Cannabis Extract Tastes Bad and, Being Oily, Does not Mix with Water

choi

Vipal Monga and Jennifer Maloney, The Sober Truth About Drinking Cannabis -- It Tastes Terrible; Makers of marijuana-infused beverages battle unsavory oils; Hints of dirty socks. Wall Street Journal, Mar 12, 2019 (front page).
https://www.wsj.com/articles/can ... errible-11552254570
http://www.sosneighborhoods.com/ ... nks-taste-like-pee/

Quote:

"Cannabis drinks are hitting the global market, promising anxiety reduction, pain relief and better sleep. One thing none of them tout is taste. * * * The self-described cannabis advocate[, Ron Silver, owner of Bubby's restaurant in New York,] says he started cooking [food] with hemp oil about five years ago

"It turns out the oily cannabis extracts don't mix with water * * * In their natural form, cannabis compounds known as cannabinoids are oils that separate from water-based liquids. They include the high-inducing compound known as tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and the nonintoxicating one known as cannabidiol, or CBD * * * Once consumed, the compounds must be processed by the liver before they can have any effect, so it can take an hour or more for the cannabis to work.

Various people have tried to mix cannabis oil with water. Pne example: "Others are using a 'nano-emulsion' process that breaks the CBD and THC compounds into tiny particles [basically oil dropplets], then mixes them in water-based liquids using other chemicals known as surfactants.  The downside: Those chemicals taste soapy * * *

"Mr [Brett] Vye[, Chief Executive of Truss, a joint venture between Molson Coors and Hexo Corp, of Gatineau, Quebec,] said, the taste of cannabis itself [not just its oily extracts], with its dominant notes of lemon and pine, should be embraced.

Note:
(a) The online title: Cannabis Drinks Confront a Serious Buzz Kill—They Taste Terrible.

buzzkill (n; etymology: "buzz +‎ kill. See buzz ('feeling of energy or excitement' ")
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/buzzkill
is something or someone that kills buzz.

(b) There is no need to read the rest.
(c) surfactant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant  
("Surfactants are usually organic compounds that are amphiphilic, meaning they contain both hydrophobic groups (their tails) and hydrophilic groups (their heads). * * * In the bulk aqueous phase, surfactants form aggregates, such as micelles, where the hydrophobic tails form the core of the aggregate and the hydrophilic heads are in contact with the surrounding liquid
(d) "Once consumed, the compounds must be processed by the liver before they can have any effect, so it can take an hour or more" to feel the psychological effects (be it high, calmness etc).
(i) It should be "Once ingested."
(ii) The statement is simply wrong.

Mary Barna Bridgeman, Medicinal Cannabis: History, Pharmacology, And Implications for the Acute Care Setting. Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P & T),  42: 180 (2017)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5312634/
("Evidence suggesting its use more than 5,000 years ago in what is now Romania has been described extensively. * * * Endocannabinoids (eCBs) and their receptors are found throughout the human body: nervous system, internal organs, connective tissues, glands, and immune cells. The eCB system has a homeostatic role, having been characterized as 'eat, sleep, relax, forget, and protect.' * * * The most well-known eCB ligands are N-arachidonyl-ethanolamide (anandamide or AEA) and sn-2-arachidonoyl-glycerol (2-AG). AEA and 2-AG are released upon demand from cell membrane phospholipid precursors. * * * Δ9-THC * * * is known to be the major psychoactive component of cannabis * * * The primary psychoactive constituent of marijuana—Δ9-THC—is rapidly transferred from lungs to blood during smoking. In a randomized controlled trial conducted by Huestis and colleagues, THC was detected in plasma immediately after the first inhalation of marijuana smoke, attesting to the efficient absorption of THC from the lungs. THC levels rose rapidly and peaked prior to the end of smoking. * * * THC is highly lipophilic, distributing rapidly to highly perfused tissues [including brain] and later to fat. [and hence loses effect on brain] * * * plasma levels after oral doses were low and irregular, indicating slow and erratic absorption")

The "erratic absorption" adsorption through GI (gastrointestinal) tract is the cause of delayed onset of ingested cannabis. THC itself is psychoactive; liver does not play a role to activate anything.

Human body has its own endogenous ligands and receptors. THC is an outside source that mimics endogenous ligands and binds with endogenous receptors.