I’ve heard countless times that “Cannabis doesn’t really get me high anymore. I just use it to feel normal.” For years, I thought the answer was straightforward: tolerance to the drug. That’s also true—but it is an incomplete answer.
A fascinating new study by Katharina Lege and colleagues at Maastricht University will be published on July 15th. It suggests something else may be happening. Tolerance does not mean the brain has recovered. It means the brain has adapted to cannabis.
I’m undiagnosed spectrumy and used Cannabis in my youth, then stopped for 20 years, and now I’m using it again. Does it change the decisions I take? Absolutely. It does not always coincide with what society thinks is good for me, but really works for how I function. It’s for this and the adaptations I made for myself that I went from being a nervous alienated wreck after optimizing my sober self into total burnout to someone much more grounded and happy.