Are you curious about the recommended dosage for different types of cannabis products? Feel overwhelmed by the variety of options available?
Discover where to start with weed experimentation, including recommended dosages for topicals, edibles, flower, and extracts. With this guidance, you can gauge your responses to cannabis consumption and adjust your dosage accordingly to achieve your desired effects.
There is no one-size-fits-all dosage for cannabis, as each type of product can be processed differently by the body.
To enjoy the benefits of different types of cannabis products, you should know the recommended dosages for starting out.
This guidance is essential, as every individual’s reaction to cannabis is also unique.
Gauge your responses after cannabis consumption to determine the THC proportion and strains that induce your desired effects, and adjust your dosage accordingly.
What’s the recommended intake of cannabis products, including topicals, edibles, joints, and extracts?
Let’s take an in-depth look at where to start with weed experimentation.
Why Understanding Cannabis Dosing is Important
Proper cannabis dosing is vital to help you enjoy the plant’s best effects, including mind and body relaxation. Overdoing it can cause some negative, unwanted effects (like paranoia, anxiety and feeling slow or cloudy-headed), so it’s important to find a balance.
Consuming recommended quantities of the plant offers the following benefits:
- A smooth high
- Reported therapeutic properties of cannabis, like pain relief or easing anxiety and tension
- Avoiding side effects like red eyes, nausea, or paranoia
Proper THC dosing also lies with the manufacturers who package marijuana products. They should indicate the amount of THC or CBD in the goods to help users remain safe.
If you’re sensitive to THC or scared to overdo it, make sure to only shop reputable brands from license retailers. Quality cannabis brands are transparent about the contents of their products and will provide current lab testing results.
Cannabis Flower and Vaping THC Oils
Smoking is the most common method of using marijuana. Tokers light joints, take bong rips, or use different kinds of vaporizers.
Vapes range from cartridges filled with oil to dry herb for inhaling THC-rich bud, as well as dabbing waxy concentrated forms of cannabis extracts.
Regardless of consumption method, the amount of THC you’re consuming by weight is important.
How many mg of THC gets you high when smoking weed? What about when dabbing wax?
It really depends on your tolerance levels. But for most seasoned users, one joint containing a gram of flower is enough to do the trick. For those new to smoking, this could be overdoing it by a lot.
Cannabis flower is usually sold by the gram and a single gram is often the minimum amount available for purchase at most marijuana dispensaries.
Many tokers increase their doses over time and purchase buds in amounts including:
- An eighth ounce (3.5 grams)
- A quarter ounce (7 grams)
- A half-ounce (14 grams)
- An ounce (28 grams)
Flower is usually consumed in larger amounts in terms of weight but at a low dosage versus other cannabis product types. Because flower is less potent than concentrates, you’ll be consuming a smaller dose despite a larger quantity in weight.
When flower is smoked or vaporized, a standard dose of around 0.2-0.4 grams is common for packing bowls in a vape, pipe, or bong.
Some will use around 0.5g to one full gram or more for rolling up papers like blunts and joints.
If you’re puffing on a cannabis oil cartridge, it’s possible to get stoned from just 2 or 3 hits of a 80%+ THC cartridge. With any concentrate, you’re inhaling more THC per hit than you would with smoking flower.
Cannabis Edibles
Marijuana edibles include cookies, brownies, gummies, and infused drinks.
Ingesting them in excess amounts may not be fatal but can have unpredictable implications should users overdo them.
It’s essential to start small and increase consumption gradually to find a proper balance.
Here’s the recommended THC by mg dosage chart for informed ingestion of cannabis edibles:
- Microdose (1–2.5 mg): Users may not feel intoxicated but could experience minimal relief from pain and anxiety.
- Low dose (3–5 mg): This amount reportedly relieves pain and nausea. Some users may feel high.
- Moderate dose (10–15 mg): Experienced users enjoy a manageable high, while first-timers may feel overwhelmed.
- High dose (20–30 mg): Provides intense euphoria. This dosage is allegedly ideal for chronic illnesses.
- Acute dose (50–100 mg): Users with intense physical pain may find relief. This amount may not be suitable for those with mental health conditions.
- Macrodose (100–500 mg): This quantity is reportedly helpful for individuals with severe medical conditions. Users should consume macrodoses with caution as they might result in nausea, paranoia, or an increased heart rate.
It’s important to also note that ingesting cannabis can affect you differently from smoking it.
For example, you may have a high tolerance to smoking and will be fine after smoking a single gram (1000mg). One gram of flower probably isn’t enough to get you not panic-mode high. However, consuming 20mg (not even the equivalent of half a gram) of straight THC by ingesting may put you over the edge.
If this happens to you, read about what to do if you get too high.
Cannabis Tinctures and CBD Oils
Tinctures are cannabis extracts infused with liquids such as glycerin, oil, or food-grade alcohol.
They may contain different combinations of cannabis compounds such as THC + CBD, pure CBD (which will not get you high), or other combinations of full-spectrum and broad spectrum options.
Oils, like Hemp Bombs CBD Oil, are also marijuana concentrates, with CBD cannabinoids as the primary contents.
You don’t swallow these products but place them under your tongue for about 30 seconds. These are also referred to as sublinguals and they can take around 20 minutes before you feel the effects.
Most cannabis tinctures and CBD oils come in 30 ml glass bottles. They also feature droppers that help administer the required dosage amounts.
Correctly dosing THC tinctures or oils varies between different people depending on factors like:
- Body weight
- Medications that may interact with the CBD and THC extract
- Body tolerance to new substances
- Medical conditions
Here’s a list of doses to try when you first sample tinctures:
- Microdose (3 mg): Low intoxication.
- Light dose (7.5 mg): Veterans feel few effects, but beginners may begin to feel euphoric.
- Standard dose (15 mg): Slight intoxication.
- High dose (30 mg): Only for experienced users.
- Potent dose (60 mg): Reportedly best for people with severe medical conditions.
Intoxication isn’t likely when you use CBD oils, but that doesn’t mean you should consume unlimited quantities. Starting with a 30 mg daily dosage is ideal.
Increase this amount by 5 mg as you monitor how your body responds to the product.
Cannabis Transdermals and Topicals
Transdermals and topicals are cannabis extracts that consumers apply directly to the skin.
These products reportedly help to relieve pain locally or inflammation and may include oils, balms, gels, creams, and sprays.
Transdermals provide a systemic release of cannabinoids into the bloodstream over a long period. Topicals offer a more general dose that remains on the skin’s surface.
Each application may contain around five milligrams of THC per milliliter or more to ensure effectiveness.
In the end, it’s best to always start with a light dose and work your way up.
Pay attention to factors such as strains, contents by weight and concentration, as well as consumption method.
For the best results, keep a journal of what products you tried and the effect they had on you, so that you can make adjustments to fine tune the dosage that works best for you.
