Have you heard of getting tripped on cannabis? “Can you trip on weed or not?” How many times you’ve heard this question?
Cannabis is well-known for its recreational abilities, but on the flip side, it can also make you trip. Also, a trip is not only unpleasant but can be dangerous in some cases. Usually, when you take cannabis, it helps you feel high and light. Depending on the strain type, the level of high can differ. However, if it goes wrong, you can feel anxious, paranoid, and more specifically trippy. Here, we will discuss tripping on weed and ways to avoid it.
What is a Bad Weed Trip?
You might have heard stoners saying that they had a bad trip on weed. But what makes a weed trip bad? Well, when you are brain works like a train thousands of thoughts appear and disappear when you get distracted by something else. But when you smoke cannabis, it binds with your endocannabinoid receptors and other receptors in the brain. As a result, you get access to all of the thoughts and feelings stored or held back in your frontal cortex.
This can evoke introspective and fearful thoughts and feelings. You can feel anxious, paranoid, stressed, depressed, shameful, and even suicidal if you are in a bad mental state.
Is Cannabis a Psychedelic?
The effect of consuming weed can be categorized as psychedelic. But it is different from the traditional psychedelic drugs like LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin. Consuming cannabis does not cause hallucinations and drastic shifts in perception, emotion, and feelings (which are some major characteristics of psychedelic drugs).
Also, cannabis binds with your endocannabinoid receptors and offers more physical effects such as relaxation, light-headedness, positive emotions and feelings. While psychedelic drugs interact with specific brain receptors and work as an activator of several serotonins leading to several psychological effects. So, cannabis can offer effects that are similar to psychedelic but not actually a psychedelic drug.
Symptoms of a Bad Weed Trip
A bad weed trip can occur in various ways, and the experience can vary from person to person. It can range from intense anxiety, and unusual thoughts to paranoia, mind-wrapping sensation, and unwanted visuals. However, some common effects or symptoms of a bad weed trip help you prevent unwanted experiences. Below, we will list some common symptoms of a bad trip:
- Intense Anxiety or Paranoia: Intense anxiety or paranoia is a common symptom of a bad weed trip. The wrong dosage or taking weed in the wrong mental state can bring out unwanted reactions from the weed. You can experience extreme uncomfortably and paranoia.
- Hallucinations: Eating or smoking weed usually does not cause hallucinations. You are not likely to experience any symptoms of hallucinations even if you smoke too much. But cannabis edibles can create feelings of anxiety, racing heart, and delusion even in pro stoners. And it can create a bad high if you are not accustomed to dealing with this kind of symptoms.
- Fear: The psychedelic nature of cannabis can create a sense of fear when using too many fat dabs or edibles. Especially if the user is new to weed or unprepared for the experience. This feeling of fear arises suddenly.
- Bodily symptoms: A bad weed trip can also cause some physical symptoms like-
- Stomach discomfort
- Racing heart
- Jitteriness
- Numbness
- Sweating
Factors that influence a bad cannabis trip
Weed consumption does not always lead to a bad trip. Several factors influence a bad cannabis trip. And if you are not conscious of these factors, you can experience the negative side too. Below, we will briefly discuss the factors that influence a bad weed trip-
- Weed Potency and Tolerance: High-potency weed also tends to have higher negative effects as it contains a significant amount of THC (the primary psychoactive compound of cannabis). Overdoing such cannabis beyond your weed tolerance can lead to a bad weed trip.
- Dabbing weed: Dabbing weed is one of the effective ways that give an instant high. However, it is very different from vaping or smoking a pot of weed. And if you do not take proper precautions, it can lead to an overwhelming experience or a bad weed trip.
- Mode of administration: Mode of administration or the way you consume cannabis can also lead to a bad weed trip. You can easily consume weed in the form of gummies, tinctures, and several other forms.
- Other factors: Other factors can also lead to a bad weed trip, such as age, gender, frequency of usage, etc.
How to Prevent a Bad Weed Trip?
A bad cannabis trip is never a pleasing thing to experience. Fortunately, there are several ways you can prevent a bad weed trip like-
- Relax and try to calm yourself down.
- Listen to some soothing music or visual content to relax and distract.
- Talk about it with friends and family.
- Seek expert guidance to prevent a bad trip
Conclusion
You can trip on cannabis if you do not consume it with proper precaution. Several factors can lead to a bad cannabis trip and above we have mentioned everything from what is a bad cannabis trip, its symptoms, reasons, and ways to prevent it.
