Delivery Methods of Cannabis 🚚🌿
From smoking to edibles, explore all the ways cannabis can be consumed
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Delivery Methods of Cannabis 🚚🌿
Introduction
As I sit here typing this, I realise it might sound like I'm trying to give medical advice in certain sections. Let me be clear: I am not a doctor, and I'm not trying to give medical advice. This is an exploration of the ways in which cannabis can be consumed. So, take this as you would advice from a good friend, not gospel, but something to consider.
A Quick Snapshot
Method: The way cannabis is consumed or delivered into your body, like smoking, eating, or applying it to your skin.
Bioavailability: The percentage of cannabis that actually makes it into your bloodstream to produce effects.
Onset: How quickly you start feeling the effects after using cannabis.
Duration: How long the effects of cannabis last before they wear off.
| Method | Bioavailability | Onset | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoking | 10–35% | 5–10 mins | 2–3 hrs |
| Vaping | 20–56% | 5–15 mins | 2–4 hrs |
| Oral (Edibles) | 4–20% | 30–90 mins | 6–12 hrs |
| Sublingual | 12–35% | 15–45 mins | 4–6 hrs |
| Topical | Low (Localised) | 15–30 mins | 2–6 hrs |
| Transdermal Patch | 10–25% | 30 mins – 2 hrs | Up to 12+ hrs |
| Rectal | 50–70% | 15–60 mins | 4–8 hrs |
| Intravenous (IV) | 100% | Immediate | Varies |
So you can shove cannabis up your arse 🤔
🌱 How Do We Consume Cannabis?
Cannabis is a fascinating plant with a variety of uses, but how we deliver it into our bodies can make a difference. Some methods are healthier than others, some are more efficient, and some provide faster relief. Let's break down the different ways cannabis can be consumed and why each method might be the right choice for different situations.
Remember this has got to do with how we consume it, not what we are consuming.
While smoking a big fat joint a weed might be the most traditional method, it's probably nearly the worst for your health (out of what's available). But, like many of you, I still reach for a joint now and then because there's something ritualistic and calming about the process. I thoroughly enjoy the process of smoking a joint. In a perfect world I wouldn't be doing this but the big bad world ain't perfect.
That said, there are situations where smoking is actually needed interestingly enough, such as for patients undergoing chemotherapy. There's 4 of them ima discuss in this article. Let's start with the one most people know best.
🌬 Smoking: Joint's, Blunt's, Bongs, Jimmy Neutron's
This is the worst method for your health. Full stop. There's no avoiding it. Even though it's the most popular, smoking is not good for you. I find it conflicting as I am quite health conscious, but I smoke joints. Does it make me a bad person? Probably not. Could I get the effects from cannabis in a healthier manner? Yes.
How Does Smoking Work?
When you smoke weed, you're setting it on fire, literally. That heat instantly activates compounds like THC (and all its little cannabinoid cousins), which rush into your lungs and hit your bloodstream almost immediately. These compounds enter the bloodstream through the lungs within seconds, producing near immediate effectss.
Problem is, fire doesn't come free. Smoking cannabis involves combusting the flower at temperatures exceeding 600°C. This combustion also generates toxic by products such as carbon monoxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and tar, which can irritate the respiratory system (fairly obvious that this is not good for you).
✅ When Is Smoking Useful?
- Cancer patients dealing with chemotherapy induced nausea
- End of life care
- Acute pain management
- You want to feel the effects straight away
📉 The Downside of Smoking
As mentioned Smoking isn't great for your lungs. The combustion process releases toxic by products like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), carbon monoxide (CO), and ammonia (NH3). These are not things you want to be inhaling regularly.
Even with these downsides, there's something deeply ritualistic about rolling and smoking a joint. It's like creating a little piece of art, a calming process in itself. But we should all acknowledge that it's not the healthiest delivery method.
💨 Vaping: Dry herb & Oil/Extract vapes
If you want the quick onset of smoking without some of the harmful by products, vaping is your best bet. There are two main types of vaporizers:
- Dry herb vaporizers (for cannabis flower)
- Extract cartridges (for cannabis concentrates)
If you're interested to see what a vaporizer for cannabis would look like, have a look here.
How Does Vaping Work?
Vaping involves heating cannabis to a lower temperature than smoking, typically between 150-230°C. This avoids combustion and significantly reduces the harmful by products found in smoke.
One of the interesting things about vaping is that different cannabinoids and terpenes are released at different temperatures. This means you can control your experience by adjusting the vape's temperature.
For example:
- CBN (Cannabinol) is released at around 185°C
- THC vaporizes at 157°C
- CBD vaporizes between 180-200°C
By controlling the temperature, you can target specific compounds and tailor your experience. Pretty cool? Yes? No? Maybe?
✅ When Is Vaping Useful?
- People looking for fast relief from anxiety, pain, or stress
- Discreet option with less odor than smoking
- Dose control for those who want to feel the effects quickly and adjust accordingly
- Reducing harmful combustion byproducts compared to smoking
📉 The Downside of Vaping
While vaping is healthier than smoking, it's not entirely risk free. Some low quality vape cartridges can release harmful substances like formaldehyde if overheated. Always choose high quality devices and cartridges.
🍫 Oral Consumption: Edibles, Oils, and More
Oral methods include edibles, oils, capsules, beverages, and more. This is a popular choice for people who don't want to smoke or vape. It's also the healthiest.
How Do Edibles/Oils Work?
I've had my fair few run ins with a certain type of oral delivery method. Edibles
I had a mate bless himself on our stairs in College Court, hoping it'd snap him out of whatever dimension he'd landed in.
I always wondered why edibles seemed to have a much stronger effect on us compared to other delivery methods. Well below is a key reason why.
When you eat cannabis or take it orally, it introduces cannabinoids through the gastrointestinal tract. Your liver then converts Delta 9 THC into 11-hydroxy-THC, a more potent form of THC which crosses the blood brain barrier more easily. Pretty much your body (liver specifically) turns cannabis into a more potent form compared to if you would have smoked or vaped.
THC goes super saiyan and evolves from 9 to 11 (jet fuel doesn't melt steel beams).
This is why edibles can feel stronger and last longer than other methods.
✅ When Are Edibles Useful?
- Chronic pain management
- Anxiety relief
- Sustained symptom control throughout the day
📉 The Downside of Edibles
- Slower onset time: It can take 30-90 minutes to feel the effects.
- Harder to dose: It's easy to accidentally overconsume.
Oral based products have a much longer lasting effect. So we would use cannabis orally for sustained symptom management. If you need relief throughout the day then taking cannabis orally is the sensible option here.
🧴 Topicals: Creams, Sprays, and Patches
Topical cannabis products include creams, gels, and sprays. These are mostly used for localized pain and skin conditions, think muscle soreness, inflammation, or irritated skin. I'd wager a few of you didn't even know cannabis could be absorbed through your skin.
Most topicals don't actually get cannabinoids into your bloodstream. They stay local. They stay local. Your skin has its own cannabinoid receptors, so these products work by interacting with those, easing tension or inflammation in the specific spot you applied them. But no, you're not gonna get high from rubbing weed cream on your elbow.
How Do Topicals Work?
Your skin absorbs cannabinoids into the local area, providing targeted relief without causing psychoactive effects.
Transdermal patches are the exception, they're designed to push cannabinoids through the skin and into the bloodstream, allowing for full body effects. You can techinally get "high" from these.
✅ When Are Topicals Useful?
- Localized pain relief
- Skin conditions (like eczema or psoriasis)
📉 The Downside of Topicals
- THC isn't well absorbed through the skin, so most topicals are CBD based.
- Short lived relief compared to oral based.
🧠 Final thoughts
With regards to the "When is XX Useful?" section on each delivery method. The various delivery methods can be used to achieve the same outcome in most cases. The plant isn't changing, just the way you consume it.
Yes it will change some things but not everything. So keep that in mind. It's for sure important it's just that a lot of the delivery methods do a lot of the same things. Some things to consider tho for if/when you consume cannabis.
The best delivery method depends on your individual needs and preferences.
- If you're looking for instant effect / quick relief, smoking or vaping might be the way to go.
- If you need long-lasting effects, edibles are a great option.
- If you want targeted relief, topicals could be your best bet.
So that's a quick overview on the different ways cannabis is consumed. Not much else to say really.
The time it takes for the speed of sound to travel the length of the Golden Gate Bridge is the same as the time it takes the speed of light to go from earth to the moon and back 3.11 times. How about that.
Sometimes perspective is needed
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References
Grotenhermen, F., 2003. Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of cannabinoids. Clinical pharmacokinetics, 42(4), pp.327-360.
Huestis, M.A., 2007. Human cannabinoid pharmacokinetics. Chemistry & biodiversity, 4(8), pp.1770-1804.
Lucas, C.J., Galettis, P. and Schneider, J., 2018. The pharmacokinetics and the pharmacodynamics of cannabinoids. British journal of clinical pharmacology, 84(11), pp.2477-2482.
Maccarrone, M., Bab, I., Bíró, T., Cabral, G.A., Dey, S.K., Di Marzo, V., Konje, J.C., Kunos, G., Mechoulam, R., Pacher, P. and Sharkey, K.A., 2015. Endocannabinoid signalling at the periphery: 50 years after THC. Trends in pharmacological sciences, 36(5), pp.277-296.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2017. The health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids: The current state of evidence and recommendations for research. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Pertwee, R.G., 2008. The diverse CB1 and CB2 receptor pharmacology of three plant cannabinoids: Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol and Δ9‐tetrahydrocannabivarin. British journal of pharmacology, 153(2), pp.199-215.
Russo, E.B., 2019. The case for the entourage effect and conventional breeding of clinical cannabis: No "strain," no gain. Frontiers in plant science, 9, p.1969.
Solowij, N. and Battisti, R., 2008. The chronic effects of cannabis on memory in humans: a review. Current drug abuse reviews, 1(1), pp.81-98.
Wall, M.E., Sadler, B.M., Brine, D., Taylor, H. and Perez‐Reyes, M., 1983. Metabolism, disposition, and kinetics of delta‐9‐tetrahydrocannabinol in men and women. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 34(3), pp.352-361.
Zuurman, L., Roy, C., Schoemaker, R.C., Hazekamp, A., den Brinker, A.C., Lamers, C.T.J., Gerritsen, J., Titulaer, H.A.C., Stok, L.M., Rietveld, M.C. and van Gerven, J.M.A., 2008. Effect of intrapulmonary tetrahydrocannabinol administration in humans. Journal of psychopharmacology, 22(7), pp.707-716.
If You've Made It This Far...
This is at the end of every piece I write so if you've read something on here before, you know the crack.
If you've made it to the end of this piece, thank you. Seriously. You've taken the time to dive into a topic that has been hidden under layers of stigma for generations. That alone means you're part of a much needed change.
If something here made you pause or think differently, do this: talk about it. Bring it up with someone. Doesn't matter who, your friend, your dad, your physio, your colleague, whoever. Share what you learned, what surprised you, or even what you're still unsure about.
These chats, whether casual, deep, random or awkward, chip away at stigma, bit by bit. Not by preaching, but by just being honest in the moment.
It's about breaking the cycle of misinformation and fear that has held us back for far too long.
Every time we pass along accurate, balanced information, we take another step toward leaving this world a little better than we found it, for the next generation.
I also don't want people's lives affected negatively due to the social rules that surround this plant.
We owe it to them to get this right. To talk openly, without judgment or shame. To replace outdated myths with evidence and understanding.
Let's keep this conversation going x
With that, I'll leave you to it. You've got this. If you have learned something new, go tell someone haha
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