How to read a California cannabis label

The triangle is not decoration

Every cannabis product sold legally in California carries the universal cannabis symbol on its primary panel — a black triangle, at least half an inch on each side, printed on a white or light background. It exists so that a product is identifiable as cannabis at a glance, including by someone who did not buy it.

Its absence is the fastest tell there is. A product without it did not come through the licensed supply chain, whatever the shop selling it says.

The government warning

California requires a warning statement in bold capitals, beginning: GOVERNMENT WARNING: THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS CANNABIS, A SCHEDULE I CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE. Most products carry a Proposition 65 warning alongside it.

Like the symbol, it is required rather than optional, and its absence tells you the same thing.

Per serving and per package are different numbers

This is the line that matters most, and the one most often misread. Labels must state THC and CBD content both by weight in milligrams and as a percentage, and for products with a defined serving size they must state it per serving as well as per package.

A tin marked 100 mg is usually ten servings of 10 mg, not one dose. The per-serving figure is the number you act on. Our edible dosage guide covers what to do with it once you have found it.

For flower, the percentage is the headline figure — and it is a much worse predictor of how a strain will suit you than the shop's habit of leading with it suggests. Terpene content and how the plant was grown do more work than the last two percentage points of THC.

Batch number and date

Every label carries a batch number, and a harvest date or manufacture date. Two practical uses:

• Age. Flower is a fresh product. A manufacture date eighteen months old is worth knowing about before you buy, not after.
• Traceability. The batch number is what a lab result attaches to. If a product is ever recalled, that number is how you know whether yours is affected.

What the label will not tell you

It will not tell you how the product will feel. No compliant California label makes a health claim of any kind, and a package that does is one to put back down.

What the label gives you is provenance and dose. The rest is a conversation with whoever is behind the counter, which is what we are there for — at any Cannavine store.