By Alejandra at Gemme Verdi · 899 Columbus Ave, North Beach SF · Updated May 2026
You bought a tin of 10mg gummies, ate one because you read somewhere that 10mg is “a single dose,” and now you’re three hours in and either bored because nothing happened or texting your friend that you can hear colors. Both are common. Neither is your fault. The dosage advice on most cannabis packaging is calibrated for a hypothetical adult who is not you.
We’re Gemme Verdi, a North Beach dispensary at 899 Columbus Ave. This is the edibles dosing guide we walk first-time customers through at the counter every week. We’re a short walk from Fisherman’s Wharf and Russian Hill, or take the 30-Stockton from Union Square. If you’re in SF, walk in and ask. If you’re not, read on.
Here is what actually works, in the order most people figure it out.
Start at 2.5 milligrams. Yes, really.
Most gummies on our menu are 10mg per piece. That number got normalized somewhere around 2015 and has not budged since. Your body’s cannabinoid system did not get the memo.
A 2.5mg dose is roughly a quarter of a 10mg gummy. You can cut a gummy with a knife, scissors, or your teeth (the last option is more popular than people admit). At 2.5mg, most people feel a noticeable lift after about an hour: a slight head shift, food tastes better, the couch becomes very interesting. Almost nobody gets uncomfortable at 2.5mg unless they took it on an empty stomach and stacked a hard workout on top.
If you’ve eaten edibles a few times before and 2.5 felt like nothing, jump to 5mg. If 5mg was nice, try 7.5mg next time. There’s no rush.
The people who end up panicked on a kitchen floor are almost always the people who ate “just one” 10mg gummy as their first try, then ate another after 45 minutes because the first one “wasn’t working.”
It was working. You just couldn’t feel it yet.
Edibles take 60 to 90 minutes to hit. Sometimes longer.
This is the part everyone messes up. Edibles work differently than smoking or vaping because the cannabis has to be processed by your liver, which converts THC into a different (stronger) compound called 11-hydroxy-THC. That conversion takes time. It also makes edibles feel longer and heavier than the same dose smoked.
The wait is between 30 minutes and 2 hours, depending on:
- whether you ate recently (eating slows it down)
- what you ate (fat speeds the conversion, so a gummy after dinner with butter or cheese hits faster than a gummy on a salad)
- your individual metabolism (genetic; nothing you can do about it)
- how much you drank that day (alcohol amplifies and unpredictably extends the effect)
The rule we tell first-timers at the counter: take your dose, set a timer for 90 minutes, do something pleasant that doesn’t involve driving or making expensive decisions, and only re-dose after the timer goes off.
If you don’t feel it at 90 minutes, you’re either a slow metabolizer (some people are, especially older customers) or the dose was too low for you. Wait the full 2 hours before adding more. Add 2.5mg, not another 10mg.
How long does the high last?
For a 5mg dose, expect 3 to 5 hours of noticeable effects, with a tail of mild relaxation and sleepiness for another 2 to 3 hours after.
For 10mg, the active window is 4 to 6 hours and the tail is longer.
For 20mg or more (which most people should not be eating recreationally), you’re looking at 6 to 10 hours of effects, much of it lying down, possibly some of it asleep.
This is why edibles are great before a movie at home and bad before a 5pm dinner reservation.
What to do if you took too much
You will be fine. Nobody has ever died from too much cannabis. The worst-case scenario is a few uncomfortable hours.
What helps:
- Hydrate. Water, juice, anything not alcoholic.
- Eat something starchy. Crackers, toast, plain pasta. The stomach load slows further absorption.
- Find a comfortable spot. Couch, bed, floor. Pillows are your friend.
- CBD, if you have it on hand, takes the edge off THC. A 25mg CBD gummy or a few drops of tincture will gently lower the volume on what you’re feeling.
- Black peppercorns work. Chew two or three. There’s actual chemistry behind this (a terpene called beta-caryophyllene), and it kicks in within 15 minutes.
What does not help:
- Trying to sleep it off in the first hour (your heart rate will be up; just rest)
- Caffeine (makes anxiety worse)
- Telling yourself you’re going to die (you are not)
If your heart rate stays high for several hours, you can’t keep water down, or you have a pre-existing heart condition that makes you nervous, call a doctor or go to urgent care. Don’t tough it out for the bragging rights.
The 1:1 (THC:CBD) trick
If you’re nervous about edibles but want to try, look at the menu for “1:1” gummies, which contain equal parts THC and CBD. The CBD softens the THC’s edge without killing the experience. At Gemme Verdi, the cleanest 1:1 options are Wyld Pomegranate (10mg THC + 10mg CBD per gummy, Wyld’s classic balanced formula) and Kanha Pink Lemonade 1:1 FX (the same 10mg + 10mg per piece in a brighter flavor). If you want the smallest 1:1 dose we carry, the Petra Cinnamon 1:1 mints by Kiva are 2.5mg THC + 2.5mg CBD per mint, 40 to a tin. Ask your budtender.
A 5mg THC + 5mg CBD lands gentler than a 5mg THC alone for most people. Slower onset, fewer of the racy moments, more of the body relaxation. Any of the 10mg + 10mg gummies above can be cut in half if 5mg + 5mg is where you want to start.
If you’re in San Francisco and want a 1:1 today, stop in. We can usually find you the right one within a minute, no appointment, no upsell. Cash and debit accepted at the registers, with an ATM on site.
What about microdosing?
Microdosing means taking 1 to 2.5mg as a sub-perceptual baseline, often spread across the day. The effect: you don’t feel high, but stress drops, food tastes better, sleep gets longer. Some customers do this to manage anxiety; others do it for chronic pain.
The easiest entry at Gemme Verdi is Petra mints by Kiva: 2.5mg THC per mint, 40 mints per tin. Moroccan Mint and Tart Cherry are pure THC. The Cinnamon variant adds 2.5mg CBD per mint if you want a 1:1 microdose, and the Blackberry variant adds 1mg CBN per mint for evening use. You can take one in the morning and another in the afternoon and never feel high, just slightly looser. For more precision, ask the counter about low-dose tinctures.
Microdosing isn’t legally a medical claim and we’re not making one. Some customers say it works for them. Try it for a week and see if it works for you.
The dosing chart, since you asked
| Dose | Who it’s for | What it feels like | Onset | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2.5mg | First-timers, microdosers, sensitive sleepers | Subtle: relaxed body, food tastes better, mild headshift | 60 to 90 min | 2 to 4 hours |
| 5mg | Most casual users, social settings | Clear high but functional. Conversation feels easier. | 60 to 90 min | 3 to 5 hours |
| 10mg | Experienced users, evening at home | Distinct high. Plans should be flexible. | 60 to 90 min | 4 to 6 hours |
| 15 to 20mg | Daily smokers cross-training to edibles | Strong, body-heavy, possibly couch-locking | 60 to 90 min | 6 to 8 hours |
| 25mg+ | Tolerance customers only | Sedating. Plan to sleep. | 60 to 90 min | 8 to 12 hours |
These aren’t medical doses. They’re what we see in real customers across thousands of orders at our North Beach dispensary. The chart is what we walk first-timers through at the counter, dose by dose, so they leave with the right tin in hand.
Common mistakes
Eating two because the first hasn’t kicked in. Already covered. Don’t.
Eating on a full stomach when you wanted to feel it fast. A heavy meal can delay onset by 90 minutes or more. If you want predictable timing, take edibles 30 to 45 minutes after a light meal, not in the middle of one.
Drinking with edibles. Alcohol amplifies cannabis unpredictably. The same 10mg gummy that’s a pleasant evening at home becomes a difficult evening if you’ve had three drinks. Pick one or stagger them by several hours.
Trusting the label without trusting your body. A 10mg gummy from one brand can hit harder than a 10mg gummy from another due to formulation differences (nano-emulsified or fast-acting products absorb faster and feel stronger than traditional gummies at the same milligram). Always start a new product at half the dose you’re used to.
Driving on edibles. Don’t. Even at 5mg. The legal threshold is whatever a roadside test decides, and the personal threshold is whatever you decide is unsafe, and one of those numbers is going to be wrong on you. Plan transportation.
What we’d actually recommend on your first visit
Three suggestions, depending on what you want.
For “I want to relax tonight”: Camino Midnight Blueberry “Sleep” (5mg THC + 1mg CBN per gummy). Eat one after dinner, watch something easy, fall asleep around 10pm.
For “I want to feel good at a party”: Wyld Raspberry “Active” Sativa (10mg per piece, eat a half your first time). Energy, social, the conversation gets warmer.
For “I have anxiety about edibles”: Petra Cinnamon 1:1 mints (2.5mg THC + 2.5mg CBD per mint, 40 to a tin). Forgiving, gentle, hard to overdo. If you want a step up, Kanha Pink Lemonade 1:1 FX (10mg + 10mg per gummy, split-able into halves) is the next size.
Stop in. Tell whoever’s at the counter (probably Alejandra or Will) what you wrote above and they’ll point you at three options for the night you’re describing. We’d rather you under-dose, leave happy, and come back than oversell you.
We’re at 899 Columbus Ave, open 11am to 8pm, cash and debit at the registers, with an ATM on site, 21+. The full menu is on our shop page.
This post is general information from our staff, not medical advice. If you’re on prescription medication or have a heart condition, talk to your doctor before adding cannabis. We can’t help you with the medical questions; that’s not our lane.