Marijuana and music have come a long way together for centuries. This amazing combo has been a source of inspiration for music composers, producers, directors, and artists. Many can testify to the fact that marijuana changes how you process music entirely. Also, it takes you to another level of rhythm.
Lots of people prefer taking marijuana before listening to their favorite music or attending a concert. This has led to the curiosity as to what makes Marijuana and weed work hand in hand to give an amazing music experience
Scientific research on Marijuana and Music
- Major Cannabinoids in Marijuana, CBD and THC, interact with the brain and affect response to stimuli.
- Research has shown that compared to placebo, THC reduces blood flow to the temporal cortices of the brain where sensory processing occurs and increases blood flow to the orbitofrontal cortex where emotion and reward processing occurs. This is the main reason behind the unpredictable effect of marijuana on music.
How does Marijuana change how we listen to Music?
It is no myth that marijuana influences the way we process music. When stoned, our brain pays more attention to the details of the music and helps you listen in a way your brain won’t under normal circumstances.
- Marijuana works with the area of the brain that processes auditory stimuli. It affects how well you can keep rhythm, remember lyrics, and notice slight differences in pitch and different variations of music.
- Weed can make you extra sensitive to high sound frequencies just like a “psycho-acoustic enhancer”.
- Marijuana also affects your perception of time, it helps you to remove the past, present, and future in order to live and enjoy the moment while listening to music.
- Marijuana is known for its relaxing and soothing properties. This allows your brain to help you connect to your song.
What are the similarities between Marijuana and Music?
- Relaxing Effect.
Just as the perfect blunt can relax your nerves, the perfect type of music also has a soothing and relaxing effect on the body. Music can reduce stress hormones and remove stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia from the body.
Marijuana has similar effects on the body but it is thought that THC increases Anxiety, music can help reduce this in the body. When taken together, marijuana and music can help you sit back, relax and unwind all the stress of the day.
- The Dopamine Effect.
Listening to a song you really like can send chills and feelings of excitement round your body. Dopamine is the hormone responsible for this feeling in the body, it also pops up during other pleasure like sex, food and addictive substances.
Marijuana also triggers the release of dopamine into the body system, the relationship between Marijuana and dopamine has been a case study for scientists.
Listening to your favorite artist or album while smoking marijuana can increase the amount of dopamine in the body system. This can make you have a good time with marijuana and music.
- Live for the Moment Effect.
Marijuana and Music gives a live for the moment effect when taken, combining them at once will boost it further. They have a stronger effect on the hippocampus which is the part of the brain that is responsible for short term memory.
When you are high, marijuana stops the processing of short term memory to allow you to live for the moment . This places your full attention on the music instead of your brain drifting away and thinking about the future.
How does the brain process Music when high on marijuana?
- Marijuana helps your brain to focus on the music
- Your brain filters out unnecessary stimuli when high to pay attention to your music.
- Marijuana can also reduce pain and stress allowing your body and brain to enjoy and process music.
- Marijuana has the ability to slow down music in our brains in order to listen layers of sounds and musical timing.
- There is a condition named synaesthesia in which multiple senses blur together in the brain. It provides a graphic representation of your music in your brain, the vibrations and key notes of the music appear in forms of shapes, colours or visual sensation.
Even if you aren’t experiencing this, something close to the light effects in concerts or shows might be visualized in your brain under the influence of marijuana.
Psychological factors that determine if Music sounds better when stoned.
Apart from the impacts that Marijuana and music has on your brain, there are other factors that determine how well you enjoy your stoned music moments. These factors include;
i. Optimistic expectations.
As much as the perfect wrap and type of marijuana gives the perfect experience, the type of music that you play when stoned has to rhyme with the music you usually vibe with before you can have an amazing experience.
It will be an improved experience if you have once vibes with the music and have high expectations of it. It helps your brain to give you the perfect setup to satisfy your positive expectations of the music.
ii. Social Experience.
Marijuana and Music has always been a source of connection for people, it helps to improve social gatherings. Playing your favorite music while being high gives you the euphoria effects of concerts, music videos and social outings linked to the music.
It helps to refresh your memory and relive those moments of happiness and rollercoaster of emotions with your favorite music, artist or album.
Types Of Music that goes well with Marijuana.
The type of music depends on your song or artist preference. It also depends on your general mood and emotions at the moment. However there are some certain type of music that can be identified with the marijuana culture.
These types of music include rap, jazz, reggae, rock, and techno music. Special qualities like lyrics with strong weed messages, the musical nuance, the artists singing, or inspired by marijuana make these songs stand out amongst others.
