What constitutes a microdose?

[florduh]

Yeah, I read about your coffee experiment and found it super interesting, because the effects you describe look a lot like what I got from shroom microdosing: it (among some other things) made me super productive and focused.

It was a sativa leaning strain, Dutch Hawaiian, so that may have helped. It's been a while since I've experimented with shrooms, but my guess is the small cannabis dose provided fewer of the nootropic benefits of shrooms. Psilocybin can increase perception and visual acuity. But it also affects your serotonin levels which tends to mess up my digestive system. So I was fine with the milder cannabis alternative.

I'd say the biggest benefits were increased focus, and a more positive mood.

 

[iDRINKBLEACH]

Serious reply, a microdose is 1 small hit, the effects of which you cant consciously feel.
I dont think it should matter if you're me or Snoop Dogg, if you take 1 smallish hit and can't feel anything, you're microdosing.

Respectfully disagree that tolerance has nothing to do with the amount needed to be considered a microdose. If you take the one hit aspect out of it and move onto mg and edibles, far easier to gauge. It takes me about 500mg of edible to be feeling good from it. 350 very minimal ,200 mg I will feel absolutely nothing and no mind change or effects from it. Most experts say 5% to 10% of a dosage (very subjective word dosage is) so would that mean 50mg is my microdose, which I would not feel a single thing even on the best day.
50mg to some might rock their world for hours.

 

[letter never sent]

Respectfully disagree that tolerance has nothing to do with the amount needed to be considered a microdose. If you take the one hit aspect out of it and move onto mg and edibles, far easier to gauge. It takes me about 500mg of edible to be feeling good from it. 350 very minimal ,200 mg I will feel absolutely nothing and no mind change or effects from it. Most experts say 5% to 10% of a dosage (very subjective word dosage is) so would that mean 50mg is my microdose, which I would not feel a single thing even on the best day.
50mg to some might rock their world for hours.

50mg would kill me, I usually have 5-10mg of edibles at a time.

 

[GoldenBud]

by definition it's up to 0.0154gr because 0.0154gr=999micro grams, and above 1000 microgram people will use the milligram (mg) unit 100% of the times..
I think microdosing in cannabis doesn't work as efficient as microdosing of Shrooms/LSD ? maybe dopamine vs seratonin kind of thing... well LSD is kinda an extract.. so that makes sense to microdose it, like microdosing dabs...
I never heard about somebody that can enjoy 0.015gr in a session, it is always 0.03gr+ i think
also log people will find themself with 0.03gr+ doses pretty much fast..

1gr=1000mg=1000000micrograms

 

[iDRINKBLEACH]

50mg would kill me, I usually have 5-10mg of edibles at a time.

It really sucks, from what I understand there is gene out there called the bummer gene, makes effects of drugs harder to achieve and in return not as intense. I believe I have this or desensitized my receptors with heavy hard drug use in my teens and twenties, mostly lsd and mdma together night bi nightly use for some years but I also threw other goodies in the mix very commonly to add boosted effects to work with what was in my system. My last good edible high was 500mg of THC-O and thc-o is reportedly 3x more potent than d9. It was the last time I can remember getting giggly and laughing with edibles from gettin schmacked. I did 700 mg of hhc the next day and felt nothing I believe because of the thc-o wrecked my tolerance over night.
To stay on topic though. Do you guys consider a microdose, feel no effects at all or very minimal? I consider Microdosing MJ like drinking a single beer, you only get your toes wet to get the uplifting good mood effects but not innebriating in the slightest

by definition it's up to 0.0154gr because 0.0154gr=999micro grams, and above 1000 microgram people will use the milligram (mg) unit 100% of the times..
I think microdosing in cannabis doesn't work as efficient as microdosing of Shrooms/LSD ? maybe dopamine vs seratonin kind of thing... well LSD is kinda an extract.. so that makes sense to microdose it, like microdosing dabs...
I never heard about somebody that can enjoy 0.015gr in a session, it is always 0.03gr+ i think
also log people will find themself with 0.03gr+ doses pretty much fast..

I think this is right too, very different drugs, effects, and dosage amounts vs LSD. Consider Microdosing for both very different in terms of goals of end results.

 

[invertedisdead]

IMO if you already have a high tolerance then you won’t really be able to micro dose, as your receptors are already going to be well saturated.

I don’t really agree that a micro dose should have no perceived effect though, either. Otherwise people with high tolerance would be the best microdosers just from a normalized effect.

This is why session frequency is so important, as the effects change rapidly depending on how often you indulge. This is what happens to a lot of people with cartridge pens, the convenience causes frequent top-ups which causes the effects to fall off rapidly, even though the dosages can be very small.

 

[Farid]

To me, a microdose is a dose that you feel slightly, but doesn't put you over the edge.

Cannabis is strange in that the less frequently you use, the stronger effects you get, even with insanely small doses. I can vape a single calyx and practically have an anxiety attack because I only take one hit once a day.

When I would vape multiple times a day I could achieve those sub threshold effects from larger amounts, which if I'm being honest was more enjoyable.

So I'd say what I do now doesn't really feel like microdosing because the effects are so strong, but what I did before did feel like microdosing - even though I use far less today than I did in the past.

Maybe microdosing is just smoking below what your tolerance desires. But if you follow that trend, you will be smoking less and less every time until you reach zeno's paradox, and end up where I am now...

 

[iDRINKBLEACH]

IMO if you already have a high tolerance then you won’t really be able to micro dose, as your receptors are already going to be well saturated.

I don’t really agree that a micro dose should have no perceived effect though, either. Otherwise people with high tolerance would be the best microdosers just from a normalized effect.

This is why session frequency is so important, as the effects change rapidly depending on how often you indulge. This is what happens to a lot of people with cartridge pens, the convenience causes frequent top-ups which causes the effects to fall off rapidly, even though the dosages can be very small.

Yeah Microdosing in the sense of amount of materials in a micro amount to get effects is not possible for me, as far as reducing my normal mg to receive micro effects is very possible still. So I guess you can say I do not microdose in many opinions but I micro effect with usually a dynavap or two when I can’t be inebriated and need to be on point mentally by reducing my larger usual dosage by a significant amount.

 

[hinglemccringleberry]

And why would we do that?

Microdosing shrooms for example is very different from macrodosing them, but there are noticeable effects and they're not subconscious at all, so I wonder what cannabis microdosing is all about.

I got into a debate with @EverythingsHazy about this, he said that a microdose by definition is not something you can consciously feel, but rather something that you only pick up on subconsciously, and that there are benefits taking place even when you don't consciously feel any effects. Like with a real microdose, you can become more socially relaxed without actually feeling high. I didn't think that was a good definition at first but the more I thought about it, I realized that that's exactly what 'micro' means. For instance you cant see a microorganism with the naked eye, but it's still there.

 

[howie105]

What temperature do you all microdose at please? Is the temp the same as a regular session or do you adjust for the load size? Seems like a dim question but something I've not seen mentioned in my microdosing reading.

(lazy reply) 316 f to 388 f (lazier C&P) With the current batch of homegrown and a modded ELEV8R it's between .04 g and .05 g.

 

[GoldenBud]

I got into a debate with @EverythingsHazy about this, he said that a microdose by definition is not something you can consciously feel, but rather something that you only pick up on subconsciously, and that there are benefits taking place even when you don't consciously feel any effects. Like with a real microdose, you can become more socially relaxed without actually feeling high. I didn't think that was a good definition at first but the more I thought about it, I realized that that's exactly what 'micro' means. For instance you cant see a microorganism with the naked eye, but it's still there.

I can understand that, it's like there's always some concentration of mold in the air, very small concentration ofc, that's why growers can't have more than 60% RH in the flowering stage..... it's always there, but you can't see...like, the feeling good from the herb, but not spaced out on the couch.....

iBREATHEMOLD

 

[Siebter]

I didn't think that was a good definition at first but the more I thought about it, I realized that that's exactly what 'micro' means. For instance you cant see a microorganism with the naked eye, but it's still there.

As I said, the effects are actually very noticeable when it comes to psychedelica. It's not a „High“ in the common sense, but still pretty strong actually.

„Micro“ on the other hand means „a millionth“ when it comes to the metric system and simply „small“ when it comes to its Greek origin, as opposed to „macro“; and let's not forget they can refer to different things, for example to a pure substance (LSD) or phytomass that contains a substance (mushrooms) – the weigh of a microdose of either are vastly different. I always took „micro“ for „small“ when it comes to dosage, not in its metric sense.

 

[Vaporware]

I think micro-dosing is generally seen as anything below a threshold dose (where you start to notice clear effects), but I’d probably include that level in my personal definition.

That level is obviously different for different people or at different times with different tolerances, so my answer to the poll was just a guess for myself right now.

Many drugs have effects that are noticeable long term or even soon after taking them without having a noticeable acute effect, but where you draw the line on the effects you’re getting or trying to achieve is not always clear.

For example, if you take an SSRI prescribed by a doctor and don’t notice anything after weeks, they may increase your dose until you report noticeable long term effects even if you don’t notice anything after taking them.

For some people those effects really make a difference, and for others it may not be worth taking them at all.

Once you pass a threshold dose of cannabis or psychedelics you’ll probably know quickly whether or not they’re having positive effects on you, but below that dose you may have to pay closer attention to what’s going on in your body and especially mind to know whether or not it is having an effect you still want.

If we extend the discussion to other non-psychoactive drugs (which you could include real micro doses of cannabis in), then you may never notice anything except in long term health effects, and I don’t think we have a lot of data to tell us what if anything we should expect to see from long term micro-dosing of cannabis.

 

[PeteyS]

I consider myself a microdoser, and use about 0.10g per session.
One session for me is usually 2 bowls from my DV or Arizer one hitter.
Thats one reason my tolerance went up once I got my Crafty+. I got too used to loading up that larger bowl.

But I think the term micrdosing is any dosage that is small enough to not feel, but still have a effect on your body and mind.

 

[endof3d]

.
No matter how small my (micro) dose is on day one, day two or three will require a larger micro dose and so on and so on until the amount necessary to achieve the same relief falls out of any category of micro dosing. My body, and I assume others as well, will build up tolerance levels and periodically need a reset through abstinence to bring them down.

Strangely enough, that reset somehow always seems to be necessary not long after I purchase a new vape.
.

 

[Farid]

I find exactly the opposite is true. With microdosing you can achieve the same effects every time, with less and less weed every time. It allows you to reduce your tolerance without needing to fully abstain.

 

[Vaporware]

@endof3d If you’re talking about using a small amount many times every day, I agree. If I use a small amount (or even a large amount) once a day though, that doesn’t raise my tolerance. I used a similar dose once every night for years with similar effects each time.

 

[cybrguy]

I consider myself a microdoser, but only in relation to most others I know. In actual fact, while my doses are small these days, around .05g each, I may do 3 or 4 or even 5 in an evening so it is hard to claim I am really a microdoser.

 

[pmthokku]

3/4ths of the people polled think a microdose is 0.05g or less. Thanks everyone.

 

[Alexis]

0.05 grams, presuming good herb has to maximum can qualify for an actual microdose.

With high tolerances obviously more sizeable doses can still feel subperceptual but that's a different type of micrdose definition, applies to psychedellics maybe not to cannabis though, which I think you are meant to be pleasantly aware of?

Because 0.1, is a Dose!

Even 0.05 can be.

But can still work if no more than that is taken at a time.

I do feel the bar needs to be set there at least for this matter of true cannabis microdosing.

I'd imagine 0.03 grams to be a good, popular microdose too?

 

[GoldenBud]

I'd imagine 0.03 grams to be a good, popular microdose too?

0.03gr of top shelf weed in a HI/WS will be great after a long day without vaping IMHO!

 

[newola]

What's a HI/WS please?

 

[GoldenBud]

Heat Island log vape
Woodscents log vape

 

[newola]

Understood, thanks

 

[pmthokku]

0.03gr of top shelf weed in a HI/WS will be great after a long day without vaping IMHO!

Or vapcap