This question about how to eat cannabis without edibles came from a friend of mine who started consuming cannabis a couple years ago, after the birth of her kids.

QUESTION: I vape sometimes, but I usually prefer to take cannabis edibles. It doesn’t smell, the kids aren’t exposed to any smoke or vapor, and I just feel better about it. But most of the edibles I can get are sugary and unhealthy, and I really don’t want to eat them very often. How else can I get the edible experience without eating junk?

I agree –woman can not live on gummies alone.  Sometimes, you just don’t want to eat the extra processed ingredients, but you still want to get the benefits of eating cannabis.  Here are some of the ways I eat my weed without chowing down a pre-made edible. These are ways you can also eat cannabis without edibles.

1. Eat some plain old oil. 

You can swallow oils directly, which allows your liver to process them just like an edible.  It’s not very fancy, but it’ll do the trick! You can take the oil straight from the dropper. You can also put in into a capsule and swallow it like a pill.

2. Incorporate cannabis oil into your non-heated cooking. 

When you’re cooking with cannabis oil, using too much heat can degrade the cannabinoids present in the oil. This degradation makes them less effective.  That’s why it’s a good idea to use the oil in a cold application, like salad dressing or chutney. You can also add the oil to a sauce that’s cooling down, like a lemon-dill-butter sauce.  By using the cannabis oil in something that can be added to pre-made food, you can easily control the dosage. Those who want more THC can add more sauce, and those who want less THC can use a smaller amount.  Be sure to WELL label anything containing THC or CBD. Otherwise, more folks than just YOU will eat cannabis without edibles!

3. Save your vaporized bud and eat it.  

After you use a vaporizer to consume your cannabis, you can save the brown bud that you’ve vaporized. Once you have enough, you can just eat it.  Because the heat of vaporization degrades THC into CBN, this Already Vaped Bud (or AVB) is full of it.  (CBN, like THC and CBD, is a cannabinoid that is found in cannabis.)  CBN generally has very relaxing and tiring effects and eating AVB can help you capture them.  You can eat the AVB straight (it’s crunchy and kind of nutty) or put it in capsules. You can also sprinkle in on yogurt. The additional fat helps it kick in more quickly.  I often take a few capsules full of AVB when I’m travelling, as they help me get to sleep quickly in a new place. You’re definitely still getting the effect of eating cannabis, but without any junky, sugary base.

4. Juice the raw cannabis plant.

As you’re growing cannabis plants in your yard this year, save your leaves and stems. You can juice the larger leaves anytime you trim your plants, and the plant stalks once they’ve been harvested.  The live cannabis plant is full of the cannabinoid THC-A, which is THC in its acid form. This is the form THC takes before it becomes the intoxicating THC we’re all familiar with.  Research into THC-A is just beginning, but studies have started to reveal that it may be anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and help treat nausea and appetite loss.  This also gives you a reason to get that juicer out of the back of your pantry, where you put it when you bought it.

5. Make yourself a tincture. 

People have been using cannabis tinctures for hundreds of years to treat all kinds of things, and you can make one yourself!  You’ll need grain alcohol that is at least 180-proof, or 90% alcohol.  Grind the cannabis up and place it in a tightly sealed jar along with the liquid.  Let it sit and soak for about six weeks. You want to give it a shake each day or so to keep it mixed.  When the alcohol has done its trick and the plant is finished soaking, strain the plant matter out with a cheesecloth. Then, place the remaining tincture into a dark bottle with a dropper top. 

To use it, put half a dropperful of alcohol into your mouth, just under your tongue.  Hold it there for a couple seconds before swallowing it. You might want to rinse your mouth afterwards to get rid of the taste of the alcohol.  Start with one-half dropper to determine potency, and then increase your dose from there. This method works with any medicinal plant you want to create a tincture from and can easily enable you to eat cannabis without edibles.