I have been smoking weed and/or hash oil every day for years. I know that has an effect on remembering dreams. It is not very often that I remember my dreams. I seem to remember them more vividly whenever I dream about my ex though, which sucks because she broke my heart. . . Anyway I have been interested in practicing lucid dreaming and I think I would have to quit smoking. I know it affects my dreams because I have quit before and remembered all my dreams. That would be quite difficult considering I live within the emerald triangle and herb is practically free here if you have grower friends.

Also I have been getting deeper on my breakthroughs, and want to bring back everything I can, but I am having trouble remembering a lot of it.

Does anyone have any experience with heavy weed use and not being able to remember?

Have you tried dream herbs?
I recently tried Calea Zachatichichi and also gave some to a friend of mine who had never lucid dreamed before and we both had successful lucid dreams.

I used to be a much heavier weed smoker and it did seem to blunt my DMT memories. I still like to have a toke or two before blasting off just to deal with the jitters, but I've noticed that if I get super baked before the experience my recall is fuzzy. Even without quitting entirely, but ramping down to a couple small bowls a day for the past few years, ive seen an improvement in specific recall of dreams and of hyperspace. If trip recall is critical to you, a day off beforehand is probably all you need. But for dream work, that's another story that might entail a bigger commitment.

Whenever I'm smoking regularly I can't remember my dreams. For me when I stop smoking I have incredibly lucid dreams, they can be fairly bothersome which is one reason why I smoked as much as I did. Eventually though I became fairly use to it, though at times It's difficult to distinguish my dream recall from actual memories, and the constant deja vue, I've dreamed this before feeling is with me many times each day. If you don't want to stop smoking try some dream herbs, though i imagine coupling dream herbs with abstinence from MJ for a while would probably be.pretty intense for someone who's not used to dreaming at all.

I did take a silene extract once that gave me a very intense lucid nightmare where i was in an old abandoned barn waiting on my girlfriend to find me in the middle of an awful storm when I realized that in this dream all of the universe existed in the bowels of the Devil. I then shouted myself awake.

Somehow the deepest revelation of a breakthrough is always lost to me... I may remember the details but it is the essence that is lost... It is, like McKenna said, like gold running though your fingertips. I have not yet found a technique for bringing what is most important back to home-universe. Sometimes there is a luciferean cackle in the back of my head - dmt has a scornful nature if I lose my footing... Other time it is simply an impish chuckle - and I understjad fleetingly WHY I can't remember the essence.

Perhaps it is beyond the fold of my understanding.

I've been smoking every day for years and contrary to the popular consensus, I dream quite regularly and quite vividly, and I have a keen memory for them. With DMT, I also have a fairly strong recall compared to what I've read and what others tell me (though I can certainly relate), and it's hard for me to smoke DMT when I'm not already stoned or at least haven't already smoked yet that day.

I'm a heavy ganja smoker and I prefer to wait at least an hour or two after smoking to blast off. But as the FoilRobots mentioned, gold sifting through you fingers is the best possible description. Also the timing McKenna mentions is spot on, about the 6-7 mark you'll start losing your memories at a much more rapid pace. I could literally see an entities face disintegrate before my eyes and turn into a blurry bright white light before fading off into the distance.

Yes I have have heard mckenna describe that and it is so true, you get yo that point where its fading, trying as hard as you can to hold on to it, and then it just slips away like it was never there . . .



Even though its ALWAYS there, which is also here . . .

Mid and long term effects are extremely depending on the person, use of other psychoactives and cannabis strain.

In my experience (and it seems to agree with available research) strains with high CBD content and relatively low THC content produce significantly lower impairment of memory and dream/trip recall. Stopping cannabis use will probably help, but if you intend to keep using cannabis while attempting dream work, be picky with the strain.

im another heavy cannabis smoker and im also interested in how it can affect trips. I sort of searched for dmt to help me quit smoking so much. I haven't cut down much unfortunately. I have noticed that if i don't smoke all day and smoke some spice in the evening i will have a more profound experience. Hopefully i can use my will power to cut down a heap one day. Sounds pretty pathetic tho because its not hard.

First off I find the higher the DMT dose the harder to remember. Being high does negatively affect my recall, but it makes it just a little hazier of a memory as opposed to being utterly unable to piece it together like a higher dose feels at times. Most of the time I can recall the majority of the trip, with the exception of some peaks. With time the memories slowly fade away (and then occasionally I almost fully remember the trip and re-experience it in memory form).

I'm a pretty heavy pot smoker and I agree with a couple others here. My trip recall is better when I'm not completely stoned. Waiting a couple hours after smoking (or 6-24hrs if my tolerance is lower) keeps me alert and the memory sharper which I prefer most of the time.

However, I don't think smoking DMT with a little weed affects my recall. I occasionally melt some DMT into a bowl of a good sativa strain and toke it until breakthrough. It alters parts of the trip for me in a way I can only describe as interesting and almost silly. I generally prefer Sativa strains so if you enjoy indica strains you may like them better. Sativa strains alter my headspace for a better "stream of consciousness" and alertness, whereas I find indica strains more sedating and zoned-out.


I've had this feeling numerous times. I like how you phrased it "perhaps it is beyond the fold of my understanding" as I've had it happen where as soon as I feel myself folded back into these 3-dimensions, it escapes me.


Edit: I forgot to post what I started this post for. Weed+Dream Recall.

With it said that I'm a heavy pot smoker, I've also taken breaks for extended periods of time. During the breaks (usually after the first a few weeks) I certainly remembered more dreams.

During a period of smoking I had incredible dream recall when I switched to a segmented sleep schedule. During my second sleep (I only do 2 sleeps) I feel like the entire sleep is full of incredibly vivid dreams and I very rested. I've even revisited the dream-spaces in subsequent nights, which got me very interested in that particular environment. I haven't tried this sleep schedule while taking a break from cannabis so can't comment on differences there.

Overall, my dream recall with a segmented sleep schedule while smoking is better than it was with a standard sleep schedule while not smoking.

I stopped smoking weed about 3 months ago because I was starting College. After about 2-3 weeks I noticed I was able to remember all my dreams in great detail. I never realized while I was smoking weed, that it was keeping me from remembering my dreams. Now it is a common occurance to lucid dream.

I have a theroy of the inability to remember everything from the deep DMT breakthroughs and how the memories that you do bring back, seem to fade over time. Would love to hear what the Community thinks about this theroy.

I believe the reason that we can't seem to remember the deepest details from the breakthroughs and the reason the memories we do bring back seem to fade is that we are not experienceing these events with our physical bodies. Since we are experiencing these events with our "spirit" if you will, the memories are not recorded into our brains. As we are anchored back into our bodies, and we begin to experience the physical world with our physical bodies again, perhaps we simple let go of the "spirit" memories. Or perhaps when we journey outside our physical bodies again, the "spirit" memories are there waiting for us. This would explain the feelings of "This realm, event, Entity, etc., seemed familiar to me" that some people report.

I have not read any of the books about the DMT experience that some of you guys talk about so I don't know if this is an old theroy, but it is a theory I have been contemplating for some time now.

To help me to keep a record of my experiences, I keep a digital voice recorder running and, while I am able, I give an account of what I am experiencing. When I come out of the DMT Trance, I will give as much detail as I can about what I have just experienced. It helps.

Any thoughts?

I've definitely had similar thoughts. It's as if when we return to reality we don't have the tools or knowledge or can't make the connections to interpret the information we were given, yet when we enter hyperspace we are able to translate that information with ease. Whether it be recording as "spirit memories" that can only be accessed in "spirit mode" or if can only be translated when immersed in the "collective unconscious" I have no idea.

I'm left with absolutely no idea on how to improve recall for this aspect of a DMT experience. I don't think weed has anything to do with dumbing down our abilities here.


Thanks for this it seems like a great avenue to check into. Do you have links to the research? I vaguely remember reading something about CBD and serotonin (which affects dream recall), do you think it has to do with this link?

When I was smoking hash oil everyday I had zero dream recall, before starting that I would lucid dream at least 4 times a week. It ruined my dream recall, which I didn't mind very much. Not sure how it would effect my DMT trips because I'm no longer smoking.

Great minds think alike....

For me if I don't smoke weed, or take some kind of drug, I have a hard time recalling my dreams. After usin a nicotine patch for about two weeks and stopping I now have better dream recall but it's hit or miss and never fully there.

If I take an opiate based pill I recall dreams fairly well. I still can't figure out why this is. I haven't dosed DMT on anything, I'm always sober. I have fairly good DMT recall but it fades away just like a dream.

yea what a huge bummer this is. Nobody ever told me id have to choose between remembering my dreams and getting stoned. I have quit for a week or 2 a couple times just to say that I could, and my dream recall was way better even after the first day of not smoking. Later I had to quit for legal reasons for a while and had my only 2 lucid dreams ever, they were incredible. Im not experienced enough to commment on dmt trip recall, but the few times ive tried it was on top of a bowl of good herb, and I remembered it pretty well. Even now over a year later i can close my eyes and almost see it again. But as far as dreams go, I very rarely remeber them now that I can smoke again.

Sure. The evidence for the protective role of CBD has been around for long.

Key ingredient dilutes marijuana's effect on memory.

And this one is the first published research with rodents, in 2004.

Differential effects of THC- or CBD-rich cannabis extracts on working memory in rats.

We should be a little bit more specific when talking about cannabis. I like that the OP talks about THC... Often it all comes down to "weed", and THC and CBD have tremendously different effects.

I gave up weed a few months ago after 25 years of heavy smoking, and have noticed major differences in my dreaming similar to many of you. And better memory just in general, I can actually hold a number in my head for more than a few seconds now.

Thanks Vodsel I wasn't aware of that effect, fantastic news I'll have a look for a CBD-rich sativa strain and see how it works with DMT.