January 2, 2021

How to Calculate THC Dosages in Cannabis Edibles


How to Calculate THC Dosages in Cannabis Edibles

Have you ever had the experience of eating too much homemade cake or cookies? Fun is different. Roughly calculating the THC dosages is crucial to have a good time.

Cannabis-infused edibles are getting more popular and can provide a safe way to use cannabis without smoking it. There are a few things worth considering when we make edibles ourselves. The old Latin saying “Dosis sola venenum facit” is perfectly valid for the making of edibles, meaning that only the right dosage will give us the desired effect. We aim for feel-good relaxation without overwhelming effects. If you’re interested in a recipe to make your own cannabis butter, click here.

Estimating the amount of raw material based on personal experience is a good approach often followed by experienced bakers, but this can be hard to do for first-timers, and people who understandingly like to be precise. This blog will give you some general information on factors that can have an influence on your “highness”, and will also provide a basic way to calculate dosages for the next baking session coming up.

ENVIRONMENT - IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE

When it’s your first time eating cannabis edibles, it’s best to do this in an environment where you feel comfortable and safe. It can make a big difference if you consume cannabis edibles in your own private walls, where you’re generally comfortable, in contrast to a place where lots of stress and tension lie in the air. Environment includes people, so choose wisely and get baked with people you know and like.

The opposite, a bad environment for experimenting with edibles, would a place where you don’t feel comfortable for whatever reason. When the environment causes discomfort, this feeling might be enhanced when larger quantities are being consumed, resulting in a negative experience.

Cooking Cannabis Edibles

THE CONSUMER – WEIGHT, THC TOLERANCE, STATE OF MIND

It’s only logical that a heavy-weight boxer needs to eat a little more than a rather skinny female user. Seems unfair, but is the only way to get the best experience for everyone. THC tolerance is also a major factor. Smokers who consume frequently need more than first-timers.

Besides the actual dosage, it’s probably the state of mind you’re in, influencing the high the most. When you’re experiencing lots of stress, uncertainty and negative feelings, maybe paired with a little anxiety, it’s not the best time to experiment with edibles. These negative feelings might dominate your thoughts when you’re high, and make things worse instead of more relaxed. The perfect state of mind to experiment with edibles is when you’re kind of relaxed and happy in the first place.

HOW TO CALCULATE DOSAGES

We first need to identify the percentage of THC in the strain we’re using as raw material for our edibles. Most of today’s strains are tested somewhere between 15-20% of THC when grown properly, some weaker material might only have 10%. We will calculate with 10% to simplify things:

  • 1 gram of cannabis equals 1,000mg of dry weight, with a total THC content of 100mg.
  • Beginners can start off with as little as 5-10mg THC per serving, assuming they might one to eat more than just one (e.g. one cookie)

Theoretically, just 2g of dried bud would be enough to infuse 20 beginner-friendly cookies or edibles with 10mg of THC. Practice, however, shows that these amounts are sometimes not sufficient.

Cannabis Cake

It’s only an assumption that 100% of the THC gets completely transferred from blossom to edible! Our production process is not precise, and we don’t maintain the specific temperature in which THC leaves our plant, and binds to our carrier material. Practice showed good results when we double this amount, assuming a THC loss of approximately 50% due to imprecise methods and temperatures. This would get us to following dosages for first-timers, rookies, and experts.

  • 20 First-Timer Edibles = 4g of cannabis (approximately 10mg THC per serving)
  • 20 Rookie Edibles = 8g of cannabis (approximately 20mg THC per serving)
  • 20 Expert Edibles = 16g+ of cannabis (approximately 40mg+ THC per serving)

Have fun in the bakery and don’t get nervous if you get the feeling that you ate too much. Nobody has ever died from eating cannabis-infused edibles, and chances are high you won’t be the first one.

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