Does breaking a tolerance or another strain make THC stronger?

Tolerance breaches are notorious strategies used by cannabis users and medical patients to rejuvenate their experience. However, another strain of medicinal cannabis could be a strategy to make THC more potent compared to a tolerance break.

Perhaps the required THC dose has become outrageous. Otherwise, despite the dose, the effect can simply become bland after enough time. Or more simply put, it’s time for a reset. Regardless of why THC has lost its medicinal power, a tolerance break can make sense. As an alternative option, changing the cannabis species or cannabinoid profile can help bring THC’s therapeutic potential back to normal levels.

Why stop when you have a different strain?

Other cannabinoids and terpenes in the cannabis genetic quiver help protect the endocannabinoid system. Utilizing the entire cannabimimetic library can avoid complete abstinence. A list of nine clinical studies, now combined in one review, concluded that medicinal cannabis can help treat withdrawal symptoms from, well, cannabis. The Germany-based University of Duisburg-Essen funded the review. (1)

Some clinical studies included in the review tested the effectiveness of naboximols — an oral spray containing a one-to-one ratio of CBD and THC. A synthetic form of THC known as dronabinol only treated some withdrawal symptoms. However, a more useful cannabinoid is CBD. Tolerance breaks can at least be made easier with the addition of CBD, without having to forego regular consumption.

Inhibitors of an enzyme known as fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), including CBD, protect the fatty acid and endocannabinoid known as anandamide. As a biased and partial agonist of CB1 receptors, increasing anandamide from an FAAH inhibitor can maintain regular endocannabinoid tone. Otherwise, anandamide regulates cell signaling (via ERK 1 and 2) and might halt CB1 receptor desensitization during THC consumption.

Medicinal cannabis that regulates THC and ECS

The German review highlighted the treatment of cannabis use disorder (CUD). As previously documented, CUD can be explained as a form of cannabis search. Symptoms of excessive THC consumption include intermittent internalization and desensitization of the CB1 receptor. While CB2 receptors temporarily change to adapt to microbial cells. But the urge to seek out cannabis lies deeper at the core of mammalian biology. Receptors and ligands form a matrix known as the endocannabididiome, made up of the EC system. And it is this naturally active matrix that drives one person to cannabis more than another.

The natural levels of this system must be maintained through everyday routines such as diet and exercise to keep it functioning. Or genetic disorders can chronically degrade the system and cause disease. However, excessive THC consumption shuts down the system. Therefore, heavy consumption of unregulated THC can deplete the ECS over time and lead to tolerance. But it’s only temporary, as the receptors that make up the system recover once THC leaves the body after four days, or up to a month for consistent users.

Cannabis use disorder or poor ECS tone

Professor Shana Augustin, a pharmacologist at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, co-authored another review published this month. Working with Augustine was her colleague David Lovinger, Ph.D. Despite a focus on ECS, the NIAA, an arm of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), also focused on the cannabis use disorder condition. (2) Specific changes in the CB1 receptor have been identified after chronic THC consumption. However, the clinical importance of CB1 receptor agonists for malignancies that deplete the ECS has been underestimated.

Let us know in the comments if you’ve had any luck with CBD during a tolerance break.

Sources

1. Vuilleumier C, Scherbaum N, Bonnet U, and Roser P (2022) Cannabinoids in the treatment of cannabis use disorders: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Front. Psychiatry 13:867878. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.867878
2. Augustin SM, Loving DM. Synaptic changes induced by cannabinoid drugs and cannabis use disorder. Neurobiol Dis. 2022;167:105670. doi:10.1016/j.nbd.2022.105670