What your body does with THC

Not everyone feels the same effect from the same dose. Often the same person feels something different from the exact same joint on different days. That’s not random — it’s your body. Here’s the short version.

How it gets in

Smoking or vaporising is fast. THC moves through your lungs straight into your bloodstream, and you feel it within minutes. The peak usually sits around 10–15 minutes in; the main effect lasts roughly 1 to 3 hours.

Eating is slower. Edibles have to go through your stomach, then your liver, and only then do you start to notice. Reckon on 30 to 90 minutes before it kicks in — and once it does, it lasts several hours.

The difference is in the liver

When THC enters via your stomach, it passes directly through the liver — a process called first-pass metabolism. The liver has a family of enzymes that break down foreign compounds: the CYP system. Two of them in particular (CYP2C9 and CYP3A4) convert THC into a compound called 11-hydroxy-THC.

And that intermediate? It’s more psychoactive than THC itself.

That’s why edibles often hit harder than you expect: you’re not just absorbing THC, your liver is making you a stronger variant of it on the way through. Smoking mostly bypasses that conversion.

Why one person feels more

A few reasons why the same dose lands differently:

• Genetics. The CYP system works slightly differently in everyone. Some people break THC down faster, others slower. Variants in CYP2C9 are the best-known cause.
• Body composition. THC is fat-soluble and partly stored in fat cells. That gives a slower release over a longer time, but the dose-response also depends on your build.
• Last meal. A fatty meal right before an edible speeds absorption and can make the effect stronger. On an empty stomach it takes longer to come on, but sometimes hits surprisingly hard.
• Tolerance. Regular users have a more active CYP system; the breakdown runs faster, the same dose feels milder.
• Hydration and sleep. No biochemistry book required to understand that a tired, dehydrated body reacts differently from a rested one.

And if you “don’t feel anything”

The classic move with edibles: after 30 minutes someone decides nothing’s happening and takes another piece. Then an hour later something does start to land — and there’s now twice the intended dose sitting in the liver. Not a nice evening.

Rule one for edibles: give it at least 90 minutes before drawing any conclusions. No “let me just have one more.” Time does the work.

Rule two: drink water, eat something light, sit down. The effects are more predictable when your body is itself calm.