Smoking vs. Eating Weed: What Dr. Bob Actually Thought

Look, I get it. Most people think weed is weed is weed. You smoke it, you eat it, same difference, right?

Wrong. And this is one of those things Dr. Bob explained that completely changed how I think about cannabis consumption.

The Brain as an Affinity Filter

Here's what's actually happening when you smoke or vape:

Your lungs absorb THC and pump it directly into your bloodstream, which shoots it straight to your brain. And your brain? It's basically a THC magnet. CB1 receptors are the most abundant neurotransmitter receptors up there—it's literally the number one neurotransmitter system in your brain.

So what happens? Your brain sucks up all that THC like a sponge before it can get distributed to the rest of your body. Dr. Bob called the brain an "affinity filter"—it grabs the cannabinoids before they can reach everywhere else.

The result? An imbalanced high. Your head is too turned on and the rest of your body isn't there. You're getting a partial experience.

Eating: The Holistic Approach

Now here's where it gets interesting.

When you eat cannabis, everything changes. The THC goes through your digestive system, gets processed by your liver, and then distributes throughout your entire body. Every system gets activated—not just your brain hogging all the goods.

Dr. Bob's words: "When you have everything turned on by eating it, there's a holistic dynamic interaction that's intrinsically much more healthy and enlightening."

That's not hippie talk. That's thermodynamics. Your endocannabinoid system exists throughout your entire body—immune system, nervous system, cardiovascular system, gut, bones, skin. When you eat cannabis, you're actually feeding the whole system, not just blasting your CB1 receptors in the brain.

How Dr. Bob Actually Used Cannabis

Dr. Bob didn't just theorize about this. He lived it.

The man started his day with 100+ milligrams of oil. He'd eat oil about three times a day. His exact words: "I don't really smoke, I'm an eater."

Think about that. One of the world's leading cannabis researchers, a guy who understood the endocannabinoid system at a molecular level, chose eating over smoking. Not because smoking is "bad"—but because eating is better for what he was trying to accomplish.

The Bottom Line

This isn't about being a cannabis snob. It's about understanding what you're actually doing to your biochemistry.

If you want to get high quick? Smoke it. No judgment.

But if you're thinking about cannabis as medicine—as a way to supplement your endocannabinoid system and push yourself further from equilibrium—eating is the move. It's the difference between spot-treating a symptom and actually supporting the whole system.

Dr. Bob understood this. Now you do too.