"Psychedelic Slip:" Does Cannabis Change After Tripping?

I have seen some discussion about whether using psychedelics causes a permanent change in the way one experiences the effects of cannabis. There is, of course, some contention on this topic and, not surprisingly, very little hard research to support either side of the debate. The fact remains, however, that some percentage of users report that their cannabis highs became more trip like after having experienced psychedelic drugs. It has been quite some time since I first tried psychedelics so it is difficult to remember how weed felt before that but I do think that there maybe something to the claim. I certainly do notice a level of "trippyness" in the cannabis high and, while I don't consider it to be psychedelic, I do think that it is psychedelic adjacent. I don't necessarily have a argument to make today (plus, I am feeling a bit under the weather this evening) but I would like to present my perspective on the issue and share my thoughts on what may be causing the change that some returning psychonauts describe.

So what exactly is the issue here and how severe is it? Well, that depends on who you ask. Some individuals claim that, having an intense trip, cannabis started to bring back some or all of the psychedelic effects of whichever drug that they had taken. For many of them, this is quite distressing because they lose their ability to casually consume cannabis. Others report (I think this is the majority of the people who have experienced this phenomenon) that the high feels different and has a more psychedelic quality to it. For these people, it is less of a problem but it is still a strange and sudden shift in how they feel when they smoke or eat cannabis. If this only occurred shortly after the use of a psychedelic drug, it would be pretty easy to write it off as an unknown drug interaction or the cannabis high intensifying some lingering psychedelic effects to the point that they become noticeable again. However, these users often state that this in an ongoing and perhaps permanent change in their perception of the weed high.

I can't claim to know what is going on with any certainty but I have some ideas. In arguing for the benefits of using psychedelics for personal, social, and societal, discovery and advancement, I often say that even after the effects of these drugs are gone from the mind of a psychonaut, the memory remains and he or she can (in some regards) slip back into a trippy state of mind. I am not referring to some anti-drug propaganda film's "flashback," of course. However, I do believe that, under the right circumstances, one who has experience with these drugs can get back into a psychedelic head-space. I have experienced this type of thing myself. I find that if I am around a group of people who are tripping for enough time, I will begin to feel slightly trippy too. There are no visuals, and I can easily snap myself out of that mindset but, for a moment, I laugh at all the same nonsense as them, I can follow their weird and seemingly disconnected thought processes, and I even start to feel the same intensification of emotion that accompanies the use of these drugs. It seems that in my case, some stimuli trigger a psychedelic response. I believe that this same principal may be at work in the cannabis conundrum. As I said above, I (and many others) consider weed to be similar, in some ways, to psychedelics. Those similarities, I think, set off the "psychedelic slip" and these people experience "trip" or some aspects of a trip for that reason. One may have associated his or her racing heart with coming up on acid and when he or she get slightly anxious from smoking a joint, it draws up a little bit his or her past experiences. It could also be that the euphoria of the high is reminiscent of that of a positive mushroom trip. The specific stimulus is unimportant, I suppose, but we develop all sorts of triggers that will put us in one psychological state or another, so it doesn't seem to be all that far fetched to suggest that the right trigger could also put someone into a profoundly altered state of mind. In short, the high, I believe, is the same as it ever was but these particular cannabis consumers have become sensitized to some aspect of it and that is what sets off their trippy response.

I am just some guy on the internet, though. I could be completely wrong in my position and that is fine. However, this is a fascinating topic and it is one that's poorly explored, even in psychedelic and cannabis communities. I am curious to hear what you all have to say about the issue. If you have used both cannabis and psychedelics, did you notice a change in your highs? What do you think may be the cause or are the people who report this change just blowing things out of proportion?

Peace.

Hey everyone, sorry if this is a little shorter and less fleshed out than usual. Like I said earlier, I was feeling a little sick and writing something lengthier seemed daunting at the moment but I wanted to get a post out you all so I thought I would present this little topic that interests me, which I hope you enjoyed. If not, rest assured; I will put out something a bit more substantial next time.

All the images in this post are sourced from the free image website, unsplash.com.