What is a cannabis tolerance break?
Cannabis users take a ‘tolerance-break’ when they find that the feeling of getting ‘stoned’ or ‘high’ is no longer quite the same as it used to be. You may benefit from a tolerance break if you are routinely using more cannabis more often than normal and don’t understand why you can’t get as high as usual. This cycle of increased cannabis usage can often compound the problem.
A tolerance-break stops the biological expectation for high levels of cannabis. After a week or two with reduced/zero cannabis use the body re-adjusts to lower cannabis levels.
Cannabis tolerance breaks may be needed by people who:
- Use cannabis 4-5 times a day (or more)
- Start to smoke / vaporise cannabis early in the morning.
- Routinely use cannabis heavily as part of their lifestyle
THC breakdown in the human body.
THC and the other cannabinoids are broken down naturally in the body. It takes 2-4 days for the body to break down THC to half its original level, this is called the ‘Biological half life’. After a further 2-4 days the THC levels half again, and so on.
What is the benefit of a tolerance break?
Your cannabis usage can decrease to a quarter (or significantly less) of your previous usage levels. The other main benefit is the cannabis will seem to have stronger effects. Some people take a break from their home-grown cannabis stash when they go on summer holiday. Anyone who has taken a tolerance break will be familiar with the joy of the ‘first smoke’ back at home.
Where do you start?
Realising that your tolerance towards cannabis has increased can be a frustrating disappointment. This disappointment can be the best motivation to reset your cannabis tolerance. For some self-sufficient home-growers that run out of cannabis between crops, tolerance breaks are a natural part of their usage cycle. Many people that have taken a recent tolerance break claim it is vital to leave their first smoke of the day as late as possible. Using cannabis early in the morning may make it harder to enjoy the full effects of cannabis at a later stage of the day.
Reducing your cannabis consumption.
If you can’t completely stop cannabis use then reducing consumption by e.g. switching from smoking to vaporising is one way to reduce usage levels and improve your health at the same time. People that have switched from combustion to vaporisation often report that their cannabis consumption halves. Smoking cannabis is the least efficient way to use your precious stash, 50%+ of the carefully cultivated crop is literally lost in smoke. Buying a good quality vaporiser will allow you to reduce your consumption and give you a healthier way to enjoy it. The vaporiser will pay for itself within a few months.
Keeping consumption at levels that work for you.
If you have just taken a week (or two) tolerance break from cannabis then you will be able to restart with smaller amounts. Try to keep these new smaller quantities as the new normal. This will prevent your tolerance quickly climbing back to old levels. Use the opportunity to delay the first hit of the day, use less cannabis and increase the intervals between usage. To the heavy cannabis user this sounds a bit more difficult than it actually is, but a tolerance break can allow you to reset your cannabis intake as well as allowing you to regain a lot of the enjoyment which you may have lost.
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