Why does Cannabis make music sound way more detailed and hundreds of times more enjoyable?

[JRS]

Maybe this was the study the City Paper was referring to: Effects of Ketamine in Normal and Schizophrenic Volunteers .

That's a very well done study, and I am frankly surprised that it was approved by the University IRB (board that has to sign off on human experimentation, lots of Fed regs). I am really glad for the link: in essence it is looking at whether Ketamine more closely resembles schizophrenia than other drugs. For a while psychedelics (LSD, mushrooms, etc) were seen as a window into psychosis, but it fails on multiple accounts. A much better model is amphetamines which reliably induces profound paranoia with extended use. We would see this in the ER all the time--basically very difficult without toxicology or patient report to know whether it was an acute episode of schizophrenia or meth madness. Either way the antipsychotics bring about improvement in a matter of a few days. It dovetails nicely into the excess dopamine model of psychosis/schizophrenia because that it was it does: causes massive amts of dopamine to be released, and the cure just so happens to block dopamine receptors, Tidy story, right?

Not exactly, and so that's why there has been such keen interest in the role of excitatory receptors (NMDA) as the fundamental insult to the nervous system of schizophrenics. There may be some gold to be mined; they recently approved an NMDA blocker for the treatment of psychosis associated with Parkinson's. This is the first agent of it's type that doesn't effect dopamine levels but still helps to control psychosis. Again thanks for the link. I still am shaking my head--that took stones to give ketamine to schizophrenics!

 

[JRS]

Just read the title of this study: The schizophrenia ketamine challenge study debate . Available here.

Well I am not surprised there was some debate. This slipped entirely under my radar--of course I was working 5 different jobs trying to establish a practice at the time. Yes, it was bloody ballsy to give a psychotogen to schizophrenics. But lest we lose the thread, the doses that are being used for depression are relatively small compared to those required to induce a k hole/psychotic reaction. They are even dicking with the formulation using a mix of both enantiomers (mirror images of a single compound: one active, the other not), for reasons that aren't clear to me. Plus there is a cottage industry that has mushroomed out of the landscape in nothing flat that I take is like a spa, come in snort your fix, then wander around in togas or something. All for 800.00 a pop.

 

[JRS]

Whoa, whoa, hang on. We are not so fragile as to go off on someone who has seen this sort of tragedy and associates with one or the other recreational drug (rightly or wrongly). Are we?

My own two cents is that there are people who go down the drain with substance abuse broadly. Most that I’ve known are alcoholics (because most of the people I know are more functional than your average meth-head). But it seems that addictive personalities will intensify whatever vice they choose. Marijuana use seems less addictive and destructive, overall, than alcohol. But a portion of youthful heavy users just kind of lost their ambition and checked out. Most did not, in my experience.

This may be self-serving, but I think the elderly probably should experiment a bit. Pollan (mentiioned earlier) notes that guided LSD users often are more at peace with the prospect of dying. And, frankly, elderly folks have more and more trouble getting outside, having sex, and stimulating the dopamine receptors the old fashioned way as we prolong their lives but not necessarily their active lives.

btw, my Dad (90) managed to just miss involuntary experimentation with LSD at Harvard and then in his military service. He lost a friend who was an involuntary subject to debilitating mental illness. He’s an MD and has always maintained that we should *never* fool around with it due to the possibility of permanent brain alteration. Having been brought up that way, I’m only just coming around to the fact that those who voluntarily tried it almost never have had permanent side effects.

It may come as a surprise that the classic psychedelics (LSD, mushrooms aka psilocybin, mescaline, etc) are among the safest recreational drugs and have no well almost no addiction potential. Now that they are coming back under the medical fold, the results have been fast and positive, with most people rating the experience as one of the top three spiritually meaningful ones in their lives. That's a ringing endorsement, some day maybe a decade there will be a change in the fabric of psychiatric practice to include enrichment of the lives of the well, and not solely devoted to dealing with the ill. And it may not be psyciatrists. If interested I could fiid some very informative weblinks to a very sober discussion of the potential benefits between some very bright individuals on the cutting edge.

 

[Peterinvan]

I hope you all realize that you can get a better burn on your stuff if you place it on a nice hot tube than just sitting it on top a transistor TO5...

A dry leaf vape pipe is easy to make for about $30. A soldering iron with a 1/2" copper cup screwed on, 1/4" tubing, and a jam jar. Google it.

In my opinion this is the safest way to consume, as there is little or no carbon or vape chemicals being inhaled. Just stop drawing when the ash taste starts.

I have developed a policy of never recommending any psychoactive drugs to anyone, because my experience tells me that every person seems to have a different (unpredictable) reaction.

Being retired and living in Canada, I consider myself privileged to be able to enjoy my music after a few tokes.

 

[Doodski]

Being retired and living in Canada, I consider myself privileged to enjoy my music after a few tokes.

We certainly have much to thank the trail-breakers for that pushed and pushed for the end to prohibition of cannabis. I smoke everyday.

 

[irontortoise]

According to many esteemed audio writers apparently it's not the canabis...it's all in the cables.

THC lined cables, wrapped in hemp! We’ll make millions!

 

[egellings]

I view doob as just another control on my equalizer when listening to music, only it varies more than just amplitude at some particular frequency.

 

[olbobcat]

Wax fuses and expensive power cords? A good E-rig will do much more to improve your system.

 

[Recluse-Animator]

Has anyone else had out of body experiences because of THC?

 

[Doodski]

Has anyone else had out of body experiences because of THC?

While smoking hashish I've been experiencing out of body zooming headrushes that last for 10 seconds or more. A very intense full body sensation. I am not capable of doing functional things because I am too busy zooming and getting the headrush. I've never had this occur when smoking buds.

 

[movehome]

Listening to nicely recorded music while high in the dark with eyes closed really is amazing. I don't smoke much anymore but the next time I do it will be when I'm in the mood to listen to some music late at night.

Alcohol helps a lot too but with weed the "details" become really apparent.

As to why.. I'm not really that interested. Something happening in the brain beyond my understanding.

 

[Todd k]

This is why I love ASR. Of course I just hit the sativa, but to read this thread and to realize a lot of you posters are people I love to hear from regarding your input on all things audio related an you guys are old stoners like me, started in 72. Smoked everyday and still managed to stay out of jail graduate college start and sell a successful business retire at 60 and still enjoy the green like I did when I was 15. Except now Im Listening on really really good equipment thanks to asr. thanx Fellas.

 

[Mowz]

Reminded me of this gem from Audioholics

 

[Waxx]

Where i live it's still illigal, altough it's widely used and accepted by the population. It's just that very rightwing and/or very conservative parties (N-VA and CD&V and Vlaams Belang) with a lot of power in the dutch speaking north of Belgium (called Flanders) block legalisation and would love the hard prosecution of canabis that the US had in the past. The rest of the political spectrum is for legalisation in one or the other form and block that hard prosecution. Like that we are stuck in the hypocrite situation wher a big part of the population uses canabis, but officially you're still a criminal that should go to jail or at least get a fine. It's the older (boomer) generation mainly that supports that and sees canabis as a very dangerous drugs, not the youngers ones (or very rarely).

CBD weed is de facto legal by EU legislation, but shops and users still got harassed and (unsuccesfully) prosecuted by police and judges that support those conservative views on it. It's the same in France (but even more aggressive prosecutions than here) and some other EU countries that on this run decades behind the US.

 

[Peterinvan]

Has anyone else had out of body experiences because of THC?

No, to out of body.
Yes to being able to get out of my mind. When I meditate with THC and non-verbal music, I can let my attention go beyond the usual memories, script writing, and dreaming. I seem to remember an old Zen master talking about “empty mind”. My act of faith, is that giving my mind a “time out” rest, and focusing on the music, or above the music is not only very pleasant, but is also a healthy mindless state. Forget “mindfulness”.

 

[anotherhobby]

I seem to remember an old Zen master talking about “empty mind”

 

[ryanosaur]

Has anyone else had out of body experiences because of THC?

For better or worse... The Lady gave me some chocolate once and said it was a "safe Dose"...

I had full on auditory hallucinations for hours as I was trying to sleep, palpitations... some seriously f'd up dreams...

I wasn't necessarily looking down on myself, but... It was close.

 

[Tim Link]

I've not experienced the cannabis effect of making music more enjoyable. I have, however, experienced the dysphoria of being on salvia and I can say that music didn't sound enjoyable at all during that 8 minute trip. Nothing was enjoyable. It did reveal though how a particular sensation could go from being perceived by me as miserable to pleasant without the actual sensation changing at all. It was all in how my brain interpreted the sensation. The only good thing I can say about salvia is the withdrawal experience is highly positive. It was great to feel the effects of the drug wearing off. To be fair to salvia, I have read reports of pleasant experiences involving the use of lower doses of the stuff. Apparently you can get subtle enough effects that you can't really notice it at all unless you sit in a quiet, darkened room without distractions. In that case the subtle hallucinations can be enjoyable and interesting. Maybe a little music could be added to the setting.

 

[ahofer]

It was all in how my brain interpreted the sensation.

And if we had more control over that…what a wonderful world it would be.

 

[JayGilb]

For me, indica strains make music more enjoyable, but sativa strains have an opposite effect.