I began getting high, essentially on a daily basis from the get-go, in 1975 (17yrs old) ... quit in Sept. of 2005, and one of the few main reasons I quit was the way every day blazin' was affecting my breathing ... additionally, MJ was my ball & chain and at 47 yrs I needed a change - and never considered going back until this past March 2015, when a co-worker, almost out of the blue, offered me 2 grams of some very good bud. Despite every intention of not getting high Monday thru Thursday, guess what ... I maybe abstained for a day once every couple of weeks for the next four months (until just before I picked up my Airizer ExQ on eBay).
And more to the point of what this fine forum is about, despite having not burned one in 9 1/2 yrs., it only took 2 or 3 months of primarily smoking' bowls, along with an occasional doobie.
When I came home from work that March Monday (via the head shop :-) with my first buzz in almost a decade ("Hey honey, guess what I did after work?"), my wife (#3 of 6 yrs, but she knows the story/history) and I decided to wait on buying a vape until we were sure I'd maintain a much more healthy relationship (thanks Dr. Andrew Weil :-).
Four months of combusting after such a long time away enabled me to now (just into my second month vaping) have an even greater appreciation for this wonderful method of extraction than I might otherwise might not have had.
Negative side effects of of MJ for me at least were (1) becoming dependent on it to where it was too much of a priority at the expense of my duties and obligations as a student, then as a husband and father, and (2) all the health related issues associated with combusting the ganj on a daily basis.
These two negative side effects can be avoided with (1) willpower and (2) a nice vaporizer or two (an Airizer Air is on the way :-)
An additional side note about not being able to sleep ... it took only 4 to 6 weeks into my 9.5 yr tolerance break to be able to fall and stay asleep relatively well ... the first four of these past five months - same deal with the sleeping ... now that I'm not getting high everyday, it's still a little tricky with the falling and staying asleep.
What seems to be working is that I'm only getting high well into the evening maybe one night a week ... the other times I'll enjoy my last balloon just before or after dinner. Therefore, it's more of an "i didn't get high today" feeling at bedtime.
I'm strictly vaping in the moderate range to avoid the sedation associated with higher temps, with a result of a great buzz and surprisingly none of the crash & burnout I'd come to associate with smoking all day ... I can therefore, much easier, not feel the need to stay high (because of the dreaded "burned out" alternative).
Fortunately, upon starting up again five months ago, sneaking it at work was never a problem, like it had been throughout most of 30 yrs ... I've continued right along with my regular exercise that began in '06 ... and the icing on the cake -- vaping an a legalization effort in full swing !!!