Riding High: Understanding How Long You’ll Feel That Gummy

**You must be 21+ to consume edibles. Never partake and drive, and do not consume edibles while pregnant or nursing.**

New to the world of edibles? Welcome! 

Understanding how long your high will last is one of the most important things to know before you partake for the first time. In this article, we break down everything you need to know to ride the high, but here’s the tl;dr version:

• Onset time: 30 - 90 minutes
• Peak effects: about 3 hours 
• Total duration: 6 - 10 hours 

Oh, and if you have more questions about what to expect the first time you pop a gummy or savor a square of infused chocolate, check out our First Timer’s Guide to Getting High.

How Long Does it Take for an Edible to Hit?

Here’s the thing: edibles have a delayed onset time. This can trip up those who are new to partaking (and even those who typically smoke or vape but are new to edibles), as it’s easy to think you’ve taken too low a dose to feel while you're waiting for your vibe to shift. 

But the important thing to remember is that unlike inhaled forms of cannabis, which tend to hit immediately, an edible high can take anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes to kick in. This is because the THC in inhaled cannabis enters your bloodstream through your lungs — a process that happens almost immediately. Edibles, meanwhile, must first pass through your digestive system before the THC and other cannabinoids can be absorbed into your bloodstream. 

This slow onset time is why we always recommend waiting a full 90 minutes after you’ve consumed before taking another gummy, mint, or chocolate square. (If you want to be extra safe, waiting 2 hours is never a bad idea.) Taking more before you’ve given the first dose a full chance to hit can cause you to overdo it for your tolerance and get uncomfortably high, especially if your tolerance is low.

How Long Does an Edible Last?

Once an edible kicks in, you can expect to feel high for generally around 2 to 6 hours. The effects will likely peak at about the three-hour mark and then slowly taper off, and how long you’ll feel high can depend on a number of things, including how strong of a dose you took and how quickly your body metabolizes the THC. Speaking of effects, Camino has gummies that are crafted with a certain vibe in mind, such as euphoric, relaxing, or blissed-out, but remember that everyone experiences highs differently. How much you consume, the environment in which you consume, and how your body processes THC can all factor into the type of high you'll have.  

How Long Do Edibles Take to Wear Off?

After you hit your peak, you can expect to feel the effects of your high slowly fade away over the course of a few hours. Most will feel back to their baseline vibe 5 to 8 hours after they consume, although after-effects like cottonmouth, red eyes, and sleepiness can linger for up to 10 hours (long after the other physical and mental effects have ended). 

How long an edible hangs out in your system is one of the other key differences between consuming a gummy or chocolate and taking a puff of a joint or vape. Highs that come from inhaling tend to hit quicker and fade quicker. 

What To Expect: The Timeline of an Edible’s Effects

Understanding when you’ll start to feel the edible you’ve taken — and how long its effects can linger — is key to enjoying your high. Below, we’ve charted out our rough guide.* 

• 0-30 minutes after consuming. No effects yet — your body is still doing its digestive thing. 
• 30-90 minutes after consuming. You’ll likely start to feel loose, relaxed, and find things funnier than usual as your high takes off. 
• 90 minutes - 3 hours. Now is when you’ll feel the strongest effects.  Effects might include chilling out, drifting off to dreamland, or receiving a boost, although everyone experiences highs differently: in addition to the terpenes and other ingredients in an edible, a number of things factor into the type of high you'll have, including how much you consume, the environment in which you consume, and how your body processes THC and other ingredients.
• 3-5 hours after consuming. You’ll hang around in those good vibes — what we like to call plateauing — for about an hour after you feel the peak effects. By about the 5-hour mark, the high should begin to mellow. 
• 5-8 hours after consuming. Your high will slowly fade away. You'll likely continue to feel relaxed, and probably a bit tired. 
• 8-10 hours after consuming. Any mental effects of your high should be gone, although you may feel thirstier than usual, as after-effects like cottonmouth can take longer to fully fade. 

*This timeline assumes that you’ve taken the correct dose for your tolerance level. Taking too strong of a dose can cause you to feel high for longer than you’d prefer! 

Factors that Can Impact How You Experience Your High

Look, no two people experience anything in this world the same way — so why would highs be any different? We’ve done our best to chart the course of a typical edible high in this article, but know there are a few things that can impact how quickly you’ll feel high, and how long the effects will last. 

• Dosage. Consume too little, and your high experience may feel shorter. Consume too much, and you may feel high for longer than you anticipated. (If you need help finding the right dose for you, check out our dosage guide.)
• Tolerance. Those who are new to edibles tend to feel high for longer than those who more regularly partake, even if they’ve taken the same dose of THC. 
• Metabolism. Because edibles run through your digestive system, those with faster metabolisms may feel high for shorter periods of time compared to those whose systems digest more slowly. 
• Food & hydration. It’s theorized that how much food you have in your stomach prior to partaking can impact how quickly you feel high (likely for the same reasons we just talked about above). Edibles may kick in faster on an empty stomach, and take longer to hit if you’ve had a big meal. Same goes for how much water you’re consuming!
• Product type. Liquids tend to be digested slightly faster than solids, so you may feel the effects of a cannabis-spiked beverage faster than you’d feel a gummy or chocolate. 

Enjoy the Ride

The key to enjoying your edible experience is to give yourself plenty of time to let the effects kick in, enjoy the peak, and savor the comedown. If you’re consuming for the very first time, we recommend giving yourself a whole afternoon or evening to let the experience unfold. Partaking when you have somewhere you need to be — or a task that absolutely has to get done — before you can be confident you’ll be back to your baseline is never a good idea!

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Phoebe Neuman is a content strategist, writer, and curious mind living in Southern California. She’s reported on health, wellness, and lifestyle topics for over a decade, and when she’s not at her desk, you’ll find her in the pool or curled up with a good book.