Are Cannabis Tinctures a Big Waste of Money?

Many companies sell cannabis tinctures with a wide array of ingredients. Some are isolated CBD, THC, or other single cannabinoid molecules, while other products contain combinations of cannabinoids. Many are now hopping on the terpene (essential oils found in cannabis and most other plants) train and selling what they call “full spectrum” or “broad spectrum.” But, if the tincture bottle you buy says it has 500mg. of THC (or CBD, or whichever of the cannabinoids are listed on the package), how much of that THC are you really getting an effect from?

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5% or 25mg. of that 500mg in the bottle. I’ll explain.

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First, lets understand what a tincture is. Merriam-Webster defines a tincture as “a solution of a medicinal substance in an alcoholic solvent.” Many “tinctures” sold on the market today are oil based and therefore not really tinctures at all. Why does this matter?

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The concept behind tinctures is that you put some drops under the tongue where the skin is thin and there are a lot of blood vessels ready to absorb the medicine quickly and take it throughout the body. This method is hypothetically supposed to work faster at getting the medicine into the blood stream than taking an edible product because edibles must go through your digestive system and then your liver before entering your blood stream which can take 30 minutes to 2 or more hours depending on a lot of variables.

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The problem is, most medicines do NOT absorb easily through the skin, and to get the desired results one would have to hold the tincture under one’s tongue for about 5 minutes or more. Most people can hold it for 30 seconds to a minute before they start to salivate and most of that tincture slides down the throat into the stomach, at which point the tincture becomes an edible.

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Alcohol based tinctures are a better option as the alcohol helps open the pours of the skin and breaks down some of the natural barriers of the mucosal lining in the mouth to allow more of the medicine to reach the blood stream. Additionally, some terpenes, such as limonene, aid in skin penetration. However, the method is still pretty ineffective at utilizing all of the medicinal compounds in the product.

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The other issue at hand is, although the alcohol helps with absorption, it can cause mouth sores after repeated use as has been reported by patients using Sativex and Epidiolex (cannabis oral sprays made with alcohol and oil).

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So, if we consider tinctures to be mostly edibles, then the bio-availability of the THC or CBD is about 5%. This 5% can be increased to a maximum of 20% if the right ingredients are used, the appropriate techniques are used, and appropriate food is consumed with the product (look for a future article on how to best take tinctures).

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Now, out of that 500mg. of THC in the bottle of tincture you bought, your body is only absorbing and benefiting from 25mg. That’s a huge waste.

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A lot of people are attracted to tinctures because they don’t have the same stigma associated with smoking. However, vaporizing is very safe and much less irritating to the lungs than smoking and can produce a bio-availability of up to 56% for THC and 45% for CBD (https://www.cannify.us/education/cannabis-and-the-body/cannabinoid-clinical-pharmacology/what-your-body-does-to-cannabis-pharmacokinetics/thc-absorption/#oromucosal_absorption).

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Studies have indicated that smoking cannabis does NOT increase risk of lung or any other type of cancer.

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The only way for consumers to get the appropriate medicine and to avoid wasting LOTS of money is to have access to education and learn the facts and science, which will help break down some of the stigmas and fears.

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If you are unsure of which products to use, how to use them, how to get the most for your money, how to use cannabis safely and effectively, or have any other questions, schedule a free call or email correspondence with us at www.EntourageCare.com. ?

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