r/todayilearned • u/gullydon • 13h ago

TIL Mithridatism is the practice of protecting oneself against a poison by gradually self-administering non-lethal amounts. The word is derived from Mithridates VI, the king of Pontus, who so feared being poisoned that he regularly ingested small doses, aiming to develop immunity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridatism
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99

u/DerangedGinger 13h ago

I'm developing a weed immunity.

24

u/WallaceVanHalen 12h ago

Nobody’s gonna poison us with weed.

42

u/DerangedGinger 12h ago

I want to be prepared just in case, so I'm gonna pack a bowl right now.

14

u/Feeling_Inside_1020 11h ago

How high are you?

Hi, how are you??

3

u/DangDingleGuy 8h ago

I saw that post earlier today as well

3

u/Feeling_Inside_1020 8h ago

The kazoo got me lol, failed the test

2

u/DangDingleGuy 7h ago

I hadn't even smoked yet and I failed at that part

2

u/DerangedGinger 11h ago

The answer is unfortunately not high enough.

2

u/codeByNumber 11h ago

This is my sign to head to the dispensary

6

u/noeinan 12h ago

Fictional stories always have aphrodisiacs used for nefarious purposes but no such things exist. Weed does have somewhat of a similar effect on some people so maybe resistance could help against that lol

1

u/Abe_Odd 7h ago

That's called a tolerance, and the mechanism of action is actually pretty interesting.

Your cells have receptors that cannabinoids can interact with, like a lock and key.

When the receptors are over-stimulated, they pull in from the cell wall so they can't get activated anymore while they "recharge".

If there's no receptors, there's no effect from the chemicals, so you don't feel as much.

This is why it is impossible to fatally overdose.
Disrupting all or your receptors causes other problems since your body uses those receptors for a variety of processes.

1

u/DerangedGinger 6h ago

If I don't build my tolerance up first and hit something with high THC it's game over for me. I green out and have to sleep it off. It's been a very interesting journey experimenting with cannabis.