How Do Sublingual Edibles Work?

There are many different types of edibles, and sublinguals are becoming increasingly popular for microdosing cannabis. If you're wondering what sublingual edibles are compared to other kinds of edibles, this article is for you. Let's dive in. 

What Are Edibles?

If you're new to cannabis, you might not know much about edibles, including their different types, how they're made, and how they differ from other cannabis products. Edibles are just like the sound, cannabis products that you eat instead of smoking - and there are many reasons why you might enjoy using edibles over smoking. They are healthier, easy to use, discreet, precise, and come in many different forms - the most common include gummies, mints, cookies, brownies, hard candies, chocolates, and beverages (beer and seltzers, mostly). Many edibles are made from cannabis extracts, a concentrated cannabis wherein specific compounds such as THC (which is what gets you high), CBD, CBG, terpenes, and more are extracted from the cannabis plant for a much more potent, "concentrated" form. These concentrates are then baked into edible (or drinkable) products that still get you high.

Unlike more traditional forms of consuming cannabis that enter your body through the lungs, such as smoking joints, blunts, bongs, and vapes (which cause an almost immediate high that can last up to an hour or two), edibles work their way into your body through your digestive tract and get soaked into the bloodstream through a slower process. Edibles can take up to an hour to take effect, but they also usually cause a much more intense full-body high that can last up to several hours at a time. 

What Are Sublingual Edibles?

Sublingual edibles are a type of cannabis product that are meant to be specifically placed and then absorbed underneath the tongue. Sublingual weed, just like edibles, comes in many different forms, including oils, tablets, lozenges, tinctures, wafers, and sprays. Not all sublinguals are edibles, but many of them are. You may ask, "Why sublingual cannabis?" Why not just pop a gummy? What is so different between traditional THC edibles and sublingual THC? Remember how we mentioned earlier that edibles take a long time to take effect because they enter your body through the digestive system? That's why. The most significant difference between sublingual vs. oral cannabis is activation time.

The THC and other cannabis compounds in sublinguals get absorbed through the mucous membrane under your tongue, which is immediately delivered into the bloodstream, bypassing the digestive system entirely. This means that sublingual cannabis only takes 5-30 minutes to activate, depending on the sublingual type. 

Microdosing Edibles vs. Macrodosing Edibles

Before we dive into this next section, let's briefly talk about macrodosing vs. microdosing. Macrodosing is taking a larger dose of cannabis to feel more noticeable effects you have less control over. Microdosing, on the other hand, is the process of taking much smaller amounts at a time to slightly alter patterns of behavior and control the effects to fit your desires. 

Sublingual consumption gives itself to microdosing for several reasons. Unlike traditional edibles, which can take up to an hour to take effect, sublinguals activate quicker and allow you to feel the exact effects before taking another. Traditional edibles aren't great for microdosing because, by the time you feel the effects, you've usually lost your chance to manage the amount. Secondly, because they are edibles and not smokables, you can easily measure exactly how much you're giving yourself. A single unit of a sublingual edible is going to be a constant amount, unlike smoking which will vary on the exact strain and the exact amount you inhale correctly. OF course, if you want to macrodose sublingual marijuana, nothing is stopping you, and it works just as well as macrodosing any other type of cannabis.

Three Sublinguals You Should Try

Kin Slips

Kin Slips

Marketed as a "daily companion for life's experiences," Kin Slips are small strips of film roughly the size of a postage stamp. They dissolve quickly under your tongue and take approximately 5-20 minutes to activate. They come in various flavors and strains (Indica, Sativa, and Hybrid) to match exactly what you're looking for, whether to fall to sleep or stay active and creative, and they come in 10mg or 5mg strips which are ideal for microdosing. Kin Slips are a California-based company and can be found in over 100 dispensaries throughout the state, primarily in Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

SUM Microdose 

This Colorado-based company sells 7 different sublingual tablet products throughout the state, although you're most likely to find them around Denver. Like LEVEL, not all of their products are THC. Curb is THCV and CBD, Control is THCV and THC, Energy is THC, Focus is THC and CBD, Calm is CBD and THC, Sleep is CBN, and Relief is CBD with THC - each product offers a different effect that is quickly summarized by its name. 

LEVEL Tablingual 

These microdose tablets are made to dissolve under your tongue quickly and take effect within 5-20 minutes. They last about 1-2 hours and come in three different forms: Stimulate (THC), Calm (CBG), and Sleep (CBN). They are an excellent option for anyone who wants to experiment with the different ways to experience sublingual cannabis products since two of the three don't even provide a high. Tablinguals can be found throughout the state of California. 

Do you use sublinguals to microdose? Let us know how you microdose and what sublinguals you prefer to use. Comment below!