I have a friend who had a series of "trips" on cannabis. Maybe better decribed as "bouts of delirium", but he described it as being psychedelic in nature. He claims to have talked to god and had visions of the devil. Interesting stuff—I've never heard of anyone having such an experience with weed. Is this a thing?

I've never smoked it myself, by the way.

I haven't touched it in 20 years, but back when I was a young meerkat I was a big fan of cannabis. The effects have a whole spectrum of possibilities, pretty much anything is possible for the dreamer.

My first psychedelic experience was with it. I had cooked some really strong flower with butter and then made brownies with it. I ate a slice like I would any brownie, not really thinking about how much weed was in there. It devastated me. I could not walk, crawling was hard work. My world shuddered, vibrated and strobed and I had visions and dreams that I didn't comprehend. The music I was listening to effected my vision in a variety of ways, even when it became too intense I wasn't able to bring myself to go over to the stereo and turn it off, I was scared to move. I had one of those fancy tape players that would start playing the opposite direction as well, so in the moment I was thankful the sound had stopped the silence only lasted for about 10 seconds then I was thrown back into the vortex.

The psychedelic effect of cannabis is no where near as crystal clear as DMT. It's not like an alternate universe where this stuff actually happened. It's more like a dream that you are forced into while your world is smashed. It's weird, but not in a good way imho. I didn't like it any time I pushed it that far.

It can be psychedelic in high doses, most people get sleepy before that kicks in I think. I definitely have seen fractals and patterns with weed, and often mix with a blue lotus extract which give it a little more kick initially.

Well, some breeds of cannabis are more psychedelic than others. All breeds are psychoactive but guess it depends on what you mean by psychedelic. Do you mean visuals?

In a year of careful experimentation I've noted a variety of psychoactive experiences with different breeds. Here are some examples:

1. Communion: Intimate connections with objects, other living beings and to the world around us.
2. Conceptual: Abstract ideas, paradigms, philosophical concepts.
3. Connection: Feeling of being connected with someone near or far
4. Depth: A greater sense of inner space. The interiority of oneself has expanded or is deeper
5. Energy: Arising and flow of Energy within and around
6. Entities: The feeling or perception of encountering or visitation of beings from other dimensions. More often in nature.
7. Geometry: Visions of abstract and organic geometric structures. Enhancement and recognition of geometric patterns in nature, buildings and objects around.
8. Personification: Inanimate objects like stones and buildings have character and identity.
9. Sensory: An increase in the quality and intensity of various senses. Tastes of food can be richer and more complex. Music can seem more beautiful, greater detail or have increased depth of acoustic space. Colors can be richer, more subtle and more intense. Sex can also be amazing with someone you have a deeply intimate connection.
10. Symbolism: Images and scripts have a deeper significance
11. Synesthesia: The texture and color of music. The light from the sun can have a taste


There's probably more. Now, what I've found is that you need some high potency cannabis and it helps to vary breeds regularly and use them occassionally.

What do you think?

The first time I smoked Thai, I saw a grid that had surrounded me for my entire life lifting off and away into space, leaving me free, ecstatic and expansive.

High doses give me OEV. CEV are common as well. Cannabis if dosed correctly imo lol will take you on a ride that will have some begging to get off. It can be and usually is one of the best times you will ever have in your life. Eating hashish hash been going on a long LONG time. Take a look at a sadhu and tell me that they aren't ingesting a psychedelic.

Cannabis is a mild psychedelic when inhaled but a moderate psychedelic if eaten, in my experience.

Probably gonna spark a lot of controversy by saying this but as psychotropic and mind altering as cannabis is, putting it in the same category as drugs like LSD, Psilocybin, DMT and 2-CB is something I would not do. First and foremost the pharmacodynamics of THC is completely different. Serotonergic psychedelic drugs like the four mentioned earlier have no effect on the cannabinoid system as far as I know and exert their effects by behaving as unselective partial agonists towards the 5-HT1A, 5-HT2A, 5-HT2C and a few other GCPR's. THC has a very different mechanism involving mainly the GABAergic and glutaminergic systems, the latter system also plays a role in the way psychedelics work but in a very different way.

Another major way cannabis may differ from the more traditional psychedelics is it's ability to cause dependency and addiction in some individuals, which drugs like mescaline do not do as far as I know. I just wanna end of by saying cannabis or it's psychoactive constituents are drugs which should be assigned their own unique class rather than grouped in with drugs like DMT in a similar manner to something like MDMA, which IMO is closer to the more classical psychedelics but still differs. Anyway that's a whole other subject for a different day!

Edit: Before anyone gets offended I just wanna put it out there that in no way am I trying to disrespect cannabis, I'd never do that with any drug be it tobacco, opium or datura, I just believe it belongs into it's own individual class is all.

There's this thing called receptor complexes (heteromers), where interaction with a particular receptor will indirectly interact with another receptor. CB1 agnoism can apparently crosstalk with 5-HT2A receptors, which may explain it's potential psychedelic effects. Also THC seems to do something with the Glutamatergic system, and i feel from personal experience that once the Glutamatergic system is expanded, that Cannabis can re-activate certain portions of the Glutamatergic system that's been expanded by psychedelics, like it taps you into similar territory. In my experience for a good long while there Cannabis would tap me into the psychedelic space, even feeling like i was coming up on DMT. And it brings out the same level of perception that i get from Aya.

Not saying Cannabis is or should be classified as a classical psychedelic, but it's most certainly psychoactive and has some psychedelic-mimetic effects, ime.

I actually had to quit smoking Cannabis because it started causing me anxiety and paranoia, but also was like a Light plant especially when combined with Rue, like it took the place of DMT as the Light, and it definitely makes me more introspective and teaches me things and shows me a more honest and hard perspective of myself and reality. But, since i've found out about Delta-8-THC which provides a clearheaded high and no anxiety/paranoia, i can smoke/vape that just fine for the most part, and i've found it makes Cannabis a lot more tolerable, so far. I still don't smoke Cannabis but i have taken a few puffs rarely since i quit, just to see, but i have been experimenting with the Delta 8 the last few months, and it's less psychoactive/psychedelic than Delta 9, but still gets me plenty baked.

I can agree with that and yes it's important to note that both drugs have an effect on the glutamate system. But it is also important to note they do so in different ways. The end result of THC's interaction with the CB1 receptor would have the outcome of decreasing glutamate in various areas of the brain, especially the hippocampus which is associated with learning and memory, the very things cannabis has a pronounced effect on. As for psychedelics i'm not too well versed to talk about how the glutamate system is effected but from my limited understanding drugs like DMT cause this dimerization between the 5-HT2A and mGlu2 receptors causing this unique signalling cascade that leads to psychedelia. I think this is similar to the cross talk you mentioned earlier with the CB1 and 5-HT2A receptors that leads to psychedelic mimetic effects

It does seem to me that although cannabis can produce psychedelic-like effects, the effect it has on the glutamatergic system seems more in line with drugs like alcohol rather than the serotonergic psychedelics. Now having said that I've not studied pharmacology in over a life time so I could be wrong with that statement.

I have tripped off weed before but most of my friends just use it as chill out drug. I do think of it as a psychedelic but associate it with something that gets abused quite often.

Cannabis is also slightly serotonergic so that explains its psychedelic effect to a degree.
It binds to the 5HT2a receptor.

So that explains why it can increase psychedelic effects of classical sertonergic psychedelics.

This is somewhat new to science.

Here's a source: https://psychedelicrevie...receptor-whats-going-on/

All very interesting stuff!

To clarify, I guess the intended meaning of "psychedelic" in my case is the ability to invoke visuals with a sense of higher significance, and bring about ego death. For example, my friend once told me of an instance where his entire plane of existence was compressed onto a sheet of paper, and walking forwards simply pulled outside objects towards him rather than propelling him through space. Reminiscent of salvia experiences, no?

As a non-smoker, I had assumed that the effects of cannabis were all conceptual or tactile. Like, made you "feel good", place you in a creative mood, et cetera—but none of the out-of-body experiences and intense visuals of something like DMT.

IAMSWIM: that is some very interesting stuff that I was not aware of, thanks. New pharmacological research is the best.
where to put cannabis in a phenomenological spread of categories has been something I've some pals and myself have been discussing since some point early in our cannabis careers. Where I've landed is on this: I'm of the opinion that, barring just putting it in a class of its own, it can be thought of as a very atypical dissociative... like the dissociatives it has (sometimes very strong) psychoactivity that certainly tends in the direction of psychedelia, but is also clearly pretty different In the WAY that it does... though not being an NMDA antagonist like most of the things classed as such it has a very different feel and modus operandi.

So yeah, my vote's for "Atypical Dissociative". Whatchy'all think?

Ive completley broken through on cannabis for 10second.I had eaten like a 1.5g edible. I saw a purple alien goddess. straight outta dmt land. I was shocked. Visions have a meaning, you see the visions and get the meaning, so it wasnt one of those empty visions (like a bear dancing say) it was a full on multi dimensional visual with meaning. it was an entity too.

it wasnt just the cannabis though, but my relation to it and my mind, cause I see geometric visions and DMT like visions and stuff while resting in the hypnagogic state. DMT and cannabis are comparable in my experience, cause Ive jsd similar visions with both. Moreover, cannabis gives me DMT flashbacks. But of course, nothing is like DMT. DMT IS ELECTRO MAGNETIC. DMT IS A LIGHTNING BOLT.

btw bismillah if you havent smoked the stuff I wouldnt start cause I started at 15,Im 24 now and still bout that life, so its a trap

I've gone very deep - flying through the universe of visions deep - with cannabis on occasion (freshly squeezed ice water hash in particular). It always sets my imagination into hyperdrive but that's because I only do it once in a blue moon.

It’s a truly magnificent plant with range and depth to it. I also think that your earlier experiences with cannabis will be more "psychedelic" than when you have become accustomed to it. Maybe more so for younger more impressionable minds. I used cannabis in my teens and when I was out in nature the rivers sparkled and the grass grew greener and more distinct, raindrops and stormy weather always brewed intense experiences for me.

Once, in "high" school (see what i did there), I went to visit a friend while extremely high and I wondered into his room where the radio was playing Oasis "Stand by me" (showing my age here ;-) and I was completely transported within that song and into my soul, almost like an Ayahuascha journey I can equate it to now. I pumped up the speakers and for the duration of the song, I had one of the deepest experiences of my life yet I would be hard placed to actually put it into words. It happened with music alot when I was younger. Even now under edibles music transports me to a very intense feelings but not to that level again. Sex of course as Abaris points out is extremely enhanced. Cannabis can also potentiate and augment effects of other psychedelics but not all. Once again as a teenager I smoked so much cannabis that while walking on the road with friends there were huge sections when I was not in my body and I had to be "called back" yet I was walking alongside them all the time, and I was visiting other places and OBE for sure. It makes meditation easier too and one is able to go much deeper.

Preparation is very important. Now when I decarb my cannabis I have the option of making it more a CBD high or a THC high and all that depends on how long I leave it in the oven, I don’t have it to an exact science but I do notice big differences between batches of chocolates. The more THC in the plant would lead to more cerebral/high experiences. I have never tried dabbing but it will be interesting to hear what experiences one has on shatter. Hashish definitely has the ability to become psychedelic. In Confessions of an Hashish eater (1857),Fitz Hugh Louw was ingesting 15 to 25 grams of hash at a time and reporting fantastical definitely psychedelic scenes. When I had access to Afghan Gold Hash (a wondrous whole kilo of it) I was working my way up to that dose and definitely noticed different stages of bliss and expansion before the cops took it away : - / Of course one needs to be careful and I believe it did have a negative impact on their digestive system, and they were racked with stomach pains.

Adequate research has not also been done on high levels of THC on blood pressure, heart rate, and the respiratory system, so caution is advised. I believe one is able to get to psychedelic amounts of cannabis via the edible route rather than smoking. Perhaps also one should treat it ceremoniously as we do other psychedelics to truly gain valuable and insightful experiences from this teacher plant. Too many times people say it makes one unmotivated and lethargic, but how were they consuming it? As a sacrament or just light up let me smoke this with my beer, or in the toilet? I believe a lot can be gained by changing ones approach and respect towards the plant. Tolerance as well is a huge factor. Smoking every day is not going to give you visionary trips. Yes it might not be "psychedelic" in the classical sense but it surely is a hallucinogenic.

Agreed. My early experiences with home grown "connoisseur" strains that were grown for their effects and not for yield were moderately psychedelic. Sativas like Neville's Haze or Grapefruit.

The more accustomed I became to the effects, the less psychedelic they felt. Actually, the same goes with the classic psychedelics like shrooms or mescaline. The more I experience, the more similar I find the psychedelic and the ordinary states of consciousness.

Thought I'd replied here.

I used to be heavy smoker for years and years. Smoke rarely now, well that's not quite true, most days, just tiny amounts. But had had some "moments" recently when have completely gone off into psychedlic state out of body, sucked into the vortex of your conscious mind in a similar way to Khole. Then snapped out of it and back into reality with a "woahhh" wtf just happened.

Definitely not in the same category as proper psyches, but can go towards that area and isn't just for relaxation and chilling IMO

I myself have experienced auditory hallucinations and fractal visuals from a high dose of edibles; and even from a large dab.

Both experiences were incredibly full of anxiety. I was flying home from Las Vegas after eating about 10 10mg gummies; and waiting an hour before getting on the plane. Which gave them plenty of time to kick in and amplify the experience. I had OOBE while listening to some relaxing music (which was the only thing keeping me calm.) The "whooshing" of the dark plane cabin felt almost exactly like the come up of DMT.

On other occasions I have experienced auditory hallucinations just from a large dab. I'm not sure if these are related to some of my mental health or not; so I have taken a few breaks from smoking. And my results are varied.