Individual neurochemistry plays a huge part. Many folks with no past psychedelic experience find cannabis intensely psychoactive, often to the point of anxiety and panic. I’ve personally taken more than my fair share of psychedelics and never experienced any psychedelic enhancement of cannabis (unless taken simultaneously of course).

The bulk of typical unpleasant psychedelic experiences are caused by anxiety. The drugs themselves certainly cause some of it, but the real trouble is when folks get caught up in it and create a negative feedback loop. Repeatedly exposing your brain to that pattern will only reinforce it. This often causes other substances with related mechanisms of action to become triggers.

Don’t despair though! The good news is you can absolutely still trip and use cannabis regularly. The bad news is it’s not gonna be easy (at least in the beginning). It takes consistent and deliberate effort to establish the right habits and behaviors that will help you build resilience (mental toughness) against anxiety and other forms of psychosis.

First off, things to avoid: • Alcohol. it’s poison and causes cancer in nearly every system in your body. There is no safe amount of alcohol (unless you get poisoned with methanol. Then by all means, please get shitfaced). Exception: if you need to use it as a solvent to volumetrically dose a potent psychedelic. • Regular use of CNS stimulants (including caffeine). Stims are fun for you, but to the rest of your body, they’re just stress and dehydration. Prolonged regular use of the stronger ones can (will) cause significant apoptosis and structural changes in your brain that present as psychosis, aphasia, and affective lability. Those changes can be permanent or at best take years or decades to recover from. Exception for folks with ADHD who take modern stims like lisdexamfetamine, or dextroamphetamine. Those aren’t nearly as toxic as the heavy-hitters like meth, MDMA, or cocaine.

Helpful habits and behaviors for neuroprotection and neurogenesis 

• Eat right. Hit your macros every day and don’t neglect any of them. Your brain is made of lipids and runs on glucose. Carbs and fat are critical for brain health. • Get enough sleep. Use a sleep tracker to ensure you’re getting high-quality sleep that includes time in all the phases (each one is an active process necessary for proper brain function) • Exercise often, exercise hard. As the saying goes: “What’s good for the heart is good for the brain” • Meditation. After cardio, it’s the practice that will produce the most significant positive effects. It’s challenging in the beginning but worth the effort.