People tend to feel the effects between 15-30 minutes.  However, some people do fall outside this range and may feel effects faster or slower and it may vary from day to day depending on your fluctuations in body chemistry.  If you let the tincture absorb more under the tongue or in your cheek, you may feel the effects faster since absorbing it mucosally allows it to reach your blood stream faster.  If you swallow the tincture without letting it linger, it may take longer to feel the effects.

The duration, or how long you feel the effects, varies by person and is also dependent on your body chemistry and metabolism.  In general, tinctures last 2-6 hours.

Both CBD and CBDA are cannabinoids found naturally in cannabis and hemp plants that interact very well with our own endocannabinoid body systems.  

During the plant growing cycle there are many chemical changes that result in the production of different cannabinoids.  CBDA is often referred to as the “raw” or “acidic” form and is found in much higher concentration on the live plant than CBD.  This is because CBDA is the chemical precursor to CBD and will turn into CBD through a process called “decoxylation” through heat, time and oxygen exposure.  

It used to be believed that this acidic form needed to be “activated” and turned into CBD to unlock its therapeutic benefits, but this has been proven to be completely false.  This myth most likely began because it was associated with THCA and THC, where you only felt the “high” of THC when THCA was decarboxylated.  The acidic cannabinoids (CBDA, THCA, CBGA, etc) have all been proven to have extremely powerful therapeutic benefits in their own right, sometimes even more so than their decarboxylated counterparts.

Dosing is very individualized and will vary per person.  We recommend starting with a small dose and slowly increasing that dose over time to find what works best for you. Remember to “start low and go slow”.  This is because cannabis can often produce a biphasic effect, meaning low and high doses can produce different effects.  While it may sound counterintuitive, more is not always better with cannabis and hemp.  Sometimes a lower dose can be more effective than larger doses and you don’t want to start out too high and miss that more effective lower dose. This is why we suggest starting low, even at a sub-therapeutic level, and slowly increasing that dose until you reach your minimum effective dose (MED). 

Dosing for cannabis and hemp is trial and error and is unique to every individual.  It can vary depending on your body chemistry, state of mind, diet and many other factors.  However, in our many years of working with patients, here are some general trends we have seen.  For people treating mild chronic conditions, starting with 3 drops 3-4x day with food containing fat is a good place to start.  This dose can be increased as needed from there.  There is a bell curve with required dosing from what we’ve seen, skewed more towards lower dosing. Some people find a 3 drop dose is plenty, some people need a 1ml dose, every person is unique.   

Tinctures last anywhere from 2-6 hours depending on the individual, so dosing throughout the day usually yields the best results.  

If you’re experienced consuming cannabis or hemp and know the dose that works for you with other products, something to keep in mind is that every brand varies widely in terms of content and method and it can take some experimentation to find what works best for you, so still starting lower is a good idea.  For example, our products are true full spectrum, gently extracted from the flower and should be more effective and require less of a dose than an isolate or broad spectrum product sourced from leaf with a harsher extraction process.

Tinctures are a fantastic modality for consuming cannabis and hemp.  They are versatile, fast acting, long lasting and easy to titrate (find your dose).  You can take the tincture orally, drop it into food or your favorite beverage or even use it topically, putting it directly onto your skin.  

To consume it orally, we suggest dropping the liquid under your tongue, holding it there for a few seconds, then swallowing.  This allows the tincture to partially absorb mucosally where it enters into the bloodstream faster and bypasses the liver, then swallow the remaining so it can also hit receptors throughout your throat and digestive tract.  Alternatively, you can choose to hold it under your tongue and cheek longer or swallow entirely.  If you have trouble tilting your head back, you can drop the tincture into a spoon.

If you aren’t fond of the taste, you can also drink or eat immediately afterwards.  Eating a small amount of nut butter or peanut butter right after is a great way to immediately cover the flavor and the high fat content is excellent for helping it absorb into your bloodstream.  You can also drop the tincture right into food or a beverage.  Just keep in mind that cannabis is not water soluble and instead absorbs very well into fats (lipids).  So put the tincture into food or a drink that has some fat content.  For example, If putting into a drink, try it with tea or coffee using whole fat milk or half and half or a smoothie that has coconut oil or peanut butter. 

You can use the tinctures topically by applying them directly to the skin.  We purposely made them without any additives or flavorings so they would be extremely versatile.  They are made with pure cannabis extract and fractionated coconut oil, which are all safe and very beneficial to the skin.  Keep in mind that the coconut oil can stain material such as clothing or leather.  Simply drop the tincture onto your skin and gently rub in allowing it to absorb into your skin.  It can be used for skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, bug bites, poison ivy/oak, burns, minor abrasions and bringing down swelling or redness plus many more.  While it does have some antimicrobial properties, avoid applying to open wounds.  

Generally, taking a tincture 2-4 times a day is a good rule of thumb, but everyone’s body chemistry is unique and it can also depend on what you are taking it for and what works best for you.  For daytime chronic conditions, we suggest starting with small doses taken with meals (preferably meals with fat content) throughout the day because tinctures tend to last 2-6 hours in your body, depending on your metabolism.  If you are using the tinctures for help at night, another dose can be taken before bed.  A trick to help the tincture last longer throughout the whole night is to take some tincture sublingually before bed and also take a capsule filled with tincture at the same time.  The capsule will take longer to go into effect because it isn’t released until your stomach digests the capsule.  This way, you will get relief for longer through a full night’s sleep.   Empty capsules to fill can be purchased at some health food stores or online (Amazon for example).  You can simply drop the tincture right into half the empty capsule and place the empty half on top and push together.