Guaranteed this doesn't account for terpene content
EDIT: Of course not
this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2026
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Was a pain to find in the article but according to them, 1 cannabis unit is 5mg of THC. And they recommend no more than 8 per week, or 40mg. I didn't read the entire paper so take my commentary with a grain of salt.
I think there may be a bit of a hole in this methodology because of different consumption methods. For example, smoking a regular joint vs putting that same amount of flower in a dry vape. Or dietary factors that could increase or decrease thc absorption for edibles.
Even accounting for that, 40mg of THC is not a lot. A half gram joint at 10% thc would exceed that. Seems like these guidelines are incredibly conservative.
40mg?!?! I drink sodas with 100mg in them. 40mg is barely enough to get the party started.
I'm an awful lightweight, 10mg and Im done.
It's almost like different bodies react differently to the same chemical. Maybe we should standardize people first, just CRISPR up some sort of standard model human that would fit better to junk science.
Has The advantage that you have to consume less for the same effect and this means its cheaper. Seems like a good thing to me.
That's what I was thinking. These days, I start with a 100mg gummy!
A calorie is not a very big unit of measurement, either. It is still useful.
That feels like a pretty good amount per week, basically a 5mg gummy every day. I can attest I start feeling much worse when my tolerance pushes me over that amount. I've been up to 20 units a week and generally feel pretty awful compared to 8/week. Lately I'll do a tolerance break past 10/week because I just feel so bleh. This was before reading this paper, so it's interesting to see how it lines up with my experiences.
"Cannabis Use Disorder" is a clown show of a medical diagnosis, this is all such a joke.
Damn apparently that's what I have.
I wonder if it's a chronic illness?
Chronic, lol.
For instance, a 0.45 gram joint of strong herbal cannabis might contain 12.78 standard THC units, while a weaker, seeded herbal cannabis can contain just 3.78 THC units, according to the new estimates.
The study's authors found that to reduce the risk of developing cannabis use disorder, adults should not exceed 8 THC units per week.
So you can smoke 2/3 of a good, but small, half gram joint, or just over two shitty joints a week.
I don't know if this accounts for how inefficient smoking is.
If you have a gram of flower that is 20 percent THC, you're not* getting the whole 200mg when you smoke that gram.
Been using a Carta 2 for a few years now, and I can't imagine going back to smoking. The thing is incredible.
Took a few hits from a joint the other day, and it was crazy how much it stank everything up
Estimates are between 20-30% absorbtion with smoking, the rest is burnt off or lost. Fire destroys THC, which is why people corner bowls and tend to prefer blunts because they burn slower.
For instance, a 0.45 gram joint of strong herbal cannabis might contain 12.78 standard THC units, while a weaker, seeded herbal cannabis can contain just 3.78 THC units, according to the new estimates.
The study's authors found that to reduce the risk of developing cannabis use disorder, adults should not exceed 8 THC units per week. Seventy percent of the adults who exceeded this limit in the CannTeen study reported cannabis use disorder.
So around the order of magnitude of a joint per week? Well..
I look at it this way. I didn’t start consuming cannabis until I was in my mid 40s. I have a lot of catching up to do.
Imagine all the drugs i did not do as a child.
Nobody ever offered them to me! I was prepared, but no one gave me free drugs to get me hooked...
With no mention of CBD, I wouldn't pay much attention to this. I'm not trying to argue the "entourage effect". Rather both chemicals are doing something so if you're only measuring one you're not getting the full picture.
Also, CBD and THC interact with each other. I remember reading an article about how CBD reduces the negative effects caused by THC.
That article you mention was the main line of thinking behind my comment. THC alone is different than THC + CBD and if the whole point is to have a number like alcohol, then you should list both. I've even seen people advocate for the specific terpene amounts as well, but I don't know if there's science supporting those having distinct effects(not doubting - just not wanting to make a claim I can't back)
For those who don't know what the fuck we're talking about: CBD is likely to reduce symptoms associated with paranoia, anxiety, schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders (exacerbated by THC).
Of course there's an argument to be made that the association is more to do with the exponential rise in THC potency over the last few decades, which is true, weed is danker than it has ever been, but the scientists who research this shit said "nah CBD is still a pretty cool guy".