LastLeaf

THC Edibles in the Marketplace: Art and Science Meet Cuisine

The Fallacy Of Prohibition

A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.

-Abraham Lincoln

In 1954, Alice B. Toklas published The Alice B. Toklas Cook Book. Imbued with many personal anecdotes, it features recipes that contain cannabis, such as her now infamous “Hashish Fudge.” 1954, however, was a very hostile time for anything related to marijuana, with public condemnation of it as “the devil weed that drives men to savage lusts and women to unspeakable depravities.” Still, the Toklas book became one of the best-selling cookbooks ever published, fueled by the recreational use of cannabis and the discovery of the lies told by regulatory authorities.

The government’s prohibition of cannabis kept all legitimate science of cannabinoids far away from the hysterical hype until the medical literature finally began to examine it and, thus, began to exonerate it:

When authoritative journals began to demonstrate effective therapeutic benefits from cannabinoids, the old prejudices against them evaporated.

Today’s public is media-savvy, so they are well aware of not only the past’s misinformation about recreational use, but the new, therapeutic benefits of adding the “neurotransmitter,” THC, to modern medicine’s progressive arsenal of healing compounds.

Depression and other mood disorders, PTSD, insomnia, dementia, pain, inflammation, nausea, and an ever-growing list of other ailments are being impacted positively by utilizing the amazing abilities of this molecule—like the very one our own bodies manufacture for the same effects, if we’re lucky.

The Transition From Medicine To Supplement

You are what you eat.

– the take-home message from French author Anthelme Brillatt-Savarin in 1826.

Everyone eats, and everyone is what they eat. If therapeutic cannabinoids can be used in microdoses—i.e., enough for the beneficial effects without the undesirable effects of toxicity or inebriation—introducing it into what is eaten will evolve as a novel and clever way to double the benefits of one’s daily diet—health, but also…“health-effects.”

Such innovations, finally, are being supported and validated by what’s coming out of the medical literature. Again, the Internet has made possible the application of ideas from one science realm (biology and biochemistry) to another (the culinary sciences).

THC is infused into what we eat in microdoses, and the market for such “edibles” (or “drinkables,” when infused into liquids) has now opened for those who wish to use them for the benefits they offer. Not all of what is available is the same, however.

There is A Science to cusine; but don’t be fooled — THERE’S A RELIGION TO CUISINE, TOO!

We had no electricity, no gas. Food was probably our greatest entertainment – the most fun thing that we could do was food.” – Paul Prudhomme

Ask any 5-star chef: simply, any meal must taste good. It is chemistry, yes, but the right chemistry will invoke the magical myth of alchemy:

“The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher’s Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.”

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

The human family is the highest pinnacle of societal evolution. As a species, the human being has long centered its reflections of the day on the dinner table. It all goes back to the “hearth” or, fireplace, as the center of the home; the hearth was where meals were cooked. It was a daily tradition, whether done after the hunting-and-gathering of yesterday or day-trading today.

The alchemy involved—the pure magic—is the family enjoying what is delectable, in loving and joyful camaraderie, as a family’s embrace in self-love and actualized purpose. Human beings are a social group, and eating alone—even if it’s room service from the Four Seasons—is incomplete; what is nutritious for the body must be delicious for the soul, and the more soulmates the better! Eating is not just opening the gullet; it is socialization and good will.

The New Healthcare “Providers”

As such, the new generation of cannabis-infused “providers” has raised the bar, by tweaking and balancing the tricky equilibrium between artful cuisine and the healing powers of the cannabis plant.

     Does this mean we are medicating ourselves at each meal?

     Yes (in a good way) and no (if you’re worried).

The beauty of microdosing means you can get the benefits of cannabis toward your well-being without “using” it as the reason to eat or drink.
You eat and drink to fulfil your dietary needs and to feed the magic of the family, but you choose cannabis-infused ingredients as the bonus, when appropriate.
Following the science will teach you the benefits of cannabis and THC-infused cuisine; following the art of food preparation will teach you life well lived. Be hungry for companionship, for quality, for creativity. Let the experts do the alchemy. And even if you do eat alone, at least with the cannabis infusion technology, you still score the bonus.

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