7 Tips to Consuming Marijuana the Right Way

Consuming Marijuana

How you consume your marijuana, how much, and for what purpose can determine what your experience is going to be like. And let me tell you, you don’t need an anxiety filled high, especially if it’s your first time. So how do you ensure that your experience is the best it can possibly be? By being mindful. 

Know what you’re getting into and how it can affect you, start from smaller doses and lighter potencies, weigh your sensitivity with cannabis before going all out. The NY marijuana laws have already given you enough safe space to experiment your way into cannabis, (legal-recreational and medical use) so you might as well use it to your advantage. 

So, before you dive right into clouds of smoke or gobble down some special brownies, there are things you can do to ensure you have a good experience. 

7 Things to Follow

There is a thin line between a high and a good one. That thin line is nothing but a combination of these 7 tips. Remember these and nothing can ruin your high time. 

Do Your Research

Have you ever read through the reviews to find just the right hotel for your stay during a trip? You just want to make sure everything goes as planned, your trip is comfortable and safe. Now if that’s a trip you plan for, you definitely should plan for this one too. 

So this is where a good experience starts. Learn about what you’re about to consume, its common effects, and what would be the right product for your needs. 

What is cannabis? What cannabinoids are most common? Which ones are the most beneficial for you? Will the product lead to a ‘high’ or will it help you relax? Will it have any side effects? Find answers to these questions before you start consuming cannabis. 

Know Your Purpose

Why are you consuming cannabis? Is it to simply enjoy the high? Or are you trying to alleviate your medical symptoms? Maybe you’ve had a long week and need some relief. Whatever the purpose of your consumption, know what effects you’re looking for. 

If you’re suffering from any medical condition that qualifies for medical marijuana use, you can be better prepared with a medical marijuana card and just the right recommendations from certified professionals. 

If you’re simply looking for a relaxing time, you can opt for recreational gummies, vapes, or oils, depending on your preferred method of administration. You can even choose to smoke on some delta 8 vapes if you’re trying to enjoy a little bit of a high time. 

Smoking, vaping, or consuming sublingual oils and tinctures can give you an immediate relief while consumption through digestibles (gummies, capsules, oils mixed with food and drinks, snacks, etc) can lead to delayed but longer effects. 

Test the Waters

The most common issue that comes with marijuana consumption is not knowing when to stop. If you’re unaware of how a certain strain interacts with your endocannabinoid system, how high it can make you feel, you can end up in a zone beyond your control. Even though there haven’t been too many reports of cannabis overdoses, a bad trip isn’t that unheard of. This means you can end up hallucinating, paranoid, and even injured and at the emergency room. 

And how do you balance your high in such a way that it doesn’t go beyond your control? You go slow.

Whether you’re entirely new to cannabis, new to a certain strain, or a particular potency, it’s always advised that you start small and work your way up.  

A few puffs followed by an hour of restraint might actually set you high enough that you might not need more. If you do, you can always follow it up with a puff or two. 

It’s a similar case with gummies, except for how long it takes to take effect. Unlike vapes, cigs or sublinguals, eatables can take somewhere between 30 minutes and 2 hours to take effect. This is why bad trips are more common with gummies rather than cigarettes. 

If the gummy you have consumed doesn’t have any effect, give it at least a few hours before you consume more. You do not want multiple high potency gummies taking effect simultaneously. 

Find a Safe Place

This could be the physical room you’re in, the people you’re with or your own mental state. When consuming marijuana for the first time, try and stay away from any place that can trigger your anxiety or make you uneasy. It’s always beneficial to surround yourself with people you trust so you feel safe when you’re intoxicated. At the same time if you’re more prone to the feelings of anxiety and paranoia, stay away from high THC products.

Whatever you do, a safe space is very important, not just to have a positive high but also for your own safety. 

Talk to Your Physician 

As a medical marijuana user, it is always advisable to be completely honest and forthcoming with your physician. Not only are they responsible for recommending marijuana to help with your condition, they’re also well aware of your overall health and can advise against certain products, strains, methods of administration, or potencies. 

With how liberating the New York weed laws are for the consumption of medical marijuana, you can easily experience your preferred effects by consulting with your physician. 

Also, ensure that you disclose any other medication that you might be consuming at the time of your recommendation. Cannabis is known to interact with other medications as well as intoxicating substances, and can be dangerous for you. 

Consult the Budtender

Getting your cannabis from a dispensary is often viewed as a green signal, especially in regards to the quality of your flower (or its products). If your medical condition qualifies for a medical recommendation as per the NY marijuana laws, you can access a wide range of varying potencies and products to try from. At the same time, your budtender is most likely to inform you about the legal dilemmas surrounding THC concentrations or how intoxicating it can be. 

However, they’ll not shy away from helping you out if you have questions or are confused about what to buy. This stands especially true for first time consumers and those who’ve just reached the legal age. 

You can discuss your condition, why you’re looking for a cannabis product, and what effects you’re looking for. 

Find Appropriate Method of Administration

No, it’s not just the potency but how you administer your dose that determines how great or not, your experience would be. 

As previously discussed, if you’re looking for an immediate effect, it’s preferable to opt for sublingual sprays, tinctures, whole flowers, or vapes. But if you’re looking for effects over an extended period, you should opt for edibles like snacks, brownies, gummies, or even oils mixed with drinks. These stay in your system for a longer period. 

Beware, these take longer to take effect which can often be confused with no effect. This has often led people into consuming more than required, leading into an inevitably bad high. 

Following these simple tips can help you have a great first experience. Just remember to go small and slow, and then work your way up.

Can Marijuana Be The Source Of Your Paranoia? Here’s What You Need To Know!

Paranoia

Marijuana has, for the longest time, been associated with mental disorders and paranoia, but in vastly varying degrees. While some studies have shown positive effects of marijuana on patients suffering from anxiety, depression, PTSD, and even conditions like schizophrenia and alziemers, there are a bunch of studies that advise against it. 

But it all comes down to your source of marijuana, your concentration of THC, if you’re biologically receptive to the drug, what age you begin using marijuana, and the other medications you might be using. 

This is why, when buying marijuana, you should always go for a medical consultation from a certified cannabis doctor, and only buy recommended products or doses with your New York state medical marijuana card. The NY marijuana laws have made it easy for all adults to get their hands on some high quality & potent marijuana products as long as their condition requires its use. 

Now, let’s dig deeper into what part of marijuana can lead to paranoia in patients and medical marijuana users.

What is your Strain Made Of?

Cannabis or marijuana have a bunch of cannabinoids that work together to give you a relaxing, relieving, and euphoric experience. However, what your strain has more of, could decide how your trip goes. 

CBD, one of the two most researched cannabinoids found in the herb is known to give a relaxing and relieving experience to users. Whether on a recreational level or a medical standpoint, high CBD potent products are usually recommended for patients of anxiety, depression, insomnia, chronic pain, epilepsy, AIDS, and multiple other conditions. 

THC, on the other hand, is the most talked about cannabinoid, responsible for the psychoactive effects that you might refer to as intoxication or the ‘high’. While THC is also responsible for alleviating a lot of the symptoms that come with the conditions stated above, it is also known to create an atmosphere of psychosis. 

High THC consumption over longer periods can make a person more prone to paranoia. Since THC consumption is also linked with hallucinations, one should be careful while consuming THC potent products. 

As a patient suffering from anxiety, or any mental disorders that make you more susceptible to paranoid episodes, it is not recommended to get a strain with high THC concentrations. 

Your cannabis doctor can recommend any broad spectrum or CBD isolates to help you calm your nerves and get the benefits of cannabis without the unwanted high and paranoia.

Are you naturally at a disadvantage?

If you’ve always been more of an overthinker, making anxiety your everyday pal, cannabis use(with high THC levels) isn’t the best option for you. In cases like these, you should depend on higher CBD dosage.

Research also shows a great compatibility between the psychosis caused due to cannabis use and people with a specific variant of SKT1 gene. The gene is responsible for governing an enzyme that controls the dopamine levels in the brain’s stratum. And do you know what condition is associated with fluctuations in dopamine levels? Schizophrenia. 

When Did You Start Using Cannabis?

Adolescent use of cannabis has been closely related to mental health issues going into adulthood. It has shown decline in performance, and basic coordination and eventual long term use may lead to addictive behaviour. The use of the drug at an early age (which is illegal) would require teens to get it from an unreliable source. This could mean that the THC levels would be unregulated, leading to potential side effects. 

Teens with a family history of psychosis are also at a high probability of showing similar symptoms after unregulated use of cannabis at an early age. 

When combined with the previous point discussed, early use of the drug and a natural vulnerability to its effects can turn out to be the perfect recipe for a psychiatric condition. 

Reasons like these can make the use of recreational marijuana dicey, especially with unreliable vendors. NY marijuana laws make it easier for you to not go down that path. 

You can easily apply for a new york state medical marijuana card if you think your condition requires marijuana use. All you need to do is fill a form with all your details, sit through an online consultation, and if your condition is MMJ use approved, you can get your recommendation via email the same day. You only have to follow it up by registering with your state authorities. 

Are You On Any Medication? 

Cannabis interactions with other medications or even other substances like alcohol can be very dangerous for you. These can alter the way a medication is supposed to be broken down by the body, leading to alterations in effect. Some can even lead to extremely low heart rate to the point that you have to be carried to the emergency room. This isn’t hypothetical, it actually happened! 

In other cases, this can lead to high blood pressure, elevation of THC effects like hallucinations and paranoia. It is always recommended to be completely honest with your cannabis doctor, when it comes to the medications or substances you might be indulging in. 

You also have to take the physician’s guidance very seriously when it comes to mixing your medications with other substances. 

Conclusion 

The whole idea of whether cannabis can reduce your paranoia or increase it is relative. Relative to what kind of product you consume and if it has higher THC levels or CBD levels. It depends on what age you start consuming cannabis and whether you and your family are naturally receptive to the drug. As long as you’re crystal clear with your physician about your conditions, you’ll get a recommendation that creates the right balance for your symptoms. 

New York Marijuana Laws : Everything You Need to Know

New York Marijuana Laws

The cannabis industry is booming all over the US states. New York recently legalized recreational weed, becoming another state to do so after some failed and stalled attempts in the past. Medical marijuana has been legalized since 2014 when the Compassionate Care Act was passed. One could easily access legal cannabis with the recommendation of a  medical marijuana NYC doctor. 

With the rising demand of cannabis products, many NY medical marijuana doctors also entered the market. All of this led to a more organized and regularized use of cannabis and the state-government made sure that strict cannabis-related laws prevail in New York. 

Before we jump to the NY medical marijuana laws, let’s read some of the basic information about cannabis that you all should know. 

Is Cannabis Legal in New York? 

Yes. Both recreational and medical cannabis is legal in New York. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation permitting the use of medical marijuana in the year 2014 while recreational cannabis got legalized in March 2021, allowing adults aged 21 or above to consume, possess, and cultivate cannabis legally. Though medical marijuana patients get more leverage when it comes to availing the benefits, recreational users still have to buy cannabis with all the necessary guidelines keeping in mind. 

What Are the Marijuana Laws in NY? 

 Possession Laws: As per the NY marijuana laws, a person aged 21 or above can possess up to three ounces of cannabis flower or up to 24 gm of concentrates. Possession of more than 8 ounces of cannabis is considered as a misdemeanor and is punishable by one year of imprisonment and fine of up to $1000. Smoking or vaping marijuana in public places is seen as a violation, as per New York’s tobacco control laws

Laws Regarding Sale: Exchange of up to three ounces of marijuana or 24 gram of concentrates does not lead to imprisonment or any sort of fine. However, selling marijuana to a person aged 18 or below is considered a crime and is punishable by up to seven years of imprisonment and fine of up to $5000. Using a child to undertake the sale of marijuana products is also a misdemeanor and is punishable by four years of imprisonment and fine of up to $5000. 

Laws Regarding Cultivation: A person can cultivate up to six marijuana plants ( 3 mature and 3 immature) for the treatment of his/her medical condition. One will also be able to cultivate up to 12 marijuana plants from the year 2022. If a person is caught cultivating more than six plants, he/she will have to spend a year in prison and pay a fine of up to $1000. Please note that if you are a medical marijuana patient and have a doctor’s recommendation to cultivate marijuana for your health condition, then the cultivation can vary depending on your health requirement. 

Laws Regarding Trafficking: Below are the conditions that make a person the major trafficker of marijuana – 

  • If a person is a director of a company who sells $75000 of marijuana over the period of a year or less. 
  • If a person collects $7000 or more from the sale of marijuana over the period of six years. 
  • If a person aims to sell $7000 worth of marijuana over the period of six years or less. 
  • If a person qualifies for any of the above conditions, he will be known as a major trafficker and will be punishable by 15-20 years of imprisonment and a fine up to $100,000. 

One thing is to be noted here that the federal government considers marijuana as a schedule I drug, hence considers it illegal at the top level. This has led to a cold conflict between the federal government and states legalizing both medical and recreational marijuana. Smoking and vaping cannabis is prohibited in no smoking areas, public places, and near federal places. Violation of this guideline could lead a person in serious legal trouble. That is why a rational and smart consumption of cannabis has become quite important. 

Speaking of the legalization of recreational cannabis, as it has been approved by the state recently, the laws and regulations will take several months to come into effect. Cannabis, being a controversial subject, is quite flexible and is open to changes. The government can introduce different changes in the cannabis-related laws owing to new studies and experiments that keep taking place. 

Bottom Line

Modern research points towards marijuana being a valuable aid in the treatment of an array of ailments ranging from chronic pain to cancer. Having the potential to treat such a wide range of health conditions, marijuana has been a hot topic of discussion for many years now. All this has led to the legalization of marijuana in more and more US states including New York. Everyday cannabis-related new rules and regulations are documented, making the whole system a bit complex. What could be celebrated is the herb’s ability to help thousands of people all across the globe. Also, to keep yourself up to date about New York’s cannabis laws, make sure you frequently check the state’s official cannabis pages on the internet.