# Digestion of Marijuana **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2000, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137 "2000-05-21T22:13:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bigneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6f9a4e/32.png) [@bigneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bigneck)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2000, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/1 "2000-05-21T22:13:21Z")
Yesterday, my dog ate some marijuana that she was not supposed to, and subsequently, started to act a bit silly. Was she acting silly from the marijuana? I had thought that marijuana had to be heated is some way (smoking or baking, etc.) in order for it to make you, or your dog silly. What is the deal? ---
**Author:** ![Wicked\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@Wicked\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wicked_Blue)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2000, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/2 "2000-05-21T22:30:39Z")
Once my friends little poodle ate an entire joint. The poor little thing couldn’t even sit up for the rest of the night. We called the vet and told him what happened, and he laughed and told us to let the pup sleep it off. As far as people eating pot rather than smoking it, it does not need to be cooked. I don’t know why a person would want to eat it plain, because I’ve heard it tastes terrible. My friend used to make kick-ass garlic toast 😉 Rose ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/3 "2000-05-22T14:25:30Z")
Your body doesn’t care how the THC (the active ingredient) gets into your bloodstream, whether you smoke it or bake it into hash brownies and eat it. Smoking it puts the chemical into faster, closer contact with the blood vessels in your nose, so you get more of a “high”. Waiting for your stomach and intestines to digest it and send the drug along takes longer, and also the THC probably gets diluted a little by its trip through your digestive tract. Don’t know what the statistics are for overdoses for weed in dogs–probably depends on how big the dog is, and how good the dope is. Keep it where she can’t get at it, is my advice. You’re lucky she didn’t eat the baggie, too. ---
**Author:** ![Germ\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Germ\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Germ_Boy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/4 "2000-05-22T14:42:08Z")
Duck you’re right about the inhalation route being the fastest but I want to correct one small point. The nose has little to do with the absorbtion of the smoke. The key is the nearly 75 square meters of alveolar tissue in your lungs that is only cells away from your bloodstream. Fast and vast as we say in the business. The Germ ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/5 "2000-05-22T14:57:29Z")
Ah, politely explain to me how it got some pot to eat 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/6 "2000-05-22T16:35:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > > Don’t know what the statistics are for overdoses for weed in dogs–probably depends on how big the dog is, and how good the dope is. > > \*\* If you are meaning the an overdose leading to death, there is none. Marijuana can’t kill you. Period. Never been an attributable death to the stuff. I read that to achieve an overdose you would need to intake the equivalent of 40,000 joints. Also read about a baby in India that got into the parents hash (concentrated pot) stash. He ate a whole brick of the stuff and passed out- woke up three days later in a hospital a bit thirsty. Safe stuff, one reason why it actually is such a good medicine for so many things- the only main side effect is that you get high. And want to eat Dorito’s 😉 ---
**Author:** ![junebeetle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@junebeetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/junebeetle)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/7 "2000-05-22T16:57:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Marijuana can’t kill you. Yeah, but what about dogs? Chocolate is pretty safe for humans too, but it can make a dog seriously sick. - JB ---
**Author:** ![Germ\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Germ\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Germ_Boy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/8 "2000-05-22T17:19:21Z")
Check out this article if you have a reference library available. “Acute marijuana poisoning in the dog” Journal of the Am. Vet. Med. Assn. 175(10): 1102-1102, 1979. I haven’t seen this particular citation but would suspect that it recommends viewing cannabis as a poison in the canine model. ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/9 "2000-05-22T17:45:46Z")
Cheech and Chong Quote Chong:“Mostly mowi wowi, but it’s got some Labrador in it”. Cheech:“What’s Labrador?” Chong:“It’s dog shit”. Cheech"You mean we’re smoking dog shit man?" Chong:“Yeah, my dog got ahold of my stash, I had to chase him around with a baggie for a week”. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/10 "2000-05-22T18:13:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Yesterday, my dog ate some marijuana that she was not supposed to Whoa… you mean you have a separate stash just for your dog? Cool. Why should cats have all the fun? ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/11 "2000-05-22T20:41:04Z")
A buddy of mine was interviewing to lease an apartment that normally did not allow pets. In order to convince the landlady that his dog (Kiefer)was well-behaved, he took Kief to the interview. Before going into the apartment, he sat in his car with the dog and smoked a large joint, getting the dog high on the sidestream. In the interview, Kiefer circled the rug twice, lay down, and immediately went to sleep. My buddy got the apartment. V. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/12 "2000-05-22T22:45:15Z")
Lungs, not nose–check! Actually, after I posted it, I realized I was thinking of cocaine, because of reading the “taste of cocaine” thread. In other news: Purdue pulls off another save! Check this out. [Marijuana toxicity and farm animals.](http://www.vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/plant35.htm) Hint–do not cut it for hay. > [@](#): > > (in part): > TOXICITY RATING: Low. Animals tend to avoid this plant, and toxic encounters are rarely fatal. > > ANIMALS AFFECTED: All animals, pets as well as horses and livestock, may be affected. > > Nearly all animals will voluntarily avoid marijuana. > > Toxic cases are usually encountered when the plant is mixed in prepared feeds or bedding materials, or if the animal is forced into consuming or inhaling smoke from the plant. > > Signs can include nervousness and disorientation which can progress to depression, trembling, vomiting (in those species that can vomit), and sometimes diarrhea and breathing difficulties. > > Fatalities are rare. Animals more likely to be poisoned are pets (especially dogs and birds), and perhaps swine, but all species are susceptible. > > FIRST AID: In nearly all cases, effects will wear off within a few hours with little or no permanent damage done. In cases of massive (or malicious) poisoning, contact a veterinarian as soon as possible. Emergency evacuation of the gastrointestinal tract may be necessary with followup supportive care. In cases where an animal (most often a dog) has consumed marijuana in baked goods (typically brownies), chocolate toxicosis may be additive to marijuana toxicosis. A veterinarian needs to be contacted in both cases of toxicoses. Dude. So ix-nay on the ownies-bray for Fido. ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/13 "2000-05-23T03:09:27Z")
\*\* [/QUOTE] I read that to achieve an overdose you would need to intake the equivalent of 40,000 joints. \*\* [/QUOTE] Well maybe for a lethal overdose, but overdosing on pot is pretty common, you usually start feeling sick and maybe throwing up some. Some people are more sensitive than others so there’s no guideline, but its alot safer than any other recreational drug, especially alcohol. As far the the dog toxicology report goes, I’ve seen many different types of pets come up and beg for blown hits of pot and eating pot is the best way to waste it unless you just warmed it up to activate the THC. I don’t think most dogs can run the microwave. ---
**Author:** ![Silo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Silo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/14 "2000-05-23T07:42:55Z")
Eating bud is a waste. First, it will take an hour or two to kick in. Secondly, the high will be very weak (but it will last longer). Thirdly, your stomach acids will break down some of the desired chemicals in pot (other than THC). And Fourthly the THC will be released in inconsistant amounts apon entering you intestinal tract. Don’t eat it unless you have like a pound of it. Otherwise it’s kinda a waste. Your SDMB pothead, Mike ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/15 "2000-05-23T14:49:12Z")
The main reason that eating marijuana won’t give you as intense a high as smoking it is that everything absorbed through the digestive system is carried by the blood immediately to the liver, which will try to filter out and breaks down the THC. Only after passing through the liver does it reach the heart and the rest of the body (including the brain). When smoked, marijuan goes straight from the lungs to the heart and thence throughout the body. ---
**Author:** ![Fyodor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/958977/32.png) [@Fyodor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fyodor)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/16 "2000-05-23T15:57:52Z")
Back in the sixties the hippie recipe of choice was “honey sliders”. You tossed some pot in a cast iron fry pan and fried it until wisps of smoke started to come off it. This supposedly “activated” the pot for digestive purposes. Then you took the fry pan off the heat, added some honey, mixed it together, and ate it with a spoon. I recall that those friends of mine who did this found it a very effective smoke-free method of preparing to party down. ---
**Author:** ![ReservoirDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@ReservoirDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReservoirDog)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/17 "2000-05-23T20:18:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Nearly all animals will voluntarily avoid marijuana. Perhaps in the wild, when the plant is still growing. But I have met two dogs and at least two cats who would try to grab the dried goods off the table and eat it. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2000, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/18 "2000-05-23T22:52:01Z")
A few years ago, my friend’s puppy ate a whole plate of noodles we had coated with pot butter. The dog didn’t move for a day and stumbled alot when it eventually got up, but after 2 1/2 days he was fine. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2000, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/19 "2000-05-24T01:19:55Z")
[QUOTE but its alot safer than any other recreational drug, especially alcohol. I’m just quibbling here: I think it would be more accurate to say that it’s a lot less risky, or dangerous, than other drugs, because it does, of course, have some fairly well documented deleterious side-effects. Using it in moderation apparently is a fairly benign activity, health-wise, and it hasn’t stopped me from loving it for the last 30 years or so. But the truth is that it isn’t “safe” any more than any other substance that has some negative impact, including alcohol. Quibble done. ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2000, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137/20 "2000-05-24T07:20:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > But the truth is that it isn’t “safe” any more than any other substance that has some negative impact, including alcohol. Quibble done. > \*\* Lets say I had a choice between drinking to get moderatly wasted or smoking pot to get pretty high, I’d go for the pot. First off, its cheaper, better, and I don’t need to wake up hungover nor take the chance of finding out that I might be prone to alcoholism. Of course I can say its safer than any/most recreational drugs, as a lot of the others are physically addictive. Becoming an addict and facing withdrawl is something I can do without. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digestion-of-marijuana/20137.md?page=2)