Nowadays, a lot of people grow cannabis at home and if you have cats or dogs or other animals around they may get into your grow space. Sometimes they may even munch on your plants a little bit: is this a medical emergency? Can your pet get high from eating raw cannabis leaves?
The short answer is: No. You nor your pet can get high from eating raw cannabis.
Read on to learn why—it’s the long answer and it’s an interesting one!
If you have a pet you’re likely to run into this problem—whether you’re out and you’re your pet gets into your weed or they just find something left on the table, it’s possible that they find something to chew on. You do not have to panic, just keep calm and stay cool. Let’s figure out how cannabis will affect your pets.
What’s in Cannabis Leaves?
The cannabis plant has a lot of nutrients such as essential vitamins and minerals, proteins, and fiber, but it also has terpenes, flavonoids, and cannabinoids. Let’s talk about the structure of cannabis leaf first and figure out if there will be any harmful compounds in it since cannabis leaves contain all the 144 cannabinoids that are also contained in the buds. We also know that we can use the cuttings to make cannabutter and cannabis-based food.
When we trim we cut away two types of leaves: sugar leaves (smaller leaves that grow near or on the buds, which have high THC content), and fan leaves (the larger leaves that help collect and regulate moisture and photosynthesize). Sugar leaves contain trichomes while the fan leaves do not contain much, but the fan leaves do contain chlorophyll, a very low acidic cannabinoid content, and a number of phytonutrients, so fan leaves can be made into a tea (a traditional drink in Jamaica) or salves.
Can You Get High from Eating Raw Cannabis Leaves?
Ever hope that get high from eating raw cannabis leaves? You might be disappointed after eating them because they’re both pretty awful tasting and they actually won’t get you high. If you would like to know why this is the case let’s learn a little more about cannabis chemistry.
Cannabinoids are a naturally-occurring chemical compound that is produced by cannabis. When you metabolize weed these compounds enter your body. The endocannabinoid system interactions will trigger activity and make changes in your body to your mood, appetite, your sleep pattern, or your pain perception. These are the more accurate descriptions for “getting high.” If you eat raw fan leaves you’re probably not going to get high because there simply isn’t enough THC to make a change.
Further, the cannabinoids that make you high require some form of energy to activate: exposure to heat or light from smoking or baking causes the carboxylic acid group to detach, which then can be absorbed by your body.
Can Animals Get High from Eating Raw Cannabis Leaves?
Raw cannabis plants have the non-psychoactive cannabinoid THCA in them. As we mentioned, eating raw cannabis doesn’t get you high and it probably won’t get your pet high, either. That said, dogs and cats are different than humans.
Animals have endocannabinoid systems in their bodies just like humans so technically pets can “digest” prepared cannabis and “get high” like humans do. However, dogs, cats, and other pets do not react the same way to cannabis as you or I might. Even though CBD for pets is making waves in the market, cannabis may not actually be that safe for animals because both CBD and THC can cause seizures—this depends on your pet, but it is much more likely to happen in an animal than in a human.
So, in general, keep your weed away from your pets—they don’t need it, it doesn’t do the same things to them as it does to you, and it doesn’t improve their quality of life.
To sum Up
No, you and your pets cannot get high from eating raw cannabis leaves. But be safe and keep your pets healthy by keeping them away from your weed. You don’t want to risk any adverse effects on your pets, you just don’t know what could happen.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!
And be sure to check out our other blog posts for useful tips on becoming a great grower!
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