Edible Nation: The Path to Acceptance of Cannabis is Through Edibles

Article By: Brian Wroblewski

Edibles lead the way to America’s acceptance of cannabis as medicine.

This month we focus on cannabis edibles, medicated foods and infused ingestible tinctures. Here in Nevada, if you enter a dispensary you can find a variety of different edibles ranging from classic medicated cookies to lozenges to infused cooking oils. Throughout this article, Vegas Cannabis Magazine will focus on edible education and the path to the acceptance of cannabis as medicine to the general public, who have been brainwashed by a 45 year prohibition advertising campaign. 

The prohibition of cannabis started with the passing of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 in the United States, which stopped the sale and use of legal cannabis. People still found ways to enjoy cannabis recreationally, since our country has the perfect climate for growing the miracle plant. In the 1970’s, the government introduced the Controlled Substances Act, where cannabis was officially classified as a Schedule 1 drug along with heroin and ecstasy. This helped the Nixon administration to fuel an advertising campaign to combat the War on Drugs.

For 45 years and 3 generations, cannabis was mass marketed as “The Gateway Drug” which leads to the use of other Schedule 1 drugs. For all of the readers here, that’s an agenda that is tough to stomach.

The harsh reality is that we have to rewrite history and change people’s perceptions on cannabis. Edibles may be the solution that can pave the way into acceptance for our divided nation. The best thing about trying to change perceptions in this day and age is that we have access to incredible information. Studies, testimonials, legalization and the internet have been able to change the perception of cannabis in less than 5 years.

However, the general public will still associate cannabis with smoking. As a community enveloped by cannabis culture, we tend to look for the quickest way to get our medicine, and that does typically come by inhalation.

Do we, as a community, want cannabis to be legalized, then scrutinized for the way we take our medicine? If not, then we need to become an edible nation.

The cannabis industry needs widespread acceptance of cannabis as medicine, and the easiest path is by taking medication in a familiar way that people take prescription drugs. Since we are a pill nation reliant on our prescriptions, it would not be wildly unfamiliar for a patient to consume cannabis orally, as medicine.

Edibles have come a long way since the days of eating a homemade cannabis infused brownie, where no information was known about dosing, strains or safety standards. If there is one thing that Nevada knows how to do, it is regulate. Nevada has found a way to legalize and regulate gambling, tourism, entertainment and prostitution. Nevada also knows that we set the example for the rest of the world, so as expected, medical cannabis is under strict regulations.

This is clear in the edibles that are found in all of the dispensaries around the state. Everything that you buy comes in child proof packaging, with edible education on the labels, including the dosage per serving.

Dosage is extremely important when consuming edibles. First time edible users should be aware that every person’s body digests the medibles differently, so reaction time can vary based on previous meal time, metabolism and tolerance level.

Today, we have many choices, but in Nevada we are working towards setting the right example for edibles, but we still have some work to do. If the goal is legalization and harnessing the plant’s healing power as medicine, then the packaging should reflect more information about the ingredients if the medicine is an edible.

There are many people who have food allergies or are intolerant to many ingredients that are found in Nevada’s edibles. At some point, we need to understand the side effects of our medicine, so that it does not cause further complications in scenarios where an individual has an intolerance to gluten, is a diabetic or follows a kosher diet.

If a patient in Nevada has an extreme peanut allergy and eats a chocolate bar that was produced in a facility where peanuts are handled, who becomes liable if the patient goes into anaphylactic shock? With no regulatory agency, such as the FDA, mandating that all ingredients are listed, how do we really know what is in our medicine? These are questions that consumers, who are not patients, are asking. Controversially, these are the same consumers that will take a prescribed medication from their doctor to moderate pain, without even questioning the possible detrimental side effects.

For many years, I medicated the way that most of you medicated and that was not through purchasing directly from a dispensary. Back in the day, I rolled up and listened to my favorite music genre and that was 90’s East Coast Hip Hop. We rolled either Phillies or Garcia y Vegas and smoked blunts, because that is what all the rappers were smoking. I never saw a piece of glass, bong, or papers, let alone an edible until I got to college and someone gave me a marijuana laced brownie. It laid me out for an entire day and I swore off edibles until I became a patient here in Vegas, qualifying for a card due to a back injury stemming from shenanigans.

I relayed this horrific edible experience to my budtender and told Rachel, “I want to be a better father. I want to be able to carry my one year old daughter on hikes to Red Rock and I don’t want to have back pain.” She proceeded to tell me about tolerance levels, assessing dosage and appropriately guided me to some 1.5mg THC gummies. Now, these gummies have become a part of my treatment plan and I am able to be a better father to my daughter. When that gummy kicks in, I am my daughter’s super dad. My brain shuts off from work, tells me that there is no back pain and I truly cherish every moment that I have with her.  I spend my time relearning the alphabet, reading books, and I am there to teach her about the world.

Brian Wroblewski and his daughter at Mandalay Bay Aquarium.

That is a true story of a successful prescription of cannabis edibles to a medical patient, that will relatable to millions of parents across the country. This is the path.

I am a patient. I am a father. I am a hard worker. I live better every day, because I medicate with the right dosage of edible cannabis.

Hot Chocolate Infused with Cannabis in the Edibles Category

Vegas Cannabis Infused Olive Oil and Salad Dressing