How to Lower Your Weed Tolerance
As an occasional or regular cannabis consumer, knowing how to lower your weed tolerance is an important skill to have. As with other substances, regular use produces a high tolerance level that may lead to higher consumption in order to produce the same effects.
Apart from raising costs, raising your level of consumption can lead to adverse health effects that can easily be avoided by pulling back. The good news is that, once you reset your weed tolerance, you should be able to keep enjoying your favorite Seattle (or local) cannabis products for a long time to come.
1. Take a Tolerance Break
A cannabis tolerance break, or "T-break" is the best way to lower your cannabis tolerance. A tolerance break involves taking a one-to-three-week break from marijuana use, giving your body a chance to reset and start again with a much lower tolerance level.
Can Chronic Daily Cannabis Smokers Take a Tolerance Break?
Regular cannabis use reduces the activation of CB1 receptors in the central nervous system, which is what causes heavy cannabis users to develop tolerance to marijuana. However, these receptors recover when not exposed to THC, so yes—you can take a T-break regardless of how much marijuana you usually consume.
How Long Should Your Tolerance Break Be?
The ideal length of a tolerance break depends on how frequently and how much marijuana you consume. A true T-break should last for at least 21 days because this is the time needed for THC to leave the body. However, occasional or light consumers may only need a week or even less to reset their tolerance.
Will I Have Withdrawal Symptoms During a Tolerance Break?
Regular or heavy cannabis consumers may experience withdrawal symptoms during a T-break. You will most likely feel withdrawal symptoms in the first week or two as the THC leaves your system.
Possible withdrawal symptoms you may experience include:
Irritability
Mood swings
Difficulty sleeping
Decreased appetite
Cravings
A feeling of restlessness
Try to follow a healthy lifestyle during your T-break by exercising, staying hydrated, avoiding other substances such as drugs and alcohol, and eating healthily to reduce the effects of withdrawal on your body.
2. Reduce Your Cannabis Consumption
Though T-breaks are the most effective way of reducing a high tolerance to cannabis, some people find the effects of cannabis withdrawal hard to overcome. If you find yourself in this category, reducing your consumption could be just as effective for lowering your tolerance to cannabis.
Who Should Consider Reducing Their Cannabis Consumption?
People who use marijuana for its pain-relieving properties or other medical reasons may not have the luxury of being able to abstain completely. However, long-term daily cannabis consumers can try different methods to reduce their consumption, such as changing the method or frequency of consumption.
Instead of consuming a full pre-roll, try taking a couple of hits from a bowl ormicro-dosing.
If you usually consume cannabis several times a day, try reducing it to once or twice. You can do this gradually over the course of several weeks or months to ease the transition.
Use a one-hitter or chillum that only allows you to consume small amounts of weed.
Many regular cannabis consumers use cannabis to treat or alleviate medical conditions such as joint inflammation or consume cannabis strains for depression. For cannabis consumers who have medical issues but want to reduce their THC tolerance, reducing the recommended dosage may not be possible. Be sure to consult with your physician before making any changes to your routine.
3. Try Marijuana With a Higher CBD-to-THC Ratio
CBD doesn't produce the same effects as THC, but consuming cannabis products with the right ratio of CBD to THC can help you achieve similar results while simultaneously lowering your cannabis tolerance. Many dispensaries offer products that are rich in CBD and have a lower THC content.
4. Switch Cannabis Strains
Though you probably have a favorite strain of cannabis, incorporating other strains or products may help to change the way in which your body interacts with marijuana. Because every cannabis strain has a different CBD and THC percentage and a unique terpene profile, your body may respond differently to a different strain.
Switching cannabis strains won't have the same effect as taking a T-break or reducing the frequency or amount of consumption, but it can help you lower your weed tolerance without stopping entirely.
5. Substitute Cannabis Flower for Other Cannabis-Based Products
Trying other ways of consuming cannabis can also help with lowering your weed tolerance. For example, a consumer who typically takes cannabis concentrates could try smoking flower.
Alternatively, if you usually smoke for medicinal reasons, for example, to alleviate muscle or joint pain, cannabis topicals could be a great non-intoxicating alternative that acts locally rather than systemically.
6. Consider Exercising More Frequently
Aside from being a generally healthy life choice, regular exercise can help to reduce weed tolerance in people who consume THC regularly. THC is stored in the fat cells in the body, so when you exercise and burn body fat, you’ll be burning the THC that’s stored in your body and reducing the time needed to lower your tolerance.
Lower Your Weed Tolerance and Then Maintain It
Although lowering your weed tolerance may be fairly straightforward, it’s a good idea to think about how you’ll maintain a lower level of tolerance once it’s achieved. Lowering your tolerance but continuing with the same habits as before will only lead to you having to repeat the process in the future.
Be aware that a high level of tolerance can be a sign of cannabis use disorder, and changing your habits now could be the best long-term health move you can make. For other regular consumers, incorporating some of the methods discussed above could help you maintain a lower cannabis tolerance level, allowing you to continue to enjoy your favorite cannabis products long-term.