The future of cannabis might be in controlling it. Microdosing and precision dosing are experiencing a wave of funding as innovative companies look to reach senior citizens and women. In studies, rejectors of cannabis have often cited using cannabis and being steamrolled by a joint or a brownie and not being able to enjoy the psychotropic or social effects.

Companies are looking to finesse the cannabis plant with technology and sensors to make it more user-friendly for folks who want the benefits of THC and CBD, but still want to get some work done.

What is microdosing?

By definition, microdosing is a measured amount (usually 2 to 5 milligrams) of THC or CBD uually administered through a special vaporizer or device. In this ideal state, THC offers therapeutic benefits like stress-relief and pain-relief; however, if doses go too high, like many will be know, THC can actually cause anxiety or depression.

Tangentially, our common and prized potent strains of cannabis are actually an effect of the drug wars in the 1980s. As transporting cannabis became more costly and dangerous due to government crackdowns, more potent cannabis and more expensive strains became more cost-effective for a drug dealer’s ROI. All that said, although limited, scientific research, on cannabis has shown that milder cannabis strains and lower doses are far more beneficial to the body and avoid creating the biphasic effect in the body, which means that after reaching a certain curve in the body, high doses of THC or CBD can have opposite effects similar to alcohol.

Companies are starting to target this microdosing market -which has an obvious entry point into the healthcare market as microdosing is used in cancer treatment – and one company to watch is Indose.

Indose and the future of cannabis

The two-year old private company (they do not touch the plant) makes a vape pen containing two sensors that take 10 measurements per second of vape speed and density to gauge just how much is being consumed in increments as low as 0.5 mg. Indose just received a $3.5 million investment from Snoop Dogg’s venture capital firm, Casa Verde Capital.

“We believe precise, self-regulated and responsible dosage will be the next frontier in vape delivery systems, and Indose is ahead of the curve with a device that brings medical precision to the mainstream,” Karan Wadhera, Managing Partner of Casa Verde Capital, said in a statement.

What really remains for companies like Indose and other microdosing companies is the societal stigma that correlates cannabis with joints and bongs as a purely recreational product. Obviously, companies like Indose are hoping to turn cannabis into something more like a multivitamin.