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In what category of drugs does cannabis fall?

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polytrip

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Cannabis has clearly a psychedelic dimension to it that can get pretty powerfull even, at higher (oral) doses. But it is clearly sedating at the same time.

I think cannabis has effects of a sedative, dissosciative and psychedelic combined, though in a different way than ibogaine.
 
IME combined with meditation cannabis becomes incredibly psychedelic, i've tripped harder meditating on cannabis than i have on anything else, although maybe this is because its more unexpected than right after inhaling DMT, and of course meditation can make you super sensitive
 
I'm going with psychedelic. Smoked, it can be pretty powerful (mostly if you're new to it). Oral cannabis is just nuts.

I've never found cannabis to be much of a sedative. I mean sometimes I'll get tired and sleepy, but others I'm wide awake and ready to get busy. It probably depends on the strain. I can't speak much from a pharmacological standpoint, but I've never felt marijuana to be dissociative in the classic sense of the term. When I think dissociative, I think DXM, ketamine, etc.
 
I don't know you would probably have different stains of cannabis in different categories. It would be cool to know exactly which of the 80 or 90 cannabinoids produce which effects and try to selectively breed on that basis.
 
I find cannabis to be a very suggestive substance. If I smoke it on the move it has very stimulating properties. If I get stoned just watching TV it has a very down feel, yet lying down while listening to music almost makes me feel I have sharper sense of hearing and stimuated thought processes.

With friends who I know and love it can be a very social experience, but with people who I don't know so well it completely kills my conversations faculties.

It's also very effective at enhancing the effects of a good number of other psychedelics.
 
It is very psychedelic when I dont smoke often, but if I take too much of it it seems to actaully take on the characteristics of a deleriant(not that I have had other deleriants)..I have had some really out there delusions before when I had way too much cannabis..then I start to get paranoid and it feeds the delusions even more..it can be interesting afterwords though thinking about why my mind would create those things.
 
I think its a dose-dependant thing, plus the prep and ROA are relevant.At the lower smoked doses it serves as a mood amplifier; its more psychedelic than any of the other categories at sensible doses.It becomes wildly psychedelic if taken in large doses orally.I do tend to find that hashish often has some sedative properties which are evident later in the experience.

But probably its greatest feature is how it enhances pretty much all substances- bar being used after alot of alcohol and, in some peoples opinion, as part of changa.

"Fuck the law

Smoke the draw;

Dont sit and read;

Build the weed!!" 😉
 
Cannabis is a powerfull psychedelic, but it clearly differs from most of the major psychedelic in that it doesn't seem to be able to cause psychedelic effects without clouding the mind at the same time.
In that way it seems as if it's psychedelic effects stem from it's dissociative quality's.

The exact definition of dissociative is the major issue here ofcourse.
It's defined in different ways. Some way of defining it only categorise NMDA antagonists in this category of substances, but others also include salvia into it.

I would define dissociative as a form of sedation that allows the mind to wander freely and create it's own reality, a sort of dreamlike state. In other words a substance that causes psychedelic effects as a side-effect of it's sedating quality's.

Salvia clearly fit's into dissociatives that way, because it is the agonist of an opioid receptor, and opiates as we all know are primarily sedatives.

But cannabis also could fall into the category that way. The psychological effects of cannabis do seem to fall in between those of classic hallucinogens and those of dissociatives.

Cannabis is definately a psychedelic, but definately not purely psychedelic like LSD, DMT or shrooms.

When i closely analyse the effects of cannabis, i come to the conclusion that it is primarily a dissociative drug although a more psychedelic sort of dissociative than DXM or nitrogen-oxide, and that all of it's other effects, from psychedelic, sedative, deliriant, are derived from it's dissociative nature.
 
Ive always found the dissociative stae as fairly neutral and the work thats done therein is where the joy/horror becomes manifest.Cannabis for me is never simply neutral.

Salvia does come alot closer to dissociation by virtue of its agonist effect on opiate receptors as Polytrip states but the opioid receptors are several-mu, kappa, epsilon and delta.Salvinorin A agonises the kappa receptor and produces the state that salvia fans are aware of.

There is a pharmaceutical opioid called pentazocine which has actions on the mu ('nice receptor', producing the highly sought-after poppy effects) and kappa receptors.The proper literature/data sheet on pentazocine says one of its side effects is dysphoria which can be persecutory in nature.I suspect this is the dissociation that comes with it via the kappa agonism.
 
corpus callosum said:
Ive always found the dissociative stae as fairly neutral and the work thats done therein is where the joy/horror becomes manifest.Cannabis for me is never simply neutral.
Click to expand...
That is indeed where it differs from the effects of most dissociatives. But amanita muscaria is also listed as a dissociative, and i don't find the effects of that plant to be very neutral either.

The thing is that the body's cannabinoids work a bit like endorphins. The body's cannabinoids are a weapon against stress like endorphins are against pain.
Endocannabinoids are a bit to mental pain as what endorphins are to physical pain (although emotional pain also leads to release of endorphins).

Some people also mention a bit of cross-tolerance between cannabis and opiates.

It's clear to me that cannabis psychedelic effects are in no way solely psychedelic, like is the case with DMT.

They are closely related with it's sedative effects, and that is where they resemble dissociatives that are also sedatives in the first place, where the type of sedation they induce results in psychedelic effects as a side-effect.
It's like a type of sedation that causes 'collateral' psychedelic effects on the side.

I think cannabis has that same type of sedation, but with a higher 'yield' of collateral psychedelic effects then other psychedelic sedatives.
 
Definateley a sedative in the painkilling sense.
I can't find the full text but there was a recent study done by Donald Abrams M.D. in which they administered cannabis in conjunction with morphine and oxycodone in patients that were experiencing neuropathic pain of some kind. What's interesting is they observed the blood levels of morphine and oxycodone decreasing as pain relief was increased.
Doesn't take a study to show that cannabis and opiates have great synergy but it was an interesting study anyhow.

I tend to agree that cannabis is a bit of everything. A jack of all trades.
 
I accidentally hit "sedative and dissociative", but I meant to say all three.


It really depends on the sort of cannabis I am smoking. There is the sativa/indica divide and combinations, with all the varied ratios of active cannabinoids. Really there are figuratively infinite subtle variations on the high.

The effects that I seek out the most are the (mild) psychedelic effects and varying amounts of the sedative effects at different times. Sometimes, with very good bud and when my tolerance is low I can achieve more pronounced psychedelic effects like slight visuals and deep contemplation/appreciation of the things around me, especially sensual appreciation.

Only the first few times that I used cannabis could I describe the effects as "dissociative", and even still it was a very idiosyncratic dissociation, particularly a marked "flanging" of visual input.
 
Sorry i have to add my 2 cents. Definatly a mild psyche. But each of the alkis on there own varry in psychoactivity (sorry dont no proper terms), and are not psyches at all.
 
Hey now Gang,

While I am tempted to vote for all three, since Ganja can take you to each of these spheres of awareness... I feel strongly that her greatest gift for humanity is of a psychedelic nature. Or rather, a mild hallucinogen? :shock: So, I vote for PSYCHEDELIC.

Back in the 70's we used to score THC tablets. It was definitely a trip, in the truest sense of the word. In combination with a few fatties, fired-up at key moments, it is a direct pathway into The Light. Of course, she is far, far milder than LSD, mushrooms or mescaline... let alone, the ultimate psychedelic: DMT. I agree with AluminumFoilRobots, when used in conjunction with deep meditation, marijuana can be a profoundly spiritual experience. And when conjoined with playing the flute, it is a profoundly Pranic practice (what with all the controlled breathing and such).

When I wore a younger man's cloths, I considered "pot" to be the first several rungs up the Cosmic Ladder. Of course, the last few rungs at the top would have to be DMT. That is, before said, hypothetical ladder merged with the Clear Light of the Void and the differentiation between the climber and the climb... became as unreal as any mirage had by the dreaming Godhead. My college roommate always used to say, just prior to lighting a joint, "Wanna take a stroll up the Stairway to Heaven?." Only SO FAR up the Stairway, though. Right? So, it's easier on the ego and I have never had the kind of total breakthrough experience, that the BIG THREE can gift.

Now, when used as a habitual addiction, Ganja can be more likely to be an admixture of all three effects. You know, 1-2-3? First you feel a touch stoned (dissociated), then you start to feel high (tripping) and then you feel all fuzzy and tired (sedated). And then you get... THE MUNCHIES!!! :lol:

Queen Mary Jane is a powerful teacher but if one goes back to the well too often, she can be a tyrannical overlord. She likes to lift you up to higher regions, giving you a glimpse of what lies on the other side of the proverbial mountain (so to speak), only to pull you back to dreamland. She is most prone to gravity, after all. Icarus aflame!!! Life is all about "The Balance", eh?

Peace, Light & Love, Rising Spirit
 
i could be wrong, but i thought that different drugs fall into different catagories because of the actions they proform in the body, not the indivudials side effects. I thought different people got different results from the same drug.
 
^^^

There are several ways to categorize substances: molecular structure, mechanism of action, subjective effects, etc. This is how DOB and Methamphetamine are both amphetamines but with widely differing effects.
 
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