I have a friend who could never get drunk from drinking alcohol. She drank, but somehow never felt the effects. As it turns out, there are also people who have this experience with cannabis. No matter how much they smoke, they get absolutely nothing from ingesting cannabis. I thought I was one of these people when I first started smoking weed. It took me several months of trying to even feel lightheaded. Over time I refined and improved my inhaling technique, and eventually, I was able to feel the psychoactive effects associated with herb. I was relieved. Some people aren’t that lucky. Read on for more about the people who would be stoners, but their bodies just won’t allow.

Think back to the movie “Glass”, staring Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis. No spoilers, even though the movie is more than 20 years old, mostly because the important part is in the dichotomy of the two lead characters. Samuel L. plays a man who was born with every bone in his body broken, who remains extremely fragile throughout the rest of his life. Bruce Willis is his polar opposite, possessing super strength that manifests itself when the situation allows. Similarly, in cannabis, some people ear extremely susceptible to weed, while a small number of people, are functionally immune. If they aren’t readily affected by edibles, they at least have extremely high tolerance levels, which leaves them hard pressed to be affected by a standard dose. Doses that would make other people feel panicky and have long lasting effects, do basically nothing to this small group of people.

By now you’re probably wondering why some people feel they can’t get high? Dr. Staci Gruber, the director of the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery programs at McLean Hospital has a strong hypothesis that involves the liver: People with an unusual variation of a key liver enzyme could essentially be too efficient at processing ingested THC, turning the compound into its “active” high-causing metabolite and then its inactive waste product before the active form can enter the bloodstream or brain.

Leading cannabis doctors and researchers acknowledge the phenomenon is real, but can’t explain it why it occurs. As cannabis research gets more funding, they are looking beyond the disappointment to get to the implications of dosing and the effectiveness of medical marijuana treatment. Unlocking the reasons behind why these ultra-high tolerances occur in some could call into question the validity of blood tests that claim to detect impairment, while also better helping us understand the functions of the body’s natural endocannabinoid system. The body’s complex system of naturally occurring cannabinoid compounds and receptors are believed to a role in everything from fertility to immunity to mood and cognition, so this has extremely important implications. I’d also want to know; if the hypothesis holds, it would mean “immunity” to edibles can be inherited and passed down to the next generation. So if your dad doesn’t get high, you probably won’t either. New studies have found that THC metabolites in people’s blood varied drastically depending on which variant of the enzyme they had, which means that you could also possibly not receive the benefits of cannabis medical treatment.

This tolerance could shift with the way cannabis is consumed. If you are, or have tried to be, an edible guy and never felt the effects, that’s probably because it seems to be more prevalent in edible users. For smokers, feeling nothing is far less common. The science is ever evolving and this makes me wonder of whether this enzyme exists in large numbers in medical marijuana patients who say they don’t get high. What would have to be done to get these people to experience the benefits? Who can say? I love how the science is evolving every single day. It feels like we’ll be able to look at some of today’s bs practices, like drug tests, and throw them out. Are you one of the non-highs? Do you know one? Drop your stories below! ?