‘Microdosing’ is the future of marijuana

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marijuana.
Melia Robinson/Business
Insider

Edible weed makers want to take a bite out of the
$5.4 billion legal marijuana industry in what seems like the
most counterintuitive way possible: give people less pot.

Small-dose, or “microdosed,” edibles make up one of the fastest
rising sectors of the industry, according to a group of panelists
at the recent New West
Summit in San Francisco, California.

These products, which range from marijuana-infused chocolates and
sweets to barbecue sauce and bottled water, often contain between
five to 10 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC), the psychoactive ingredient in weed. It’s a
conservative dose for adults who don’t know their tolerance or
are consuming for recreational, rather than medical,
purposes.

Small-dose,
pot-infused brownies are divided and packaged at The Growing
Kitchen, in Boulder, Colorado.
AP
Photo/Brennan Linsley

While these lower dose products often cost more per milligram of
THC in the dispensary, they aim to make users’ lives less
complicated. If you’ve ever purchased a pot brownie from a legal
shop or in a back alley, you might be familiar with the ritual of
cutting the treat into 16 pieces — less you want a Grade A
night-in to turn into a paranoia-wracked nightmare of an evening.

While there are
no recorded cases of people fatally overdosing on
marijuana, it can make you incredibly uncomfortable. Your
heart starts to race and, sometimes, anxiety
strikes.

This has led to a bit of an image problem for the edibles
industry.

“Patients are a little bit scared of edibles,” Kristi
Knoblich, chief operating officer and cofounder of pot-infused
chocolates company Kiva
Confections, said on stage during a panel on innovations in
edibles.

Kiva
Confections’s packaging encourages users to start with just five
milligrams of THC.

Facebook/kivaconfections

Kiva Confections, which sells products in California, where
medicinal marijuana is legal, has pioneered a path to
user-friendly edibles. Its chocolate bars range from 15- to
45-milligram servings of THC, and feature impressions on the bars
that make it easy to divide for smaller doses. The Kiva Terra
Bites, which come in a sealable container, contain chocolate
covered espresso beans and dried blueberries that provide just
five milligrams of THC each.

Knoblich describes the company’s target customer as the
“more casual edible consumer.”

“It’s that person looking for a glass of wine or beer in
the evening [type] experience,” Knoblich says.
“We’re looking for that person who isn’t looking to get
blasted.”

Défoncé Chocolatier was founded by an ex-Apple
employee.
Défoncé
Chocolatier

Défoncé
Chocolatier, a new marijuana-infused chocolate company based
in Oakland, California, is also on board with the small-dose
trend. After spending over six years as a production
manager at Apple, founder Eric Eslao
wanted to make a “user-friendly” edible. His flagship
chocolate bar contains 180 milligrams of THC, which can be
divided into 18 pyramids, or 10-milligram doses, the rough
equivalent to a couple hits off a
pipe.

Knoblich says the trend borrows from the pharmaceutical
industry, which has heralded the “minimum effective dose”
principle in recent years. It’s the idea that patients should
consume the smallest dose possible that produces a desired
outcome without negative side effects.

The good news with small dose marijuana edibles:
if you wait a few hours and find you’re still sober, you can
always eat more, Knoblich says.