Dear Stoner: Do edibles give you stronger munchies than smoking?
Heavy Eater
Dear Heavy Eater: We couldn't find anything detailing the pound-for-pound rankings of munchies via different forms of cannabis consumption, but you're not the only one who turns into a human garbage disposal after eating edibles. However, that jump in hunger is linked to the longer, more powerful effects that edibles bestow on us compared to the instant high we feel from smoking.
Cannabis, whether smoked or eaten, binds to and activates our bodies' CB1 receptors, which are found in the brain and stomach, resulting in appetite stimulation. After smoking cannabis, THC enters the bloodstream through our lungs immediately, binding to those receptors and usually making the smoker hungry down the road. Most edibles are processed by the liver, though, and that can take up to two hours — but THC goes under a molecular conversion as the liver metabolizes the cannabinoid, intensifying and lengthening the high, and that includes the munchies. Might be time to consider microdosing...unless you have a frozen pizza collection and no summer diet aspirations.
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