My 90-Day Smoke Break

At the start of the year, I am embarking on something quite challenging and completely self-imposed: a 90-day smoke break.

People have a lot of reactions when I tell them I’m not going to smoke weed for 90 days, ranging from “god, why??” to “I could never do that.” None of them are particularly encouraging, but it doesn’t deter me. For the first time in about a decade, I’m going longer than 30 days without THC or smoking. Here’s how it’ll work

90 Days Free from Smoking & THC

Here’s how the smoke break will go down:

Days 1 – 30: Full cannabinoid break to reset my endocannabinoid system. No consumption of cannabinoids in any form. I’m talking no THC, CBD, CBG, CBN… you get the idea. The one exception to this is topical products because they don’t pass into the bloodstream (and if you know me, you know I love my topicals.)

Days 31 – 60: Reintroducing non-intoxicating cannabinoids. This may include CBD, CBG, CBN, and all of the acidic forms of these cannabinoids as well.

Day 60 – 90: Reintroducing limited amounts of THC in edible form. After two months without my favorite cannabinoids, I’m allowing myself some indulgence in the form of edibles – but not every day. I’m excited for this because after not consuming for two months, I’ll have the tolerance of a beginner again!

Day 91: A well-deserved joint (or bong rip – I’m keeping my options open.)

Why I’m Going Smoke Free for 90 Days

There are a few reasons why I’m starting my year with what any stoner would consider a grueling test of willpower.

The first is physical health. I’ve developed what can only be described as a smoker’s cough and I hate it. I picked up a virus early in 2024 and since then, I have a cough I just can’t shake. Without smoking, I expect it to go away within a matter of days.

Smoking can also irritate my sinuses and on my worst days, bring on headaches. I’m hoping that not smoking will help my sinuses better regulate themselves (although I don’t have high hopes for this one.)

The second reason is because I feel called to do this. Since mid-2024, I’ve had a persistent feeling that I’m smoking too much. There’s a little voice in the back of my head every time I light up asking “is this really necessary?” I fear that I smoke so much, I’ve lost the critical capacity to determine when cannabis is truly helpful, when it’s fun, and when it’s just a habit.

I know that if I take a 30-day tolerance break as I have in the past, my tolerance will reset and my cough may disappear, but the habit won’t break and I’ll just go back to smoking as much as I was before. A break of this length is designed to challenge me and break an ingrained habit. Moving forward after the 90 days, I’m going to be more conscious about consuming with intention and mixing in herbs and hemp to lower the potency of my THC.

This break is a personal choice driven by my personal relationship with the plant. It isn’t a call for anyone else to do the same – unless you feel called to as well. And if it sounds hard, well, iron sharpens iron.

Does it take 30 days for your endocannabinoid receptors to reset?

No, it doesn’t necessarily take a full 30 days. There’s research suggesting that your ECS receptors will reset after as little as 48 hours without THC and there’s evidence showing that a 14-day break from cannabis can help lower tolerance of those who smoke daily.

But I’m not doing this break to reset my tolerance (that’s just a bonus.) This is something I need to do to ensure that my relationship with cannabis is healthy, not co-dependent.

Will this be hard? Absolutely. Will I give in to temptation? Certainly not – that’s why I’m announcing this publicly, here and on LinkedIn. My willpower may not be strong but my pride is!

Stay tuned – I’ll be checking in after 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days of this break. I have no idea how this is going to go, and I don’t have many expectations so it’ll unfold exactly as it’s meant to.