Dr. Caplan,
I have been working on a personal dose calculator for smoking Recreational THCa, CBDa & CBGa dominant flower, and I feel I’ve come very close to a usable tool! However, I am noticing “measurable” differences between joint, bong, and dry herb vaporizer sessions. It’s not simply a difference in the level of effects…it’s each overall experience is different. For example, I have crafted a blend of flowers to achieve a THCa:CBDa:CBGa parts ratio of 1:1:1 for a 1 gram session:
Total THCa ~15.66mg
Total CBDa ~15.66mg
Total CBGa ~15.66mg
Joint – Baseline Session length approximately 20 minutes; experience consistent with my established minimum effective dose and achieves desired results.
Bong – Session length approximately 40 minutes; experience elevated…~10% to 20%…overall experience achieves desired results, however slightly different (elevated) and than Joint.
DHV – Session length approximately 75 minutes; experience elevated…~10% to 30%…overall experience achieves desired results and is a more full-body and rounded experience.
Are my observations of “elevated” more likely to be a difference in inhalation methodology, the time-span of the session, both, or something different?
Thank you,
Bill T
Hi Bill,
This is fascinating stuff. The way you’re tracking your sessions reminds me of a patient I once worked with who was living with diabetes. He started carefully documenting everything—his meals, weight, blood pressure, energy levels—and over time, he saw patterns emerge. Slowly, as his weight dropped and his body responded, he was able to reduce, and eventually almost eliminate, his insulin and other medications.
This kind of “naturalist science” used to be how we learned about medicine before there were giant clinical trials. It’s incredibly rich because it captures the real-world complexity that formal studies often miss.
The differences you’re noticing between a joint, bong, and vaporizer could absolutely be tied to the mechanics of each method—how quickly cannabinoids hit the bloodstream, how long you’re inhaling, even how your mind and body respond to the pacing of the session. But there’s also the endlessly tricky layer of human variability. Two people could use the exact same flower in the same device and describe totally different experiences.
I’d love to hear more about the patterns you’ve noticed. When you say the experience feels “elevated,” what stands out most—is it a physical sensation, a mental clarity, a change in mood? And have you seen these differences hold up consistently across sessions, or do they vary depending on things like time of day or what you’ve eaten?
Your observations are the kind of careful, real-world insights that move the science forward.
—Dr. Caplan
