How long can you get stoned after eating space cakes?

Space cakes, more generally known as edibles on the other side of the Atlantic, refer to cannabis-infused cakes. Some coffeeshops in Amsterdam sell them in the form of cookies or pastries, and in the United States they can be found in all sorts of forms (sweets, drinks, etc.) in the States that have legalized medical and/or recreational cannabis or in the Clubs of Catalonia.

Smoking or eating cannabis: what's the difference?

The tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. It is absorbed differently when consuming a edible. THC is transformed by the liver into 11-hydroxy-delta-9-THC. This is the metabolite formed after ingesting cannabis. By passing through the stomach and liver, THC takes longer to reach the brain than it does when smoking cannabis, and thus causes a high more intense.

When cannabis is smoked, THC and other important cannabinoids circulate in the blood almost as quickly as in the lungs. When ingested, the liver converts THC into 11-hydroxy-delta-9-THC (11-OH-THC), making the high more potent.

Depending on the type of space cake consumed, the effects of cannabis are generally felt between 30 minutes and 2 hours after ingestion. That's why we strongly advise against taking several slices of space cake before feeling the first effects. But how long can you get stoned after eating it? Several factors can be taken into account.

Read more: 4 differences between eating and smoking cannabis

Why are the effects of space cake stronger than smoking?

When you smoke cannabis, the THC passes directly from the lungs to the bloodstream, then to the brain, in a matter of minutes. The effect is rapid but relatively predictable. With a space cake, the path is radically different - and that's where many get caught out.

Once ingested, THC passes through the stomach and then to the liver, where it is transformed into a different molecule: 11-hydroxy-THC. Not only is this molecule more potent than conventional delta-9-THC, it also crosses the blood-brain barrier that protects the brain more easily. The result: a high that's more intense, more physical and, above all, much longer than what regular smokers are used to.

This is also why the variety of cannabis used (indica or sativa) matters less in a space cake than when smoking. The passage through the liver and transformation into 11-OH-THC levels out the differences between varieties, making the experience less predictable.

The most important factor: dosage

The dosage of edibles «It can be tricky to know just how much THC is in »homemade" space cakes. If the weed used is not known (particularly its THC content), it's hard to know how much THC is in the space cakes. On the other hand, industrial space cakes are increasingly tending to display THC doses. In fact, this is mandatory in the US states where they are sold.

So how can you tell? 10 mg THC is generally considered to be equivalent to one dose. If a chocolate bar contains 100mg THC and 10 squares of chocolate, each square corresponds to one dose. The same applies to space cookies. If the strain used contains 10% THC, 1g of weed will therefore contain 100mg THC, equivalent to 10 doses.

L’effect of a edible will then depend on the user: sex, age, morphology... Even a heavy smoker can be knocked flat by a cake that's a little too infused. The duration of the effects of a space cake ranges from 1 to 4 hours.

To ensure that everything runs smoothly, there are a few rules to follow:

• Always wait at least 45 minutes before refilling. Because it takes time for the effects to take effect, it's easy to overdose, thinking that space cake doesn't do anything. This is where the double kit-kat effect usually comes in.
• Never on an empty stomach, at the risk of having a high a little hard to manage
• Never alone if you don't know the effects

Getting too high on space food can lead to anxiety, paranoia and bad trips. In such cases, remember that no one dies from a cannabis overdose, and that the main what to do in case of a bad trip is to wait, perhaps with the help of a sweet drink or a black peppercorn.

What to do if you have a space cake bad trip?

It's the situation everyone dreads and many have experienced, often after underestimating the effects or taking a second cut too soon. Here's what to do if it happens.

Stay calm and remember that this is temporary. Cannabis bad trips are not physically dangerous. Nobody dies from a cannabis overdose. The effects, however intense, will eventually pass. This certainty is the first mental anchor to keep.

Change your environment. If you're in a noisy or stimulating environment, find a quiet space. Lying down in a dark room with a blanket is a great help in containing anxiety.

Eat sweet foods and drink water. A sweet drink or a few squares of chocolate can reduce the effects of THC. Sugar does not speed up THC elimination, but helps stabilize blood sugar levels, which are often disturbed during a bad trip.

Black pepper. A field tip well known to consumers: crunch a few black peppercorns or smell them. Beta-caryophyllene, a terpene found in pepper, interacts with cannabinoid receptors and can alleviate THC-related anxiety.

Do not take ibuprofen. Contrary to popular belief, ibuprofen does not accelerate descent. On the other hand, CBD can help counterbalance the anxiety-inducing effects of THC if you have some on hand.

Above all: don't have any more space cake! thinking «it's not working yet». This is the number one cause of bad trips - the effects take up to 2 hours to manifest themselves.

How do you calculate the THC dose per serving of space cake?

You're in Amsterdam and have decided to go for a space cake? To find out how much a portion of your space cake should be, you'll need to do a bit of mathematics.

Generally speaking, the THC content is shown on your cake's packaging, either in the ingredients or in the preparation instructions. Simply divide by the number of slices you wish to make. If you're new to cannabis, if it's your first time, or if you don't consume many cannabis products, consider taking less than 10mg THC in one go, and wait at least 2 hours before taking another slice if you feel like it.

If the THC grammage is not displayed, please ask your dealer. budtender which varieties of flower were used to make the space cake, how many grams of flower were used and the THC content of the flower in question. So, for example, if you start with 1g of flower containing 20% of THC, that would leave 200mg of THC in total. After decarboxylating the flower, around 10% of this THC (200 x 0.9) disappears, leaving you with 180 mg THC in total. After extraction in oil or butter, where you still lose 40% of THC (180 x 0.6), you will have 108 mg of THC in this oil. If you cut your space cake into eight equal pieces, each will contain around 13 mg of THC, which is a pretty potent dose for most people.

Dosage: how many mg of THC in a space cake?

There's no such thing as a universal dose, but here are the benchmarks generally used in legal markets like Colorado, where each serving of edible cannabis is standardized to 10 mg THC.

For a beginner or occasional consumer, A reasonable starting dose is 5 to 10 mg THC. At this dose, the effects are perceptible but not overwhelming. Wait at least 2 hours before taking a second dose.

For a regular consumer, A high of 10 to 25 mg corresponds to a moderate to strong experience. Above 25 mg, even experienced users may be surprised by the intensity of the effects, notably due to the 11-OH-THC.

The problem with homemade space cakes - the kind you find in Amsterdam or the ones you make yourself - is that the THC content is rarely known and often unevenly distributed throughout the dough. The golden rule remains: start with a small slice, wait, and resist the temptation to refill before you've felt the first effects.

What's the recipe for a space cake?

Cooking with cannabis THC is forbidden in France, so we can't give you a recipe for a space cake. However, you can easily make its non-psychoactive equivalent, a CBD cake, with CBD flowers or hemp flowers.

If you want to incorporate CBD into your everyday recipes, the best way to do it is to make CBD-infused butter, a la the French legal version of Marrakech butter.

Once you have CBD butter, you can add it to any recipe that calls for normal butter and replace it with CBD butter. Always bear in mind that CBD will cook if heated above 180°C, so be sure to use it in recipes that won't exceed this temperature.

Ingredients

• 250g butter
• 250mL water
• 20 ml CBD oil (1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon)

If you don't have any CBD oil, you can take edible olive oil and infuse your flowers overnight. The oil will absorb the cannabinoids from your flowers and «transform» into CBD oil! Being liquid but also full of lipids, the oil will need to be worked up to fit in perfectly with your cooking. By default, it will have a very herbaceous taste, but depending on the variety or varieties of flowers you use, it may have a different terpene profile.

Instructions

• Chop butter into small pieces
• Place the butter, water and CBD oil in a small saucepan.
• Heat over low heat for 2 hours
• Allow the mixture to cool slightly
• Stir and pour into an airtight container
• Refrigerate and use as normal butter

You can then take any cake recipe and replace the butter with your CBD butter! You mix your butter with your flour to make the batter, or directly into your mixer, before putting it into your cake tin.

If you're looking for a hempy taste, add toasted hemp flowers to the batter or as a topping on your cake. Hemp flour can also be used if you're looking for a protein boost. Hemp milk is also an alternative in some recipes if you want to make a vegan cake. Hemp seeds can also add a gourmet crunch as well as a nutty taste. Hemp seeds also work well in a chocolate-based preparation.

For baking, your oven should not exceed 180°C to prevent the CBD from evaporating. The low temperature is also ideal if you decide to do without eggs in your recipe. If you add lemon zest or coffee beans to your oven, your cake will have slight additional aromatic notes!