Cannabis scientists are trying to find a predictable, reliable product (2020)
25 comments
·June 20, 2025echelon_musk
> to make cannabis as popular as booze requires solving that original problem: It’s hard to imagine millions of people becoming new recreational users without being able to promise them that the product they’re spending money on ... will give them the effect they want.
> it remains to be seen whether that’s even possible with a plant as complex as cannabis
Cannabis doesn't work like this. It has been tried and the end result was Sativex. It doesn't work as well as actual cannabis. It's like trying to replace coffee with caffeine. There's something like ~1000 compounds in coffee. The effects are not the same.
There's an entourage effect going on in cannabis that's extremely hard to replicate. Even buds on different parts of the same plant will have different profiles.
Also the sativa vs indica classification is almost completely meaningless nonsense these days. Does it have high THCV? Then maybe it's what was once called sativa. Was it an indica harvested before there were any amber trichomes? Maybe it has 'sativa' effects etc.
Cthulhu_
Isn't it also the same with alcohol, at least the beverage that people drink? Wine especially is very susceptible to conditions; soil, weather, strain, location, barrels, harvest time, aging conditions/temperature, etc.
Sure, the alcohol chemical is the same everywhere, but so is THC/CBD when you want to reduce it like that. Watered down ethanol is probably a thing but few people drink it like that.
wizzwizz4
That affects the taste of the alcohol, but not really the psychoactive effects. Booze is booze is booze.
pipeline_peak
This article reads like something Vice published in 2012. Quite honestly, I only made it 1/3 through. We’ve all been to those glass case dispensaries by now. The world of weed isn’t that new and exciting anymore, c’mon guys…
They seemed to discuss reducing as much of the plant as possible to make something less variable, but smoking has gotten so many improvements what about edibles?
Just make a THC capsule that works whenever I take it, cumulatively if possible.
Not lousy gummies that I can only take once in a 24 hour cycle as my tolerance skyrockets. Followed by a hangover effect caused by as little as 10 mg.
Those current gummies, if my dosage isn’t enough and I take more later (low and slow), the second dose never quite catches up to the first one. It’s just one big non euphoric haze.
I’ve tried sublingual RSO, tinctures, and edibles. The current world of non smokable weed needs a lot of fundamental changes. It’s almost like edibles are stuck in the 70’s era of pot brownies but they reduced it down to a gummy.
temp0826
Nothing will get rid of the hangover (unless you count being high all the time). Why not dabs? There are also suppositories. Eating it implies the digestion process which makes it massively variable (fat solubility, how recently you ate, how good your liver is etc...). I would think sublinguals would be decent but I've never tried (and probably won't...quit cannabis for other reasons years ago. I was a very heavy user, 3-5 grams of concentrate dabbed a week).
null
pipeline_peak
Because of years of dabbing in my early 20’s (a lot of reckless high temp ones especially) my lungs are hyper sensitive to any sort of inhaling and I’ve been told by pulmonologists that I have asthmatic symptoms.
I get chest pains from car exhaust,cig smoke, high fume cooking, cleaning products etc. so yeah…that’s why I seem so adamant on edibles.
I only did sublingual rso which didn’t feel very euphoric. It does seem promising to people with Parkinson’s or anyone who wants medicinal benefits with minimal impairment.
temp0826
Ah wow, yah I understand that, I for sure torched my lungs a few times (ever been so high you forgot to put water in the dab rig...sigh). Was a smoker (tobacco) for about a decade as well but luckily have recovered from all that without any long term breathing related symptoms.
I don't know how economical they are these days (or how loaded with sugar they might be) but the thc-infused drinks were nice when I gave them a go.
Maybe the sublinguals were just too much cbd? I really liked rso capsules.
rusk
You could try decarbed weed in gel caps. It’s just the first stage of edibles without all the extra food gunk.
pipeline_peak
Unless I’ve mistaken what you suggested, It needs either a carrier oil or ethanol to be psychoactive, at least how things stand now. And if what you suggested is like anything that I’ve tried, it’s the same problem. They just aren’t as reliable or consistent as other oral drugs.
There needs to be research done so we can do away with smoking. People who take opioids don’t need a pipe, why do we?
gfody
maybe something like a crushed protab via nasal insufflation
rusk
Yes you need to take it with something. But you don’t have to be messing about with somebody else’s idea of what a nice treat is.
We have vaporisers, if you want a safe reliable non-pipe solution for self administration.
DrillShopper
Hey, let me know if you need anyone to help with that research.
javaunsafe2019
[flagged]
readthenotes1
Cemetery plots or stents, if you can trust the Science
E. g.,
https://www.acc.org/Latest-in-Cardiology/Journal-Scans/2025/...
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/cannabis-use-cardiova...
naruhodo
I've seen the same study reported in non-science media today as well.
As is established tradition, the scientists did a meta-analysis of studies that did not control for method of administration. (Your second link - healthline - notes that: "There was no delineation in the analysis, however, on the risks of smoking cannabis compared to ingesting it."). I have yet to see any evidence that edibles or dry-herb vaporisers have the same harms as smoking.
I have absolutely no problem with believing that smoking cannabis is harmful. There is clearly value in warning people about smoking cannabis. However, I would like to see some nuance around method of administration. I will continue to treat my health issues with oil-based tinctures and the occasional bit of dry-herb vaped flower.
pinoy420
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rusk
Surprised that after all these years we still have to point out “correlation is not causation”
> weather or insects
Growers aren't really worried about them. They worried about the deadly HLVd virus. https://ceainsight.com/research-hop-latent-viroid-cannabis/
Weather is irrelevant, it's all in hightech greenhouses, with strong LED lighting, automatic watering, climate control, no insects.