By this time, everyone knows to be wary of leaving a drink unattended at a party or club. We’ve had it drilled into us that we should never accept a drink from anyone but a waitress, bartender, or trusted friend. But have you thought about being served spiked food? Being given food laced with drugs is becoming a more common occurrence than you might think. How? Edibles.
Edible marijuana is now available in many different forms. Most people are aware of the THC infused items you can buy such as candies, cookies, gummies, and brownies. Did you know you can also get pizza, chips, ice cream, soda, dressings, and condiments infused with marijuana? You can also make your own THC laced goodies by simply adding cannabis oil or tinctures to just about anything. And because it’s so easy to do, the cases of people consuming THC laced foods without their knowledge is on the rise.
Why is it so dangerous?
Eating marijuana is much more potent and long lasting than smoking it. Eating marijuana means the active compounds must be digested and processed through the liver first. This process converts the THC into the much stronger compound 11-hydroxy-THC. It also takes anywhere from 1 to 3 hours to experience the effects. Because of this, people don’t realize they’ve been given anything immediately, and stop eating. They continue to consume leading to overdose conditions. Also, there’s no standardized dosing levels with THC, so it causes different effects for everyone. One person’s high can be the next person’s psychotic break.
If you are concerned consider there are things you can do to protect yourself from unknowing consuming drugs. How well do you know your host? Do that have or use drugs in their home? Are the foods being served the kind that could easily be spiked? Are they baked or home-made goods? Try to stick to items you’ve seen being delivered or made, or prepackaged items. Better yet, eat before you go, or bring your own dish or snacks and stick to those.