A Pause On Weed: A Guide Into Cannabis Tolerance Breaks

If you’re an avid cannabis smoker, you should know what a tolerance break is. If you don’t, it’s probably because you don’t need one.

It might be because of a new job or because the court told you to. You might be going to a not-so-cannabis-friendly holiday spot, or you’re travelling with family members who don’t partake on bong rips. Or maybe you’re just looking to enhance your cannabis experience. You miss those original highs. Maybe you’ve been feeling too cloudy for the past few months or even years. Whatever your reason is, we’ll be covering what to do and how to go about this “tolerance break” in the best way possible.

WHY STOP THE BEST FEELING IN THE WORLD?

When you smoke cannabis on a daily basis for months or years, you’ll probably start to feel like you’re not getting as high as you used to. You start reminiscing on those giggly highs you had as a kid, wondering why that doesn’t happen anymore. You’re not afraid of social interaction when you’re high AF. The squad always includes cannabis before any activity without even questioning it. This is a sign that you should probably take a tolerance break.

Most consumers do this because cannabinoid receptors (especially CB1 receptors) start to downregulate the reception of THC upon frequent and heavy use. It’s not just you getting used to the “high” feeling, it’s actually your physiology trying to adapt to your THC consumption and turning it into “normal.” It’s your body’s natural way of saying “well, if this is how it’s going to be, might as well be functional like this.” In a survival sense, your body tries to keep you aware and safe even after consuming THC because it knows this is how you are everyday.

Research has shown that CB1 receptors begin to replenish themselves just after two days of a cannabis tolerance break. They will continue to do so for 3-4 more weeks until they are ready to accept back all the THC.

HOW TO BEGIN

It’s important that you really want to do this before you actually do.

Remember that time your parents got you into piano lessons for 6 straight years, but now you can barely remember the do-re-mi’s? This is exactly the same!

If deep down you’re doing this because of your girlfriend or because a couple of your friends are also doing it - it won’t work. You need to truly set your intention before you even decide on a time frame.

Choose a date. It’s super important to have a deadline. Don’t set out to take a break from anywhere in-between a few days to a couple of weeks. This will motivate the thought of “yeah, it’s been long enough” to shine through. Without a clear date, there will be nothing in your brain telling you that you haven’t already gone long enough.

Try to get a few friends to do it with you. It’ll be much easier to go through with the break if you don’t have your friends hotboxing the room you’re in. Bet on who’s going to last the longest. Safest to try it out with your roommate(s). This way, you’ll be keener into keeping the bet, rather than blazing when you get home. This would mean deviating from the main purpose of the bet.

IT WON’T BE EASY

It will be a hard task, but you need to commit. Commitment is the most important factor here. Be honest with yourself 100% of the way and always remember why you’re doing this. The last thing you want is to go a couple of days THC-free, then end up taking the strongest hits of your life with an overwhelming sense of guilt. Oh boy, you don’t want that. Worse than a super-high you can’t control is a super-high you can’t control filled with existential self-doubt.

Your body will have to adjust to the lack of THC it used to be supplied with. It won’t come close to an alcohol or heroin addiction recovery. You won’t feel physical pain. Because there are no addictive compounds to cannabis, all that you’ll feel will be psychological. You might experience some circumstantial depression and feel like stuff isn’t fun anymore, but after 10 days, you’ll be good as new.

DEALING WITH THE DIFFICULTIES

You’ll face difficulties, no doubt about that! But being prepared is half the way to success.

One thing reported by daily users who suddenly stop smoking cannabis is restlessness. You’ll end up in bed fully awake for 3 hours wondering where the sleep went and why you’re not tired. This is normal. To ease you into this process, it might be smart to start going to bed sober a couple of days before you start the tolerance break. Don’t smoke 3 to 4 hours before your planned bedtime. This will help you fall asleep when you’re taking the pause on weed. It might also be helpful to try melatonin before bed. This is a natural sleep aid. Don’t go for anything synthetic. Worse than needing weed to fall asleep is needing chemicals stuffed into a pill to do so.

Make sure you’re eating healthy, but not too healthy. It won’t cut it if you take this chance to start a diet. Many of you will suffer a lack of appetite and you don’t want to only have broccoli in your house at a time like this. Sure, eat your greens and have your fruit. But feel free to have your Snickers and your hot dogs too. Don’t just eat crappy food either because this will also bring your mood down, but so will just eating kale. Treat yourself.

And finally, keep yourself busy. It will be easier to forget about weed if you have other stuff to do. Go out, socialise, start a hobby, learn a new skill - it does not matter as long as you’re not staying at home watching “Family Guy” all day long. It would also be smart to stop doing nothing when you blaze up the week before. Get used to doing stuff while you’re high. This way, you’ll just have to get used to doing this stuff sober. You won’t have to worry about having to find ways to occupy your time.

WHAT ABOUT CANNABIDIOL (CBD)?

All this tolerance talk about THC, but what about CBD? For those of you who don’t know, CBD is a cannabinoid just like THC. The difference between these is that while THC is psychoactive, CBD isn’t. Cannabidiol has a lot of uses in the medical industry for this same reason. It gives the user a relaxed feeling with its anti-anxiety benefits, while still keeping the mind functional.

This is great news! For those of you who want, you can still puff on that CBD E-Liquid. This is an excellent choice if you feel like it’s going to be a hard tolerance break. Just don’t abuse it. Try to take a couple of puffs of a vaporizer before bed, but nothing else. And make sure that if you’re using CBD during your tolerance break that at least you’ll be going a good couple weeks without THC.

Remember that it’s always better to be informed when it comes to anything in life. With what you have now, there is no reason you shouldn’t consider a tolerance break and recommend it to your friends. Now you know what to expect and how to deal with the difficulties. And believe us, after the first break you take, you’ll be taking another week off in a couple of months. You’ll realise that you haven’t been this high for so long and start to miss it after a few months. It’s totally worth it!