Does My Nose Get Used to the Smell of Weed?

Dear Stoner: I smoke weed in my home often and rarely notice the smell of burnt weed or that skunky sticky icky. But when someone smokes weed on the street corner or in their front yard, the smell is potent and I notice immediately. What’s going on there?
Polly

Dear Polly: Noticing the stank of good weed in public is like smelling barbecue when you don’t have dinner plans. It’ll grab you. Getting used to your own brand is easy, too, whether it’s layers of weed smoke or post-dinner flatulence – and this is all by your body’s design.

To protect the nervous system, temporary olfactory fatigue occurs as powerful smells linger. Receptors stop telling your brain about the smell within minutes, and you go back to noticing new aromas. So after opening a dank stash, rolling and lighting up a joint, the nostrils will probably stop noticing hot leaf about halfway through the session – but if you step outside and return an hour later, prepare to be blasted by a gust of ganja.

Send questions to marijuana@westword.com.