Theories on marijuana tolerance...

I think tolerance is just getting use to smoking. After get high a lot over a long period of time you just don't feel the special kick in it anymore. I think it's more of just smoking a lot and not getting the same feeling, from your body being use to it.

 

tolerance happens because you use up your brain receptors and they need time to turn back on or something to that extent. of course you could get somewhat used to getting high but it defently has to do with your brain receptors which is why the less you smoke the more high you get!!

 

your lungs probably grow and become more adapted to THC consumption therefore increasing the amount of THC needed to account for the same high you could get before with less amount.

 

correct me if im wrong (probably am)
but i think it has something to do with the seretonin receptors, i believe the thc coats them decreasing their ability to pick up seretonin. tolerance is a result of not enough time between smoking for the receptors to clear the thc off.

i remember reading something to this effect a few years ago, may have been a science journal, may have been bs who knows, kinda makes sense tho

 

seratonin has nothing to do with getting you high from weed but there are specific receptors in your brain for thc and you wear them out when you smoke too often. so thats why you dont get the tickly old school brain highs when you smoke all the time

 

yea
my quick theory on tolerance...

you smoke, over time you brain gets used to it, you stop for a couple weeks, then your back to square one.

 

sober is my new high

 

In terms of scientific theories I can't say to much, as I'm not well versed in the affects nor do I believe the studies have really being done. However, from my experience I find that tolerance depends to build up when I smoke large amounts I find I reach a point where I don't really get high anymore and any aditional smoking just creates a kind of haze.
I'd say that tolerance builds up when you smoke an excessive amount at one point and then you just don't get as high, so I take a tolerance break. I have friends that will just smoke every evening and they tend to always get as high it's almost like routine to be honest I don't even know if they are actually getting high or its just triggered in their mind b/c they always do it, that would be kind of interesting if true. Habituated to get high.

 

large amounts in short amount of time or any amount at that is gonna make it seem weak. this is why i dont smoke good shit year round. makes the good stuff that much better. smoking headies all the time makes you super-human or something

 

i know there is some physical tolerance issues that come with smoking a lot
but i think another aspect is how comfortable you are
when i first started smoking
i didnt like to do much, i just wanted to feel it
and not talk just chill out
silent bob style

now tho
i am really comfortable
i still get similarly high off one bowl of dank
but
i am a lot more comfortable being that high

i think a lot of it has to do simply with how comfortable you are with yourself stoned
same goes for most drugs
i can take 3 hits of fluff and not have people really realise it
but, i dont really do pharms very oftem
so when i do
its obvious

 

Jon Gettman's the authority on how marijuana affects the brain and marijuana tolerance.

Check out this article of his: http://www.marijuanalibrary.org/brain2.html

Whatta ya know, we even have a thread about it:
http://forum.grasscity.com/seasoned-tokers/53144-marijuana-tolerance.html


And as skatealex2 said, seratonin has nothing to do it, marijuana's unique in it's affect on
humans, in fact you could call in the safe way to get high.

 

Yea, I think that's the closest to a real explanation you can get.

Think of the receptors and neurotransmitters in the brain as "muscles": Cannabis stimulates your brain and sends it into over drive. If you do it too much your brain literally fatigues and your bright highs turn into a dim flicker of light, a "haze" as some one else pointed out.

YOU ARE BURNT OUT. The little Candle in your brain that lights up and glows every time you smoke has eventually been consumed, and you now need a break to allow it to grow back to normal. Consider the used up candle a representation of the receptors and neurotransmitters that interact with THC. You need time for them to replentish.

The experience of sparing and occasional use of cannabis beats the experience of frequent daily use every time.

 

(In Laymans terms...) When you smoke weed, THC is absorbed by the lungs and quickly enters your blood stream the same as oxygen. It is pumped by the heart and carried through the blood stream, to the brain where your magical cannibinoid receptors are located. (God and mother nature through evolution are swell people for giving us these receptors.) So the THC is floating through your blood in your brains blood vessels like a continuous river. Amazingly the THC profile fits like a key into these receptors, (mimicking something else I think) so they fall into place, one molecule of THC per cannibinoid receptor head. They latch on, you feel the "high", then after awhile your body notices these arent "supposed" to be there, so bit by bit, their bond weakens and they "fall off" or become unnatached (gradually like rain droplets, thats "coming down") where the THC is then further carried through your blood stream, and then metabolized in your fat cells until they are safely eaten up by your body.

I've noticed I can get "high" once a day with my elephant-sized tolerance. There are so many wild effects from weed depending on tolerance...where would draw the line between "being high" and not? My point is, if I smoke 2 or even 3+ times a day (all fat bowls of dank), I still have a hazy feeling to my head, but its not a full blown "high". The effects of being high get diminished exponentially every time you smoke in a given 24 hrs. Luckily tolerance seems to drop as quickly as it builds up otherwise I dont think THC would be as safe a drug as it is (about as safe as ingesting water IMO.)

My high chart looks something like this:

First time I smoked- 100% high, amazing religious experience.
Daily or several weekly highs after that- >88%
Still smoking daily or several times a week for months- >75%
Going from regs to heads but still smoking several times a week- >70%
Smoking heads daily (now)- >18%
Smoking heads multiple times a day- >10%

 

thc is like an ice pack.

when you first put it on, its like woo! dats crazy!

and if you keep using it, youll still know that its there,

but since you havent taken a break from it, it wont be as great.

ice packs are most effective when used sporadically.

 

good analogy!

..except unlike ice packs, you can't kill yourself with thc.

 

You're right. They are called cannabinoid receptors. There are two subtypes labeled CB(1) & CB(2). THC or tetrahydrocannabinol, temporarily bond to these receptors. CB(1) is primarily located in the brain, but also in the lungs, liver and kidneys and CB(2) which is mainly expressed in the immune system and in the hematopoietic cells.

 

thats how i am sometimes, i try to pick out places where i am comfortable smoking.

 

thc works on cannibinoid receptors (i think thats what they are called). acid shrooms mescaline and dmt work on serotonin receptors

 

When certain cellular receptors are overstimulated by hormones/drugs/whatever ligand binds to them, the cell tends to reduce the number of those receptors on the cell surface by internalizing them (it basically takes the receptors inside the cell so that the hormone/drug/ligand can't bind to them anymore - it is sort of the cell's way of saying 'ok i got the message, leave me alone already').

In fancier terms, it is a natural mechanism which allows the body to acclimatize to molecular signals or stimuli that persist over a long term. Remaining in a constant state of activation is usually a waste of resources. I don't know for certain if this mechanism applies to cannabinoid receptors, but it's known to apply to plenty of other cellular receptors so it seems logical. Shrug