Decarboxylation removes a carboxyl group from an acidic cannabinoid
The cannabis plant does not produce THC directly. It produces acidic precursors, chiefly cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), which enzymes convert into tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) and cannabichromenic acid (CBCA). Each of those molecules carries a carboxyl group, written as COOH, attached to the ring structure. That group is the only structural difference between THCA and THC.
When enough heat is applied, the carboxyl group breaks away and leaves as carbon dioxide. What remains is the neutral cannabinoid: THCA becomes THC, CBDA becomes CBD. Because carbon dioxide has mass, the molecule gets lighter in the process. THC weighs roughly 87.7 percent of what the THCA it came from weighed, which is where the 0.877 multiplier on lab reports originates.
Time and temperature trade off against each other. Researchers studying acidic cannabinoids report that the conversion proceeds faster at higher temperatures and more slowly at lower ones, and that pushing heat too far or too long degrades the resulting cannabinoids rather than simply converting more of them. This is why licensed manufacturers treat decarboxylation as a controlled process step with defined parameters, not an afterthought.
Raw flower stays in acid form until something heats it
A jar of cured flower sitting on a shelf is mostly THCA, not THC. Curing and storage involve slow, ambient changes over months, and a small amount of spontaneous conversion does occur, but nothing close to the full reaction. That is the practical reason raw plant material is not intoxicating when eaten directly. The molecule that would produce that effect has not been formed yet.
This distinction matters when you are reading a menu. A flower listing showing a high THCA figure and a very low THC figure is normal and expected. It is describing the sample as tested, in the state it currently sits in the jar, before any heat has touched it. The number describing what would exist after heating is reported separately as total THC.
Smoking and vaping complete the reaction as you use the product
Combustion in a joint or pipe reaches temperatures far above what decarboxylation requires, and vaporizers operating in typical heating ranges also clear the threshold. In both cases the reaction happens in the moment of use, inside the airflow, in a fraction of a second. There is no preparation step because the device performs the conversion for you.
That instant timing is the main behavioral difference between inhaled and ingested formats. Inhaled products are generally associated with a faster onset than products that pass through digestion, because the conversion and the delivery happen at the same moment. This is a description of how the formats behave, not a promise about any individual outcome, and effects vary between people.
Pre rolls, flower and vape cartridges at One Green Leaf all fall into this category. Cartridges add one more wrinkle: the concentrate inside was usually already processed at the manufacturing stage, so much of the conversion may have happened before the product ever reached the shelf, with the device finishing the job.
Edibles and infusions depend on material that was decarboxylated first
An edible never gets hot enough in your stomach to convert anything. If raw plant material were infused straight into butter or oil, the finished product would carry mostly THCA. That is why manufacturers run a deliberate decarboxylation step before infusion, holding the material at a controlled temperature for a set period so the conversion completes without excessive degradation.
After that step, the converted material is infused into a carrier such as oil, butter, or a water compatible emulsion, then dosed into gummies, chocolates, beverages or capsules. New Jersey licensed products are labeled in milligrams per serving and per package, which is possible only because the conversion already happened and can be measured. Follow the packaging as printed and the state rules that govern it.
Home infusion is a separate subject with its own equipment and variables, and this article is not instruction for it. If you are shopping for an ingestible product, the practical takeaway is simpler: the milligram figure on a licensed edible package already accounts for decarboxylation, so you do not need to do any conversion math yourself.
Labels carry two numbers because they describe two different moments
A certificate of analysis measures what is physically present in the sample submitted. For flower and most concentrates, that means a large THCA value and a small delta 9 THC value. Total THC is not a separate measurement. It is a calculation projecting what the sample would contain if all of its THCA converted, using the standard formula: THCA multiplied by 0.877, plus the delta 9 THC already measured.
The same logic applies on the CBD side, where total CBD is calculated from CBDA and measured CBD. Products that were already heated during manufacturing, such as many distillate based vapes and edible infusions, tend to show the opposite pattern: high THC, minimal THCA, because the acid form was already consumed by the reaction.
Reading a menu with this in mind removes most of the confusion. Two numbers that look contradictory are usually just before and after views of one sample. Cannabinoid content is one attribute among many, alongside format, terpene profile and how the product fits your routine, and a higher number is not a recommendation.
How this shows up across the categories at One Green Leaf
One Green Leaf is a licensed adult use cannabis dispensary in Gibbsboro, New Jersey, in Camden County, about 30 minutes from Philadelphia, operating under NJ CRC license RE000846. The store is open every day from 9 AM to 9 PM. You must be 21 or older with a valid government photo ID, and no medical card is required to shop.
Across the categories we carry, flower, vapes and carts, edibles, pre rolls, concentrates and wellness products including tinctures and topicals, decarboxylation sits at a different point in the chain for each one. Inhaled formats convert at the moment of use. Ingestible and infused formats were converted during manufacturing. That single fact accounts for most of the labeling differences you will see between shelves.
Cannabinoid figures change with every batch, so the live Dutchie menu is the only accurate source for what is in stock right now. You can shop in store, use the drive thru for pickup, reserve ahead for pickup, or choose same day delivery. If you want to understand how a specific product's reported numbers were calculated, ask a staff member in store in Gibbsboro.
Wang M, Wang YH, Avula B, et al. "Decarboxylation Study of Acidic Cannabinoids: A Novel Approach Using Ultra-High-Performance Supercritical Fluid Chromatography/Photodiode Array-Mass Spectrometry." Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research, 2016, reporting that heat converts THCA to THC with the reaction rate depending on both temperature and time.