If you’re too high right now, the most important thing to know is that what you’re feeling is temporary and will pass on its own. No one has ever died from cannabis alone. While you wait it out, there are several things you can do right now to reduce the intensity and get through it more comfortably.
What to Do Right Now
Move to a calm, comfortable space. Dim the lights if they feel harsh. Put on familiar, gentle music or a TV show you’ve seen before. Changing your environment is one of the simplest ways to shift what your brain is processing and interrupt a spiral of anxiety or paranoia.
If your heart is racing or you feel panicky, try a sensory grounding exercise called the 5-4-3-2-1 method: notice five things you can see, four things you can physically feel (your feet on the floor, the texture of a blanket), three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and then take one slow, deep breath. This pulls your attention out of your head and into the physical world around you, which can break the loop of anxious thoughts almost immediately.
Slow, deep breathing on its own also helps. Breathe in for four seconds, hold for four, and exhale for six. This activates the part of your nervous system responsible for calming you down. If you’re feeling tension in your body, try squeezing your fists or curling your toes as tightly as you can for five seconds, then releasing. Work your way through different muscle groups. The contrast between tension and release signals your body to relax.
Keep reminding yourself: this is a temporary chemical state. It will end. You are safe.
Eat Something, Especially Peppery or Citrusy Foods
Snacking on something can help ground you and shift your body’s focus. But some foods may do more than just distract you. Black pepper contains a compound called beta-caryophyllene that binds to the same type of receptor in your body that THC interacts with, specifically a receptor involved in calming inflammation and modulating mood. Chewing on a few black peppercorns or sniffing freshly ground pepper is a common piece of advice for a reason: it has a plausible biological basis, and many people report it takes the edge off.
Citrus may also help with the anxiety side of being too high. A 2024 study in humans found that d-limonene, the compound that gives lemons and oranges their smell, significantly reduced feelings of anxiety and paranoia when administered alongside THC, compared to THC alone. It didn’t eliminate the high entirely, but it selectively dialed down the anxious, paranoid feelings. Smelling or eating fresh lemon, or even just sniffing lemon peel, is worth trying.
Beyond specific compounds, eating any substantial food helps your body shift resources toward digestion. A simple meal with some fat and carbohydrates can make you feel more settled.
Stay Hydrated, Skip the Coffee
Drink water or a non-caffeinated beverage. Dry mouth is already a common side effect, and dehydration will make you feel worse. Caffeine is not your friend here. It can increase your heart rate and heighten anxiety, which is the opposite of what you need. A glass of cold water, juice, or herbal tea is a better choice. Some people find that the act of sipping something cold and focusing on the sensation is grounding in itself.
How Long This Will Last
How quickly you come down depends almost entirely on how you consumed the cannabis. If you smoked or vaped, your high peaked within about 30 minutes and the whole experience typically lasts up to six hours. Most people feel substantially better within two to three hours of their last inhale.
Edibles are a different story. They take much longer to kick in, and their effects can peak as late as four hours after you ate them. The full duration can stretch up to 12 hours. If you ate too much of an edible, you may be in for a longer ride, but the intensity does gradually decline. The worst of it will ease well before the 12-hour mark.
Your body processes THC primarily through the liver, and how quickly that happens varies from person to person. Factors like your metabolism, body composition, and how often you use cannabis all play a role. Occasional users tend to clear THC faster than regular users, because THC is fat-soluble and accumulates in fatty tissue with repeated use, releasing slowly back into the bloodstream over time.
Take a Shower or Lie Down
A warm shower or bath can be remarkably effective. The sensory input of warm water gives your brain something neutral and pleasant to focus on, and it physically relaxes tense muscles. If a shower feels like too much effort, lying down in a dark room with a blanket works too. Close your eyes and focus on the feeling of your body against the bed.
Sleep is the most reliable way to get through being too high. If you can nap, do it. You’ll almost certainly wake up feeling significantly better or completely back to normal. Don’t fight to stay awake unless you have a specific reason to.
What Not to Do
Don’t consume more cannabis, even if someone tells you CBD will cancel it out. While CBD can modestly reduce some of THC’s effects, the last thing you need right now is more uncertainty about what you’re putting in your body. Don’t drink alcohol either. It can intensify THC’s effects and increase nausea and dizziness.
Avoid scrolling through your phone reading scary stories about cannabis reactions. This feeds anxiety. If you’re with someone you trust, tell them how you’re feeling. Having another person calmly reassure you that you’re fine can be more effective than any technique.
When It’s More Than Just Being Too High
Cannabis overconsumption rarely requires medical attention. The vast majority of people ride it out at home without any lasting effects. However, if someone who has consumed cannabis cannot be woken up, is having trouble breathing, or has no pulse, call 911 immediately. These situations are extremely uncommon but require emergency help. Children who accidentally consume cannabis products are at higher risk for serious symptoms and should be evaluated by a medical professional regardless of how they appear.
For most adults, though, being too high is uncomfortable but not dangerous. The anxiety, racing heart, and paranoia are your body’s stress response being amplified by THC, not signs of a medical emergency. They will fade as the THC is metabolized, and you will feel normal again.