DRUG RESISTANCE WHEN COCAINE IS taken for the first time, there is an intense reaction—the “high.” With each subsequent use of the drug, the high becomes less intense. Sometimes users start to take larger and larger doses to achieve the same high. Through exposure to the drug, the body develops resistance to its effects—a condition called tolerance. People can build up tolerance to narcotics, marijuana, nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, benzodiazepines and nitroglycerin.
