Cooking with cannabis: Get started, low and slow

I am so excited to meet you all! I’m Mary J. White, and I’ve been teaching cooking with cannabis for almost 10 years now. I’m thrilled to be able to contribute some to this awesome publication, and I hope to help you learn about the wonder that is cannabis.

Making a long story short, I began using cannabis medically 10 years ago. I had a lot of the usual aging things – arthritis, diverticulitis, chronic pain – and I wasn’t getting better. After years of so many pills, I was done. I tried a half of a pot cookie and voila! Relief! I immediately started learning all I could about cannabis.

Back in the olden times, like 1969, I tried pot in high school, but I figured it was just another fun drug. We had no idea that this plant has been used as medicine about as long as there have been humans.

But because of prohibition in this country, we’ve been horribly misinformed about cannabis for the last 80 years. With legalization has come knowledge, and now we recognize that cannabis has a multitude of healing properties.

Cannabis has been used as medicine for millennia. There are ancient cave paintings showing happy people using cannabis, even as an edible. Majoun, an infused pastry ball made of fruit, nuts and honey, has been eaten in Morocco for centuries; in India, they love Bhang, a cannabis paste that can be added to food or drink. Whether you need quick energy, pain relief, relaxation, or focus, cannabis can help with all of those and more.

We’ll get into this in future articles, but all mammals have an endocannabinoid system (ECS) and our bodies – and other mammal’s bodies – are designed to accept cannabinoids as medicine.

I want to stress that cannabis edibles, while effective and fun, have a different effect than smoking. Because it takes at least an hour for cannabis edibles to kick in, some folks have an initial unpleasant experience and say “Never again.” Unlike opioids and many other medicines, marijuana doesn’t affect the brain stem, but too much in your system can feel lead to an uncomfortable experience. So proceeding with a “low and slow” dose is recommended, as is following the expertise of a guide like me!

In the coming months, I’ll show you the best most delicious ways to include cannabis in your diet. Whether you need all-day relief, or you want to visit outer space, I got you! Again, I deeply appreciate this opportunity to spread the love.