My Rules for Cannabis Use

“Is marijuana addictive? Yes, in the sense that most of the really pleasant things in life are worth endlessly repeating.”

-Richard Neville

The problem with the above quote is that it can just as easily be applied to heroin.

Whether psychologically or physically, there’s no doubt in my mind that cannabis is addictive, exerting a subtle pressure to consume it more and more often. And I would venture that for most people excessive cannabis use is life impoverishing.

But at the same time, I know that cannabis can be a tremendously life-enriching force, which I want to keep in my life.

This is why I need rules to keep my use in check and to make the most of this wonderful plant, despite the gravitational pull of addiction.

And at least for me, this cannot be attained with a simple, static rule or policy. If there’s one thing my brain is good at, it’s finding loopholes to do things that are pleasurable in the short term, like consuming cannabis or browsing Reddit.

That’s why I need a robust stack of rules, which I keep augmenting and tweaking to plug holes as they appear.

On this page, I’ll endeavor to maintain the current, up-to-date stack of rules I’m adhering to. I’ll also share updates on any rules that did not work out.

My current goal with these rules is to spend roughly 10% of my life high, see post below for details.

Responsible Cannabis Use: How Much of Your Life Do You Want to Spend High?

And here is the reasoning for the current stack:

Responsible Cannabis Use: Moderating by Not Moderating

Current rule stack:

• Rule #1: I may engage in three back-to-back calendar days per month of guilt-free, high-as-you-like cannabis consumption. Otherwise, complete abstention.

• Rule #2: When possible with regards to work and holiday schedules, I cluster the days even more.

  • E.g. take a T-break all summer long, followed by 9 days of highness during two-weeks 👑

• Rule #3: I always do the day’s meditation sober.

  • This helps get more out of the high.

• Rule #4: Social situations

  • If someone offers me weed in a social situation, I can choose to indulge, but this is deducted from the next period of use, so that the total number of high days in a year does not exceed 36.5.

Old rules:

• Rule #1: At least 150 days worth of tolerance breaks a year.At least two 30+ day tolerance breaks per year.

  • Read more about the rationale and methodology for t-breaks here.

  • My current plan is to do two 2,5-month t-breaks per year, but this could also be e.g. a two and three month break respectively. Typically there will be many shorter 1-2 week t-breaks scattered throughout the year, but these two longer ones are the non-negotiable baseline.

  • Caveat: I have legit hangovers roughly 4-5 times a year, and I’m permitting myself to nurse these with cannabis, even if they coincide with a t-break. [Deleted because I decided to not have any exceptions for alcohol at parties, so no hangovers should materialize]

• Rule #2: No wake’n’ bakes, i.e. consuming before 10 AM.

  • They are lovely, but somehow completely wreck my tolerance and usually result in a grumpy afternoon.

• Rule #3: No cannabis before 20 minutes of sober meditation.

  • Come-Up meditations are a wonderful complement to, but not replacement for, sober meditation. Without at least 20 minutes of daily sober meditation, I won’t get nearly as much out of my highs, which is then more likely to leave me craving more.

• Rule #4: Only small doses.

  • Please note: I’ve realized I’m pretty sensitive to cannabis, so the amounts I mention below may be below the “high” threshold for others. (See my post about finding your minimum effective dose).

  • I use a dry herb vape, and the maximum amount of bud I put in the chamber is roughly a pea-sized mound, though usually much less, even just a few small granules.

  • I can consume many of these doses in a row if I want to get higher, but it’s more time-consuming and forces me to appreciate the come-up more, as well as to make a conscious choice about whether I want to get higher instead of doing it inadvertently.

  • I acknowledge that at parties, festivals etc, someone may offer me weed, and I may not have complete control over the dosage, but I will give it my best estimate. This only happens maybe 1-2 times a year, so I’m not too concerned about this.

• Rule #5: Weekly weed budget.

  • One Volcano dosing capsule worth of weed per week seems to be a good budget for me. I’d equate it to roughly 5 of the doses as described in #4. This is to place a hard upper limit on weekly consumption regardless of how my brain tries to maneuver around restrictions.

  • Caveat: One day per week (typically Monday***) is exempt from this budget, but not from any other rules. Knowing that I have one day per week when I don’t need to worry about the budget helps me feel more satisfied with limiting my use during the rest of the week. And experience has shown that I don’t go nuts during this day either.

• Rule #6: No consuming after 6 PM.

  • Otherwise I’m too high to sleep properly and find myself irritable the next day.

  • Parties etc. are exempt from this rule, but again, these are rare for me.

• Rule #7: At least four completely sober 24h windows per week.

  • Typically for me, this is Monday evening to Friday evening.

  • There are many reasons for this break. For one, without the continual contrast of sobriety, the highs are not nearly as rewarding. For another, cannabis does affect my sleep and dreams, so I want to carve out enough nights for sober sleep too. And finally, at least for me, the experience of life sober really isn’t bad in any way – just a slightly different flavor that I definitely do not want to give up.

*** Why Monday? A few years ago I started working for myself, which meant I was no longer tied to the Mon-Fri work week. I began a campaign to “unsuck Mondays.” After years of approaching Mondays with a certain dread (I recall this emerged during school and solidified during my professional life), I’m now committed to reversing this feeling by making Monday the best day of the week. It’s slow going, but I feel I’m making progress.

Other principles:

• Punishment for breaking the rules:

  • A one week t-break, effective immediately, or if I’m already supposedly on or about to go on a break, then this is added to the total. Having a punishment component is essential as deterrence, but it’s also useful in that it encourages me to keep tweaking the rules, instead of abandoning the system entirely at the first infraction, which could then lead to unmoderated use, or losing the life-enriching potential of the plant.

• Cheat days:

  • 6 days per year, I can ignore all the rules and go nuts. This is to quell a certain kind of FOMO, because there are some experiences I don’t want to give up completely. For example, the joy of a wake’n’bake, or the psychedelic visuals that come from large doses. Knowing that I can still experience them from time to time helps me to maintain the other rules.

• Also, I’ll give myself a pass on Rules #5 and #7 if I’m sick, because being sick sucks, while being sick and high is pretty much as great as just being high. But this pass does not apply to the longer tolerance breaks.

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Smart Cannabis Use is for informational purposes only. You need to be aware of and abide by the laws in your area. Please also be aware that cannabis is not suitable for everyone, such as minors or those with certain mental health conditions. You are responsible for your own choices and actions.