Can You Get High From Eating Raw Weed? - Medical News Today

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Medical News TodaySubscribeEating raw weed: Can it get you high?

Medically reviewed by Alex Nguyen, PharmD, RPh, CPh, Rare Diseases, Neurology, Psychiatry — Written by Jessica Caporuscio, PharmD — Updated on May 30, 2025

Can it?
Other effects
Research challenges
Alternatives
Summary

Eating raw cannabis does not get a person high in the same way that smoking or vaping it does. This is because the main psychoactive compound in cannabis only becomes active with heat.

The effects of cannabis come from its active ingredients: delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and cannabigerol (CBG). These chemicals are activated by a chemical process called decarboxylation that results from heating the cannabis.

Because of this, raw weed may not produce the high that people usually expect from cannabis. That said, some researchers are still interested in the possible medicinal uses of raw weed.

Read on to learn about whether or not a person can get high from eating raw weed and about the possible medicinal effects of these inactive compounds. This article also discusses some other ways that a person can use cannabis.

Can raw weed get you high?

a man holding raw weed which you can get high from eating — Eating raw weed is unlikely to cause a significant high.

The cannabis plant produces between 80 and 100 cannabinoids. THC, CBD, and CBG are three compounds that may produce significant therapeutic effects.

However, these three cannabinoids do not occur naturally in high concentrations in raw weed. Raw weed contains these three cannabinoids with a carboxylic acid attached.

Experts refer to these compounds as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinolic (THCA-A), cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), and cannabigerolic acid (CBGA).

With exposure to light or heat from smoking or baking, the carboxylic acid group detaches. This process is called decarboxylation. Without the carboxylic acid group, these three compounds have the potential to cause a therapeutic effect. It is only then that THC can result in a high.

People are therefore unlikely to experience a significant high if they eat raw weed.

Other effects of raw weed

In raw cannabis, THC exists in its inactive form, called THCA (tetrahydrocannabinolic acid). THCA is not psychoactive, so it will not make a person feel high.

However, raw cannabis may still have health benefits, as THCA and other cannabinoids (like CBDA) have been studied for anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and anti-nausea properties.

Researchers are interested in the possible therapeutic effects of raw weed. These potential benefits may include:

Protecting brain cells

One study in the British Journal of Pharmacology demonstrated that THCA might have a protective effect on brain cells.

These findings may be important for experts in neuroinflammatory diseases and neurodegenerative conditions such as Huntington’s disease. THC may be an interesting therapeutic option in these cases.

A 2023 study looked at the effects of CBDA and THCA in mice. The results suggest that CBDA and THCA in raw hemp may help protect the brain from damage from Alzheimer’s disease (AD), reduce key AD markers, and improve memory.

This points to their potential as therapeutic agents for Alzheimer’s disease, though more research — especially in humans — is needed to confirm these effects.

Providing antinausea effects

Researchers are also interested in the possible antinausea effect of THCA.

In an older study in the British Journal of Pharmacology, researchers explored the antinausea effect of THCA in rats. The researchers demonstrated that it was effective in reducing nausea and vomiting.

They suggest that THCA may be a more potent alternative to THC in the treatment of nausea and vomiting. Further studies are necessary to find out whether or not these effects also occur in humans.

Challenges in research

One of the difficulties associated with studying the effects of THCA is its instability in nature. The carboxylic acid group detaches easily from the compound.

For example, researchers have demonstrated that THCA is unstable in ethanol. After 10 days at 77ºF (25ºC), only 33% of the THCA remained in ethanol. Losses of THCA even occurred after freezing.

Although researchers suggest that there are many possible medicinal uses of raw weed, they must ensure its stability to prevent THCA from converting quickly to THC, which causes a high.

Alternative ways to use weed

According to one study, smoking is the most prevalent form of cannabis use. Vaping is another common form of consumption. However, both vaping and smoking can have adverse effects on the lungs.

Consuming cannabis in the form of edibles could be a way of using weed without harming the lungs.

The effects of edibles differ from those of raw weed because the cannabis in edibles has gone through the process of decarboxylation.

The section below discusses edibles in more detail.

Marijuana edibles

In states where recreational cannabis use is legal, 11% of people who use it take it in edible form. In states where only medical cannabis use is legal, there is a 5.1% prevalence of edible use. Only 4.2% of people report consuming edibles in states where cannabis is illegal.

Researchers have also found that baked goods and candies are the most consumed edible cannabis products in the United States.

Manufacturers also produce cannabis infused:

drinks
spreads
sublingual drops
snacks
pills
mouth sprays
topicals

People who do not want to smoke, who do not want to smell of smoke, or who feel anxious about inhaling weed may wish to consider consuming edibles instead.

It is possible for a person consuming cannabis in the form of an edible to take too much. They may not notice this immediately because the high may be delayed. To avoid taking too much, eat a smaller amount and wait for the effect.

Summary

People are unlikely to get high from eating raw weed. Cannabis naturally produces potentially inactive compounds. These include THCA, which is THC with a carboxylic acid group attached, among others.

Some researchers are interested in the possible medicinal benefits of THCA, as it has demonstrated early evidence for neuroprotection, immunologic effects, and anti-nausea and anti-vomiting effects.

People who want to get high from consuming cannabis can prepare raw weed in baked goods. Heat and other factors cause the carboxyl group to detach from the compound. In this form, THC will have psychogenic effects.

A person can also consume cannabis in drinks, spreads, mouth sprays, and pills.

Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs
Complementary Medicine / Alternative Medicine
Marijuana / Cannabis / CBD

How we reviewed this article:

SourcesMedical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

McPartland JM, et al. (2017). Affinity and efficacy studies of tetrahydrocannabinolic acid A at cannabinoid receptor types one and two.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5510775/
Nadal X, et al. (2017). Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid is a potent PPARγ agonist with neuroprotective activity.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5731255/
Kim J, et al. (2023). The cannabinoids, CBDA and THCA, rescue memory deficits and reduce amyloid-beta and tau pathology in an
Alzheimer’s disease-like mouse model.https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10095267/
Rock EM, et al. (2013). Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid reduces nausea-induced conditioned gaping in rats and vomiting in Suncus murinus.https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3792001/
Steigerwald S, et al. (2018). Smoking, vaping, and use of edibles and other forms of marijuana among U.S. adults.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6296858/
What are cannabinoids? (2025).https://adf.org.au/drug-facts/cannabinoids/

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Medically reviewed by Alex Nguyen, PharmD, RPh, CPh, Rare Diseases, Neurology, Psychiatry — Written by Jessica Caporuscio, PharmD — Updated on May 30, 2025

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Can You Get High From Eating Raw Weed? - Medical News Today

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Can raw weed get you high?

Other effects of raw weed

Protecting brain cells

Providing antinausea effects

Challenges in research

Alternative ways to use weed

Marijuana edibles

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