From time to time we can get to a point where we feel like we need more and more marijuana to get high. If you're experiencing something like this, it's never a bad idea to take a tolerance break.
Why take a break from cannabis tolerance?
Just as we can only watch our favorite movie a certain number of times before it stops being funny or interesting, our brain will also develop a tolerance to some chemicals, such as THC. When THC, the chemical compound found in cannabis and responsible for its psychoactive effects, enters our system, it binds to receptors in our brain called CB1 receptors. With extensive or continued use, these receptors can weaken or partially diminish, leading to a situation where you'll need larger amounts of marijuana each time to get the same "high" feeling as before. Not only is this bad for your brain, it's bad for your wallet too! But jokes aside, our endocannabinoid system plays important roles in many functions in our body: it helps regulate sleep, mood, appetite, digestion, hormone production, pain, and many other functions. To do this, our body produces its own endocannabinoids called AEA and 2AG, and these endocannabinoids bind to your brain using the same CB1 receptors that are used by THC. This means that extensive marijuana use and the consequent weakening of the receptors can lead to our body finding it more difficult to regulate the functions mentioned above. Also, if we are taking cannabinoids from outside sources, such as marijuana, our own body may start producing less of its endocannabinoids AEA and 2AG. Have you heard of bodybuilders who take too many steroids and testosterone and in the end their own body stops producing the hormone? Once they stop the steroids, their body is all out of balance and can't produce testosterone at all, which is when they enter the period called dependence. The same could potentially happen to us with THC if we subject ourselves to prolonged use of the substance, although this would be a more extreme case. Regardless of where you feel your tolerance level is at the moment, it's never a bad idea to take a break, if only for the simple enjoyment of your future self: taking a short break from marijuana can help your body restore its endocannabinoid system, allowing you to come back later and enjoy the psychoactive effects at their maximum potency.
How do we take the break?
Although two weeks would be the ideal length for a tolerance break, in some cases it may be more difficult to take the break if we have already established a high difficulty level up front. If two weeks seems like an overwhelming challenge you can try starting with taking a single day off, next week taking two days off, and extending the length of the breaks week by week.
Recommendations for a cannabis tolerance break:
Keep your reserve away from you.
If your marijuana is within reach, you'll have a harder time resisting temptation. If you give it to someone you trust and they hold it for you, the fact that you have to drive or take a subway for half an hour to retrieve it will help you resist a little longer. This brings me to my second point.
Tell your friends that you are taking a break.
If people who know you are aware of what you are doing, they will not talk about cannabis or invite you to the weed club, and if they are good friends they will refrain from using in front of you.
Take your break on a busy day.
If you are only going to take one or two days off, you can do it on a work day or on a day when you will be busy or away from home for long hours. This will minimize the time you will be relaxed and looking forward to smoking.
Travels.
Taking a break from tolerance while traveling is much easier. Away from the comfort of your home and everyday life, your mind will be occupied with new things and distracted, taking you away from your old habits. We also have to admit that living in Barcelona, where we have the comfort of our weed clubs and cannabis associations, makes the matter a bit more difficult, and taking a few days off and away from the cannabis club would simplify the task.
In a nutshellIf you are starting to feel that marijuana is not giving you the full effect as before and you need higher doses each time, it is not a bad time to think about a tolerance break. Even if it's for your future enjoyment and that of your wallet as well.
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