No, there is no official dose of CBD, in France or elsewhere in Europe. No dosage, no table validated by weight, no mg/kg recognized by a health authority. The reason is simple: the CBD sold in shops is not a medicine, and nothing allows it to have one.
That doesn't mean nothing influences how you feel. It means the "dosage calculators" you come across online invent a precision that doesn't exist. What actually matters is understanding what makes the effect vary from one product to another, and knowing how to read a label without mistaking it for a medicine's leaflet.
This guide will not give you a quantity to follow. It explains why, and what you can do instead.
Key points — CBD has no official dosage in France: it is not a medicine, and no weight-based calculator has scientific validation. What makes how you feel vary is the route of administration, the product's actual concentration, and the person themselves. A percentage on a label describes a concentration, not a dose. The only numerical benchmark that exists is British: the Food Standards Agency has advised, since October 2023, not exceeding 10 mg of CBD per day for a healthy adult consuming food products — a UK regulatory benchmark, not a dosage, and one that does not apply in France.
Why there is no official dosage
A dosage, in the medical sense, comes out of randomized clinical trials, a marketing authorization and monitoring by a medicines agency. That's the case for Epidyolex, the only CBD-based medicine authorized in Europe, with a precise leaflet and hospital use.
A flower or CBD resin sold in a shop doesn't fall within this framework. It's an everyday consumer product, not a medicine, and French law in fact forbids a seller from suggesting an "effective" dose for a given effect. Saying there is no official dosage is therefore not a dodge: it's a regulatory fact.
Why "by weight" calculators have no validated basis
You've probably already seen these tables: "0.x mg per kilo depending on the intensity sought." They look rigorous, with precise figures. The problem is that none of them rests on a method recognized by a health authority.
Body weight does genuinely influence how many substances distribute through the body. But for CBD consumed outside a medical setting, no study has validated a reliable mg-per-kilo rule applicable to every person, every product and every use. These calculators replace a real unknown — the right level for you, with this specific product — with a calculation that looks scientific without being so.
What actually makes how you feel vary
Several factors play a role, and they explain why two people consuming "the same thing" can describe very different experiences.
Route of administration
Smoking or vaporizing a flower, letting a resin melt under your tongue, drinking it as a tea: each route has its own speed of action and its own share of CBD that actually reaches the bloodstream. It's not the same experience, and it can't be compared term for term.
Bioavailability
This is the proportion of CBD that actually passes into the blood after consumption. It varies significantly depending on the form of the product, the presence of dietary fat at the same time, and the person themselves. Two products with the same stated percentage can therefore produce different experiences.
The actual concentration, read on the certificate of analysis
The percentage shown on a product page is a declaration by the seller or producer. The only way to verify an actual concentration is the certificate of analysis (COA), a document from an independent laboratory. Demand it from any seller: it's the only way to know what a product actually contains, in CBD as in THC. Details: how to read a COA.
The person
Metabolism, consumption habits, individual sensitivity, what you've eaten, how tired you are at the moment: all variables that can't be calculated in advance.
Percentage and dose: two different things
This is the most common confusion. A rate of 44.96% as on the Candy Cream or 16.94% as on the Strawberry describes a concentration: the share of CBD in the material. It is not a dose, which would depend on the quantity actually consumed.
A high-percentage resin is therefore not automatically "stronger to consume" than a more modest-percentage flower: it all depends on the quantity used. What remains true in every case: the higher the CBD percentage, the smaller the quantity needed to reach a given concentration in the finished product — a matter of proportion, not a dosage rule.
The UK FSA benchmark: what it says, and what it doesn't
In October 2023, the Food Standards Agency (FSA), the United Kingdom's food safety authority, updated its precautionary advice on CBD consumed in food: it recommends that healthy adults not exceed 10 mg of CBD per day, across all food products combined (drinks, oils, confectionery).
Three important clarifications:
- It's a precautionary benchmark, not a recommended dose. The FSA does not say that 10 mg produces an effect. It sets a precautionary threshold beyond which safety data are lacking.
- It's a British rule, based on average dietary exposure in the UK. It does not apply in France and should not be read as a European standard.
- The FSA also maintains its warning for vulnerable groups: children, people on medication not supervised by a professional, women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or planning a pregnancy.
This benchmark mainly illustrates one thing: even a food safety agency, with substantial assessment resources, reasons in terms of a precautionary threshold, not an effective dose. This is consistent with the position of EFSA, which has held since 2022 that safety data on regular CBD consumption remain insufficient.
Precautionary principles, without giving a dose
Since no authority sets a dosage, here are principles, not numbers:
- Start with a small quantity of the chosen product, and observe how you feel before taking more.
- Don't increase quickly. Give yourself time to assess a use before repeating it.
- Don't stack sources without thinking about it. Smoked flower, resin, and another CBD product the same day: the amounts add up.
- Don't drive right after consuming. See the guide CBD and driving and the risk of a positive saliva test, which doesn't depend on the CBD dose but on traces of THC.
- Stop if you notice an adverse effect: marked drowsiness, digestive issues. See the details in side effects and safety.
- Remember that the feeling isn't cumulative over time in the sense of a treatment: there's no validated "build-up" to follow.
Who should abstain or consult before any use
- Minors: CBD is not recommended for them.
- Pregnant or breastfeeding women: no sufficiently reassuring safety data exist for this period.
- People on medication: CBD is metabolized by the liver enzymes CYP3A4 and CYP2C19, the same ones that break down many medicines (anticoagulants, certain anti-epileptics, certain antidepressants, immunosuppressants). Medical advice is essential before any use.
- People with liver disease: extra caution applies, since the metabolic pathway is the same.
In all these cases, the question isn't "what dose," but "should I take it at all," and the answer belongs to a health professional, not a seller or a blog article.
Sources
- Food Standards Agency (United Kingdom), update to its precautionary advice on CBD, October 2023 — recommendation not to exceed 10 mg of CBD per day for a healthy adult.
- EFSA, « Statement on safety of cannabidiol as a novel food: data gaps and uncertainties », EFSA Journal, June 2022 — efsa.europa.eu.
- ANSM, « Mélanger CBD et médicaments, ce n'est jamais anodin », news release, March 2025 — ansm.sante.fr.
- World Health Organization, Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD), Cannabidiol (CBD) Critical Review Report, June 2018.
- European Medicines Agency (EMA), marketing authorization for Epidyolex (cannabidiol), 2019.
