“Vivid dreams” – this is the most common response I receive when asking cannabis smokers about the withdrawal symptoms they’ve experienced.
Does marijuana affect the ability to dream? If so, in what ways?
I did a bit of online research into the matter but I couldn’t find much more than a few posts on dream forums. I decided to dig a bit deeper into the matter as this question has piqued my interest for quite some time.
Yes, smoking marijuana does affect your quality of sleep, namely it hinders your body’s ability to produce REM sleep (the stage where intense dreams usually occur). Smoking before sleep will alter your sleeping patterns, thus altering your dreams.
In 1975, Feinberg, et al. did a study on the effects of THC on REM sleep patterns in human subjects. They had this to report:
Electroencephalographic readings and eye movement were recorded in experienced marijuana users under placebo and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Four subjects were studied for 3 baseline nights, 3 nights under initial dosage of 70 mg/day, the last 3 nights of a 2-wk period of 210 mg/day, and the first 3 nights of withdrawal. Three other subjects were studied only during the latter 2 conditions. Administration of THC significantly reduced eye movement activity during sleep with rapid eye movements (REM) and, to a lesser extent, the duration of REM itself. Withdrawal led to increases above baseline in both measures but the “rebound” effect was greater for eye movement. Stage 4 sleep tended to increase on drug, but this effect was not statistically significant. On withdrawal, stage 4 sleep decreased significantly; this change was marked only on the first withdrawal night. The functional or biological significance of these changes is unclear. Nevertheless, these are the most marked effects of THC on brain electrical activity demonstrated thus far.
As someone who has smoked cannabis before, I can attest to the findings of this study. When I sleep after smoking, I tend to have less nightmares (or at least I don’t recall them). This makes sense since many vivid dreams or nightmares occur during REM sleep.
Another thing to consider is why smokers tend to sleep longer on average. I believe that our bodies require a certain amount of REM sleep in order to feel refreshed and healthy. If you smoke before going to bed, you will probably sleep for a longer duration of time since your body could not achieve the same quality REM sleep while high. I can’t yet prove this theory but it seems plausible.
Since smoking marijuana reduces the ability to achieve REM sleep, it must also affect the ability to lucid dream.
I have had almost zero lucid dreams after smoking marijuana. I have had a couple but they’ve only been after long hours awake and lack of sleep from the previous night.
Smoking marijuana may alter short-term memory. Short-term memory is integral to recalling your dreams as your wake up. Even if you can pull of a lucid dream while stoned, you may not remember it the next day.
So as a tip, if you are trying to achieve lucid dreams then you should not smoke marijuana. At the very least, do not smoke at night.
And in no way am I condemning the smoking of marijuana. Smoke if you desire, just remember that it can screw with your ability to dream, or at least recall your dreams.
Sources: Feinberg, I., Jones, R, Walker JM, Cavness, C, March, J. (1975). Effects of high dosage delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on sleep patterns in man. Clin Parmacol Ther. 1975; 17(4):458-66.
Smoking/vaping weed a few hours before sleep def helps bring dreams back. Also as some mentioned, a sativa strain high in thc won’t affect dream recall as much ,I can vouch for that. As well as dreams I find a saliva strain doesn’t make me as clouded the next day.
Though if you’re choosing between dreams or weed I would say that no drug is worth what your lucid (and non lucid) dreams can offer. Its sad that I was going so well with average not really vivid dreams to lucid dreams every second day but now i have 1 or none dreams per night.. Sativa does help but if you really want to dream again then smoke/vape once every few days at least, personally I plan to stop altogether eventually but for now I hope to reduce my usage to at least once a week.
Also meditation helps greatly with lucid dreaming, it just requires discapline. Don’t meditate while stoned/high if you want to achieve spiritual accession while cannabis does help relax, it also takes away mental clarity.
I’m an avid weed smoker, I smoke about 2-3 times a day and don’t really take many days off at all, maybe one every couple of months. I’ve been doing exams and I havent been smoking the last 5 days, My dreams have been unreal. They have felt so incredibally real I actually thought about seeing a doctor. They were affecting the first half of my day in a negative way. I looked it up and saw that when you do stop smoking sometimes you have a flood of crazy dreams.
I have smoked week every day since 15, so that’s 14 years now, with one break for 3 months 4 years ago.
I smoke pretty much on waking, through the day, and in the evening. It has been a pretty strong mental addiction for me, however, it hasn’t really affected my job or career. I don’t get absolutely walloped on it, just a “tickle” every through hours via spliffs (not a pipe or bong – I think that seems to be more of a north american thing)
Anyway, gave up 2 Jan, mainly because I had a massive coke/MDMA comedown and couldn’t be bothered to leave the house and buy more……and my god, the DREAMS! I have never known anything like this for years. I just had 3 pretty wierd nightmares, and have had them every days since stopping. Pefect recall of all of them, pretty much. It’s rare to remember three separate ones – usually you just remember the last one.
Not sure if this really is “good” sleep as I feel like shit from waking up in a sweat every 2 hours. The other wierd thing is I seem to be having them very early on i.e. almost after falling asleep.
First, let me say that I’m an everyday smoker. Anyway, I have been traveling for the past few weeks, and in the process, developed a sinus cold. I decided to stop smoking until I got better (because feeling ill is no fun, especially on the road). Well, It’s been 6 days since my last puff, and I have to say that the only possible withdrawal symptom that I’ve noticed is lucid dreaming. It’s bizarre. None have been terrifying or scary, but they are so vivid, that I can remember even minor details, as if these “experiences” really happened. I wake up several times a night, trying to determine if I have actually been sleeping, or if I’ve just been laying there half-awake, thinking these thoughts. Last night, I spent nearly two hours on a dream about assembling a piece of furniture without instructions. The best way I can describe it is as a puzzle. I would try this bolt and that piece of lumber, but it never seemed right. I woke up frustrated as hell. On the plus side, I nearly had my first nocturnal ejaculation since my teens, when a few hours later, my dreaming led me to a very realistic encounter with a rather frisky girl. Unfortunately, I woke up just before the big “o”. Haha. Anyway, I’m not sure if these dreams are caused by quiting weed, or just what non-smokers experience normally. Maybe, I’ve been smoking regularly for so long, that I forgot what dreaming was actually like:)
I recently quit smoking weed after 15 years of daily smoking. When I smoked I rarely dreamed, but I always slept great and woke up feeling refreshed. Since I quit I feel like I dream all night and wake up feeling tired. I was getting worried but everyone’s comments about thier experiences makes me feel less worried. More like it is just something to get through. Hopefully the all night dreams will stop eventually, if not I just might have to go back to smoking to get a good nights sleep.
I noticed after about two weeks without smoking I started getting my dreams back, and even dreamed I smoked knowing I was supposed to take a drug test, it scared me when I woke up
I have been smoking weed daily through a water bong for the last 2 years. I stopped three days ago and I have experienced lucid dreaming every night with about 3 dreams a night. At first the dreams were scary and I even woke up another room mate on one of those dreams. But last night the dreams were much less scary and became more positive. Before I quit smoking I can honestly say that I don’t remember any dreams. On the downside, I am waking up more (about 3 times) at night and I wake up much earlier (about 4 to 5 AM). I definitely agree that there is a correlation between quitting weed and lucid dreaming. The question I have now is, will the dreams continue or will I gradually lose them again?
Since I stopped smoking I have had an increase in dreaming. Not to say I never dreamed when I smoked. However, now that I stopped almost every dream has been a nightmare, and they last all night. I’m so tired I don’t know what to do, these nightmares are the worst I’ve ever had and almost every 10 minutes every night I wake up sobbing because of them. I wish I could smoke again, but I have to get a job so I guess I’ll just have to be tired all the time and tormented in my sleep.
I have smoke cannabis both recreationally and now medicinally and it is 100% fact that this herb will completley stifle our ability to recall dreams and astral projection and soul travel…
Even though I receive physical relief from cannabis, my true goal is to progress spiritually…
I have just purchased mugwort which will no doubt bring to where I need to be…
So you all need to ask yourself, since this has proven to be an absolute truth, just how wonderful is cannabis…I used to think it was a true gift from the Gods but in this case define ” Gift “, it’s more of a curse…
Smoke the stuff if you want but your spiritual growth in this life will be virtually non-existant… And I have NEVER met a spiritual being who would take a drug that will induce negative Karma…
my dreams were either messed up or satanic, ill remind myself not to take a nap after
i smoke before bed i got to bed around midnight or 1am and always wake up at 8am or 9am feeling hella refreshed. i dont sleep in
I have smoked marijuana daily for 28 years. Recently, I began to experience extreme memory loss, I had always had the short term lapses, but I began to forget what I talking about from moment to moment. I decided that I would need to make a drastic change if I wanted to keep my sanity, so I stopped smoking.
I was surprised to find it was not as hard as I had thought. I feared headaches, and sleeping issues most, as I used marijuana as a sleep aid, those fears were unfounded. I had slight difficulties sleeping on the second night of sobriety, but after that it was easy. The biggest difference was the vividness of my dreams! I had not been dreaming for years, or at least could not recall the dreams, but all that changed. I now can clearly recall my dreams, and recount them for the first few hours of the day. I have not had nightmares, as a few have mentioned, rather they are more of the puzzle types mentioned by one person. My memory has also improved immeasurably, which is very encouraging, so much so that I plan on not going back to smoking. I loved most things about marijuana, but there is nothing more precious than my mental health.
Its 5 am right now, i have just awaken from a nightmare(wake up on average 3 times a night from). I got these a lot when i was younger but they stopped; most likely when i started smoking weed. The dream consisted of many different people i have meet in life, and it had many details. infact this dream had had files of all my friends(including myself) with addresses phone numbers personally crated art. the dream took place in a mansion where a kid was scamming people to come and stay the night. Too make a long story short… it was one of the more fucked up dreams, and went into way to much detail for me o continue to type about. There was weed in the dream, but in the end it cut off to this man 4 years later in an insane asylum screaming and not being able to move due o him coming into reaily and back to his fanaticy world. could this be because of the lack of weed?
I’ve always told people that I love dreams, and I’m bummed that I never remember mine.
Then I just googled this subject, because I noticed that when I recently quit smoking for two weeks, because I’d applied for a job with drug testing, I remembered my dreams 4 nights in a row,. Now I started smoking again, and they’re gone again.
This is just SUCH a shame, because I really rely on it as a sleep aid. And I also want to learn to lucid dream. But I hate lying awake for hours not being able to get to sleep …
From my own experience , I would definately say smoking weed has a strong effect on recalling dreams. I was an avid weed smoker for years and stopped after the new year. The whole time I smoked, I hardly ever had dreams , nightmares , or anything that I could recall. After two weeks , I started getting extremely vivid dreams and have so ever since. Also noticed I need less sleep than I did when I smoked every day. Think i’m going to just stay away from it from now on. Don’t think it is mentally healthy to tamper with the brain in that fashion.
[…] Re: Marijuana is preventing me from dreaming? Bout to throw ya some knowledge. There is quite a few studies that say weed affects REM sleep, either by lessening the amount you get of it or the quality of it. I wouldn't go as far as to say their completely proven, but there has definitely been some looking into it already. Google it more if you want. Note: the REM cycle of your sleep is when you dream. So it makes sense that you dream less…. Obviously exceptions though. Ill occasionally get some fucked up dream after smoking haha Example: Does marijuana affect dreaming? | Lucid Guide […]
I’ve only been smoking once a day since late December and decided to stop as my flatmate said he got the craziest dreams when he stopped. I love lucid dreams so it’s worth a try right? Hell yeh!
It’s only been one night, and while I woke up a few times I had two very lucid dreams. One was sort of scary, but not too bad, and the other was quite random. I haven’t had dreams like this in a long time. Looking forward to tonight!
The other bonus is, if I stay off the stuff for a few weeks my tolerance will drop and I’ll be able to get really baked again.
I’ve been smoking weed on and off for 3 years. I definately think sleeping when stoned is a lot better as you can fall asleep easily and awaken refreshed. Without smoking during the day I have the worst nightmares Ive ever had, always sleep in and feel crappy for the rest of the day.
i remeber most parts of my dreams and i smoke every night but the days i dont have any are the best dreams i can do any thing….. funny one was i was running down the street naked and started flying
I am an avid smoker as a matter of fact I’m baked right now. I do believe that marijuana can affect the ability to recall your dreams, but that may not always be the case, and if it’s not I wonder if I may be the exception because I remember my dreams almost every single night, and become semi lucid in most. I always realize I’m dreaming but it seems that it’s not enough. One time I had a perfectly lucid dream during a daytime nap. It was the result of one original dream I recognized then slipped into a false awakening, not once but 3x back to back, but during each one I easily recognized that I was dreaming and preformed a reality check, and started from there. I don’t remember if I was stoned on that particular day(because I usually am). Anyways, I have the last of my weed and I’m gonna smoke the rest and take a break for a few days to see if I can notice a different, if so I’ll definitely be back to report on my personal experiment.
I have smoke for several years. In that time I have quit a few times .My dreams were horrible .They stayed that way for as long as I wasn’t smoking, which at one time was about 2 months.
I can say that this is 100% true. I smoke weed quite often a I cant remember my dreams for shit. I even tried keeping a dream
Journal so I could start trying to remember my dreams but I literally forgot my dreams seconds after waking up. I’m going to stop smoking bud if it will help me learn to lucid dream because they sound so much better than any high. Any tips on lucid dreaming let me know please
i didnt smoke weed for 1 night and i only got 4 hours of sleep, the next day i was still energetic somehow and also had about 4 hours of sleep but on both days i remembered my dreams better. the third day i smoked and it was one of the most spiritual/ powerful mind states ive felt in a while. i slept about 8 or 9 hours and remembered a lot of my dreams which is rare. the next day i smoked the same weed and i didnt get as high and couldnt really remember my dreams
I’ve smoked weed now for three years,(bongs and edibles) and I have had some crazy dreams, some I can recall, Im always trying to quit, so im kinda regularly getting lucid dreams. But I don’t rally care much for sleep itself, rather the places I go in my dreams.
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A lot of this is affected by the sleep hormone “Melatonin”. THC promotes the production of this, which is mostly why it makes you so tired.
you never have to “choose” between dreams and weed. Smoking before bed will almost guarantee that you wont remember your dreams, from my experience. But smoking in the early afternoon, for example, has caused me to have fuller and more vivid dreams than normal.
THC promotes the production of melatonin, while also using it up. After it is finished using it up, melatonin levels increase higher than normal, causing you to dream more often and more vividly for a few days after you smoke it.
When I last smoked (after not smoking for about a month or 2) I had a awesome dream while sleeping way more than I normally would. I was actually able to remember most of the dream to or at least major bits and pieces. I usually don’t dream like this at all, but after smoking I was able to remember more than most other dreams even after an hour or so.
I used to be an every day smoker from 14 to 24 so 10 years. When I smoked all the time I hardly ever day dreams and when I did they were totaly distorted and I could not remeber them. Since is stopped smoking daily for about a year I have dreams almost every night some that I do remeber and some I don’t. And when I first stopped I did have a flood of dreaming. Also when I do smoke witch is not offin I do not dream at all. So marijuana deff effects sleep and dreams
I’ve been a regular toker for about 12 years now, with some time off, but mostly on. Its absolutely true, I simply do not have dreams when smoking. I recently quit, and plan to pretty much quit regularly smoking, and have so much THC in my system from smoking 7-10 times a day that I still am not having dreams, but its been 3 days now so hopefully they come back soon. I’m really looking forward to dreaming again!
I find that this is 100% untrue-in my case.
I’ve been smoking weed for about 7 years, and up until this weed i haven’t gone one day without smoking pot for at least 2 years. I have the most vivid and interesting dreams every night, always remember them and I am able to wake up and go back to sleep and resume the same dream right away- that is i believe i am capable of entering REM sleep very quickly.
BUT this week I travelled and cannot get weed, i haven’t smoked for almost a week and i have not had one dream since i stopped- very odd for me.
I wonder why I am different than most of the commenters on this? (i’m only 21, maybe that has something to do with it?)
After reading this article, and all the comments, im now 100% sure why im beginning to have so many dreams and remembering all of those.
I used to smoke alot, (every day, for a long period of time), but i’ve been visiting my parents and havent smoked in almost a month now.
After the first week, i started to dream – or at least recall my dreams – and they’ve been kinda weird. Dreaming og nuclear explosions, aliens, monsters – basicly nightmares, but without me being frightened. I now often dream of places i haven’t been in a long time, and of people i haven’t talked with in a long time.
The dreams are becomming better for every night, and this could defintly be another reason for me to completely lay off the weed!
I am getting ready to quit in order to help me with my meditations and lucid dreaming, smoking for me is a block and when ever I go a day or so without smoking my dreams get more intense, for me I am hoping it will be easier to contact my spirit guides, and also to help with my spiritual journey.. I have had 3 dreams come true in the last 2months, now imagine I wasn’t smoking! And also been a while since I been able to continue on my physic development, I am surprised about the amount of people on here who are not open minded, and can’t see that some dreams are not random some are messages, sometimes from our sub conscious and sometimes from our guides, and sometimes from random spirit trying to communicate for you to pass a message on, this all stopped the day I started smoking!
I am looking forward to finding myself once more! You guys realize when you lucid dream your able to have a OBE (Out of body experience) and when you do this you can travel any time and place through history, or travel the universe and other realms.
Open your eyes 21.12.2012 is coming and it’s not the end, it’s the beginning! Time to raise your vibration peeps and open those 3rd eyes.. Your already beginning you just don’t realize!
They called me a the beast of the west, I am 32 smoking growing breeding since I was in HS. 5 bong bowls just to start the day the fist 2 while the coffee was brewing. Tripped over 30 times mostly mushrooms sometimes LSD never powders or or opiates. Intense visuals on my last trip 4 years ago on a Mendocino grow-op with hippies, gypsies, and self proclaimed good witches. Got so high I got them high some in the next camp over commented to my surprise on the intensity the day after. So super long story shortens, about 4 weeks ago I quit smoking herb. Dreams picked up to say the least,I don’t dream when smoking. I quit 4 no good reason except for whatever reason I wanted2. After about 3 weeks I smoked 1 bowl got so high I was full blown visuals aspirations of all sorts, but it felt all bad, I showered then hit golf balls 4 hours to settle down but was high as all hell till sleep. Then I decided to never smoke again. But I still had a vivid dream that night not bad but wired. BUT NOW 5-6 nights in a row it’s like something fallowed me back, sleep paralysis 5-6 times a night all night. It is bad and I deal a presence, it is not only fking with me but my 3 year old son who sleeps in the same bed as well as my wife. In the past few nights we switched rooms. Then the next night it was back we got up switched from head towards the south to head towards the north. Then I had a super mini vibes dream text message that read lol. In the morning I checked I did not really get the text. So that was last night, I deal like if I smoke I will be a quiter but If it keeps fking with others I just might smoke so much I will eat the moth less fk sit in that chair all day then sleep peacfully again. Crossroads I didn’t smoke today but I don’t know how long I can handle cold sweats burning electrified brain and the fealing it is a ghost doing it.
Next night sleeping problems.. I will keep updated…. SP I ripped myself up tackled the entity wrestled on the ground with it slamming it’s invisible force into the ground… Then awoke in my bed. Body temp felt hot my head burning almost, droped cooler to 60 from 70 wet my head especially the back of my head. Had a fled up dream where I had put a piece of glass in my mouth, it slivered into millions of pieces. I was wondering in an unknown broke down appartments going into rest room pulling glass shards out of my mouth. People came in looking at like I was a crack head. I left to wounder in an unknown city with block parties and bars, hunched over un a half acre abandon lot choking on the glass and pulling glass shards out of my mouth. I woke up spitting in my hand. Awake I went to the rest room cleaned my mouth wich was breeding do to bad teeth. After laying back down i also woke up tried to turn on the lights they did not work I broke the bulb out of the socket tring to fix it. I awoke in my bed this time the lights did work. So still not going to smoke today I will post tommarow and keep this thread as a dream jurnal untill it stops or I cave in and start blazing. The fact I tackled the entity, and the fact I have flown in lucid dreams in the past, as well as having other super powers in previous lucid dreams in the past gives me determination to survive adapt and overcome.
I am an avid pot smoker,have been so for more or less 2 years now smoking at least twice a day and recently I have been forced to stop smoking,it has been two and a half weeks now and I have noticed that I have been having dreams so vivid that when I wake up I can recall most details (not all of them,but definitely the bulk of them) and it has been quite unreal,I haven’t had dreams so vivid in years. I do not plan to quit smoking pot entirely because I do enjoy the good ol’ ‘erb but I am definitely going to slow my usage also to maintain a lower tolerance to enjoy pot more on special occasions which is mainly with my best friend. I searched on this topic after I woke up this morning after a night of bizarre and intensely vivid dreams and wondered if this was linked to my reduced usage of pot and it turns out I was right. This aritcle has been immensely insightful so thanks!
I don’t understand all of this. I went searching for an answer about my dreams thinking marijuana might enhance them, but all i’ve come across is people saying that it eliminates them.
I smoke everyday, pretty much all day. I go to class high, work high. etc. My job isn’t demanding or anything in which I could get hurt or hurt others by being high. and I have a close to 4.0 in school, granted its only community college lol.
I dream every night, I have about 6 people who are always in my dream and others who make regular appearances, and then other randoms. Last night I dreamed I was at a cabin with 5 of those 6 people, essentually I think the cabin represents my friends place north of where I live. but anyway a part of the dream was we were all in her old van, and she decided to drive it up a HUGE steep hill. I was in the front seat and buckled in, she ended up rolling the van and I can remember the fear I felt when it happened, what the hill looked like, what was in the van, everything…
I can wake from a dream and then fall back asleep and return to the same dream.
What i’m saying is I NEVER dreamed like this when I didn’t smoke marijuana. It seems to be having the opposite affect on me compared to the rest of you…
any help?
nobody mentioned this so i will. marijuana suppresses REM which causes REM rebound right. so how would i conduct an experiment for a max REM rebound so i can document it? how much should i smoke, what time? how should i alternate between sober and high.
I cannot give you any advice, however if you live in a state with medical marijuana available you may want to experiment with different strains of indica and sativa or even edibles.
It really depends how much you smoke and which strains of marijuana you are smoking. Perhaps the smoking has unlocked some latent creativity within you. Consider yourself gifted if you have such vivid dream recall whilst being a daily smoker!
I believe Marko said it best.
I’ve been smoking for almost 8 years now. In the first few years I smoked a lot and then I went down to a joint a day if not less. Always controlled, never at work, in public, etc…I quit smoking pot for a month and had insanely vivid dreams after 3 weeks of not smoking. Dreams that I would wake up panting in sweat. Much more intense then before I ever smoked pot in my youth…but maybe I just never noticed my dreams…or maybe cannabis really does amplify dreaming after you have quit…
Anyways, I started up again and those dreams went away that very night.
I have been meditating a lot and have been specifically practicing the art of dreaming, to be aware and ultimately control your dreaming/energy body. So I can attest to the fact that cannabis does hinder mental clarity in two areas. The first is during meditation, it is much more difficult to visualize colors, yourself and your energy body. The second is in dreaming, where I have no dreams or I do but yet they lack intensity.
For these last two reasons I decided to quit for good.
Remember, according to the ancient seers, cannabis is indeed a power plant. It can teach you amazing things about perception but like all power plants, it has its costs.
I am 15 and a sohmore in high school i am half way done with this school year and stopped smoking about a month ago due to drug test threats but i decided to do it one last time before i had to stop this time was not usuall more like i did spice and i smoked about 2 to 3 times a day to any chance i got because i loved the affect of it than as i kept smoken i relized it affects u diffrently more like a mental but not happy an laughin high… So i did spice and had the worst trip in my life that night i had lucid dreams like 4 or 5 in a night amd they were about me haven my bad trip so it was like stuck with me i had body dreams as well where i felt like i died and would wake up terrified taken deep breaths but i noticed as weeks went by it got better… I have confusion sometimes and my mind thinks im high when im not this causes severe anxiety it starts by talking than my mind forgets what there saying but after a month and a few weeks i am dreamen normally i have less panic attacks i quit smoken and soon hope to go to church (:
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I smoke all day from the moment I wake up until I got to bed and I have a 10hr a day white collar office job. I def do not dream at night or @least do not recall. haven’t in years
I feel Like most of this discussion is biased opinions. When you enjoy something you defend it. I used to smoke 4-6 times daily two years ago and I had always noticed that I would never dream. I also noticed that I would wake up and time would seem to have past much faster not knowing I had slept more than I had intended to. I am not against smoking at all. I still have tons of friends that do this activity and occasionally myself. No that I have a more conscious reflection upon it, I can self-evaluate this case further. It most definitely effects your short-term memory with out question. I have been studying my friend while he was high for the past month. I hope to push my way into neuroscience so I take these things fairly seriously. Hear me out on this with out bias, even though that is practically impossible considering most bias opinions are in your internal workings or sub-conscious rather that your conscious state of mind.
To the potheads that say that some weed actually produces lucid dreams, I’s be careful. I stopped smoking weed for a week just to experiment; I’ve been smoking regularly for about a year now, but I usually have these breaks, I think weed generally does make it harder to dream vividly, and there might just be some strains where the effect on dreaming isn’t that potent. Understandebly these strains get mistooken for dream inducing, like the guy explaining his experience with hash, but the reality is thst they’re probably an exceptuon to MJ’s effect. I only say this because ive smoked neither weed nor hash and ive dreamt lucidly atevery chance i sleep. I also sympathize for yall because i remember thinking one time last year that hash made it easier to dream, but Im quite certain it just made it “less hard.” Still learning…
I don’t believe this study is totally true. Maybe for some people but when I smoke weed before going to bed I have more lucid dreams. In fact I had a dream where I completely realized I was dreaming and did whatever I wanted. I ended up peeing on a girl that I was hugging at a theme park.. (I knew the girl)
Just started my ‘month before 4/20’ annual t-break, and the last couple of nights, my dreams have been much more vivid. Intense really, and very realistic.
One of the few actual negatives of cannabis is that regular (daily) use reduces the amount of time (and depth) that you spend in REM sleep. My theory on that is that the state of being stoned is very dream-like, and possibly serves some of the function that normal dreaming does, reducing the need for it while you sleep.
Unfortunately, this might also lead to some of two other possible issues that can accompany chronic (hah) daily use- lack of ambition and short-term memory dysfunction. Dream researchers now tend to think of dreams as serving (if they serve any at all) two possible functions: as an evolutionary driver toward taking on and preparing for new tasks (Ambition/Drive) and organizing daily events into accessible memories, basically like defragging a computer. Makes sense, as these issues tend to go away very quickly once regular use stops.
Really nice insight Ken. Thanks for sharing.
I find smoking a small amount of cannabis ( just enough to feel the buzz but not enough to be stoned) enhanced my ability to lucid dream. I can generally lucid dream most times i try using my own method and cannabis seems to help. I smoke some then go to sleep as usual, keeping a smoke nearby for when i wake up. Then when i wake up i quickly smoke that small amount and then close my eyes and ask myself in my head ‘ am i dreaming? i must be dreaming? i’m definately dreaming etc etc ‘. once i reach sleep again and i begin to dream i know it’s a dream automatically and the lucidity begins. i wake up 4 or 5 times during lucidity and go straight back to it every time i drop off again, just different scenarios. I feel cannabis definately opens my mind enough to increase lucid dreams although i can often do it without cannabis aswell.