People say they get high from edibles within an hour, but for me it takes a lot longer. One time I ate an edible in the evening and didn’t feel anything until I woke up in the morning high and disoriented. What’s up with that?

Because edibles are metabolized by your liver — unlike with smoking, where the THC hits the bloodstream through your lungs — weight, diet, even gender affect your absorption rate. So do gastrointestinal issues like malabsorption or irritable bowel syndrome. Some people report waiting up to four hours for the THC to kick in and feeling stoned up to eight hours after consumption.

For a quicker high without having to blaze, try lozenges or lollipops. When you absorb THC through mucous membranes under the tongue, you bypass the digestive process. A five-milligram candy should take only 20 minutes to reach peak effects. Pretty sweet.

Have a question for our budtender? E-mail budtender@chicagomag.com.