Why does eating THC (brownies, etc.) last longer than smoking?

Hi,

A couple of days ago I ate my first pot brownies. They contained about 1/20th of an ounce of pot. It hit after something like 2.5 hours, and it hit HARD. It was the most intense trip I've ever had on weed, and it lasted for 8 hours!

This left me wondering - how come orally ingested THC has such a high duration of effects? I understand that it is digested and released into the blood more gradually (over the course of a few hours), but then the effects should also be more mild than smoking - since the THC will be digested/released into the bloodstream little by little. And if it's actually released all at once, then shouldn't it be metabolized just as fast as if you smoked it?

Is orally ingested THC somehow chemically different, potent or harder to metabolize than smoked?

Anyone?

your body metabolizes what you ingest, vs smoking it..

it's all about the route, ie, if you injected THC, you would feel it before you pulled out the needle

By 'metabolizing' I meant the breaking down of THC - your body breaks down the THC and flushes it out of the system. Otherwise you would be high forever.

The question is why does it take longer to break it down if you ingested it than if you smoked it? It's the same THC...or is it?

When you smoke, you are destroying THC actually. You still get some, but I'm guessing the bioavalibility is much higher orally. Plus, you get more of the THC too.

you apply the flame of the lighter to the bowl, thus destroying more THC

it's all about the route, like I said.

if you ingest, you have to chew, then it goes into the stomach and gets broken down, then into the small intestine where it gets absorbed, then it filters through your liver. then the rest of the food is pushed into the large intestine where it gets reabsorbed and excreted.

if you smoke. light the bowl/joint, inhale.

It's because your stomach has more THC receptors.

The THC is absorbed gradually as the food passes through your small intestine. When you smoke or vape, it is absorbed almost instantly. Eating provides a "time released" high.

this^^^ it's a lot slower reaction (don't know if i put it in the right words) but buzzby did

no.