Can drug tolerance reverse with abstinence?

[ShawnD]

People who consume a lot of drugs, like caffeine or cocaine, eventually build up a kind of tolerance, and they need more and more to get the same effect. This is why many drugs get out of hand, and you suddenly find yourself buying those really big starbucks coffees loaded with enough caffeine to put down a bull elephant. If one were to stop drinking coffee or doing coke or lay off ______ drug, does the tolerance eventually go away?

 

[Moonbear]

Eventually, yes. And, if you've used it for a long time and then there's a period of time when you're not using it, something called sensitization can also occur (though there is a lot of debate about long long it lasts and what sort of pattern of usage leads to it). Sensitization means that if you use it again, you'll experience a response much greater than in someone who is a first-time user.