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Cannabis foods concerns the preparation and cooking of foods with the drug cannabis in herbal or resin form as an alternate way to experience the effects of the drug without smoking it. Commonly it is cooked into a cake, cookie, brownie, or other baked product to be distributed socially. There are many different names and slang terms for these recipes. Most are based on standard recipes for brownies, cakes or cookies. Often, prefixes such as hash, cannabis, weed, space, cosmic, magic, special, enhanced are added to the name of the food that they are prepared with: "hash cakes," "special brownies" etc.

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active substance in cannabis, and other cannabinoids are hydrophobic oils, which are insoluble in water but soluble in lipids (oil/fat) and alcohol. Thus, using either one of these to extract THC from cannabis is required to have the cooked product be psychoactive.^[1] Furthermore, during preparation, the cannabis or its extract should be sufficiently heated or dehydrated to cause decarboxylation of its most abundant cannabinoid, tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, into psychoactive THC.^[2]

The oil-solubility of cannabis extracts has been known since ancient times, when Sanskrit recipes from India required that the cannabis (ganja) be sautéed in ghee before mixing it with other ingredients.^[1][3] Making a tea by boiling cannabis in water is a highly inefficient way to extract cannabinoids, although if the cannabis is of good quality and has plenty of resin on the outside, a portion of resin can be softened by the heat and float out into the water. (THC is fat soluble and needs more than just water to have a proper effect).

Some authors claim that oral consumption of cannabis, when properly cooked, is a more efficient way to absorb cannabinoids than smoking it.^[4]

Oil

"Cannaoil" or "marijuana oil" is a cooking oil based product that has been infused with cannabinoids. This can be achieved by cooking the oil at an extremely low temperature along with ground cannabis for a long period of time to allow the cannabinoids to absorb into the fat within the oils. This can be as easy as using a frying pan or pot, or using a double boiler, or the easiest method using a slow cooker. Cannaoil can be used in any recipe that calls for oil that does not go above the temperature at which THC vaporizes, which is 210 degrees Celsius (401 degrees Fahrenheit).

Butter

"Cannabutter" or "marijuana butter" is a butter-based emulsion which has been infused with cannabinoids. This is achieved by heating the raw cannabis along with butter and allowing the cannabinoids to be extracted by the fat. The equipment necessary for the manufacture of cannabutter can be as simple as a sauce pan and spatula or as complicated as a double-boiler, or slow cooker, cheese cloth or tea strainer and funnel.^[5]

 Leary Biscuits

An urban counterculture legend insists that Timothy Leary came up with a very simple recipe which involves buttering up a cracker, or covering it with cheese, placing a small amount of marijuana on top and heating in the microwave for a short time before ingesting the finished "biscuit."

 Liqueurs

Because cannabis resins are soluble in alcohol, an effective way of adding them into dishes is through cooking brandy or rum infused with cannabinoids. Generally, stems and leaves of the marijuana plant are used due to their lower THC content when smoked. When infused in high-proof grain-based alcohol (such as vodka) it becomes what is commonly known as "Green Dragon".

Creme de Gras is a flavored liqueur made from cannabis.^[6] It can be added to coffee and other beverages.Hash cookie

Hash cookies, also known as space cookies, are relatively common in regions with liberal drug policies, including parts of Europe (particularly the Netherlands). They are bakery products made using one of the forms of cannabis, including hashish.

Hash cookies are essentially the same as marijuana cookies but are more potent. They can be seen in cake, ball, and brownie form as well. To make them, large amounts of hash (typically half a gram to as much as a gram a cookie) are baked into the product in careful steps, so that the user is able to achieve a high without smoking. Some users report that the high is different from smoking, it is usually more powerful and much longer lasting but more subtle. The high produced by hash products are generally associated with a feeling of lightness, commonly referred to as a "body high". The main benefits to preparing these cookies is that they do not cause the respiratory system harm that smoke does and can be used in many places where smoking is not convenient, as they can easily be brought to parties, cafes etc. One is not usually able to tell the difference between regular baked goods and those containing drugs before consumption, but they tend to have a slight greenish tinge with marijuana, and they often emit a faint odor. A mild flavor can be detectable if sufficient quantities are used. Many resources for recipes, preparation, and dosage are available online, though they vary greatly in effectiveness and quality.

The writer Alice B. Toklas's inclusion of her friend Brion Gysin's recipe for "Haschich Fudge" in her 1954 literary memoir The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook caused a sensation at the time, and led to her name becoming associated with cannabis food with the use of the phrase "Alice B. Toklas brownies" for many years afterwards. (A common eggcorn of the term is as "toke-less brownies".)

Psychoactive effects

Eating a food can result in a similar psychoactive effect or "high" as smoking marijuana, although it may be delayed or mitigated due to slower absorption of the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) through the digestive tract. Some believe it imparts a smoother "high". However there are accounts of stronger, longer lasting highs resulting from eating cannabis foods.^{[citation needed]} Whereas the effects from smoking cannabis are usually felt within a few minutes, it can take up to two hours to reach full effects after ingesting it.

Several possible reasons causing a different high when eating cannabis could be:

• Absorption of a different ratio of cannabinoids, since easily metabolised cannabinoids will not reach the brain, or reach it in lower concentrations.
• Slower plasma increase in THC concentration means that receptors and pathways in the brain which are particularly likely to downregulate well before the cannabinoids reach a high (or 'peaky') plasma concentration.
• Different cannabinoids are released and/or created due to the pyrolysis of the plant material when smoking.

Cultural influence

The brownie was used in the 1968 film I Love You, Alice B. Toklas, in which a character portrayed by Peter Sellers becomes disillusioned with his mainstream life after falling in love with a free spirit, only to become just as disillusioned with the hippie subculture. Marijuana-spiked brownies are a key plot element.

The brownie also plays a major role on That '70s Show, where the gang of kids enjoy them as snacks and as a source of getting high. Especially in the episode "Garage Sale", where Red (Kurtwood Smith) eats all of Hyde's (Danny Masterson) "special brownies" and sells his son Eric's (Topher Grace) car while under the influence. Another episode, Eric gets revenge on his friends for ditching him and Donna in a Dine & Dash and instead uses laxatives but he tells them they were "special". The gang tells him that they don't feel "special" (the laxatives didn't affect them yet).

It has been featured as a plot device in numerous TV shows, including Grounded for Life, ("Henry's Working for the Drug Squad") 
Medical Cannabis users report finding many reliefs from food-based cannabis medicines. The longer lasting sedative qualities of these "nutriceuticals" make for ideal medicines when used correctly. Many companies in California produce these medicines for cannabis dispensing collectives throughout the state. Compassion Medicinal Edibles, formerly known as Tainted Inc. were one of the state's largest producers of non-smoked cannabis edibles until the Drug Enforcement Agents shut down their operation in September of 2007.