Psychoactive Listening – A Examine on Weed and Music
I will always remember the primary time I actually “heard” Pink Floyd’s “Time.” Positive, I might listened to it dozens of occasions earlier than, however this was totally different. I had simply taken just a few hits from a joint when these haunting clock chimes started. Because the music progressed, I discovered myself noticing issues I might by some means missed in all my earlier listens – the intricate layers of percussion, the refined interaction between the guitars, the way in which the bass line weaved by way of all of it like a musical serpent. It wasn’t simply listening to the music; it was experiencing it on a very totally different stage.
Ask any hashish fanatic about their relationship with music whereas excessive, and you may possible get a figuring out smile adopted by one thing alongside the traces of, “Every part simply sounds higher.” It is not nearly enhanced audio notion – there is a profound sense of immersion that transforms acquainted songs into solely new experiences. The music would not simply play; it envelops you, pulls you in, and takes you on a journey by way of each observe and rhythm.
For many years, this phenomenon has been extensively acknowledged in hashish tradition, handed down by way of shared experiences and numerous smoke classes. Nonetheless, the scientific neighborhood has largely ignored this fascinating relationship between hashish and musical notion. The dearth of formal analysis has left us with loads of anecdotal proof however few concrete solutions about what’s truly taking place in our brains after we mix hashish and music.
That is lastly altering. A groundbreaking new examine is analyzing how hashish impacts our enjoyment and notion of music in real-world settings. Moderately than counting on sterile laboratory situations, researchers are assembly hashish customers the place they naturally devour – in social settings the place music is an integral a part of the expertise.
So pack a bowl, queue up your favourite stoner playlist, and be a part of me as we discover the science behind what I prefer to name “psychoactive listening.” It is time to perceive why that bassline hits totally different once you’re excessive, and what which may imply for our understanding of consciousness, notion, and the therapeutic potential of hashish.
Psychoactive listening is not nearly listening to music whereas excessive – it is about how hashish basically alters our relationship with sound. When researchers at Toronto Metropolitan College’s SMART Lab started exploring this phenomenon, they have been investigating one thing hashish customers have identified intuitively for generations: marijuana would not simply make music sound higher; it transforms how we course of and expertise it solely.
The examine, at present underway at Membership Lit, a hashish consumption lounge in Toronto, takes a refreshingly sensible strategy to analysis. As an alternative of isolating individuals in sterile laboratory situations, researchers Chi Yhun Lo and Lena Darakjian selected to satisfy hashish customers of their pure habitat. As Lo explains, “Background music is all the time going to be a standard a part of most social experiences… What we’re actually fascinated by is pairing hashish with these particular music experiences.”
This real-world strategy may appear unconventional, nevertheless it’s exactly what makes the examine so priceless. “Having a sterile setting is the last word confound,” Lo argues, “as a result of there’s actually such little stimulation taking place, and it is so far faraway from the true world.” By finding out hashish customers of their pure setting, researchers can observe genuine interactions between marijuana, music, and social dynamics.
The methodology is elegantly easy: patrons at Membership Lit can scan QR codes at their tables, accessing surveys about their musical expertise whereas beneath the affect. The playlists rotate by way of numerous genres – from jazz to digital, rock to reggae – permitting researchers to trace how hashish would possibly affect musical preferences and openness to new types.
However this is not nearly understanding why your favourite album hits in a different way once you’re excessive. The implications of this analysis stretch far past leisure hashish use. The group is especially fascinated by how their findings would possibly make clear situations like musical anhedonia – a situation the place people can’t derive pleasure from music.
The analysis might additionally present insights into broader elements of consciousness, sensory processing, and neurodivergent listening patterns. As Lo notes, “There may very well be a very fascinating intersection that nobody has even thought of but. We’re actually simply at the beginning of the journey, and we hope that there can be some actually important therapeutic alternatives that we are able to leverage.”
Earlier findings from the SMART Lab have already revealed intriguing patterns. Hashish customers reported modifications in cognitive processing, together with altered attentiveness, absorption, interpretation of lyrics, reminiscence, and important evaluation. Maybe most curiously, many individuals described an elevated openness to new musical experiences whereas beneath the affect.
Trying forward, this discipline of analysis might revolutionize our understanding of how psychoactive substances have an effect on sensory processing and emotional responses to artwork. It may additionally result in new therapeutic functions, probably serving to people with numerous types of anhedonia or sensory processing problems.
For now, the researchers proceed gathering information, aiming to contain 1,000 individuals of their examine. As we await their findings, one factor is obvious: what many people have skilled anecdotally – that particular relationship between hashish and music – is lastly getting the scientific consideration it deserves.
As somebody who’s spent numerous hours each making and listening to music whereas beneath the affect of hashish, I’ve developed my very own theories about why marijuana appears to reinforce our musical expertise. Positive, it isn’t peer-reviewed science, however after a long time of firsthand analysis (if you happen to catch my drift), I believe I’ve stumbled upon some fascinating insights value sharing.
At its most simple stage, I consider hashish basically alters our baseline consciousness. Now, earlier than you roll your eyes at what feels like typical stoner philosophy, hear me out. After we’re sober, our mind processes actuality by way of a specific filter – one which’s been fine-tuned by way of years of evolution to assist us survive. This filter prioritizes sure info whereas downplaying others, serving to us navigate our each day lives effectively.
However throw some THC into the combo, and one thing fascinating occurs. That default filter shifts ever so barely, creating what I prefer to name a “perspective drift.” The exterior world hasn’t modified – the identical soundwaves are nonetheless hitting your eardrums – however the way in which your mind processes and interprets this info has been altered.
Consider it like this: Think about you have lived in the identical home for years. You understand each nook, each creak within the floorboards. Then someday, you have a look at your front room from a distinct angle, perhaps mendacity the wrong way up in your sofa, and immediately you discover particulars you have by no means seen earlier than. The room hasn’t modified, however your perspective has, revealing elements that have been all the time there however beforehand filtered out by your mind’s autopilot mode.
I consider one thing related occurs with music once you’re excessive. Hashish briefly disrupts your mind’s typical filtering system, permitting you to expertise acquainted songs as if listening to them for the primary time from this barely shifted perspective. Abruptly, that bassline that was all the time there however by no means caught your consideration turns into unimaginable to disregard. The refined harmonies within the background vocals leap to the forefront. The intricate patterns within the drum fills reveal themselves like hidden treasures.
In fact, that is all simply educated stonerthink based mostly on private expertise. There may very well be (and sure are) advanced neurochemical processes at play that specify why hashish impacts our audio processing in such distinctive methods. Perhaps THC briefly enhances our means to course of a number of audio streams concurrently. Maybe it impacts our sense of time, permitting us to understand micro-changes in rhythm and tone that we sometimes miss. With out extra scientific analysis, we are able to solely speculate.
However that is a part of what makes this discipline so thrilling. We’re lastly beginning to bridge the hole between anecdotal expertise and scientific understanding. The analysis being performed at Membership Lit would possibly validate a few of these “stoner theories” or reveal solely new mechanisms we’ve not even thought of.
Till then, I will preserve exploring these sonic landscapes by way of my barely altered consciousness, assured that whereas I won’t totally perceive the “why” behind cannabis-enhanced music appreciation, the expertise itself is undeniably actual.
Properly people, there you’ve got it – that age-old stoner knowledge about music sounding higher once you’re excessive is not simply hashish folklore anymore. Science is lastly catching as much as what we have identified all alongside, and whereas researchers are nonetheless untangling the neural mechanics behind all of it, one factor’s crystal clear: hashish basically modifications how we expertise music.
So the subsequent time somebody offers you grief about smoking up and listening to Pink Floyd’s “Darkish Aspect of the Moon” for the thousandth time, you may proudly inform them that you just’re not being lazy – you are partaking in “psychoactive listening.” You are not simply getting excessive; you are conducting a private exploration into altered states of musical notion. Sounds far more refined, would not it?
Perhaps there’s one thing deeper taking place throughout these classes. Maybe after we’re excessive, we’re capable of pierce by way of the veil of our typical perceptions and join extra intimately with the artist’s intent. These refined emotional undertones within the vocals, the passionate nuances within the guitar solos, the intricate interaction between devices – perhaps we’re not simply listening to them extra clearly, however feeling them extra deeply too.
Or perhaps we’re all simply actually excessive and every little thing sounds wonderful. Both manner, science is lastly beginning to validate what hashish customers have been saying all alongside. So pack that bowl, put in your favourite album, and prepare for some severe psychoactive listening. In spite of everything, it isn’t simply recreation anymore – it is analysis.
INSPIRATION:
https://www.marijuanamoment.internet/scientists-explore-how-marijuana-affects
-enjoyment-of-music-through-new-study-at-cannabis-lounge/
MUSIC SOUNDS BETTER WHEN HIGH, YES OR NO? READ ON…
