If you smoke pot regularly, you are probably always looking for different ways to get the most out of your cannabis experience each time. You may have heard rumors about trying orange juice and weed together to get higher.
However, before you can understand if this odd combination works or not, let’s introduce you to a family of hydrocarbons called terpenes.
Terpenes – the missing puzzle piece
Terpenes are a group of organic compounds that are found in citrus fruits such as oranges, and the marijuana plant itself. Terpenes contain volatile aromatic molecules that give oranges their zesty fragrance and are responsible for the characteristic earthy, psychoactive odor of the marijuana plant.
You might be wondering why terpenes are our principal chemical of interest in determining whether the combination of orange juice and weed gets you higher? Studying the effects of terpene is essential because after THC, and CBD, terpenes are the most crucial cannabis component in helping you feel the sensation of being “high” or “stoned.”
Do terpenes in orange juice make you high?
Consumed in isolation, no quantity of terpenes can help you experience psychoactive effects like marijuana. At best, you might get dizzy if you whiffed a concentrated form of terpenes.
However, there is a known synergy that exists between terpenes and cannabinoids. This synergy means that the cannabis Phyto complex (plant extracts and chemicals present in cannabis) is complemented by terpenes, and they work better together.
The interaction between terpenes and cannabinoids (THC and CBD) is called the “entourage effect.”
The entourage effect helps terpene provide your body with neuroprotective effects such as harmonizing the balance between THC and CBD to make your ‘high’ more enjoyable. It can help relax muscles, reducing paranoia and anxiety, and help you feel more sedated.
The entourage does this by assisting CBD to act as a psychoactive ceiling in mitigating the undesirable effects of CBD. For this reason, it is not unusual to see people report feeling a better high if they drink orange juice after smoking weed.
While responsible for a more pleasant high, the entourage effect does not exert any intrinsic psychoactive properties of its own. A study conducted in 2019 tested the effects of terpenes with and without cannabinoids. The research concluded that cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB1 are unaffected when terpenes are added to the mix.
Is your orange juice fresh hand-squeezed or processed?
Whether your orange juice consists of terpenes depends on how it has been prepared.
Unlike mangoes, the terpenes which are found in oranges are not located inside. Instead, citrus terpenes found in oranges such as myrcene, alpha-pinene, and limonene are found in orange peel.
Thermal processing for pasteurization, centrifugation to remove air, and storage procedures used in making processed orange juice are known to reduce the concentration of terpenes, which are more abundant in fresh from the tree hand-squeezed orange juice.
Next time you want to kick your high up a notch, you might want to consider preparing your orange juice using fresh fruit instead of buying it from the store.
