8 Tips for Taking a Marijuana Tolerance Break

There is always the risk of getting too much of a good thing. Just like you may have tried dabs for the first time and immediately fall asleep, so too does getting too much cannabis into your system lead to a much higher tolerance for THC or CBD. For many stoners who are smoking a lot more without getting much higher, it may be time to take a tolerance break. Stepping away from a cannabis hobby can be challenging but also rewarding. If you are finding that your tolerance levels are not where they used to be due to intense use, a weed tolerance break can help reset your system.

What's in a Name

The term tolerance, like so many other things in the cannabis community, is not based on science but instead on personal experiences. Our bodies adapt to exposure, whether that exposure is good quality bud or alcohol, or sugary foods. Over time, what was previously enough to satisfy us can become a starting point. Long-term cannabis users report that taking a marijuana tolerance break rejuvenates their senses, "resetting" their bodies so that they no longer require more and more weed to get to where they want to go.

Why would you need a tolerance break? Nobody knows your own body and your own limits like yourself. Perhaps you are lucky, and taking a puff off a homemade joint is enough to make you laugh at nothing for an hour. More likely, however, you have probably found that the intense experiences you had the first times you smoked weed no longer come to pass. While marijuana is not addictive in the same way as hard drugs, it nevertheless creates pleasurable effects that many people want to keep enjoying. However, when you cross the line from "I want to have fun while high" to "I need to be high to have fun," you know that something needs to change. Instead of "chasing the dragon" by buying more pot, or much more intense pot, follow these weed tolerance break tips to see whether you can naturally rebuild a tolerance level that does not require a great deal of bud.

Cold Turkey

You can find many people who say that they cut back on cannabis (or junk food, tobacco, or alcohol) gradually until they found themselves back in the sweet spot. That may work for you, but limiting your intake is more likely frustrating because your brain is still receiving enough THC to activate the receptors that, over time, increase tolerance levels. Instead of stepping down, put yourself in the physical and mental state needed to cut off cannabis use altogether in the short term.

Find Substitutes

If you feel the urge to smoke pot, you may be able to scratch the itch in other ways. If you use cannabis recreationally, consider a new type of activity that can let you have fun. If you use it to relax, consider a natural alternative like blue lotus, lavender, sage, or mullein. If you use cannabis with friends, suggest spending time in places where cannabis is not allowed (like restaurants) to prevent "slipping."

Don't Count the Days

How long should a tolerance break be? There is no correct answer since you may go an entire month without weed only to find that your tolerance level is unchanged. Ultimately, it is less a matter of duration than the destination. You may want to get a calendar and circle the day, whether it is two weeks from now or two months from now when your self-imposed tolerance break comes to an end and you can spark up a fresh bong. However, this can be counter-productive, making you frustrated in the short term and setting you up for a deadline that leaves you disappointed. Instead, measure progress by your physical and mental feelings. Rather than use a calendar, consider a tolerance break chart where you note the directions you feel your psychology and physiology are moving towards. This will help you see progress over the duration of the break.

Stay Positive

It can be hard to know how you will react to going without cannabis, especially if you frequently partake in good bud. Any tolerance break tips should avoid making a direct comparison with tobacco since the two substances are quite different in terms of their effect on the body and their addictive power. Yet just as we have all known someone who became irritable while quitting tobacco, a person going on a tolerance break might also find themselves unhappy because of their new situation.

Dollars and Cents

Finally, one great tip to get you through a tolerance break is measuring how much money you have saved. Often we do not pay attention to how much we spend on a cannabis routine, especially since dispensaries use cash. If you find your bank account growing over the span of your tolerance break, think about what you would like to do with the extra money - even if you want to buy some top-shelf product once you are back in the saddle.

Do you go on tolerance breaks? How have you found that they affect your use of cannabis? Let us know in the comments below!