Understanding how to dose cannabis edibles is extremely important! In this guide, you will learn more about dosing, discover your tolerance level, and get my helpful tips and tricks for dosing homemade edibles safely and effectively.

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Article Features

  • A simple guide to help you understand dosing
  • Featuring the golden rule: start low and go slow
  • Want to skip the hard work? Shop with me and have premium, high-quality cannabis products delivered directly to your door! Now shipping across the US.
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How To Dose Cannabis Edibles

Ignore the dosage charts! You know those who say you should consume xx if you weigh xx? Skip them!

Why? Because everyone responds to cannabis differently, and so many factors influence that response way beyond weight.

As I teach all of my Well With Cannabis Community members, dosing edibles, mainly THC, is highly unique to each person.

That is why it is essential to stay patient and take your time to discover your ideal dose according to your body’s tolerance.

In this guide, I will teach you how to do just that so you can dose your edibles safely, ensuring you have a safe and enjoyable time while getting the dose just right.

A shallow bowl of green cannabis flower

Edibles Affect Us All Differently

It’s important to remember that the ideal milligram serving size can vary from one person to another.

Some people get high with as little as 2mg of THC; others do so at 30mg; others won’t feel the effect until the dosing is over 100mg or more.

Others may not feel the effect of edibles at all.

This is all based on your tolerance. Many factors, including your weight, metabolism, and the unique endocannabinoid system, can impact your tolerance and ideal serving size.

If you have never consumed edibles before, but have used other forms of cannabis, understand that your tolerance for smoking or vaping has no bearing on your tolerance for edibles.

Don’t assume that you should start with a higher dose because you smoke a lot. Edibles affect the body differently than other application methods.

Follow The Golden Rule

If you’re new to dosing cannabis edibles, specifically THC, it is crucial to follow the golden rule: start low and go slow.

This means you start with a low milligram dose, typically around 1-5 milligrams, and you wait three or more hours before taking another dose to assess your reaction.

This helps to ensure you do not take too high of a dose on your first try and end up consuming too much THC and having an unwanted reaction.

If you accidentally consume more THC than your body can handle, you may experience disorientation, dizziness or drowsiness, short-term memory issues, slow reaction times, anxiety, heart palpitations, and tachycardia.

While there are ways to come down from a bad high, the best option is to prevent this from happening in the first place by not consuming too much.

Wait Before You Take A Second Dose

As mentioned above, starting with a small dose AND waiting before taking a second dose is recommended.

This is because edibles have a delayed onset. They are slower to take effect due to their need to travel through the digestive system.

While you can feel the effects of smoking within 1-3 minutes, it may take 1-3 hours (or more) to feel the effects of edibles.

This means that if you take a 5mg dose, don’t feel anything, and take another 5mg dose 30 minutes later; you may accidentally consume more than your body needs.

This overconsumption can make you feel sick. That is why waiting several hours, if not a day, is recommended before trying a new, higher dose.

How to Titrate Your Dose

It is recommended to start with a small serving size and work your way up, taking time to evaluate how you feel. 

If you have taken the recommended 1-5mg…

Feeling great? Keep up with the dose that is working! Or feel free to experiment as desired.

Not feeling it? Increase your daily serving size by 1mg-5mg each day until you meet your goals.

This slow, gradual increase of your dose is known as titration or titrating the dose. This slow, methodical increase helps ensure you do not consume too much at one time or develop too high of a tolerance.

Additional Factors That Impact Dosing

Several factors can affect the amount of cannabis required to meet specific goals or respond to a particular dosage.

Individual physiological factors, such as body weight, medical conditions, and absorption rates, can affect the experience from person to person. Additionally, your genes can impact your tolerance.

Variables such as the type of flower you start with, whether you have eaten, what you have eaten (like mango), and the serving size can also impact results.

We are all different, be patient, and enjoy the journey to finding your perfect serving size.

What About Cannabinoids That Don’t Produce A High?

There are many cannabinoids you can consume beyond THC.

Cannabinoid acids like CBDA, THCA, and cannabinoids like CBD, CBG, and more can all be consumed, but they do not produce a high. This makes it more difficult to determine your perfect dose.

Luckily, there is no risk of feeling unwell from overconsumption, so you have more room to experiment with higher doses.

Many people start their dose between 10-20mg and can safely increase to 100mg or more at a time.

How to Dose Homemade Edibles

When purchased from a dispensary, edibles are much easier to dose because they come labeled with a milligram dosage.

This makes determining your tolerance easier because you can know that 5mg makes you feel one way and that 10mg makes you feel another.

However, dispensary edibles are not available to everyone. Many people prefer to make homemade edibles to control the final product, save money, and use up homegrown products.

Suppose you know the input value, the percentage of THC or CBD in your starting material. In that case, you can use our edible dosage calculator to get a rough guestimate of the potency of your final products.

You can also use the calculator backward before making a product to play with the numbers and determine how much cannabis you should add to get the final dose you desire.

Keep A Dosage Journal

If you’re finding it difficult to find your perfect dose, I recommend keeping a cannabis journal.

A cannabis journal is somewhere you can record your daily dosage, associated symptoms, and feelings. This will allow you to look back and see any patterns or apparent issues that should be addressed.

Your cannabis journal can be as simple as a pen and paper or a specific cannabis journal like these from Gold Leaf Journals.

About Emily

Hi, I’m Emily Kyle and I teach people just like you how to use cannabis to find joy, enhance productivity, improve relationships, and naturally support your overall health and wellness.

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26 Comments

  1. I stumbled across this site and am very glad that I have. My pain management doctor says I should try alternative medicine for my chronic pain, inflammation, anxiety, fibromyalgia, neuropathy, and sleep disorder to name a few. It would definitely lower the amount of medications that I’m taking. I have watched some of the podcast about CBD during the day and CBD THC at night. I ordered some cannabutter to start off with for night time sleep. Would it be okay to use half a teaspoon per 2 slices of toast for starters? I do wonder if I will fail a drug test by using your cannabutter at night? Thank you for being here and for sharing your knowledge along with podcasts of special guests. I am eager to start getting a better rest at night along with better pain management.
    Respectfully,
    Connie

  2. Hi Connie. Thank you so much for stumbling upon our site and for sharing your story. We’re glad you’re here too!

    It’s fantastic to hear that you’re considering alternative medicine for your health issues. Exploring options that can potentially reduce the amount of medication you take is a great step towards holistic well-being.

    Starting with cannabutter for your nighttime sleep sounds like a good plan. In terms of dosage, it’s always best to start low and gradually increase until you find what works best for you. Half a teaspoon per 2 slices of toast sounds like a reasonable starting point, but please remember that everyone’s tolerance and response to CBD and THC can vary. It’s essential to listen to your body and make adjustments as needed.

    Regarding drug tests, it’s worth noting that some drug tests detect THC metabolites, which can be present in your system if you consume products containing THC. While CBD itself doesn’t typically show up on standard drug tests, there might still be a risk of a positive result if the product you’re using has a higher THC content. To be on the safe side, you should explore THC-free alternatives if you’re concerned about drug testing.

    We appreciate your kind words. Our goal is to provide valuable resources and support to individuals like you who are seeking better options than traditional healthcare.

  3. Love your site and edible tips, I have made chocolate edibles and have gotten mixed results, one issue is mixing the decarb flower in so the batch is consistent. I am going to try your cold alcohol infusion method next. Love the calculator and advice to go slow. I have overdosed by licking the spoon after making the chocolates ( not good).

  4. Hi Joe. Thank you so much for your kind words and feedback! We’re thrilled to hear that you love our site and find our edible tips helpful. Mixing decarb flower evenly into your chocolate batch can be challenging, but we’re confident that our cold alcohol infusion method will help you achieve a more consistent result. Have you checked out Emily’s Quick & Easy Cannabis Chocolates recipe?? We wish you the best of luck in your future edible adventures!

  5. We prefer to swallow hardened, canna infused coconut oil like a pill, as FECO tastes terrible and tinctures BURN! Have only used Everclear, but OUCH! Would like to know if the coconut oil could have flavor added.

  6. I totally get where you’re coming from, Bobbi! Adding flavor to your canna coconut oil can definitely help make it more palatable. You could try mixing in some natural extracts like vanilla or citrus for a tasty twist. Experiment and find what works best for you! 🥥🌿