Is it common not to get high the first time?

Not getting high the first time you smoke is more common than you think. According to a study done in the late sixties, 41 percent of first time smokers reported not feeling anything the first time they tried cannabis, the other 13 percent weren’t even sure if they did or not . There are reasons why you might not catch a buzz that first time.

Not Inhaling Correctly

This is the most common reason first-timers might not get high. Even people who have smoked cigarettes have issues with this. There is quite a difference between taking a drag off of a cigarette, versus smoking a joint or taking a hit off from a smoking pipe or bong. When smoking a cigarette, you inhale a short drag and exhale quickly. Smoking cannabis is different because the key to getting a good hit is how long you hold the smoke in. Some people don’t even inhale the first time they smoke it. You might remember President Clinton claiming that he smoked cannabis when he was younger, but he never inhaled. Not inhaling properly seems to be especially prevalent among people who’ve never smoked anything in their lives, simply because they don’t know that they are supposed to. If you don’t get high the first time you try cannabis, try holding your hit in as long as possible. You should feel something if you do it correctly.

You Might Be Fighting It

You might not know this, but your brain contains cannabis receptors that the brain produces naturally, usually after activities like exercising. This is why people tend to feel euphoric after a good workout. Due usually to genetic reasons, some people have lower numbers of cannabinoid receptors than others. Thus, it would make sense that it would be more difficult for those people to feel the effects of cannabis than others. Along the same lines, your brain might resist getting high the first time. Some have a mental block when it comes to new experiences that might be perceived as possibly dangerous or scary. The best thing to do is not resist it. Don’t concentrate too hard on getting high, or rather not getting high. Just relax and allow it to happen. That’s why you’re smoking cannabis in the first place, right?

You Might Not Know You’re High

When some people smoke cannabis for the first time they actually are getting high, they just don’t recognize it. People who’ve never tried cannabis usually expect to feel a huge difference between how they feel normally, versus how they expect to feel after smoking cannabis. They might expect to hallucinate as one would on psychedelics, or feel tipsy like they would drinking alcohol. It is common for first time smokers to feel a slight head change, but they might not even realize it if they are expecting something more obvious. If you don’t think you feel anything, try standing up and walking around. Standing up f directly after smoking gives a lot of people an immediate head rush. If it’s harder for you than it usually would be to do a normal activity like walking to your bathroom, you’re probably high. If you find yourself staring at your hands or some trees, you’re high. If you laugh at everything, you’re definitely high.

The Strain You’re Smoking

If you didn’t get high your first time, it might have been because the strain you were smoking had a low THC content. Every strain of cannabis is different and some people have a naturally higher tolerance than others. Some strains have higher THC content and some have a higher content of CBD. If you are smoking a strain higher in CBD than THC, then you will naturally feel less of a change in your mental state. This is because strains high in CBDs are more physical than mental, which is why people suffering from chronic pain often use them as treatment. Next time you try to smoke, try a sativa blend. Sativas are known for giving the user a more energetic and mentally focused high, the type that people more often associate with smoking cannabis.

If you don’t get high the first time you smoke cannabis, don’t stress. This happens to a lot of people, many of whom reported having more success the second or third time they tried. This is why it’s helpful to ask questions and educate yourself on the subject of cannabis. As with most things: if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

Featured Image Source: HuffingtonPost
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Did you have issues getting high the first time you smoked? What made you give it another go? Let us know in the comments!