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Cannabis can be intimidating if you’re approaching it for the first time. Thankfully, a lot of progress has been made to increase both the number of consumption methods and the level of education surrounding this natural substance. Depending on your jurisdiction - whether you’re legally able to buy recreational or medicinal cannabis - and the answers to a few simple questions, you’ll be able to confidently start experimenting with cannabis.
Options for experimenting with cannabis consumption
Unfortunately, if you’re outside a legal jurisdiction, your options will be limited to what you’re able to source locally. Of course, there are many things that can be done with ‘basic’ dried flower: oils and butters can be incorporated into food, tinctures and extracts take effort but can be applied when needed in concentrated doses. You’d be surprised how experimenting with cannabis preparation can massively influence the outcomes, even from the same bud.
For the lucky residents of a growing number of legal jurisdictions, the options can be downright overwhelming. If you’re brand new to cannabis, it’s best to choose something familiar - like an edible - and ask the vendor for suggestions and guidance. When seeking to remedy a specific ailment, try different methods and applications, you never know what may provide the best relief.
While you may be tempted to go for products with the highest THC or CBD percentage by weight, there are hundreds of other potential compounds in cannabis that may have a therapeutic application. For this reason, it’s best to experiment with different strains and producers, as well as varying methods of cannabis consumption.
Tracking your experiments with cannabis consumption
Whether you’re smoking, eating, vaping or applying topically - the most important aspect of experimenting with anything is reliably tracking the factors and outcomes of each experience. Like a scientist exploring a field for the first time, it’s imperative that you clearly define a goal and how you’ll measure the outcomes, before you even start. If your goal is to decrease pain, ensure you have an objective measure that allows you to track the effectiveness of your cannabis consumption method.
Journaling alone has been demonstrated as an effective adjunct to therapy; When combined with tracking your cannabis goals and preferred outcomes, it becomes an indispensable guide for finding the perfect method for cannabis consumption. And you don’t need to get out the pen, there are numerous options for both general journaling and for tracking your specific cannabis preferences.
Experimenting with cannabis is a team effort
While it may seem like you’re in uncharted waters in treating an ailment with cannabis, there are decades of experience and wisdom only now rising to the surface. Online portals and forums have facilitated the exchange of information, from tips on growing your own, to the best strains for arthritis pain.
You don’t have to take a shot in the dark with this ‘alternative therapy’; a few minutes of online research will give you a solid starting point for your experiments with cannabis consumption.
In the same way, carefully documenting your trials and errors with cannabis can help those who come after you. All the results you discover, both positive and negative, can help guide your future cannabis choices, and those of others.