THC and CBD are the two main cannabinoids in cannabis. THC is the one that makes it intoxicating; CBD doesn't produce a high on its own. California requires a CBD figure on every edible label, but a jar of flower has to list CBD only when there's enough of it to matter.

What's the difference between THC and CBD?

The cannabis plant produces a family of compounds called cannabinoids; more than a hundred have been identified, and two dominate the market. THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol) are built from the same atoms in the same quantities, arranged differently, and that difference in shape is what separates them.

These compounds act on a signaling network known as the endocannabinoid system. The piece that matters here is the CB1 receptor, concentrated in the central nervous system, especially the brain.

THC fits CB1 and switches it on. That activation is the high. The more THC that reaches those receptors, the more intoxicated a person gets, which is why dose is the most consequential number on any package.

CBD doesn't switch CB1 on. It binds to the receptor weakly, if at all, which is why it isn't intoxicating the way THC is (California Department of Public Health).

That's as far as this guide goes on what the compounds do in the body. Under California's labeling rules, a health-related statement about a cannabis product is allowed only when the totality of publicly available scientific evidence supports it and there's significant scientific agreement among qualified experts (California Code of Regulations, title 4, § 17408, cited below as 4 CCR). State law also bars untrue or misleading health statements in advertising, not just on labels (Business and Professions Code § 26154). When a product page promises you a specific outcome, that's a claim the state expects to be backed up.

Does CBD get you high?

No, not on its own. CBD is often called "non-psychoactive"; the more useful word when you're shopping is non-intoxicating, because the question is whether a product gets you high.

CBD-dominant is not THC-free. A product built around CBD usually contains some THC, and that THC decides whether it's intoxicating. Read the THC number by itself rather than assuming a large CBD number cancels it out.

Individual response varies. The same product can feel different to two people, or to the same person on another day, and no label can promise how a given person will feel.

Why CBD is sold in places cannabis isn't

The CBD on a smoke-shop counter is usually not licensed cannabis. It's hemp: the same plant species, legally split off by a single number. Under the 2018 federal Farm Bill, Cannabis sativa L. with no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC by dry weight counts as hemp. That removed hemp and its cannabinoids from the Controlled Substances Act, while cannabis remained a controlled substance (7 U.S.C. § 1639o).

Congress has since voted to tighten that line. Once the change takes effect, currently scheduled for December 11, 2026, federal law will count total THC rather than delta-9 alone, and a finished hemp product with more than 0.4 mg of total THC per container will no longer count as hemp (H.R. 6500, § 2019). California has gone further already. A hemp product with any detectable THC is treated as intoxicating here, and its sale is restricted. Assembly Bill 8, signed in October 2025, limits sales of intoxicating hemp products and moves oversight of most hemp products under the state's cannabis framework (DCC on hemp).

Ratios: 1:1, 20:1 and the trap inside them

A ratio compares two cannabinoids: 1:1 means equal amounts, and 20:1 means twenty times as much of one as the other. Most pair THC with CBD, but some swap in another cannabinoid, such as CBG, so check which two the ratio names.

The catch is that the order isn't standardized. Some brands print CBD:THC, others THC:CBD, and a bare "20:1" on the front of a package doesn't say which comes first. Read a 20:1 backwards and you've mistaken a barely intoxicating product for a strong one, or the reverse.

So ignore the ratio and read the milligrams. They're required by the state and much harder to misread; the ratio is just shorthand for them.

A serving with 20 mg of CBD and 1 mg of THC is a 20:1 product, and that 1 mg is a tenth of California's 10 mg limit for THC in one edible serving. A 1:1 serving with 5 mg of each carries 5 mg of THC, half that limit and as much as the state's consumer safety brochure suggests starting with. That's a full starting dose in a package that looks balanced and mild from the front.

Whatever the ratio, an edible can take up to two hours to start working and up to four to reach its full effect, so start low and go slow (DCC on responsible use). Our guide to edibles dosing works through the milligrams, and how long edibles take to work covers the timing.

Percentages on flower, milligrams on edibles

California sets the units, and sets them differently for the two categories: a percentage tells you how strong the material is, and a milligram figure tells you how much is in front of you.

Flower and plain pre-rolls, including joints rolled with kief (resin powder sifted from dry buds), fall under the state's non-manufactured rules. The label states total THC as a percentage, and CBD only has to appear if it makes up 5% or more of the total cannabinoid content (DCC labeling rules for flower; 4 CCR § 17407). That's why a California flower label often shows no CBD figure at all. The CBD isn't hidden; there just isn't enough of it to trigger the rule.

Edibles, tinctures and concentrates are manufactured products: labels state THC and CBD in milligrams per package, plus milligrams per serving where servings are designated (DCC labeling rules for manufactured products). A concentrate is extracted cannabis resin with the plant material stripped out; badder, sugar and diamonds are common forms. Menu listings, ours included, often quote concentrates as a percentage; the milligrams are on the package itself. Infused pre-rolls, which are flower with added concentrate, count as manufactured too, so even though you smoke them, their labels give THC in milligrams, or as the flower's percentage plus the milligrams the concentrate adds.

Two more label details worth knowing:

  • Content below 2 mg per package or serving can print as "<2 mg", and a cannabinoid the lab didn't detect prints as "0 mg" or "<2 mg", so "<2 mg CBD" can mean anything from none at all to just under 2 mg: negligible either way.
  • The state's cap on adult-use (recreational) edibles, 10 mg of THC per serving and 100 mg per package (4 CCR § 17304), counts THC only, so a 1:1 package can hold 100 mg of THC and another 100 mg of CBD.

What does THC percentage mean?

It's the share of the flower's weight that is THC, which is what people usually mean by a strain's THC level. A gram is 1,000 milligrams, so 20% THC works out to about 200 mg of THC in each gram, and 30% to about 300 mg. That's what's in the jar, not what one session delivers.

The label says total THC because California's figure counts THCA, the precursor form of THC found in raw flower, together with delta-9 and delta-8 THC (4 CCR § 15700(rrr)). A higher percentage makes flower stronger, not better. Our flower listings print the percentage in the product name, so read it as a spec, not a score.

What this means when you shop

California's adult-use market is overwhelmingly THC-dominant, flower most of all. CBD-dominant flower exists, but it's a niche; you won't find much of it on a typical menu, ours included. If you're browsing flower, assume THC is the operative number unless a label says otherwise; the flower guide covers the rest of what a flower listing tells you.

Most CBD-dominant products are formulated that way during manufacturing, which puts them among edibles and other manufactured goods, where labels list milligrams. Our edibles category is built around THC, like the rest of our menu, and it shows why reading the numbers matters: gummies held by law to 10 mg of THC a serving sit next to concentrates, some of the strongest products on any menu. By weight, a concentrate is far denser in cannabinoids than flower. The category name is no guide to strength; the numbers on each listing are.

One last distinction, because these get mixed up: indica, sativa and hybrid are loose lineage labels; THC and CBD are measured chemistry. Neither the type label nor the strain name is a reliable guide to the ratio — how the indica and sativa labels work covers that side of it.

Can CBD make you fail a drug test?

It can, though not because of the CBD itself. Drug tests look for THC and its metabolites, and CBD-dominant products usually carry some THC. We can't tell you how a particular test will read, and nobody selling you a product can either. The THC figure is the number to look at, however large the CBD number beside it.

The short version

THC is the intoxicating cannabinoid and CBD isn't; most of the rest of the label comes down to units, with percentages for flower and milligrams for manufactured products like edibles and concentrates. A CBD-dominant product from a licensed retailer is still cannabis, so our rules are the same for it: 21 and over, a photo of your ID at checkout and a valid government-issued photo ID checked at handoff.

For the whole path from ID rules through checkout, see the complete guide to buying cannabis in Los Angeles, or go straight to the current menu.

The labeling requirements, THC limits and hemp rules in this guide were checked on September 25, 2026, against the California Department of Cannabis Control pages, California law and the federal hemp definition linked above. Rules change; check cannabis.ca.gov for the current text. This guide is general information about cannabis products and California labeling, not legal or medical advice.