First of all this isn't an anti-weed post, I use weed regularly and enjoy it. What I'm arguing against is occasional use, once a month or less, at that level your tolerance usually resets between uses. The thing they don't tell you in health class is tolerance goes both ways, you become tolerant to both the positives and negatives of use. For weed the negative im referring to is anxiety, though short term memory loss also goes down with more regular use. Whenever I take a break and then start doing weed again I get way too in my head and anxious which usually goes away after a couple sessions. This has also become worse with modern legal strains that have become way too concentrated. Dispensary edibles are a bit better since you can dose them easier but even then the longer the time in between uses the more likely you'll forget what's a good dosage. I see this a lot with friends who don't regularly do weed and they smoke with me, get way too high, have a bad time and then won't do it again for a while and repeat the cycle. So for those type of people I'd recommend not doing weed at all or doing it more regularly so you can keep your tolerance up. No shame in picking either but the middle ground kinda sucks.
EDIT: a lot of people are saying get lower percentage strains or higher CBD ones, to that I'd say I wish I could. I always try and get the lowest percentage stuff I can find at the dispensary and that stuffs still usually in the high teens percent THC with less then a percent CBD here in SF. So I guess part of this is just a rant on how stupidly concentrated modern weed is and how it leaves little margin for error.
Perhaps as the more experienced smoker, you can be a good friend and offer a lower dose that is more suited for their tolerance. Maybe don't pack a big-ol bong rip for someone who hasn't smoked in months. Chop up that chocolate bar into something a little more manageable. If they wanna buy something, suggest something a little more controllable like a vape. And most of all, if you're pressuring people who are on the fence into smoking, maybe just stop doing that.
You can also (and I recommend this anyway if you have anxiety) buy hemp legally in most places, sold as a cbd flower (you can probably also buy it online in most places), and mix it with the weed.
The higher cbd content helps to offset the super high thc levels of modern weed. Gives you a much more pleasant less anxious experience.
This. Yeah CBD is probably the way to go for these people. All the fun and flavor with less of the compound that gets you “high.”
The cannabis arms race to the most potent strains are a step in the wrong direction imo. Coming from the industry the only way to sell your product was if it tested at 27%thc or higher.
Honestly, it’s not even less of a high, even if you use medically/heavily, it’s just more balanced. When you smoke, a ton of the goodies are combusted anyway, but if you mix you stretch the same stock and the cbd nicely compliments the thc, like old-school weed that topped out at 10%. That was when it was good. Sure you maybe needed more than one hit to be done for the night, but it was a better experience.
But I’m totally with you about the potency race, it’s the wrong way, and modern weed is very anxious weed. It’s just really strong and out of balance. And it’s just not a good time when you are naturally anxious, which more and more people are..