannabis was listed under the name “Extractum Cannabis Purificatum”, or “purified extract of Indian hemp.” So tinctures were pretty well accepted around the country as a legitimate medical treatment, so much so that Queen Victoria’s personal physician prescribed a cannabis tincture to help relieve her menstrual cramps. The physician wrote, “When pure and administered carefully, [cannabis] is one of the most valuable medicines we possess.”
That is, until films like “High Anxiety”, came along and started painting cannabis lovers as jazzy, yet lazy criminals and deviants. It wasn’t long before prohibition came along, and banished tinctures from the collective consciousness. The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 came a long and shut all that shit down, and taxed the possession and transfer of cannabis so much that it became too expensive to purchase. Cannabis was removed from the almanac a mere 4 years later.
Today, tinctures are seeing a resurgence as more states approve medical cannabis and recreational cannabis gains steam. They are a great entry point for both recreational and medical consumers looking to ease into smokeless consumption methods. If you want, you can even make them yourself. Look for tinctures to become even more common as people find new ways to efficiently enjoy cannabis. What do you think of tinctures? Have you tried them? Do you love them? Hate them? Sound off in the comments below.
