{"id":7514,"date":"2022-06-22T18:02:20","date_gmt":"2022-06-22T22:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/?p=7514"},"modified":"2023-01-23T13:28:31","modified_gmt":"2023-01-23T17:28:31","slug":"cannabis-administration-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/en\/cannabis-administration-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"ALL ABOUT CANNABIS ADMINISTRATION \u2013 PART 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

How does one take medical cannabis?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you imagine someone smoking a joint, you\u2019re not wrong, but that\u2019s not the only method of administration, nor the most recommended.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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In the early years of medical cannabis legalization, patients mostly smoked their medical cannabis, as it was the only legal option at the time. Since then, other methods of administration (and associated medical formulations) gained recognition and wider acceptance both from patients and prescribers.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Administration of cannabinoid-based medicines can go through several routes: inhaled (in the lungs), oral (swallowed), oromucosal (through the mouth\u2019s mucosa), transdermal (through the skin), ocular, rectal, etc.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you want to learn how that works and debunk some myths, tag along in this dive into medical cannabis administration.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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CLEARING THE SMOKE ON INHALED ADMINISTRATION<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Cannabinoid inhalation produces a fast onset of effects, which can begin within seconds after inhalation; effects peak within 3 to 15 min (depending on authors) and last approximately 2 to 4 hours. <\/span>[1-3]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>With this method of administration, the body absorbs a high proportion of active cannabinoids that can then exert their effects on their site of action. This high <\/span>bioavailability<\/span><\/i> ranges from 10 to 35%, and sometimes up to 56%. The inhalation method (smoked vs. vapourized) and technique influence bioavailability, where technique may vary on depth of inhalation, puff duration, and breath hold. <\/span>[1, 2, 4, 5]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Prescribers often consider smoking cannabis as an inadequate method to administer a medication <\/span>due to the harmful combustion by-products.<\/span> [6-8]<\/span> Vapourization appears as a safer, smokeless administration method producing much less harmful by-products than smoking; <\/span>[3, 9, 10]<\/span> the latter is possibly less efficient since it could destroy from 30% to 50% of its cannabinoid content. <\/span>[6]<\/span> Vapourization also minimizes throat and lung irritation and can lead to higher cannabinoid blood concentrations as compared to smoking. <\/span>[3, 6, 11]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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BUT WHAT\u2019S VAPOURIZATION?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Cannabis vapourization consists in creating a vapour with cannabinoids (and other desirable elements like terpenes) without burning the plant material.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The current terms used to describe vapourization overlap and makes it somewhat complicated. Two types of vapourization exist:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n