Edible dosage, explained simply

Start at 2.5 mg

If edibles are new to you, 2.5 mg of THC is the honest starting point. Most gummies are 10 mg each, so that means a quarter of one. It sounds small. It is enough to learn how your body responds without writing off your evening.

There is no prize for taking more on night one. Body weight, metabolism and what you ate that day all change how an edible lands, which is why two people splitting the same gummy can have two very different nights. Starting low is not timid — it is how you find your own number instead of borrowing someone else's. And if you smoke regularly but have never eaten one: start low anyway. Tolerance built on inhaling does not transfer cleanly to edibles, and plenty of experienced smokers get surprised by 10 mg.

Wait before you take more

Edibles take 45 minutes to 2 hours to come on, longer on a full stomach. The classic mistake is doubling up at the one hour mark. Give the first dose two full hours before you decide anything.

The lag is just biology: an edible has to move through your digestive system before anything reaches your bloodstream, and that route is slower and less predictable than inhaling. It is also why edibles last longer once they arrive — plan around several hours, not one. If two full hours pass and you feel nothing, the boring advice is the right advice: add another 2.5 mg, not another 10.

Some products are sold as fast-acting, using emulsified THC meant to come on sooner. The label's onset guidance is the starting point, not a guarantee — give a new product the full window the first time regardless of what the package promises.

New to this? Split a 5 mg gummy in half, put the other half away, and plan a quiet night the first time.

Reading the package

California labels show THC per piece and per package. Check the per piece number, not the total. A 100 mg bag of twenty pieces is a very different night from a 100 mg chocolate bar in four squares.

The label carries more than the milligrams. Every legal edible in California is capped at 10 mg of THC per serving and 100 mg per package, carries the state universal symbol, and lists a batch number that ties it back to its lab test. If a package is missing those marks, it did not come through the licensed supply chain. And once it is open, keep it in the child-resistant packaging it came in, resealed and away from anyone under 21 — the packaging rules exist for exactly that reason.

If the math on a label ever looks ambiguous, ask at the counter before you buy. Walking a customer through servings-per-package is a normal part of the job, not a bother.