The number that matters for edibles is milligrams of THC per serving, not the total printed on the package. A 100 mg chocolate bar and a 10 mg gummy can look similar on a shelf and behave nothing alike in your body. State regulators and public health agencies generally point new consumers to 2.5 mg THC or less as a first dose, then a two-hour wait before deciding anything else.
cannabis potency for edibles dosing
Why Edibles Feel Stronger Than Smoking
Inhaled THC moves from the lungs into the blood and reaches the brain in minutes. Eaten THC takes a detour through the liver, where it is converted into 11-hydroxy-THC, a metabolite that crosses the blood-brain barrier more readily. That is why one 10 mg gummy can feel like much more than a few puffs of flower.
Cannabis Potency Chart by Type: THC and CBD Ranges for Flower, Vapes, and Edibles
The timing matters just as much as the strength. Expect onset somewhere between 30 and 120 minutes, a peak around 2 to 4 hours, and a total duration that can run 6 to 8 hours or longer. That slow ramp is the single biggest reason people overdo it: they feel nothing at 40 minutes and eat a second one.
cannabis potency chart by type
How to Read a Potency Label
- Total THC in the entire package, in milligrams
- THC per serving, in milligrams (this is the number you dose by)
- Servings per package, and whether the product is actually scored or segmented
- CBD and minor cannabinoids, plus the ratio if it is a 1:1 or 2:1 product
- Whether it is dispensary-tested cannabis or a hemp-derived delta-8/delta-9 item
A word on label accuracy
Testing variance is real. The FDA has found hemp-derived delta-8 products where the labeled cannabinoid content did not match what was in the package. With legal regulated products you have better odds, but the lab report is worth a glance.
Finding Your Starting Dose
These are starting points, not targets. Your metabolism, medications, body weight, and how often you use cannabis all move the needle.
- First time, or first time in years: 1 to 2.5 mg THC
- Occasional user: 2.5 to 5 mg
- Regular user with some tolerance: 5 to 10 mg
- Heavy daily tolerance: 10 to 25 mg and up, with a higher chance of an unpleasant few hours
Redosing: Use the Two-Hour Rule
Set a timer instead of trusting your gut. If two hours pass and the effect is too mild, take half of your original dose, not a full second one. Stacking doses is how a comfortable 5 mg evening turns into an eight-hour wall you cannot climb over.
The Math for Homemade Edibles
- Find the THC percentage of your flower, or the tested mg per mL of your infused oil.
- Multiply grams of flower by 1000, then by the THC percentage. Seven grams at 20% works out to 1400 mg of THC in the raw material.
- Apply a loss factor. Decarboxylation and infusion into butter or oil typically recover 60 to 80 percent, so that 1400 mg becomes roughly 840 to 1120 mg.
- Divide by the number of servings in the finished batch.
Following that example, 7 g of 20% flower at 70 percent recovery gives you about 980 mg across the batch. Cut into 20 brownies, each piece lands near 49 mg. That is a strong dose. Cut them smaller than feels reasonable.
Things That Shift the Experience
- Food in your stomach, especially fat, can increase absorption and speed things up
- Tolerance is the largest single variable, and it climbs fast with frequent use
- CBD may soften the edge at a 1:1 ratio and can affect how THC is metabolized
- Alcohol and other substances amplify impairment and raise the odds of nausea or anxiety
- Beverages and sublingual tinctures can hit faster than a baked good
If You Took Too Much
Wait it out. Drink water, sit somewhere comfortable, put on something distracting. The peak passes. Skip more THC and skip alcohol. If you have chest pain, repeated vomiting, or a panic attack that will not ease, get medical help and tell them the milligrams you took and when.