Need help choosing cannabis products?
Two questions: The occasion & how do you want to consume it?
First: the occasion
Then: what to hold
Cannabis can be consumed in a wide variety of ways.
Inhaled
Felt within seconds to minutes, full strength in 10–30 minutes, and can last up to 6 hours (some effects up to 24). Health Canada suggests new consumers start with flower under 10% THC, or with as much CBD as THC.
Ingested
Nothing for 30 minutes to 2 hours, full strength can take up to 4 hours, and it can last up to 12 (some effects up to 24). Health Canada suggests 2.5 mg of THC or less to start, then wait.
On the skin
Creams, balms and lotions with cannabis in them, applied to the skin. Not for smoking or eating.
Gear
No cannabis in these, and the same shelf as everything they go with.
Boarding is the mild end of the menu: under 20% THC, 2.5 mg or less per piece, or as much CBD as THC. Ask at the counter, or start on the New to Cannabis guide.
Strength, in plain terms
Flower, pre-rolls and vapes are labelled in % — how much of the product is THC. The number is on every product label on the menu, so you can compare before you come in. Cannabis products can vary in terms of strength so the product label is your best starting point. Health Canada suggests people new to cannabis look for 10% THC or less; if nothing on the shelf is that mild, ask us and we will point you at the gentlest thing on our menu
Edibles and drinks are labelled in mg — the total THC in the package. Health Canada caps a package of edible cannabis at 10 mg of THC, so 10 mg is the most you will find in one pack. A pack of five 2 mg pearls splits that same 10 mg five ways. Health Canada’s advice for a first edible is 2.5 mg or less, which is where our Boarding list starts.
If you are new to any of this, one is plenty to start. You can always have more next time.
The other letters on the label
Cannabis contains more than 100 cannabinoids. Here are some of the most common ones you will see.
The main cannabinoid in most products, and the one the THC % or mg on the label refers to. On every legal label.
Not intoxicating on its own. On every legal label, beside the THC number.
Forms as THC ages and oxidises. Roughly a tenth as active at the receptor as THC.
Present in small amounts. Not intoxicating in any meaningful way.
Present in lesser amounts. Not intoxicating.
Related to THC but behaves differently at the receptor. Seen on some ratio products.
Terpenes, briefly
Terpenes are the aroma compounds in cannabis — the same family of molecules that make lemon peel smell like lemon and pine needles smell like pine. Every strain has its own mix, and that mix is what you smell when you open a jar.
Earthy & musky
Citrus
Pine & herbal
Floral
Spicy & peppery
Sweet & fruity
Woody
Skunky & cheesy
The practical use: your nose is a fair guide. If you like the way a product smells, you will probably like the product.
