With millions of people across the U.S. now using medical cannabis, new users are coming on board every day. How many of them lack a basic understanding of how to use medical cannabis? How many understand more advanced concepts like cannabis tolerance breaks?
There is no way to answer that question definitively. But I would be willing to bet that the level of ignorance among new users is higher than most people imagine. I am guessing a lot of new patients know nothing about tolerance or why taking breaks from medical cannabis is a smart idea.
The Basic Idea of Tolerance
In the pharmaceutical environment, tolerance is a condition in which a person’s body becomes accustomed to having a particular drug in the system. As a result, the drug is less effective at relieving symptoms. Tolerance is common with all sorts of drugs that alter the mind. Cannabis is just one of them.
The intoxicating effect cannabis is known for is directly related to how cannabinoid receptors in the brain react. Over time, those receptors will get used to a certain amount of THC in the system. And when they do, they will not react as aggressively when the patient uses cannabis. What’s the result? The user must consume more cannabis to experience the same level of relief.
The Idea Behind Tolerance Breaks
Tolerance breaks amount to taking time off from one’s cannabis medicines. In other words, a medical cannabis patient stops taking his medications for a set amount of time. This allows the cannabinoid receptors in the brain to reset. But is doing so necessary? Can’t the patient just keep taking larger amounts?
A governing principle of medical cannabis is using the least amount required to achieve the desired symptom relief. This philosophy pertains to all sorts of drugs. As a general rule, doctors do not want their patients taking more drugs than necessary.
Specifically in the medical cannabis space, there are two concerns:
Addictive Potential – Cannabis is generally considered significantly less addictive than opioids and other hard drugs. But that doesn’t mean it’s not addictive at all. We don’t know how much a patient would have to consume before addiction sets in.
Long-Term Impacts – We also don’t know the long-term impacts of using cannabis as a medicine. Today’s cannabis is more potent than ever before and using it on a daily basis could have long-term impacts we just don’t know about yet.
Both concerns warrant caution. So while we wait for scientists to find the answers, the best policy seems to be promoting tolerance breaks in order to minimize any potential drawbacks from medical cannabis.
How Long Breaks Should Be
The question among medical cannabis users is how long breaks should be. There is no uniform answer right now. The operators of BeehiveFarmacy.com in Salt Lake City, Utah, explain that a general rule of thumb among light users is to take off three days per month.
The three-day recommendation is based on the understanding that the brain of a light user can reset within 48 hours or so. But what about heavy, daily users? Resetting could take weeks. That is why there is no black-and-white answer.
Beehive Farmacy recommends that patients speak with their pharmacists about tolerance breaks. A pharmacist is the most qualified person to understand a patient’s condition, symptoms, and medical needs. The pharmacist can recommend an appropriate tolerance break length along width break frequency.
If you are new to medical cannabis, learn about tolerance breaks. Taking breaks every now and again is in your best interests.