How Long Does It Take For Weed To Kick In?

Marijuana can be rolled up and smoked as a cigarette, prepared as food, or made into a hash concentrate and vaped or “dabbed.” But do you know how fast weed works or how long it lasts?

Marijuana typically refers to the dry flower (bud) of the Cannabis sativa plant. The most prominent chemical compound in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) because it’s the psychoactive ingredient largely responsible for the sensation of being high. The higher the THC content of the cannabis taken, the more mind-bending the effects will be. However, there are another 400 other cannabinoids with a unique set of subtle, yet noticeable, effects. Female plants of the species have the highest concentration of cannabinoids, and they gather in little crystalline “trichomes” which are perfect for hash, edibles, and joints.

The manner in which you consume the marijuana will determine how quickly those cannabinoids hit you. Smoke a joint, blunt, bong, or any other dry flower and combustion (fire) method, and you will feel the THC come on within a minute or two. If you are eating medicated foods, you will not feel the body-focused effects until 30 minutes to 2 hours afterwards. When researchers study how much of a drug enters the bloodstream, they are studying its “bioavailability,” which is determined by measuring how much of a drug enters the bloodstream from the dose consumed.

What is Bioavailability?

When a drug is studied to determine how quickly it takes effect, the word for how much of the dose enters the bloodstream is called its “bioavailability.” Researchers who have studied the different methods of consuming marijuana know that the bioavailability of it depends on how it was delivered. Smoking has a lower bioavailability than taking marijuana rectally because of the differences in pathways to the bloodstream. When smoked, the cannabinoids rapidly pass from the lungs into the bloodstream, immediately carrying the chemical to the brain and distributing it to other organs; smoking, while faster-acting, offers less bioavailability than other methods of consumption. Orally consumed marijuana is first transformed by the liver into 11-hydroxy-delta-9-THC, and it takes some time until it reaches the brain. Rectally consumed marijuana has the highest bioavailability because of the porous nature of the rectum and the proximity to blood vessels and takes slightly less time to kick in than oral consumption. When it is smoked, marijuana begins to wear off after about 2 hours; ingesting it orally or rectally can take a few more hours to regain “normalcy.”

There is one exception to the question of how long the effects of marijuana take to “kick in.” The first time or two that you use cannabis you may not feel the effects at all. Don’t get frustrated, and definitely, do not increase the dose the next time. Just start with “low and slow” sessions until you do feel some effects and adjust your dosage from that experience.