Dosing with Cannabis - Head Change #1 - Susan Marks

Susan Marks, AKA Nurse Susan, is a licensed nurse practitioner in California that has been working with medical cannabis patients for the past several years while treating herself with cannabis therapeutics.

From edibles, to sublinguals to microdosing THC, Susan brings clarity to the often cloudy subject of how to dose THC, CBD and other cannabinoids and how best to utilize whole plant formulations for the treatment of disease.

In addition to being a registered Nurse Practitioner, Susan is a member of the American Cannabis Nurses Association and has been using cannabis to treat her own progressive neurological movement disorder called “essential tremor” for the past 5 years.

Nurse Susan prescribes cannabis to patients with a wide range of symptoms. Her background and research into the subject are a breath of fresh air for those looking for real answers about which cannabis products are right for them and what a proper dose of their cannabis medicine should be.
#cannabis #headchange #susanmarks #nurse #cannabisnurse #420nurse #dosing

SUSAN MARKS, NP
https://www.dearnursesusan.com/
Instagram: @cbdbynursesusan
Facebook: @DearNurseSusan
Twitter: @dearnursesusan

LISTEN: https://anchor.fm/head-change

CHAPTERS:

Microdosing THC - (15:38)

CBD to THC Ratios - (21:00)

Edibles - (24:00)

Sublinguals - (25:10)

Raw Cannabis, THCA & CBDA - (31:28)

CBN - (38:32)

Terpenes - (41:55)

The Entourage Effect - (44.18)

The Endocannabinoid System (ECS) - (49:20)

FUN FACTS:

CBD’s Super Power (33:15)

THCA’s Super Power (33:20)

Levi describes taking Super High Doses of Cannabis - (34:34)

Why Sometimes Less is More (35:25)

Biphasic Dosing (39:59)

Peppercorns vs. THC - (52:35)

Excerpts:

Susan: Okay, so microdosing is just basically using a very small amount of THC somewhere around the range of 2.5. 5 to 5 milligrams. And so when you are using a microdose of THC, you don't need to worry so much about all the psychoactivity that can go with it. So THC is the only cannabinoid in cannabis that creates that euphoria, that high, and if you take too much it can cause a very uncomfortable experience. Where you can get paranoid, have severe anxiety, and once people do that and it's usually after having an edible and because what happens is when you take cannabis by mouth, it can take anywhere from an hour to two hours before you're going to notice the effects of it. So what happens is people who are naive to this will take part of a brownie or part of a chocolate bar and then like 30 minutes later, they're like, okay, I don't feel anything. There must not have been anything in that piece that I ate. So then they eat another piece. And what happens is when it hits it hits like a sledgehammer because they've taken way way way too much and one of the other characteristics of cannabis and of THC in particular when it goes through the liver the compound of Delta 9 THC gets converted to 11 hydroxy THC, which is more potent than Delta 9 THC. So not only have they taken way too high of a dose, but then that high dose gets converted into an even more potent effect, and they have a very bad experience. Nobody's ever died. You know, it's not like overdosing on any other Pharmaceutical medications, you don't need to worry about dying from it. You'll just be very uncomfortable.
. . .
Levi: And I know for people that are listening that are new to cannabis or maybe want to try it for the first time. What they really want to be looking for with dosing is the THC amount because the compound that's that's going to potentially get them high and potentially they might not want to get high so you're recommending around two and a half to five milligrams of THC as a beginner dose. Does that sound about right?

Susan: Yeah, I would start with 2.5 and then you know, like I was saying if you take it by mouth, make sure you give it at least two hours before you expect to feel anything and then really pay attention to how your body is responding to it. It and do that keep it that dose for about three days. And then if you feel like you know what it's not as much as I need then go ahead and bump it up to five and see how that goes. Do that for three or four days. So it really is a kind of a step increase in dosage. It's not nothing you want to rush into.

Levi: Yeah, start small and increase dosage. And that's one of the things that I love about an oil based sublingual tincture is that you can literally titrate your dose down to the droplet, so you can find you know, hey, I really like, you know, three droplets under the tongue. Talk to me a little bit because you know, I'm not a scientist, I'm just a guy who makes and uses cannabis products, but when I use a sublingual even the THC when you absorb it under the tongue through the sublingual duct, my understanding is that it goes immediately into your bloodstream and bypasses the liver. Is that your understanding of it too?
. . .
Levi: So there's a big difference between eating an edible, ingestin