How to Calculate THC Dosage for Cannabis Edibles
- 1. Thc tolerance
- 2. Body contexture
- 3. State of mind
- 4. Weed quality
- 5. Environment and surroundings
- 6. How to calculate the perfect thc dosage
- 7. Doses and effects
- 8. Do’s and don’ts
- 9. How to make your own edibles
- 10. Conclusion and recommendations
“Dude I ate way too many special brownies” We've all been there once, or we know someone who has. Or perhaps the opposite happened, you had some cannabis edibles and ended up feeling absolutely nothing. We honestly don't know what's worse.
This is why calculating the right THC dosages is crucial to make sure you can enjoy your cannabis edibles to the fullest and you don't end up heading straight into bed -not that we've ever been there.
When it comes to growing cannabis seeds and making edibles at home, consuming the right THC dosage is the safest and most straightforward way of getting the best possible effect. The main goal should be to relax, feel good, and have a nice time without overdoing it.
“Marijuana brownies are amazing. Very simple to make, too. Just get some Duncan Hines brownie mix and cook the weed right in there. Drop it right in with the butter. I don't know who came up with this idea first, but it's sheer genius.” - George Lopez, American comedian.
However, as optimistic as Lopez's quote might sound, there are a few things you'll need to know first. When you're planning to cook some tasty cannabis edibles, one frequent question that you may be asking yourself is “how much weed should I put into the recipe?”
Before finding the perfect THC dosage for your cannabis edibles, you'll have to take into consideration various factors that may influence your trip.
1. THC Tolerance
It’s only reasonable to say that a regular marihuana smoker has a higher THC tolerance and will probably need to have a bigger dosage for his cannabis edibles than a first-timer. We don't want to sound sexist either, but in comparison to men, women will likely need lower doses than men do to get the same level of high. However, this can also vary depending on the other factors, like body size and mentality, but usually paying attention to the THC tolerance is a rule we recommend standing by for first-time users.
The body develops a tolerance to cannabis over time. There are numerous different molecules in the plant that the body can become used to, including THC—the primary psychoactive constituent within the plant. To produce this effect, THC binds to the CB1 receptor of the endocannabinoid system. This mechanism produces an acute flood of dopamine that leads to euphoria and other effects associated with cannabis. However, as the body is exposed to an increased quantity of THC over time, it begins to downregulate the amount of CB1 receptors in the central nervous system. Put simply, this means that THC has fewer places to bind to in order to produce its effects. This means that the same amount of weed that once got you really high will barely have any effect at all.
2. Body Contexture
Again, we don't mean any offenses, but a big aspect to take into account when calculating the right THC dosage for your edibles is the general size of the consumer. A skinny and rather small body contexture will logically need lower doses than a tall or heavy-weight consumer.
The same goes for men and women, men tend to have a bigger and heavier build than women so, therefore, they’ll need to eat a little bit more than them.
3. State of Mind
It may sound surprising, but having the right state of mind when approaching your cannabis edibles may have the biggest impact on the type of ‘high’ you’ll get. Ideally, you should be feeling relaxed, confident, and rather happy when taking your special edibles or infusions.
Normally, feelings of stress, anxiety, insecurities, and negative feelings overall are not a good match with edibles. These kinds of feelings may become more intense when you’re high and could worsen things instead of allowing you to feel relaxed.
4. Weed Quality
This one practically explains itself. The better the weed, the higher you’ll get and the fewer amounts needed, and vice versa. As we’ll explain later below, the first thing you’ll need to check to calculate the right amount of THC for your cannabis edibles is the THC percentage present in your weed strain.
A well-grown and strong strain usually contains around 20% of THC. However, not everyone knows how to grow cannabis perfectly and this leads to lower weed quality, which results in lower THC levels, therefore you’ll need bigger doses of edibles to get high. The perfect strain for cooking edibles is the powerful Gorilla Cookies Auto, containing the highest THC levels, up to 28.5%.
5. Environment and Surroundings
Just like the correct state of mind can have a big influence on the effects the edibles will provoke, it is also important to pay attention to the environment of choice. When you take your marijuana edibles or infusions try to find a place where you feel comfortable relaxed, and distractions free.
Cannabis is known for waking up all of our senses, therefore, a hectic and hyped place is probably not the best place to take your edibles. We recommend going somewhere you've been to and feel familiar with, perhaps your house is the safest place, or if the sun is shining outside why not head outdoors to a greeny field and chill with your friends for the day.
6. How to calculate the perfect THC Dosage
After you’ve taken into consideration the aspects mentioned above, it’s time to get into maths to be able to calculate the perfect THC dosage for your edibles. The first thing you should check is the percentage of THC present in the strain you’ll use. Most weed strains contain between 15-20% of THC when grown properly, while weaker or poorly grown cannabis might have around 10% of THC.
In order to make it simple we’ll take a 10% THC content as an example:
- 1 gram of cannabis makes 1,000mg, with a total content of 100mg THC.
Now you’ll need to calculate the THC dose per-serving. To do it you’ll have to divide the amount of THC in your recipe by the number of servings.
For example, let's suppose you make cannabutter with a cup of butter and 5 grams of average quality weed. Multiply 5 by 100 (5 x 100), so you’ll know that you have 500mg of THC in the butter.
If you used half the cup of butter (250mg of THC) to make 25 cookies, then divide that by the number of servings, and you’ll know each serving’s dosage contains about 10mg of THC.
7. Doses and Effects
A beginner or a smaller-sized person’s THC dose should be around 1 to 10mg. An intermediate user could intake a dose between 10 and 20mg. Finally, an experienced person’s THC dosage ranges between 20-50mg or more, depending on the desired effect.1
Anyway, we’ll explain the different types of effects you commonly get with different doses. A small dose of 1-2.5mg is recommended for first-time users and microdosers. This will produce some mild relief of pain, stress, and anxiety, as well as focus and creativity improvement.
When taking between 2.5-15mg of THC doses, symptoms of pain relief will get stronger, euphoric feelings will arise, and you might feel altered perceptions and impair coordination. This is a recommended dose for patients with persistent problems, people dealing with sleeping problems, or sociable people.
People who take THC doses between 15-30mg are usually medical patients who have developed a higher THC tolerance or simply regular marijuana consumers. At this point, perceptions and body coordination will be evidently affected, as well as big euphoric sensations will be awakened.
Lastly, anywhere from 30mg and higher is only recommended for extremely experienced THC users or medical patients who require such high doses. Feelings of euphoria will be extreme at this stage, coordination, and perception even more altered, and perhaps some side effects such as rapid heart-rates.
| 1-2.5mg THC |
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| 2.5-15mg THC |
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| 15-30mg THC |
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| 30mg-More THC |
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8. Do’s and Don’ts
Now that you have successfully calculated the THC dosage for your edibles, let's do a quick check on the do’s and don’ts of eating cannabis.
When you take your weed edibles, make sure you do:
- Eat small amounts at a time, and make sure you’ve waited at least an hour before taking another dose;
- Have a proper meal before you take the edible;
- Keep in mind that edibles are stronger than smoking a joint;
- Ыtay calm if you notice you're getting a little anxious, no one was ever harmed by taking weed edibles.
And please, if you take marijuana edibles, don't:
- Don't eat too much too fast, take breaks between doses to make sure you let the effect kick in before you decide to take more;
- Don't forget to drink water or else you might find yourself a little dehydrated;
- Don't get too hyped, it's not a competition about who gets higher, and besides, taking too many edibles will probably lead you to sleep;
- Don't forget to eat something before, an empty stomach will amplify the effects of the edibles;
- Don't mix with other drugs!
- PLEASE don't give edibles to someone without letting them know. We might have heard some funny stories but for the surprised person, it wasn't that much.
9. HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN EDIBLES
The process of making edibles is actually pretty straightforward. It doesn’t need a bunch of fancy equipment and you definitely don’t need to be Gordon Ramsey to whip up a batch of delicious cookies or brownies, but for the best results, a certain level of patience is required.
First things first though, if you want to make your own edibles at home you are going to have to infuse a fat with your weed. You can use any fat you like, but these days we almost always recommend using extra virgin coconut oil. Butter is the other most popular option, but we prefer coconut oil as it is healthier, more versatile, will keep much longer, can be used in place of butter in almost every recipe, and is vegan friendly.
We have briefly discussed how to work out the dosage above and shown some basic calculations, but there were a few factors we left out. The figures shown above are what you would get in an absolutely perfect world, but we didn’t factor in the decarb rate and extraction rate. Don’t worry, these calculations are super simple. For the decarb rate, you simply multiply by 0.9, and for the extraction rate, we multiply again by 0.6.
- So for 1 gram of cannabis at 10% THC with a total content of 100mg THC, we get 100 x 0.9 = 90 mg THC then 90 x 0.6 = 54 mg THC
Let’s expand those numbers a little further. Say we have 10 grams of bud at 15% THC that we want to cook with.
- 1 gram would equal 150 mg of THC. 10 g x 150 mg = 1500 mg of THC total
- 1500 mg x 0.9 = 1350 mg
- 1350 mg x 0.6 = 810 mg
So, while you started with 1500 mg of THC, once the cooking process has finished you will end up with a figure closer to 810mg. A normal edible dose is about 10 mg, meaning you have enough here to make 81 edibles. So, if the recipe you are using makes 20 cookies, use one-quarter of the medicated oil and you should have perfectly dosed edibles - easy.
To make the best medicated coconut oil, we recommend using the slow cook recipe. As the name suggests, there are quicker methods, but this recipe ensures the highest extraction rate.
It’s super simple.
- Add 1.5 to 2 liters of water to a slow cooker if you have one. No worries if not, just grab a large pot and use that instead.
- Bring it to a rolling boil and add the oil.
Remember, you can always dilute the finished product but you can not make it more concentrated - use less oil than more, as you can always bulk it out with more oil later. We usually start with 500 mls for this recipe. - Turn the heat down to where the water is just slightly bubbling and add your cannabis. Remember to decarb it first and grind it up.
Let it slowly bubble away for about an hour, then turn the heat off and let it cool for another hour. If you are using a slow cooker then you can just leave it on at the lowest setting. - Return it to the heat for another hour, and then off again for an hour. Repeat this process at least 4 times, or up to ten times if you are able to.
- Strain the whole thing through to remove all of the plant matter. Cheesecloth works best, but a fine mesh strainer will also do the trick.
Let it sit in the fridge or freezer for about an hour. The oil will separate and solidify on top of the water. - Remove the oil and pour the remaining water away. You can reheat and melt it at this point to make it easier to store in jars.
There you have it. Beautiful, delicious, medicated coconut oil ready to be used in any recipe you like!
10. Conclusion and recommendations
Although calculating the THC dosage for your cannabis edibles involves math, this isn't an exact science. The perfect dosage may vary on each person, depending on several influencing factors, that's why it's important to take into consideration each of them to make sure you have a fun time.
Now, once you know what’s the right THC dosage for your weed edibles it’s time to cook! Check out some recipes and enjoy this experience.
Just remember, don't get scared if you've had too much of your weed edibles. Truth is, no one has ever died from taking too many cannabis-infused edibles!
All you need to do is stay calm, let your friends or whoever is keeping you company know so that they can help you relax, drink some water, eat normal food and if that doesn't work, heading to bed will do the job. The best part is this will likely just turn into another funny story to share with your friends in the future.
EXTERNAL REFERENCES
- "Tasty THC: Promises and Challenges of Cannabis Edibles" RTI Press, 2016 - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5260817/
