Cannabis Education Center
Cannabis is a complex plant, but understanding it doesn't have to be. We built this education center to give you clear, honest, science-backed answers to the questions that actually matter — whether you're walking into a dispensary for the first time or you've been using cannabis for years and want to go deeper. Every guide below is written to respect your time, cite real research, and help you make better decisions about how you buy, use, and enjoy cannabis.
Cannabis Science: How the Plant Works
Before you shop, it helps to understand what's actually happening inside cannabis — and inside your body when you use it. These guides cover the biology, the chemistry, and the compounds that make every strain different.
The Endocannabinoid System
Your body has a built-in network of receptors designed to interact with cannabis compounds. Understanding the ECS is the single best way to understand why cannabis affects you the way it does.
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THC vs. CBD
The two most famous cannabinoids do very different things in your body. One gets you high; the other doesn't. The real story is more nuanced — and understanding it changes how you shop.
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Major vs. Minor Cannabinoids
Cannabis produces over 100 cannabinoids. THC and CBD get the headlines, but CBG, CBN, THCV, and CBC are opening up entirely new categories of products and effects.
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What is THCa
THCa is the raw, non-intoxicating form of THC in fresh cannabis — and the reason your flower label leads with it. Learn what THCa is, how heat turns it into THC, and what those percentages mean.
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Cannabis Terpenes
Terpenes are the aromatic compounds that give each strain its unique smell and flavor — and they do a lot more than that. They shape your experience as much as THC does.
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What Are Trichomes?
The frosty crystals covering quality cannabis flower aren't decoration — they're miniature chemical factories that produce every cannabinoid and terpene in the plant.
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Sativa vs. Indica vs. Hybrid
The three labels on every dispensary menu are useful shorthand but unreliable predictors. Here's what the labels actually mean, what they don't, and what to look at instead.
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The Entourage Effect
The theory that cannabis compounds work better together than alone is one of the most influential ideas in modern cannabis science — and also one of the most debated.
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Delta 8 THC
What delta-8 THC actually is, how it differs from the delta-9 in dispensaries, why it's called "gas station weed," and what's changing about its legal status.
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Product Guide: What's on the Menu
Modern dispensaries carry far more than flower. Each product type delivers cannabinoids differently — different onset times, different durations, different levels of control. These guides break down what each format is, how it works, and who it's best for.
Cannabis Flower
The original and still the most popular. How to judge quality by look, smell, and feel — and why the lab report matters more than the label.
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Cannabis Edibles
Edibles are the most misunderstood product in the dispensary. They don't behave like smoking, and people who assume they do have rough experiences. Here's how they actually work.
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THC Drinks
Everything you need to know about THC drinks — how nano-emulsification works, onset and duration, the main drink formats, dosing guidance, and how cannabis beverages compare to edibles and alcohol.
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Cannabis Concentrates
Shatter, wax, live resin, rosin, distillate — concentrates are the most potent and fastest-evolving category in cannabis. A complete guide to types, extraction methods, and how to use them.
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Cannabis Tinctures
The most precise, discreet, and underrated cannabis format. Tinctures offer calibrated dosing, fast sublingual onset, and zero smoke.
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Cannabis Topicals
Creams, balms, and patches that target pain and inflammation exactly where you apply them — without producing a high. The most beginner-friendly product in the dispensary.
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Cannabis Pre-Rolls
Pre-rolled joints are the most convenient format, but quality varies dramatically. How to tell whole-flower from trim, and what infused pre-rolls actually are.
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Dosing & Consumption: How to Use Cannabis
How you consume cannabis matters as much as what you consume. These guides cover the practical side — methods, doses, timelines, and what to do when things don't go as planned.
Vaping vs. Smoking Cannabis
Both deliver cannabinoids through your lungs, but the differences in health impact, flavor, efficiency, and experience are bigger than most people realize.
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Cannabis Edibles Dosage Guide
The most common edibles mistake is taking too much. This guide gives specific dose ranges — from microdose to high dose — with expectations at each level.
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Microdosing Cannabis
Not everyone wants to feel "high." Microdosing delivers real benefits — stress relief, mood support, mild pain relief — at doses so low that intoxication barely registers.
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How Long Does a Cannabis High Last?
Smoking fades in 1–3 hours. Edibles are a 4–8 hour commitment. Tinctures sit in between. Exact timelines for every method so you know what to expect before you consume.
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What to Do If You're Too High
If you've taken too much cannabis, you're safe — but you probably don't feel like it right now. A calm, practical guide to coming down comfortably.
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DIY & Cannabis Care
Cannabis is a perishable product that rewards good handling. These guides cover how to keep it fresh and how to use it in the kitchen.
How to Store Cannabis
The four enemies of fresh cannabis are heat, light, oxygen, and humidity — and all four are easy to control. A complete preservation guide for flower, edibles, concentrates, and more.
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Decarboxylation
Raw cannabis doesn't get you high. The plant produces THCA, not THC, and it takes heat to convert one into the other. The science of activation — and how to do it at home.
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Cooking with Cannabis
How to make cannabutter, cannabis oil, and dose homemade edibles safely. The two-step process that makes every cannabis recipe work.
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Wellness & Cannabis Culture
Cannabis doesn't exist in a vacuum. These guides connect the plant to broader questions — how it interacts with sleep, and how a 12,000-year-old crop ended up in a modern dispensary.
Cannabis and Sleep
Millions of people use cannabis to sleep, and many report real benefits. But the research is more nuanced than marketing makes it sound. What the science actually says.
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The History of Cannabis
From Central Asian steppes 12,000 years ago to American pharmacies in the 1800s to prohibition and modern legalization — the complete timeline of one of humanity's oldest cultivated plants.
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Ready to Shop?
Knowledge is the best tool a cannabis consumer can have. Now that you've got it, put it to use.
Browse terpene-tested, lab-verified products at Bloom Ohio or Bloom Maryland. Our budtenders are trained on everything in this education center — walk in with questions and walk out with exactly what you need.