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The Case for Unit Dosing Capsules in Cannabis

In the evolving field of medical cannabis products, encapsulation is a viable technology for those looking to standardize dosage and provide an alternative to smoking.

Encapsulating cannabis oil is one way to achieve dosage control, as they can only hold a certain amount of fill material.
Encapsulating cannabis oil is one way to achieve dosage control, as they can only hold a certain amount of fill material.

For FDA-regulated drugs, dosage is established and confirmed with robust data, and indications are designed to make dosage as clear as possible for patients and healthcare providers. But for cannabis products, patients may struggle with ensuring that they consume the proper dose.

At least some confusion stems from the different forms that medical cannabis product take—including traditional dried flower buds, oils, extracts and edibles— and the different ways they are consumed. Delivery mechanisms include smoking, vaporization and inhalation, eating, or sublingual or topical application.

Particularly with edibles, strength can vary widely from batch to batch, and inaccuracy in labeling can result in over- or under-dosing. In fact, a recent study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that 83% of the edible products they purchased in Seattle, LA and San Francisco were either over- or under-labeled. While this study only looked at three cities, the results suggest that the actual strength of an edible product may not be consistent with its label.

“Let’s look at this from the patient’s perspective,” says Jonathan Gilinski, Founder and CEO of The Capsule Consulting Group. “Being new to cannabis you choose a smokeless edible option—and end up so over-medicated that the cannabis that was supposed to help you actually makes you feel worse.” This can turn a patient away from treatment that may have strong medicinal potential at the right dose. The opposite scenario is possible as well, where an inadequate dose of THC does not provide symptom relief.

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