How to Get Unhigh After Smoking Too Much Weed

If you've consumed more THC than you counted on and are starting to freak out, you might be wondering how to get "unhigh." Fortunately, there are several techniques that can help people come down from marijuana's psychoactive effects a little faster. And while most of them are based on anecdotal evidence rather than placebo-controlled studies, they're definitely worth a try.

10 Steps to Getting Unhigh 

The first and most important thing to know if you're feeling high as a kite, paranoid, nauseated, vomiting, or experiencing uncomfortable hallucinations after smoking weed is that YOU ARE GOING TO BE OK. 

The psychoactive effects you're experiencing are a result of the THC binding to receptors in your brain and making them go a bit crazy, so the feelings you're going through are pretty much all in your head.

While consuming too much THC may make you feel as though you're going to die, no one ever died from consuming too much cannabis. The worst of the high should pass in a couple of hours and you'll eventually feel normal again.

1. Call in Some Company

When you're uncomfortably high after overdoing it on some amazing Seattle edibles or smoking some potent cannabis flower, it can help to have someone stay with you until the peak has passed and you're feeling more connected to your surroundings. Your friend can reassure you that you're actually okay and keep you from falling over, wandering off and getting lost, or doing something dangerous like driving.

If you're at home, call a friend to come over and stay with you for a couple of hours. If you have housemates or a significant other, you can ask them to keep you company until the feeling passes. If neither of these is an option, phone a friend who understands and can provide you with some much-needed reassurance.

2. Chew on Lemon Skin, Black Pepper, and Pine Nuts

Limonene, pinene, and caryophyllene are terpenes that can help to dial down the intensity of a cannabis high. These terpenes are present in the cannabis plant and in other plants like spices, aromatic herbs, seeds, and fruits. 

• Limonene has anti-anxiety properties that may help when you’re feeling anxious or paranoid.

• Pinene affects neurotransmitter and inflammatory signals, which may help to restore mental clarity.

• Caryophyllene acts on the CB2 receptors, which may help to counteract brain-focused effects.

Lemon skin (which contains limonene), pine nuts (which contain limonene and pinene), and black pepper (which contains caryophyllene) contain the terpenes listed above and are traditional remedies for intoxication from cannabis. You can chew on lemon skin and black peppercorns directly, drink a glass of homemade lemonade, or simply take a whiff of lemon or black pepper essential oils. To activate the terpenes in pine nuts, toast them lightly in a dry pan and enjoy.

3. Drink Fresh Water or a Lemon-Pepper Tea

Drinking water can help to counteract the dry mouth that comes with cannabis consumption and prevent dehydration when you're too high. In fact, Persian doctor Al-Razi in the 10th century recommended drinking fresh water and ice or eating acidic fruits to mitigate the "harms" of consuming cannabis seeds or hashish.

If you're feeling like a comforting warm drink, you can make a cup of hot tea with lemon skin, black peppercorns, lemongrass, or lemon thyme. As mentioned above, these ingredients contain terpenes that can help to reduce the negative effects of THC.

4. Take a Cold Shower

Taking a shower can help you reconnect with your physical self and "reset" enough to try doing something besides freaking out on the couch. If you want something relaxing, try a hot shower. If you really want to "wake up," slow down your heart rate, and snap out of the high, cold showers are best.

5. Distract Yourself with a Feel-Good Activity

The art of distraction comes in handy when you want to get unhigh. By focusing on something else—anything else—the time will seem to pass more quickly and you'll realize that you really are ok.

Perfect activities for distracting yourself include:

• Organizing a closet or wardrobe

• Watching a funny movie or TV show

• Playing a video game

• Drawing, doodling, or coloring

• Playing a musical instrument

• Doing some breathing exercises

• Listen to some calming music

6. Do Some Exercise

Getting your blood pumping helps you get back into your body and out of your mind, which is exactly what you want if you're too high after smoking cannabis. You could:

• Go for a walk in nature

• Do some jumping jacks

• Jump or run on the spot

• Dance in the living room

• Put on an exercise video

If you leave the house, go with someone and stay within your immediate surroundings. THC slows reaction times and affects coordination and judgment, so it's essential to exercise caution and refrain from heading out alone.

7. Lay Down

"Sleeping it off" is probably the most effective way to get unhigh but it can be hard to fall asleep when your heart and mind are racing. When you've come down enough to relax a bit, lay down alone or with your significant other and wait for the peak of the high to pass.

8. Take an OTC Anti-Inflammatory Medication or Some CBD

Anti-inflammatory medications like Ibuprofen can counteract the high feeling and reduce any negative effects of THC on the brain. If you do take an anti-inflammatory, make sure that you eat something with it (pine nuts are ideal!) as they shouldn’t be taken on an empty stomach.

9. Balance the THC with Some CBD

If you prefer a plant-based remedy, you can moderate the effects of THC by taking some CBD by squirting CBD tincture under your tongue or smoking high-CBD cannabis strains like Charlotte’s Web, Remedy, or ACDC. If you decide to smoke, make sure the strain isn't also high in THC or you could get higher than you already are.

10. Avoid Alcohol and Mangoes

Alcohol and mangoes (which contain beta-myrcene) can intensify the effects of THC and draw out a high. When you're too high, this is the opposite of what you want, so avoid these like the plague!

Getting Unhigh After Edibles

It's easy to get too high after consuming edibles simply because they take so long to be metabolized by the liver. In some cases, edibles can take up to 3 hours to have an effect and if you think the edible didn't work and have another one, you could find yourself dealing with a double dose.

To come down from an edible high, you can drink some water, take a shower, and do some exercise. However, as fatty foods lengthen the effects of edibles, go light on pine nuts and other fat-containing snacks.

When to Seek Medical Attention

In all likelihood, your head will clear in a couple of hours and everything will return to normal. However, there are a few situations in which you should seek medical attention:

• You mixed marijuana with other substances, such as alcohol, prescription pills, or illicit drugs

• You have a respiratory or heart condition

• You are having trouble breathing

• You are dehydrated from severe vomiting

Even in states where smoking marijuana is illegal, doctors won't turn you over to the authorities for being high. They are there to help.

Learn from the Experience

Once you've sobered up and are back to your normal self, work out how much THC you had and plan to avoid getting so high next time. Medical marijuana strains, in particular, can have very potent effects, so it's best to start with a tiny bit until you work out how much cannabis you can handle.

When making cannabis cookies, cannabutter, or other homemade edibles, work out how much THC is in each batch and, as a result, how much THC is in each cookie or square of cannabutter. Once you know how potent your edibles are, you can stay within your ideal edible dose and just enjoy the ride.