What Is the Biphasic Effect of Cannabis?

Not all drugs follow a linear pattern of effect and dosage. Cannabis is one of those substances that is classified as having a biphasic effect. In short, this means that it can have opposite results when taken at high or low doses.

Optimal Dose

Anything with a biphasic effect will, essentially, have an optimal dosage. Anything above or below this dosage will inhibit the effect of the substance.

For example, if you're using CBD to combat persistent feelings of anxiety and steadily increase your dosage, there will come a point where you will find your optimal dose. If you then lower your dose, your anxiety might return. However, the same is true if you increase your dose. Those feelings of anxiety can return or potentially even be worse than before.

How to Apply This

Having this information and the relatively low risk associated with CBD usage makes the process of discovering your optimal dose much easier.

The first step is to start small and work your way up, increasing the dosage linearly until you feel that the effects are the most beneficial. If increasing your dosage above a certain point causes a tapering off of the benefits or even a new set of adverse reactions, it's as easy as lowering the dosage again until things even out.