Learn about 13 factors that affect your Cannabis high

Why is it that a cannabis high can vary from experience to experience? Is there anything you can do about it? Here are 13 factors that can affect your high, from set and setting to strain type and consumption method.

It can be wonderful to get high on cannabis—it helps you see things from a different perspective, breaks down the defenses, and generates positive vibes. However, all weed highs are not the same. There are many factors that can influence the nature of the psychoactive experience, some of which are easier to control than others. We’ve examined 13 factors that can influence your high, and what this means for you.

Set & Setting

Although commonly associated with psychedelics, set and setting can also have an impact on the perceived strength and quality of a cannabis high.

Your mindset and the surroundings play a major role in your drug experience. Are you ready to relax and be mindful? Do you feel comfortable in your current environment? It is important to be aware of both the internal and external factors that influence how your cannabis high will unfold.

The state you’re in before, during, and immediately after smoking can affect whether your cannabis high is euphoric and relaxing or anxiety-inducing and unpleasant, depending on both set and setting. In addition to strain type, set and setting are influencing what you feel through various environmental factors. A beautiful setting and good friends can be just as inspiring as a chaotic setting and strangers.

Previous Experiences

Frequency of cannabis usage and levels of tolerance can have an effect on the strength of your cannabis high. For example, if you’re a frequent user or use the same dose often, it may not feel as strong as it would for those who don’t smoke that regularly. Additionally, there are theories suggesting that the brain adjusts to THC differently after long-term exposure; some animal studies even point towards downregulation of CB1 receptors potentially impacting highs. So far, this is unproven in humans but it could explain why the same amount of marijuana produces a subdued feeling as time goes on.

Your past experiences with weed can impact your current high. This is primarily due to your emotional response – if you have largely had positive marijuana-related experiences, you may go into your high with no worries; however, if there have been some semi-traumatic events while stoned, it is likely that you will be more apprehensive. If this is the case, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy and make the experience less enjoyable. On the other hand, if you approach each cannabis high with openness and trust, it’s likely to be a much better journey.

Body Size

Cannabis high strength can also be affected by weight and height. There is no doubt that this is the case with most drugs, and it is largely due to the fact that larger people require a higher amount of a compound to achieve the same blood concentration as smaller people.

There’s much more to it than that, and larger people shouldn’t immediately start taking higher doses of drugs to compensate for their size. However, if you have unusually strong or weak highs, consider this.

Metabolism

Metabolism is not widely understood and the effects of cannabis are uncertain. However, it looks as if those with a “fast” metabolism process the drug more quickly and may be more strongly affected by it. Conversely, a “slow” metabolism could mean cannabis has less of an effect on them, coupled with an increased tolerance to the substance. The picture is made even more complicated due to considering body size but, overall, if your highs stand out from the rest in a crowd of regular smokers, metabolism may be responsible.

Exercise

Exercise can have a huge impact on the intensity of the cannabis high resulting from cannabis consumption. Doing some strenuous cardio and then taking cannabis will certainly make it feel markedly different than if you had smoked after spending the day doing nothing.

Many factors contribute to this. One is that, after exercise, you have high levels of neurotransmitters like endorphins in your brain, which will naturally make you feel good. Combine this with THC, and you have a potent combination.

Furthermore, exercise increases heart rate and oxygen in the blood. This means THC will hit harder and be transported to the brain much faster, making the effects potentially feel stronger. In order to maximize cannabis’s effects, you can exercise prior to smoking if you find that you have a high tolerance for it.

Food

Interestingly, a cannabis high’s strength and quality can be affected by food.

It is generally accepted that an empty stomach will increase the effects of cannabis (and other drugs) but not necessarily in a pleasant way. Low blood sugar and THC aren’t exactly a match made in heaven.

However, certain foods, such as mangoes, contain terpenes like myrcene (found in most strains of marijuana), which can alter and possibly enhance cannabis’ effects. In addition to increasing the speed at which THC crosses the blood–brain barrier, this chemical may also make the effects feel more potent.

Time of Day

The time of day has the ability to affect our feelings and the chemicals our body produces, even without cannabis being a factor. Throw marijuana into the mix, however, and you will certainly notice a difference. Whichever strain you choose, lighting up in sunshine in the morning with a cup of coffee or tea will create a different effect than smoking before bed as melatonin starts sending signals to your body to sleep. Smoking during hectic periods of your day – or week — could possibly result in a more anxiety-filled experience than when you are free from stress.

Various factors, such as exercise, sleep, diet, and eating schedule, can affect the strength and quality of the cannabis experience throughout the day.

Consumption Method

Different ways of consuming cannabis can lead to different outcomes, with smoking being the least effective. Bioavailability is a major factor in determining how much of the substance will be absorbed into the bloodstream. However, this is not the only influencing factor. For instance, vaping has more bioavailability than smoking, so it produces stronger effects; on the other hand, eating cannabis-infused food has low bioavailability, but it is considered as one of the most powerful methods of ingestion. This is because THC metabolizes into 11-hydroxy-THC when it passes through digestion—a compound that induces long-lasting and intensely powerful highs even among seasoned consumers.

A dab rig, which is basically a bong used for concentrates, can also be used to enjoy cannabis concentrates. It is typically enjoyed with a vaporizer or a dab rig. Concentrates are much more potent by volume than cannabis flower, which contains an average of 20% THC.

Additionally, cannabis tolerance is inversely related to the strength of the consumption method. Therefore, you might want to use edibles and concentrates sparingly in order to avoid using more and more to achieve the same high. Stronger methods lead to stronger highs, which leads to stronger tolerances.

Technique

Good technique can enhance your cannabis high, while poor technique can severely limit it. Poorly rolled joints and clogged bongs will make things rough from the outset, while not inhaling properly can all but waste an entire joint. In addition, you’re likely to have an unpleasant or disappointing experience if you don’t decarboxylate your edibles or if you take too high a dose.

Dose

The dose affects not just the cannabis high experience but also your tolerance. Large doses, initially, will result in very powerful highs. Over time, however, these will diminish, and you won’t be able to get high like you used to, no matter how much you smoke.

When you smoke a lot, you will develop huge tolerances for marijuana. So what can you do? If you can bear it, you can cut your dose or use a strain with a lower THC content (more below). Besides, not smoking huge doses of THC every single day will probably be quite good for your brain too. Once in a while, you can still enjoy a heavy session and find yourself super blazed, before returning to your normal schedule.

Strain and Quality

The chemical profile of a cannabis strain, as well as how it was dried and cured, will definitely influence its high.

In addition to causing powerful highs, high-THC cannabis with little CBD will also cause a strong tolerance. Those strains with lower THC to CBD ratios, or those with less THC, however, will have a much less dramatic effect. They also won’t induce the same kind of highs.

In order to maintain a low tolerance while smoking regularly, it is possible to find a balance. As long as you only use high-THC weed occasionally, regular consumption of strains with lower THC and higher CBD content will not dull the effects of high-THC weed.

You will also experience a different level of psychoactivity, and a higher level of quality, depending on how your cannabis is grown, dried, and cured. In comparison to weed grown, harvested, and stored with the utmost care, a mistimed harvest and poor storage can reduce the amount of THC in the flower, resulting in a less pronounced effect.

Terpenes

Terpenes are the cause of cannabis’ various flavours, but also explain why different cannabis strains can have different effects despite containing the same amount of THC. Interactions between terpenes and cannabinoids have been studied very little, however myrcene is one example from which we can see the potential. In future, breeders will be able to tailor cannabis effects to our needs by manipulating terpene and cannabinoid levels.

Frequency of Use

The main factor that will affect your cannabis high, as well as your tolerance, is your overall frequency of cannabis use. You can build up a huge tolerance if you smoke every day. You might get a fix with novel ingestion methods from time to time, but you won’t be able to cheat your way out of a tolerance.

It’s up to you whether to use cannabis (and most other drugs) sparingly and enjoy its novel effects, or to use it regularly and accept that the effects will fade and the novelty will wear out.

How to Reduce Cannabis Tolerance?

After examining the situation, two possible solutions appear if you’re looking to reduce your tolerance and increase the intensity of your high. One option is a full tolerance break from cannabis – taking five days off. People often find that when they return their brains have had enough time to “neutralise” and the experience is much more powerful. The other strategy would be to change up your habits and smoke strains with less THC and more CBD. This may not seem as enjoyable at first, but soon enough your body will adjust, making occasional heavy sessions feel like they did in the past.

Can Some People Not Get High?

Could it be true that some folks never get a ‘high’ even if their tolerance levels are high? There’s lots of hypotheses on this, but nothing has been proved yet. There have been examples[3] where people haven’t felt any effects from eating cannabis edibles, which contained copious amounts of THC and even health specialists accept this could be a reality. Then comes new users into the equation. It may be due to naivety in what to expect, poor technique (as mentioned earlier) or because their bodies need to go through a ‘sensitisation period’ (another hypothesis with no solid proof). So when first using cannabis, there might be no noticeable changes for newbies. Yet as time passes and more use is accumulated, the body adjusts and gets used to THC and its side-effects. Yet whether some individuals just don’t get a kick off THC remains unresolved.

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