Regular cannabis consumers often come to us with a question: “How fast does THC tolerance build?” Occasionally, we hear Florida medical marijuana patients say they have a high weed tolerance or require higher levels of THC to feel results. You can talk about this with your medical marijuana doctor when you get or renew your medical marijuana card in Florida.
In the meantime, this article contains information to answer the following questions:
- What is cannabis tolerance?
- Is “cannabis tolerance” a real thing?
- How long does it take to build a THC tolerance?
- How long does it take to reset a cannabis tolerance?
- What should I do if I develop cannabis tolerance?
- How do I manage my cannabis tolerance?
What is Cannabis Tolerance?
Cannabis tolerance can be a tricky thing. On the one hand, medical marijuana patients want to feel the desired outcomes of their favorite cannabis products from our dispensary menu. On the other hand, it can be uncomfortable to get too high. So how do you know what amount is just right for you?
A lot of this comes down to your cannabis tolerance. You notice diminishing results when you develop a THC or weed tolerance. Maybe 10mg of THC makes you feel how 5mg of THC used to, or perhaps you used to consume half of a pre-roll, but now you finish the entire thing with the same effects.
So, is Cannabis Tolerance a Real Thing?
This outcome is what people mean when they say they have high cannabis tolerances because they’ve been medical marijuana patients for years. There’s some science behind why, over time, a person might need higher THC levels to feel the same results. This is often achieved with a higher THC percentage product, such as concentrates or kief. Cannabinoid receptors in the human body have limited ability to bind to cannabinoids like THC and CBD.Â
THC tolerance primarily concerns brain chemistry and the frequency and amount at which a person consumes cannabis. This is why someone who weighs 140 pounds and consumes medical marijuana daily can have a higher cannabis tolerance than a 250-pound person who is enjoying medical cannabis for the first time.
How Long Does Cannabis Tolerance Take to Build and Reset?
Most people develop a long-term THC tolerance for daily (or almost daily) consumption. If you consume medical marijuana once or twice a week, you are unlikely to develop a tolerance. However, even with less regular consumption, you may get used to the experience of consuming cannabis, which can make the results less overwhelming or a new feeling.
That said, because of how cannabinoid receptors work, short-term tolerance can develop pretty quickly. For example, if you have three equal amounts of THC throughout a day – even to the exact milligram – the second and third amounts are likely to create increasingly less noticeable results. This short-term tolerance will likely reset almost as quickly, especially after sleep.
For this reason, you are generally at your highest sensitivity to THC during your first time consuming it on a given day. As you observe your potential short-term and long-term cannabis tolerances, it also helps to remember some of the other factors at play:
- Which Cannabinoids Are Present – A medical marijuana product with THC isolate will have a different outcome than a full-spectrum product with other cannabinoids. CBD, CBG, and CBN can all produce synergistic influences, mainly if your body is not accustomed to those cannabinoids.Â
- How You Feel Before Consuming Cannabis – Your cannabis sensitivity can be affected by how tired you are, whether you’ve eaten recently or even been drinking coffee. Try to account for reasons you may feel more or less sensitive to cannabis on any given day.
If you’re consistently increasing the level of THC or other cannabinoids to feel the same results, the signs are telling you that you’ve developed a long-term cannabis tolerance. This is most common among people who consume vast amounts of THC with great frequency. For example, someone who consumes edibles or extracts with high THC levels daily is likely to notice that their sensitivity to cannabis decreases.
What Should I Do if I Develop a Cannabis Tolerance?
If, after reading the above, you believe you have a cannabis tolerance, there are a few ways you can respond. Ultimately, this is a personal decision based on your comfort levels. You can consult your medical marijuana doctor if getting a professional opinion makes you more confident.
Your medical marijuana doctor will likely ask you questions about how much cannabis you consume at one time and how frequently you consume cannabis. They will probably talk to you about the outcomes you experience and how you feel if you reduce or pause your cannabis consumption. You and your medical marijuana doctor can devise plans to manage your cannabis tolerance appropriately based on your answers to these questions.
How do I Manage My Tolerance?
If nothing else, reducing your cannabis tolerance can help you save money at your favorite medical dispensary in Florida. Keeping track of your tolerance also enables you to estimate how a given amount of THC will likely make you feel. There are a few ways to manage your cannabis tolerance in the short and long term.
In the short term, if you consume cannabis at multiple points in one day, you can try staggering your consumption throughout the day. In other words, your first daily portion can be the smallest, even smaller than your average amount. Later in the day, once the first amount has decreased your cannabis sensitivity, you can compensate by increasing your cannabinoid intake slightly. This gets you to the end of the day with the least possible amount of THC reduced.
In the long term, you might want to consider a tolerance break, sometimes called a T-break. The length of your tolerance break depends on your tolerance level and how much you want to reset it. A medical marijuana patient who consumes high THC levels for years might need nearly a month to reset their tolerance completely. Lower tolerances might disappear in as little as a week or even a few days.
There is no hard and fast rule for how long a tolerance takes to build or reset. This makes it necessary to start low and go slow during your first time-consuming cannabis after a break. Some people find that their cannabis sensitivity bounces back dramatically when they take a planned T-break or go for a holiday without their medical marijuana products.
Shop Florida’s Best Cannabis Products at FLUENT Cannabis
Which products will make it easiest to consume a THC amount that personally produces the desired results for you? Staying in tune with your cannabis sensitivity and dosing preferences will help you know what to look for when you shop for cannabis.Â
We aim to serve the various needs of our medical marijuana patients, so our dispensaries in Florida offer products to cover a wide range of THC potency levels to satisfy any kind of weed tolerance.
Find your nearest FLUENT Cannabis dispensary in Florida to get started today!
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