If you’ve been buying weed for a long time, you’re probably used to how much your preferred quantity of your favorite strain is going to run you. Edibles are a lot different. It’s a lot less like shopping for bud and a lot more like shopping for upscale snacks.
Edibles aren’t usually budget breakers. While they’re more expensive than the non-enhanced versions of the candies or cookies they’re duplicating, they’re still priced reasonably enough for the average cannabis user to indulge in every once in a while.
Why use edibles?
There are a few reasons why people might choose edibles over other forms of weed. Sometimes, smoking isn’t an option. Edibles leave less “evidence,” and they don’t affect your lungs. Since edibles last longer, people enjoy riding the long high. There’s no need to top off with edibles.
To avoid smoke or vapor
Edibles don’t leave behind any evidence. There are no ashes. There’s no equipment needed to use them. Your hair and your clothes won’t smell like edibles after you eat one. If you live in an apartment or if you share space with roommates, edibles might allow you to enjoy your weed without bothering anyone.
People who are uncomfortable with the idea of inhaling smoke or vapor choose edibles because they’re the only way they can enjoy cannabis. It passes easily through your digestive system without causing any damage or impacting the way you breathe.
If you have a cold or a sore throat and you want to experience relief via your cannabis, using an edible will impart benefits without exacerbating the problem.
For a longer high
Weed you smoke gets to work sooner, but weed you eat continues to work for longer. Your digestive system moves slowly, and it releases little bits of cannabis that your liver has filtered in a steady stream that can last for a few hours. When you smoke weed, you feel fine two hours later. Edibles can put you on a wave for most of the day.
If you want a relaxing weekend in, have an edible for lunch. You’ll be good all the way through dinner time. At that point, it’s probably better to eat food that’s focused on nutrition rather than cannabinoids. That doesn’t mean you can’t have an edible for dessert and enjoy the benefits of restful sleep.
A little goes a long way
One of the first things people notice when they’re purchasing edibles is that the milligrams per serving usually seem fairly low. The number looks low, but the context between flower and edibles are much different. A flower that’s 15% THC will give you a mellow, gentle high. An edible that’s 15 mg of THC is easily three times more than what most people need to experience a strong and sustained high.
It might look like edibles are overpriced for what they are, but they aren’t. If you think about it in terms of price per high, edibles like gummies are as little as $2 for an entire day. Good luck getting high on $2 worth of regular weed for 8 hours.
Gummies and candies
Gummies and candies are usually the lowest-priced edibles. Even organic gummies made with real fruit will only run you a few bucks a dose. If you prefer a milder high, you can even cut them in half to make your money go twice as far.
Edible gummies and candies are generally handmade individually in small batches to assure that the THC is evenly distributed between each piece. This is a lot more labor-intensive than your general factory-produced gummy bear, but it’s a necessary part of the process.
When you break down the price, it’s obvious how reasonable they become. Most edibles will run you less than $2 per dose, with some going as low as $1.25 per dose. If you’re a low doser who wants to cut your 10mg edible in half, the value is even greater.
Cannabis-infused drinks
Cannabis-infused drinks are a little more expensive, running anywhere from $4 to $10 per drink. Each drink will contain anywhere from 5 mg to 10 mg THC. The price often depends on the complexity of the drink. Cannabis-infused flavored water is much less expensive and complicated to produce than something like cannabis soda. If the product requires a glass bottle to protect the cannabinoids from light exposure, the packaging may be a major contributor to the final cost of the product.
When you consider the fact that the amount you pay for a cannabis-infused drink is similar to the amount you’d pay for a really fancy craft beer, it all makes sense. Splurge on the weed drink instead of the upscale beer and it all works out to be the same.
Chocolates, brownies, and baked goods
Cannabis chocolates, brownies, and other baked goods tend to range from $4 per piece to $30 per bag. It all depends on how many cookies or brownies are in that bag. It also depends on the complexity of the edible in question.
If you’re purchasing pre-packed shelf-stable edibles, the price is likely to be lower. If you’re buying fancy custom gourmet edibles, like a weed-infused birthday cake, you’re probably going to pay a little more.
The price scale works the same way you’re used to. Buying a small bag of cookies off of the shelf in the checkout lane is a lot less expensive than ordering a custom cake from your grocery store’s bakery.
The cost of making your own edibles
If you love to cook and bake, the idea of buying edibles probably seems silly to you. You make great cookies or pancakes or even great ice cream at home. People who are passionate about the art that takes place in the kitchen live by the philosophy that homemade is always better.
Making your own edibles will cost the same price as purchasing all the ingredients you would normally use in that recipe, plus the cost of weed. One gram of 20% THC weed contains 200 mg of THC. Depending on the number of servings in your recipe, you’ll likely need half a gram or less.
Edibles are a great way to use up a strain you don’t prefer to smoke. If you don’t like the way your weed tastes, you can use it to make cannabutter. The sugar, extracts, or chocolate in whatever you bake with it will go a long way to cover up the taste.
Most people start with simple things, like pot brownies or cannabis-infused cookies. Brownies and cookies are more friendly for beginner bakers, especially since they can be made by using boxed mixes and substituting the butter or oil in the recipe for your own cannabis-infused creation. If you can follow box instructions, you can whip up a batch of something dank.
Is it better to buy or make edibles?
If you love baking and you love weed, you’re probably going to have a great time baking edibles. If it’s the experience you’re seeking and you want to try out some of your favorite recipes with your homemade batch of cannabutter, you’re going to feel more inclined to bake edibles yourself.
That having been said, there are a few things you want to consider. Making your own edibles isn’t always the most convenient approach to creating weed-infused snacks. It’s kind of costly, and it’s very time-consuming. If you want something you can munch on really quickly, there’s a long waiting period between the decarbing process and the finished dessert.
Making your own edibles isn’t necessarily cheaper than buying them, depending on what it is you’re making. It also takes a lot of time. You need to decarboxylate your weed before you can cook with it. Then, you need to turn it into cannabutter, cannabis-infused oil, or cannabis-infused milk that you can use in your recipe. The infusion process takes a few hours, and this has to happen before you can start baking.
Making your own edibles is great for special occasions, but if you want some shelf-stable edibles to keep around for whenever the mood strikes, you’re better off buying something like gummies. Gummies are inexpensive, and they last a long time.
The takeaway
Edibles aren’t usually very expensive. While you may occasionally encounter something special or unique that warrants a higher price tag, you don’t always have to go for the splurge. The high will be the same for almost all edibles. It just depends on how many milligrams of THC per serving you’re getting. The rest of what you’re paying for is the quality of ingredients and the labor.
If you want to snack on some weed right now, Emjay can deliver it to you. We have a wide selection of cannabis-infused gummies, candies, chocolates, and cookies to choose from. Order whatever you feel like snacking on, and we’ll have it to your door in about half an hour.
