How to get grandma high safely (in a fictive story!)
July 31, 2024 10:45 AM Subscribe
How much and what kind of edibles does a 60-80 years old woman eat to get high for the first time and now and then as a midweek afternoon treat? I'm thinking a bag of gummibears, but as I'm not into edibles, and live where I can't just buy weed from a store, I've no idea on the dosage of.. whatever it is that people like to eat to get a nice afternoon high?
I'm thinking they'd like to chill out and listen to jazz music and read, that sort of getting high after being introduced to recreational cannabis by a younger relative in their forties. Maybe not social, maybe it is a solitary treat. Older middle-class aunt or grandma type of, whose own sons live away, who lives alone, can basically do anything they like. Eating it, drinking it, vaping? hell maybe even smoking it, anything. Any experiences welcome but looking for quite exact amounts for a nice mid-afternoon high and the kind of product a lady would use and enjoy.
I'm thinking they'd like to chill out and listen to jazz music and read, that sort of getting high after being introduced to recreational cannabis by a younger relative in their forties. Maybe not social, maybe it is a solitary treat. Older middle-class aunt or grandma type of, whose own sons live away, who lives alone, can basically do anything they like. Eating it, drinking it, vaping? hell maybe even smoking it, anything. Any experiences welcome but looking for quite exact amounts for a nice mid-afternoon high and the kind of product a lady would use and enjoy.
A woman I know in that age bracket and similar life story is into occasional edibles, dosage unknown.
posted by paradeofblimps at 10:59 AM on July 31
posted by paradeofblimps at 10:59 AM on July 31
Best answer: If she lives in a state with legal cannabis dispensaries in the US, she can get cannabis in all kinds of edibles forms - gummies, chocolate squares, flavored chex-type crunchy products, maybe a THC beverage or tea.
Tolerance and preferred dose really varies. Additionally, different strains have different effects so she may prefer a different amount of one vs. another. I would say if she's a regular user she probably takes around 5-10mg doses for a relaxing afternoon depending on her personal tolerance. This is usually 1/4 to 1 gummy, not a whole bag. Some edibles do come in small doses (like 1mg).
In other words you can justify her taking just a tiny bite of the corner of a chocolate bar, or taking three 5mg gummies.
posted by muddgirl at 11:05 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]
Tolerance and preferred dose really varies. Additionally, different strains have different effects so she may prefer a different amount of one vs. another. I would say if she's a regular user she probably takes around 5-10mg doses for a relaxing afternoon depending on her personal tolerance. This is usually 1/4 to 1 gummy, not a whole bag. Some edibles do come in small doses (like 1mg).
In other words you can justify her taking just a tiny bite of the corner of a chocolate bar, or taking three 5mg gummies.
posted by muddgirl at 11:05 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]
Best answer: (additionally if it's her very first time and she gets good advice, she probably starts around 2.5mg and waits several hours before taking any more.)
posted by muddgirl at 11:08 AM on July 31 [4 favorites]
posted by muddgirl at 11:08 AM on July 31 [4 favorites]
I would start this person with a 5mg gummy and have then eat half at first (so 2.5ish).
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:08 AM on July 31 [4 favorites]
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:08 AM on July 31 [4 favorites]
I have 10 mg gummies and cut them into @ 6 pieces to get to sleep. Try a small piece, see how it feels. Weed is much stronger these days.
posted by theora55 at 11:13 AM on July 31 [2 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 11:13 AM on July 31 [2 favorites]
Most gummies (they are generally not bears btw, they're cubes or rounds) tend to come with 5mg or a super-powered 10mg per unit.
I am 52 and a lightweight despite being a frequent user and cut my 10mg gummies (best in breed right here, Wyld Elderberry, but see also their Strawberry 20:1, which is a nice high amount of CBD to THC if she has joint pain or other aches, and easier to start with 1/2 and see if that's enough) into SIXTHS for sleep.
I started with a 5mg cut in thirds to sleep. A half would be pretty recreational for me.
As an additional calibration, I bought a vape and took one moderate hit and had to lay on the couch for an hour before I felt I could safely use the stairs to get upstairs to bed. It feels very very bad to be too high, especially if you have no experience managing a high, so I urge you to start her almost certainly too low because some people skip any kind of enjoyment and go straight to paranoia/I'm-gonna-die and there's nothing you can do but ride it out. Modern science weed is no joke, don't try to be a badass.
I use a cheap pair of nail scissors to cut mine up, and then wipe them because they get very sticky. Make sure the pieces get stored in an airtight container as they will either dry out or slowly slump into sticky goo depending on the local humidity.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:17 AM on July 31 [3 favorites]
I am 52 and a lightweight despite being a frequent user and cut my 10mg gummies (best in breed right here, Wyld Elderberry, but see also their Strawberry 20:1, which is a nice high amount of CBD to THC if she has joint pain or other aches, and easier to start with 1/2 and see if that's enough) into SIXTHS for sleep.
I started with a 5mg cut in thirds to sleep. A half would be pretty recreational for me.
As an additional calibration, I bought a vape and took one moderate hit and had to lay on the couch for an hour before I felt I could safely use the stairs to get upstairs to bed. It feels very very bad to be too high, especially if you have no experience managing a high, so I urge you to start her almost certainly too low because some people skip any kind of enjoyment and go straight to paranoia/I'm-gonna-die and there's nothing you can do but ride it out. Modern science weed is no joke, don't try to be a badass.
I use a cheap pair of nail scissors to cut mine up, and then wipe them because they get very sticky. Make sure the pieces get stored in an airtight container as they will either dry out or slowly slump into sticky goo depending on the local humidity.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:17 AM on July 31 [3 favorites]
I'm a 60 year old woman known to enjoy a midweek afternoon (legal in my state) edible every so often. I like a mellow dose of 1 gummy that is 1:1 THC:CBD (5 mg THC, 5 mg CBD). If you want to look up the specifics, it is Ayrloom brand, "Island Time".
posted by Pineapplicious at 11:19 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]
posted by Pineapplicious at 11:19 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]
Mid fifties. I think (and I buy a pack or two of gummies every few years, which is why I'm not certain) that I generally buy 10MG/each gummies, and a quarter of one of those is "zone out and watch a movie" kind of high, half of one of those knocks me flat on my ass. My wife is a few years older than I am, is not such a lightweight, though.
My use case is not "light afternoon high", if it were I think I'd be more precise about cutting than "tear a gummy in half", like cut it. But I'm with other folks in the "start with about 2.5MG effective dose with no responsibilities for the evening", adjust from there.
And I know there's some discussion about whether it's indica/sativa, or terpenes, or whatnot, and different dispensaries classify strains different ways, but I do think there's something to the distinction that some strains are energizing focus, some strains are relaxing, and whatever the correlations my closest dispensary runs with the strain-based labeling, and I head for sativa for housework ("how long have I been dusting? I don't know, but I'm dusting...") and indica for sleep and hybrid for "this movie might be better with some chemical enhancement".
posted by straw at 11:37 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]
My use case is not "light afternoon high", if it were I think I'd be more precise about cutting than "tear a gummy in half", like cut it. But I'm with other folks in the "start with about 2.5MG effective dose with no responsibilities for the evening", adjust from there.
And I know there's some discussion about whether it's indica/sativa, or terpenes, or whatnot, and different dispensaries classify strains different ways, but I do think there's something to the distinction that some strains are energizing focus, some strains are relaxing, and whatever the correlations my closest dispensary runs with the strain-based labeling, and I head for sativa for housework ("how long have I been dusting? I don't know, but I'm dusting...") and indica for sleep and hybrid for "this movie might be better with some chemical enhancement".
posted by straw at 11:37 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]
I am honored to know a number of ladies of that age range, who enjoy THC in much the way you describe, and a couple of them prefer edibles (a single gummy for an evening's relaxation, probably 2.5 to 5 mg depending on tolerance) and one of them, an aging hippy, prefers a joint on the porch with a glass of beer.
They also like to meet up, share edibles or wine or whatever, and play UNO or other card games, laugh, chat, and devour plates of potluck snacks.
Weed is legal here but even before it was, I once overheard one of them, in the sweetest grandmotherly voice you can imagine, asking a friend where she could get some more of that "wonderful mara-wana!" to make into more brownies.
posted by The otter lady at 11:37 AM on July 31 [2 favorites]
They also like to meet up, share edibles or wine or whatever, and play UNO or other card games, laugh, chat, and devour plates of potluck snacks.
Weed is legal here but even before it was, I once overheard one of them, in the sweetest grandmotherly voice you can imagine, asking a friend where she could get some more of that "wonderful mara-wana!" to make into more brownies.
posted by The otter lady at 11:37 AM on July 31 [2 favorites]
I am at the low end of that age range and live in a place where cannabis is legal. Some ways I might get high:
Smoking. Advantage: fast acting, easy to get just as high as you want, no more and no less. Disadvantage: Makes me cough, burns the throat, bad for the lungs (but probably not worth worrying about if she's just an occasional user like me.) I use a glass bubbler. You probably don't need to specify an exact amount she puts in her pipe or an exact number of hits. An 8th of an ounce would last her a long time. I'm terrible at the mechanics of smoking and feel like I may need to use more than someone who can do it more efficiently, so I'm not sure I'm a good guide on that. Half a dozen hits should have her feeling pretty good. Some people might stop there (or earlier); I wouldn't.
Mints that dissolve in the mouth. Faster acting than edibles you chew and swallow. I started with 2, which is a 10 mg dose, and found it wasn't enough for me, so the next time I went with 4 and found that more appropriate. But I was aiming for a pretty high high. Her relative would probably recommend she start with one or two mints like that.
Homemade weed cookies given to me by a friend. One was enough to make me feel just slightly high, barely enough to notice.
Homemade weed brownies. The nice thing about using homemade baked goods in your fiction is that a wide variety of different amounts can produce the effect you want, based on how much cannabis goes into them. When I made brownies, I used all cannabutter and it turned out that just a thin sliver of brownie was an adequate dose, but you can also make them with a mix of cannabutter and regular butter that results in a normal size brownie (or two brownies) being a reasonable dose. So you can have grandma eat pretty much whatever amount of brownie you want and reach whatever level of high you want. If her relative or a friend gives her some brownies she can individually wrap them and put them in the freezer.
posted by Redstart at 11:42 AM on July 31 [3 favorites]
Smoking. Advantage: fast acting, easy to get just as high as you want, no more and no less. Disadvantage: Makes me cough, burns the throat, bad for the lungs (but probably not worth worrying about if she's just an occasional user like me.) I use a glass bubbler. You probably don't need to specify an exact amount she puts in her pipe or an exact number of hits. An 8th of an ounce would last her a long time. I'm terrible at the mechanics of smoking and feel like I may need to use more than someone who can do it more efficiently, so I'm not sure I'm a good guide on that. Half a dozen hits should have her feeling pretty good. Some people might stop there (or earlier); I wouldn't.
Mints that dissolve in the mouth. Faster acting than edibles you chew and swallow. I started with 2, which is a 10 mg dose, and found it wasn't enough for me, so the next time I went with 4 and found that more appropriate. But I was aiming for a pretty high high. Her relative would probably recommend she start with one or two mints like that.
Homemade weed cookies given to me by a friend. One was enough to make me feel just slightly high, barely enough to notice.
Homemade weed brownies. The nice thing about using homemade baked goods in your fiction is that a wide variety of different amounts can produce the effect you want, based on how much cannabis goes into them. When I made brownies, I used all cannabutter and it turned out that just a thin sliver of brownie was an adequate dose, but you can also make them with a mix of cannabutter and regular butter that results in a normal size brownie (or two brownies) being a reasonable dose. So you can have grandma eat pretty much whatever amount of brownie you want and reach whatever level of high you want. If her relative or a friend gives her some brownies she can individually wrap them and put them in the freezer.
posted by Redstart at 11:42 AM on July 31 [3 favorites]
If you think that maybe she's not into gummies, 1 little section of a chocolate bar is 5mg. The time from ingestion to high is unpredictable. It can be as soon as 20 minutes and as long as 2 hours. Tinctures are also available and the dropper is calibrated. They take effect predictably and in about 20-30 minutes. I don't have experience with gummies.
posted by plinth at 11:46 AM on July 31
posted by plinth at 11:46 AM on July 31
I brought my parents, in that age range, to their first dispensary and advised them to try 2.5 to 5 mg (approx 1/4 to 1/2 of one standard gummy.) the lowest dose edible I’ve seen in stores is 2.5 mg apiece for little altoids-type mints. THC seltzers are getting popular where I live and I think those are usually 5-10 mg apiece. I think anyone who doesn’t have a history of smoking would prefer edibles over smoking/vaping.
posted by music for skeletons at 11:46 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]
posted by music for skeletons at 11:46 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-medication/cannabis/health-effects/effects/adults-55-older.html
Cannabis can lower BP and increase heart rate, so if this lady is taking heart meds esp blood pressure meds, it might be best to try something different. Any kidney issues, likewise be cautious.
CBD can potentiate (make stronger) other medications people take. In seniors this can be tricky because they’re already more sensitive to dosages and side effects than other adults.
Maybe ask which medications she’s taking and share here?
posted by cotton dress sock at 12:19 PM on July 31 [1 favorite]
Cannabis can lower BP and increase heart rate, so if this lady is taking heart meds esp blood pressure meds, it might be best to try something different. Any kidney issues, likewise be cautious.
CBD can potentiate (make stronger) other medications people take. In seniors this can be tricky because they’re already more sensitive to dosages and side effects than other adults.
Maybe ask which medications she’s taking and share here?
posted by cotton dress sock at 12:19 PM on July 31 [1 favorite]
Soooo.... I'm seeing a lot of people answering this, and seemingly missing the "in a fictive story!" addendum.
Great to check on medications and what she is or isn't into, but y'all answering that way should be thinking about how that detail drives the story.
posted by straw at 12:24 PM on July 31 [6 favorites]
Great to check on medications and what she is or isn't into, but y'all answering that way should be thinking about how that detail drives the story.
posted by straw at 12:24 PM on July 31 [6 favorites]
Point taken, yes that was missed! Yes, that would be an important detail an author could consider. (Also, sometimes people say they’re writing stories but who knows.)
posted by cotton dress sock at 2:45 PM on July 31
posted by cotton dress sock at 2:45 PM on July 31
If said fictive lady is already a smoker, then a joint or vape is the best way to titer a high (little hits hit quickly and can be added to, unlike an edible which is all or nothing once it's been ingested)
If said fictive lady has a relative who's a stoner, then maybe she's been given a cookie, or brownie or even a soda infused with cannabis. 5 mg is a nice round number, but might be a bit high for a first timer. I'd add a little detail about it being a hybrid of Sativa, for the floaty head high, and Indica for that mellow body couch-lock feeling. Some edibles have CBD as well, which don't effect the high, but have other nice qualities.
As others have said, edibles can hit anywhere from a few minutes to hours depending on a full stomach, the person's metabolism, tolerance, etc, and the effects usually taper over several hours.
I'd pair sativa with Coltrane or Monk; Indica with Herbie Hancock, Mingus or late Miles.
posted by OHenryPacey at 3:28 PM on July 31
If said fictive lady has a relative who's a stoner, then maybe she's been given a cookie, or brownie or even a soda infused with cannabis. 5 mg is a nice round number, but might be a bit high for a first timer. I'd add a little detail about it being a hybrid of Sativa, for the floaty head high, and Indica for that mellow body couch-lock feeling. Some edibles have CBD as well, which don't effect the high, but have other nice qualities.
As others have said, edibles can hit anywhere from a few minutes to hours depending on a full stomach, the person's metabolism, tolerance, etc, and the effects usually taper over several hours.
I'd pair sativa with Coltrane or Monk; Indica with Herbie Hancock, Mingus or late Miles.
posted by OHenryPacey at 3:28 PM on July 31
Shouldn't smoke anything. Smoking is bad for you.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 4:05 PM on July 31
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 4:05 PM on July 31
If I had never done this before: hopefully someone would have told me to smoke rather than take an edible. Reasons: edibles last much longer and are harder to adjust dosage. It’s also a totally different high. Said person would advise to just take one hit, wait a bit, see how I feel. Take a second, etc hit as necessary to achieve the state I want. For edibles, which I would do after being comfortable with smoking for a period of time and making sure it didn’t make me anxious (sativa is supposedly more prone to causing anxiety, so indica or a hybrid would be best), I would start with a quarter of a 10 mg gummy, or 2.5 mg. These can take 30 mins to an hour to kick in, so I wouldn’t try to adjust, just note for next time if the 2.5 was enough of an effect or not.
Would this character feel comfortable going to a local weed shop and asking a budtender? Because that would be the best route for information, and they talk to newbies all the time.
posted by sugarbomb at 4:37 PM on July 31 [2 favorites]
Would this character feel comfortable going to a local weed shop and asking a budtender? Because that would be the best route for information, and they talk to newbies all the time.
posted by sugarbomb at 4:37 PM on July 31 [2 favorites]
My mom is in her 70's, about 5 foot and around 110 pounds.
She uses 1 mg edibles for anxiety, and then might take another an hour later if she's still freaking out. This makes her really sleepy and not really able to get anything done, but it does stop the anxiety spirals.
She prefers smoking or vaping to get mellow and have fun. She'll share a joint or pipe with someone over about an hour, it's a social thing for her and her siblings,
posted by buildmyworld at 9:39 PM on July 31
She uses 1 mg edibles for anxiety, and then might take another an hour later if she's still freaking out. This makes her really sleepy and not really able to get anything done, but it does stop the anxiety spirals.
She prefers smoking or vaping to get mellow and have fun. She'll share a joint or pipe with someone over about an hour, it's a social thing for her and her siblings,
posted by buildmyworld at 9:39 PM on July 31
Someone got me high a couple years ago - 2 hits. The spacetime continuum ceased to exist for an hour or a couple months. It wasn't actually fun. Tiny hits with a good interval if you smoke. Or try small pieces of gummies and find your happy place. I get skunk breath from gummies, flavorings can't really mask it, heh.
posted by Mom at 9:12 AM on August 1
posted by Mom at 9:12 AM on August 1
My 75yo MiL who was quite the hippie in her day started using edibles a few years ago -- after decades of not using cannabis -- and finds them very helpful for relaxing and sleeping. When she started she cut up her 5mg gummies into quarters and then took each quarter until she dialed in her dosage. She uses her time to paint watercolors, read her Buddhism teachings, listen to music, or hang with her friends on Second Life.
She has vaped with me before, but finds that she is self-conscious of how much she is talking when she vapes.
posted by terrapin at 11:24 AM on August 1
She has vaped with me before, but finds that she is self-conscious of how much she is talking when she vapes.
posted by terrapin at 11:24 AM on August 1
Apparently even the stuff you get at gas stations in no weed states can get you high, if you want to investigate
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/07/hemp-marijuana-legal-thc/678988/
posted by toodleydoodley at 1:44 PM on August 1
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/07/hemp-marijuana-legal-thc/678988/
posted by toodleydoodley at 1:44 PM on August 1
Response by poster: Thank you ALL for the wealth of information here! This IS for a fiction project, but I'm sure a lot of folks who don't know anything about edibles can use this info for getting safely high in real-life too! Peace!
posted by fridgebuzz at 2:58 AM on August 2 [1 favorite]
posted by fridgebuzz at 2:58 AM on August 2 [1 favorite]
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The Ontario Cannabis Store has info on edibles and how much to start with.
https://ocs.ca/blogs/choosing-cannabis-products/potency-of-cannabis-edibles
posted by TORunner at 10:58 AM on July 31 [1 favorite]