Tolerance and cannabis: How to manage it

Useful tips to enjoy the medicinal and recreational effects of cannabis, even with continuous use. Understand how tolerance to the substance works in our body.

Whether you use are a cannabis user or not, we bet you have at least heard something about building up TOLERANCE towards cannabis use. So stoners, have you ever felt in your life that you needed to smoke a little more to get in the same wave as before?

This is the well-known phenomenon known as “tolerance”, which actually happens with the consumption of most substances. But as always, cannabis as the magic plant it is, behaves differently and in a very positive way. Remember that famous phrase: “weed kills neurons”? We have head this countless times, and from the many things that prohibitionism has lacked, passing on truthful and reliable information about drug use has been one of the biggest. That’s why we are ready to unravel one of the great neuroscience MYTHS with you!

What does this myth have to do with tolerance?

Yes friends, cannabis does NOT kill neurons and this has been scientifically and widely proven. But if it doesn’t kill neurons, why do people still feel the symptoms of tolerance? The reason for this lies in the behavior of our cannabinoid receptors, specifically CB1 which is what makes humanity talk to Jah (if you all know what we mean, hahaha)! Frequent use of cannabis causes the receptor to slow down and even change its genetic expression, so you will need to consume more cannabinoids to get high.

With continuous use, it is noteworthy that we can reach the point of almost no more psychoactive effect. Sounds a little boring, doesn’t it? After all, we love to be able to contemplate a sunset or even a beautiful meal we share with loved ones.

How to fight it?

So how can we counter this scenario? Once again this magical plant surprises us when we discover that these tolerance periods can be eliminated at short intervals without consuming cannabis.

It’s amazing to think of the brain’s ability when it comes to a plant like this. If you stop using cannabis, your brain recovers quickly – something that happens in weeks, impressively fast especially when compared to other substances.

The truth is that ganja is the only one that makes the brain recover after a period of abstinence!

It is worth remembering that if continuous use of THC is still present, the effects on brain functioning will also be smaller due to decreased receptor activity.

In medicinal and therapeutic cases

Still thinking about tolerance, it is important to touch on one point: what to do with people who use cannabis in a therapeutic manor and need to consume high concentrations to relieve symptoms such as chronic pain, lack of appetite (due to chemotherapy and others), insomnia and etc. ? One strategy to combat tolerance is to vary the forms of consumption. It is possible to smoke, vaporize, food with infused cannabinoids, creams, oral use and others. Choosing strategies such as vaporization that ensures greater cannabinoid absorption is a good option, and also a Harm Reduction strategy.

If you smoke often, what will determine the tolerance factor is the patterns of consumption, frequency, dosage and choice of substances. And if we want to build a healthy relationship with such a therapeutic plant, thinking and reflecting on all these patterns is of great importance.

It is always important to dive in and watch the signs of our body. Even though cannabis is a plant with extremely broad therapeutic potential, forms of abuse are still possible and can have negative effects! This goes for any substance, including drugs like sugar and coffee!

So, did you like to understand more about cannabis tolerance? Now, you already know the perfect way to keep getting high! How about sharing with your friends?