noforfeit-blog

[wawawawawawawawawawawawawa]

dont have aspd but i like never had emotional empathy growing up (yay mix of autism and childhood situations that caused me to unlearn/block off emotional empathy) and i've never felt remorse and i only get small twinges of guilt i can easily brush aside, but i watched drrr at age 17 and showed it to my family and having all of em be like "yo ur just like izaya" (my mum was like "yeah if i hadnt been super careful how i raised u, 100% u would've turned out worse than izaya" which. uh considering before izaya the chara i related most to was azula from atla. fun to hear). and it me caused me to be like "oh shit maybe i should like learn empathy". i didnt realise i had cognitive empathy or that it was even a thing so i spent a few years teaching myself emotional empathy and man it suuuucks. worst decision i ever made. now i spend time being like upset for other ppl? when i used to just, be able to intellectually understand things sucked for them and help em out w/o feeling anything and so i wasnt emotionally bothered/drained afterwards. whereas now i like, spend time crying over other ppl? exhausting and terrible. it hasnt improved me as a person at all, im dont actually care abt things any more than i used to, and i think cognitive empathy is by far the most useful and practical out of the two. im not saying u shouldnt listen to ur therapist, i just kinda wanted to get that off my chest and not be judged?

WANNA MAKE CLEAR i am not judging u i just have always always always wanted to use this meme for as long as i have known of its existence

and what ur describing is literally exactly why i worry abt emotional empathy and feeling remorse like. maybe i'm fine existing this way. maybe i don't want to be fixed!! i get that itd make me more palatable and easier to get along with or whatever but i'm a person too!! what about me?? everyone will have conflict at some point; what about me makes it so that all chances of that need to be hammered down?? i'm a person too- what about what i feel is right for my own emotional state???

fun facts my fiance liked me partly because i reminded him of izaya. idk if you know enough of my blog to know my Lore but: he knew me for a day thru roleplaying and i wanted to know him outside of a rp context, and he was talking abt liking psychology. i then challenged him to diagnose me, yaknow As You Do, and in a Public Server he went "oh you have aspd, don't you?" totally innocently, he had no idea abt the stigma

i ofc denied it because i wanted him to like me and also was sixteen, but oddly enuf the aspd traits are (partly) Why He Liked Me??? not in a fetishistic way but just like, accepting that was part of my personality that doesnt need to be hammered out and like, not acting like Total Full Remission It's Like It Was Never Even There is the only end goal worth chasing like. maybe i dont wanna fully remiss maybe thats my choice and i have fuckin, command over my own god damned mind body and life!!!???

also fwiw: i dont know the rest of your symptoms but you having autism and the symptoms coming from trauma don't negate the possibility that it's aspd so id suggest looking into it more! even if a therapist said you didnt have it, they can be kinda..... stupid about aspd lmfao! don't look on quora and don't look on reddit nothing good lies behind those walls

[tfw-no-tennis]

mtmte liveblog issue 19

it’s 2021 now!! time for more transformers 

we start off w/a flashback showing tyrest retrieving ultra magnus’s body from the ship - and we get a look at magnus’s spark, which is the green color of a 0.1%er [eyes emoji]

tyrest punching magnus..... grrrrr leave my dad alone bastard man

‘the divided self’ what a good title 

rodimus is like listen man this is a lot for my poor thot brain to take in

in flashback land, we see tyrest immediately launch into a crazy person spiel about how he can and will edit the law as he sees fit to conform to the situation, because that doesn't seem like a blatant abuse of power or a huge conflict of interest or anything 

oooh the screen in the corner that says ‘thought warfare,’ I see that

oof, poor magnus. its gotta be rough to hear your boss rant about how bad at your job you are....especially bc this is right after overlord called magnus a joke and nearly killed him

its especially brutal bc as magnus says, his job is his life 

augh, I love the panel where the armor is falling off around minimus, and then the one where he’s holding the ultra magnus head...poetic 

its fascinating that there was an ‘original’ magnus who was an actual guy, and then tyrest chose to make him into this legacy symbol - I'm assuming the OG magnus had no say in this, and probably didn't even know that he was gonna become this lawman legacy figure

I do wanna know though - obviously everyone thought that ultra magnus was one dude, but how did the different guys wearing the armor deal w/that? like, did minimus have people coming up to him like ‘hey ultra magnus old buddy! remember when we fought those guys in that one place? good times!’ like, do they have to study up on the lives of the past armor wearers to prepare for the role of ultra magnus?

augh poor minimus, of course he’s been wondering about what happened with overlord after he was KO’d

oof, drift...I feel like minimus looks surprised and a little skeptical at the idea that drift was the one behind the entire overlord thing - which is interesting bc as we saw at the beginning of the story, he doesn't exactly trust drift, but it’s still pretty far-fetched that one person orchestrated the entire thing

tailgate :(

the concept of a load-bearer is SUPER cool, I love it so much

it also puts a much-needed limit on things - as in, there IS a limit to how much weight/mass a normal cybertronian frame can carry, which is why you don't see everybody upgrading to be Massive - bc they actually CANT

oof, the worst part is that tyrest is RIGHT, minimus essentially DID have a nervous breakdown after the war ended bc of the rigid way he views the world

mental health support is clearly in shambles for cybertronians, yikes. they literally have 1 therapist for their entire race, and he’s not even licensed anymore due to hipaa violations. what a mess

the ‘attention deflectors’ thing is so cool and clever and also a great explanation as to why ratchet or anyone else never said ‘hey wait a minute, you're actually a much smaller dude in a trench coat’ 

I love tailgate knowing all the stuff about the autobot code bc of magnus...my BOY

and THATS why minimus was asking about skids specifically earlier!

oh minimus, please don't put so much stock in tyrest being stable and resonable...

aaaand there's skids and swerve! brainstorm says it best - ‘because something unexpected hasn't happened for at least nine seconds.’ lmao ily brainstorm 

finally checking in w/whirl and cyclonus - god I love that. whirl asking cyclonus how many cons he killed and cyc is like psh I wasn't keeping count....................ok it was six

hhhhh cyclonus IS looking for a cure for tailgate, even though he told tg that there wasn’t anything to hope for....excuse me as I go be emo 

and now we flash over to the unethical medical conduct hell zone, where pharma is being weird and horny and ratchet is appropriately horrified 

I seriously love how unhinged pharma looks, the art & colors do such a good job conveying his feral energy 

ratchet has some massive dick energy for taunting pharma when he’s currently just a head and pharma has dual chainsaws for hands 

ugh, I love whirls speech about anger...and I feel like he really does see cyclonus as a peer, despite cyclonus wanting to kill him, which is why he tells cyclonus all of this 

I fuckgin love that cyclonus’s reaction to very suddenly getting stabbed thru the abdomen is to just glance down at the sword, looking mildly inconvenienced 

back over to ratchet - and at first its like oh wow I can’t believe pharma was stupid enough to let ratchet goad him into this contest....but then you see first aid and ambulon and its like UH OH this is gonna be BAD

the idea that getting sliced in half is no big deal for a cybertronian is wild

‘you're gonna let doctor djd cut us in half?’ yeahhhh that's an appropriate reaction, yikes

FUCKING LENGTHWAYS GOD

pharma you piece of shit

poor ambulon :( :( :( that's fucking brutal. amazing panel but....jesus

and like, to further my point from last issue’s liveblog - the fact that this very gore-y panel is okay, but swearing isn't...that's really funny honestly. I guess robo-gore is acceptable, while I'm guessing regular ole run of the mill human gore wouldn't be

then back to cyclonus, who is still looking only vaguely put out by the sword stuck right thru him

and then cyclonus just pulls it right out, which is a very bad idea for humans but probably not as big of a deal for big near-immortal alien robots

circle of light stuck in capitalistic urban hellscape cubicals 

poor skids, being asked to stand trial while having no idea what his crime is due to Big Amnesia 

OH SHITTTT I totally forgot that getaway shows up here

that is super clever though, with chromedome confusing the name ‘getaway’ with the concept ‘needing to escape’

cant believe tyrest is really dumb enough to tell minimus all his evil plans

BUT that means its time for some very important forged vs constructed cold lore

jro spelling ‘program’ as ‘programme’ made me remember when he said that he considers everyone on the lost light to be british, which is perhaps the least valid thing he’s ever said vhbghjsdbfjkhasbjk

the idea that they used the matrix - which is portrayed as kind of a holy object - in reproductive experiments is really interesting

AUGHHHHH this is all so good and interesting...im really fascinated w/this particular brand of like, alien robot racism/constructism/whatever you wanna call it - I feel like it does such a good job as a plot device, where many other ‘fantasy racism’ concepts from other franchises fail, bc there's not really a ‘human metaphor’ being used here (as far as I know/can tell) - as in, this isn't a thinly veiled metaphor for something that happened/could happen in human history

in fact, this type of bigotry (or w/e you wanna call it) isn't something that is even really possible in humans - I guess if there was a stigma against being born via ivf or something...? but there isn't, so there's no obvious real-world equivalent, which I take as a sign of good writing and worldbuilding - it makes the cybertronians feel more Real, bc of course they would have their own types of bigotry based off of completely different things than humans 

additionally - and this is crucial - tyrest is wrong: there’s no like, inherent moral corruption in cold constructed bots. there's no difference at all, other than method of construction. fantasy racism plotlines often flounder here, with the oppressors having a ‘valid reason’ for oppressing the oppressed, but tyrest is just operated on religious zealot bs and some biased science

like, dude, did you ever think that maybe there are other reasons why your trials only condemned cold constructed bots? like, maybe the trial itself was biased? or societal conditions were to blame? correlation is not causation, my dude, especially when the conclusion is ‘cold constructed bots are inherently SINNERS’ lmao 

like, tyrest rlly said ‘FUCK separation of church and state,’ huh

anyways I just think the whole cold construction vs forged thing is really interesting and well-done, and serves as a good precursor to the more fleshed-out functionism stuff we see later 

so tyrest is clearly off his rockers w/the whole drilling thing - dude, you accidentally gave yourself a lobotomy, okay - but I find it kinda funny that he’s right about a lot of that stuff he said at the end, about primus and the guiding hand and stuff being real 

cyclonus saying ‘tailgate and the others’...I see you, man, I see you

also cyclonus looks fine now??? didn't he just get stabbed??? 

ah, tyrest sprinkling a little light genocide onto his plan to find salvation. nice, dude!

MINIMUS NOOOOOOOOO

‘fully deserved’ SHUT UP BIIIIITCH

poor minimus is taking a lot of Ls this arc, geez

oof, great issue! again, as usual....I loved the lore we got this issue, its so interesting...and some good character stuff too. I love minimus, I feel like he’s gonna be my fav this readthru; my first read my fav was brainstorm, second readthru was whirl, and I feel like its minimus/magnus this time. I just love his character arc...

hype af for more B) 

[tumblunni]

Huh! An Idea!

Hey I just heard about a very cool-seeming anime called (I think?) Rehibilitaion Of An MMO Junkie! It seems really nice cos its one of those stories about hikkomori (I think thats the japanese word for it?)- depressed people who stay at home all day and are socially anxious about going out in public. LOL RELATEABLE, AMIRITE? no but seriously beyond just Jokes, this is a very sad modern manifestation of a timeless mental illness, and i know these feelings well and i wish people could have less stigma about this and instead just give these people the help they need. And that’s why i love this anime concept, cos its a sympathetic take on one of these people as a protagonist, and how videogames as escapism can be A Good Thing and how long distance relationships Are Also Good. Like wtf, subverting all the cliches at once?? Its a really cute looking romance story of her meeting a guy online via vidjagaems, and their love being absolutely real and pure, and it rekindling her will to live and helping her find the courage to take more risks in real life and start the road to recovery. And then they work thru all their various issues as a couple and meet up in real life and have a happily ever after! :D

Now okay, that sounds really cool and I ABSOLUTELY want to watch this show and I will make more posts about it when I do! But also it gave me a bit of a story idea so i’m gonna ramble!!!!!

Okay so kind of a wasted potential thing here is how it has a plot about the two halves of the couple playing as the opposite gender online and like.. nothing is done with it? Nothing really creative or relevant to like.. gender. It just seems like a weird way they could invoke LGBT imagery but technically not be LGBT I guess? Like neither character is trans or has any deep reason for playing that character except ‘my fave colour is pink and people would make fun of me if they knew i was a dude’ and ‘i wanna play a hot guy cos i was kinda lonely and drunk when i saw this MMO’. But then a lot of stuff about it kinda feels like the writers were.. not predjudiced against LGBT or anything?? like the lady protag has NO angst about getting a crush on a seemingly female player, it seems perfectly acceptable in-universe and nobody even mentions homophobia. And there’s a pair of characters that for all extents and purposes looks like a gay couple for half of the game its just like a footnote that one of them is female in real life. So like I don’t know if this was someone being overly careful to censor stuff while still hinting at it, or like if it was never intended to look LGBT and it was all a weird accident?? But anyway thats why it made me go WTF THERE WOULD BE SO MUCH POTENTIAL IN AN LGBT MMO ROMANCE and hey here we go!

THE IDEA TIME what if there was an anime about someone who plays a (presumed) cis dude in an mmo who is actually a trans dude irl? so you could have the same plots about keeping a secret and having a big difference between real and internet personas, but also it could be a wish fullfillment persona and the plot could be less about ‘i’m lying about myself’ and more about ‘the only place i can be the real me is online’. And how sad that is and then how triumphant it could be at the end to be able to be himself in the real world too! and also like... its already coincidental enough that two people would fall in love in an mmo and then end up to be living in the same neighbourhood in real life. so if this anime has me have to believe that silliness, its not too silly to say that two trans people could bump into each other in an mmo! have a trans man and a trans woman who meet as their online personas without knowing either of them is trans, and then their adventures online forming their relationship, learning about each othr, and like meeting a bunch of other LGBT players and forming a guild to fight discrimination in the mmo community?

Also it could be interesting to maybe combine this with the ‘trapped in an mmo world’ genre? Like it’d be extra cool to be a trans dude who’s like.. one of the only people who doesnt want to escape the MMO world. And people could think he’s just a childish jerk who’s addicted to the fantasy life, not knowing about his secret reason he loves this new life. So maybe his personality could be a very ordinary and cute looking dude whose personality is like.. absolutely fearless monster battle man! Like everyone else’s mmo avatars are all super idealized cliche buff and hot people and his is just as close as he could get to his real self but post transition. So he’s five foot tall and chubby and has big ol soulful dragon ball Z krillin eyes and then his job class is something unfitting like gladiator or barbarian with an axe twice his body size! And then in retrospect that’s the most cliche masculine class so maybe the female lead could be a not cliche feminine class, so it doesnt seem like I’m making any statement? cos ‘youre not trans if you dont act stereotypically your gender’ is a real issue within the community, sadly. Oh! Maybe! Maybe theyre both buff classes! But like he could be a tank type that protects his allies and she’s just a regular warrior with no extra functionality. Or another DPS class like thief or black mage? But I like the idea of two very shy and adorable people who both prefer buffness, and then having kind of a badass hero role amoungst their guild and the plot itself. Like, winning the actual battles against bosses is less of a challenge than conquering their various real life worries and being emotionally ready to return home at the end of the journey. Its like a slice of life hiding as an action show! Except you still do see action, its just all comparatively effortless like one punch man. Oh and maybe while male lead made his avatar look just like himself but post transition, female lead’s avatar is kind of an exaggerated ideal stereotypical female thing? Because she’s self concious about being very tall and not very curvy and stuff, even post transition. And like she’s angsting about being forced into further cosmetic plastic surgery that she doesn’t really want, to get a body that she doesn’t really want, but feels like she HAS to have. Like maybe she has some sort of friend in real life who’s like a Fedora Wearing Fake Nice Guy who keeps trying to get her to give in and date him like ‘you’ll never get anyone else’, and trying to make her change herself. Negging champion of utter hateability!

And then female lead could be kind of a mentor role to male lead because she’s post transition, and motivates him to believe that someday he’ll be able to transition too and he doesn’t need to stay trapped forever in a fake world in order to be himself. And he could also be the same mentor role to her because he’s like... happy? Well, obviously he isn’t 100% happy because that’s his whole problem, but he doesn’t have the same social anxiety issues and he’s more confident in his anxiety without worrying that he’s wrong and he really is a girl, etc etc. Like he’s at peace with being trans and his obstacle is just feeling like he’ll never pass successfully without surgery, and never be able to get that surgery. It took him ages to even get on HRT, possibly because of something like being trapped in an abusive family that didnt aknowledge his gender? or possibly just because of being in a country where he’d need a lot of money to get the treatment he needs, or because of struggling to find a good doctor? So anyway now he’s just started HRT and he expected everything to be okay now, but he’s getting frustrated how long it’s taking to have the amount of visual change he needs to be respected by his coworkers and stuff, and now he’s had some sort of other money emergency and he may not be able to get top surgery in the end. So at the time of starting this MMO he was really un-optimistic about his future and looking for an escape. And she was looking for a similar escape because she didnt have any support group while transitioning, and had got trapped into an abusive relationship with this other dude that was making her feel like a fake woman who’d never be loved by anyone except him. So she was considering giving in and falling into his trap, and that’s her reason to be terrified of going back to the real world... And so they both are all OH MY GOD YOURE SO AMAZING I’M SO TRASH about each other, and they help teach each other two different aspects of self love that they were missing, and they make a bunch of other friends in the LGBT community, and generally find the love and support they always needed! And then in the end they could go back to the real world and move in together and slap negging man in the face, and keep in touch with all the other guildmates and create a better community for all queer folks playing this game! Woo! And also maybe the final scene could be like ‘wow we havent seen you guys for ages’ ‘yeah we were so busy with the wedding, we couldnt play!’ and then the guild’s wedding gift to them was saving up for a rare ingame item that lets you re-customize your character, and female lead makes one that looks closer to her real life appearance cos now she’s happy with herself! and then we pan out and see that male lead now also looks totally identical to his ingame self, and he did manage to transition in the end! ...and then i dunno, cliche anime everyone looks at the camera and jumps and the theme tune plays, lol

[hipjoynt-blog]

Different methods of medicating with cannabis

Just like there are more than one way to skin a cat, there are many ways to medicate with cannabis. In this post, we’re going to talk about the many different ways to medicate with our favorite miracle plant. 

Smoking/combustion

What better way to start off our list, but with the OG in cannabis consumption, good ol’ combustion. There are many methods of combustion, including, but not limited to- joints, pipes, bongs, spliffs, and blunts (we’ll talk about all the different ways of combusting in another post). The term “combustion” simply refers to any method where the heat source, generally, an open flame, makes direct contact with your herb, combusting it, then we inhale the smoke given off from the process. 

Pros-  The benefits of combustion is that it gives you that nearly immediate high. Unlike a lot of other methods which take time for your body to metabolize the cannabinoids, with combustion, it is introduced directly into the bloodstream via the lungs.

Cons- Although many, MANY levels safer than smoking cigarettes or the like, any time you’re inhaling smoke from combusted materials, there are going to be chemicals and carcinogens given off that your body would much rather you didn’t consume. That, and you also have the inconvenience of an irritated throat from heavy coughing that most experience through combustion. Not to mention, the distinctly recognizable odor of kush permeating from your clothing and pores. 

Vaporizing/Vaping

There are 3 main methods people are referring to when they talk about vaporizing, or “vaping”. This is vaporizing dry flower, vaporizing cannabis oil (as you’d find in pre-filled cartridges or fully disposable “pens”) and flash vaporizing, or “dabbing” cannabis oil. For this section, we’ll focus on dry flower. 

Generally speaking, when talking about vaping cannabis vs. smoking cannabis, people are referring to a method in which the heating element is more of an oven than an open flame. The oven brings the chamber where your herb sits to a temperature, usually somewhere between 350°F-400°F (as opposed to the upwards of 3000°F you get from a regular butane Bic style lighter), just hot enough to release the cannabinoids into a vapor that you then inhale, but not hot enough to combust the flower. 

Vaporizing also allows for a much cleaner buzz. So clean, in fact, that some people feel like they don’t get high the first time they try it because they’re used to the immediate head rush that accompanies smoking most of the time, due to the coughing and lack of oxygen. But what people don’t realize is that the high from vaping tends to be a creeper. Because you don’t get that immediate head rush, when you do feel it set in, it’s almost a surprise. 

Pros- Arguably, the biggest pro of vaporizing your cannabis vs smoking it, is the much healthier approach. Since you’re not heating it enough to combust, you’re also no longer inhaling all the extra carcinogens. Also, if you’re a fan of the flavors that different cannabis strains have to offer, vaporizing is the way to go. The flavor you get is pure cannabis, no more burnt nastiness taking over your palate. And God forbid you get little chunks of gross ash (what I call scooby snacks) flying into your mouth. 

Cons-  Mainly price and convenience, though both are being addressed as time and technology advances. A lot of true vaporizers can be a bit too pricy for some people. True vaporizers, referring to devices that actually vaporize your cannabis. A lot of cheaper options is just a hot plate that your herb sits on and still actually combusts your weed. And of course, there’s the convenience aspect of things. It is nice to be able to just grab a nug, break it up and stuff it into a bowl, or roll it into a jay, but with vaporizing it takes a bit more pre-planning, since you want your weed ground up nicely so that it heats evenly.

Dabbing

Oh, dabbing. And no, we’re not talking about the dance move. 

Dabbing is a method of flash vaporization, used for cannabis extracts such as shatter, rosin, or wax (There are many other types, but that’s another post). Without going too far into it, essentially, extracts or “concentrates” are just that- cannabis that has had it’s medicinal properties extracted and processed into a concentrated form. Where most regular flower may test with upwards of 20-30% THC, concentrates can house up to 90% THC. 

Pros- A little goes a long way here. Although 1 gram may not seem like a lot, it’s called “dabbing” for a reason. It only takes a small dab to get you to where you need to be. Where you may sit with a bowl of flower, smoking on it for 15 mins before you feel the desired stoniness, a quick dab will get you there after your first hit. 

Cons- It is VERY easy to overdo it when it comes to concentrates. There were a lot of reports of people OD’ing on dabs when the trend first started becoming popular, but even in its concentrated form, there is still absolutely zero actual reports of people OD’ing from cannabis. The videos on youtube that show such events are simply just showing people getting too stoned, too fast and end up passing out. This is why it’s very important that if you’re going to venture into this method for the first time, you do it with people you are comfortable with and who know what they’re doing. NOT someone who is going to pressure you into doing a 1/2 gram dab your first time, just for the lulz.  Another con is just the stigma that comes with it. Although there are many ways now to enjoy concentrates in a much less obvious way, the fan favorite tends to be on an oil rig, similar to a bong/water pipe, that you use a big butane torch with, since a traditional lighter will not get the nail (the part you put the concentrates on), hot enough to vaporize your product.

There are many more aspects of dabbing we can get into, but again, that’s for another post. 

Edibles

Edibles. I. Love. Edibles. Because of this, I have done a LOT of research on them, so this is probably going to be the longest section, and I’m sorry for that, lol.

TL;DR- Edibles are too easily overdone, so err on the side of caution. You can always eat more, you can’t eat less. Always give it at LEAST 1.5 hours before consuming more. 

Although most people think of brownies and other food-type items when they think of edibles, it’s really anything that is ingested through the digestive tract, meaning that capsules and the like are also considered edibles. 

What I love about edibles is that this method gives you the most intense effects for the longest amount of time. This is due to your body being able to absorb much more of the cannabinoids than through smoking, or even through concentrates. When you smoke, your body is only absorbing the cannabinoids that come into contact through your lungs, meaning all the smoke or vapor that you exhale is all stuff your body isn’t absorbing. With edibles, they sit in your digestive tract, breaking down, and being absorbed in a much more efficient manner, delivering a much stronger, much longer lasting high. 

When considering edibles, there are a few things to keep in mind. First being, that like everything else on this list, not everyone will have the same experience. Someone who has been medicating with cannabis for over 10 years, like myself, is able to handle a lot more THC in their edibles vs. someone who is just starting out. And your own stomach may be a factor as well.  With me, for example, as I mentioned above, have been medicating for over 10 years with cannabis, so my tolerance is pretty high up there. Not only that, but I also have really bad acid reflux, which means my stomach is a horrible environment for edibles, since the high acidity of my digestive tract doesn’t allow the cannabinoids to metabolize efficiently. This means, that when I am looking to spend a day toasted on edibles, I have to do at least 1,000mg of THC. Most would consider that a lot, considering that a single dose within the cannabis industry is considered to be between 10-15mg. 

Which brings me to my final point before moving on to the pros and cons. The biggest piece of advice I can give you if considering crossing into the magical world of edibles is this- Pay attention to the milligrams (mg) on the packages, NOT to the dosage. A lot of companies will have their own idea of what a single dose is, even though there is an industry standard (this industry is still in its infancy, so it’ll take time before everyone is on the same page). Karova, for example, is a brand whose single dose is 50mg. Thats 5x the industry standard! So you can imagine someone who is trying it for the first time being told to start with a single dose (meaning 10-15mg) and getting something thats 5x more potent, it’s easy to see why some people are easily scared off. 

And make sure to give it enough time! Because your body is breaking it down in such a different manner, this means it’s going to take much more time than with smoking. Because with smoking, the cannabinoids are introduced directly to your bloodstream via the lungs, the effects set in much quicker. Whereas with edibles, you have to wait for your stomach to digest it and then absorb it. So always give it at least 1.5 hours up to 2 hours before trying to consume more.

And always err on the side of caution. Especially if it’s your first time. If you get a 10mg cookie, break it in half and only consume 5mg at first. Wait the 2 hours, reassess how you feel and if you’re not feeling it enough, THEN eat the other half. Then rinse and repeat until you find the dosage that works for you. Remember- You can always eat more, you can’t eat less.

Pros- The intensity and length of the high is unrivaled in my opinion. And a huge pro is the convenience and discreet nature of medicating in this fashion. You may not be able to pull out a joint during your family outings, but no one will question you when you start snacking on a cookie or a bag of trail mix. 

Cons- Very easy to overdo it on edibles. A lot of people will eat something, not wait long enough and then eat more, resulting in passing out for hours on end. The time it takes for your body to process the edible makes it a well-timed dance if planning to medicate for a specific event. And depending on your body’s specific physiology, you may need to increase the amount of THC to find what hits you the best, and unfortunately, a lot of the time, more THCmg means more of a price point. 

Topicals

Topicals are a fantastic option for people that are looking to treat pain without the high. THC and CBD are both great at tackling specific ailments such as joint and nerve pain, but not everyone can or wants to smoke, or even take edibles, either because they don’t want to feel high, or for whatever other reason. 

Like pretty much everything in this list, topicals come in many forms. They come in balms, lotions, salves, etc. What’s nice is that your body is absorbing through the skin, there is no head change. So you can utilize it all throughout your day, without worrying about being too stoned to be productive.

Just like everything else here, it’s important to remember that these are things to be included in your current regimen. It’s not something that you’ll start using and then everything will instantaneously feel better. If you start using topicals, remember that it takes consistency and  commitment to really feel the true benefits of these methods. 

Pros- Non-psychoactive, so there’s no high. Discreet and convenient. And some topicals even have other ingredients to help with other ailments as well, for example, hipjoynt carries a topical that has lavender infused into it as well, helping with anxiety and insomnia. 

Cons- Some people may not like the texture or the feel of the topicals, some do tend to be a little greasy, which I’m personally not a huge fan of. And some also do tend to have a fairly strong smell, especially when infused with other things. NOT a weedy smell, just a smell. If you’re not into strong smelling lotions normally, this is something you may want to be aware of. 

Tinctures

Tinctures are cannabinoids that have been extracted utilizing either alcohol or glycerin of some some kind, allowing it to be administered orally or sublingually (under the tongue). 

The nice thing about tinctures is having yet another option that allows you to medicate without having to smoke. When taken sublingually, the effects set in within 20 mins, as opposed to upwards of 2 hours, due to the cannabinoids being introduced directly to the bloodstream via the membrane under your tongue. The effects usually last about the same amount of time as you would expect from smoking. 

Something to be aware of is that there are 2 main bases for tinctures, as I mentioned above. Alcohol and Glycerin. Both have their own pros and cons. The alcohol based tinctures tend to set in faster due to the alcohol allowing it to absorb a bit easier, but are much harsher on the palate with a bit of a burning sensation, feeling like a strong mouth wash, so some may prefer to take it orally, but doing so does make it absorb more like an edible, so it’s going to take a lot longer for the effects to sit in. Whereas with glycerin, it’s much more mild on your palate, but sometimes doesn’t pack as much of a punch, or doesn’t set in as quickly. 

The reason it’s important to know the difference is because for maximum efficacy, you want to administer a full dropper, or 1-2 sprays if from a spray style bottle, and swirl it around your mouth for at least 30 seconds to a minute to really allow it to soak in, swallowing the excess. And with the alcohol based tinctures, this may be a bit more difficult to do for some. 

You can also use tinctures to mix into food or drinks, which is also a great option. Just keep in mind, that again, since it’s now being absorbed through the stomach, it will take much longer to feel the effects

Pros- Tinctures are going to be great for people that again, can’t smoke for one reason or another, or for people that want a low profile way to medicate in public situations without the added calories of edibles. Some even come in a spray form, similar to breath sprays, although you won’t be able to add it to food/drink as easily as a dropper style would allow you to do. 

Cons- Alcohol based tinctures will be very harsh to the sensitive area under your tongue, so can be very uncomfortable to hold in your mouth for a long time. The taste also leave a lot to be desired, although the glycerin based ones are more on the sweeter side as opposed to the ouchy-burny side. 

And there we have it, folks! 6 of the main ways to medicate with cannabis. Hopefully you’ve learned a thing or two and found this post helpful. If you have any questions/comments/suggestions, don’t hesitate to ask! I’ll do my best to address any questions in a future post.