Marijuana and dreams

[Dreamharder]

So I smoke weed everyday all day and usually right before I sleep. My question was that since a high tends to last1-3 hours if I stopped smoking right before I went to sleep would it increase my dream recall? Which right now is awful.

[MasterMind]

I answered the same question in another thread. I have only smoked once and that time I didn't remember a single dream the next night, and I usually have good recall. So I suggest the night you want to lucid dream you should take a break from marijuana. However only empirical knowledge can tell you, so do some test. Don't smoke for 2 days and see how much you remember, and then the next days smoke for two days and see how much you remember then.

[dutchraptor]

I heard that its best if you don't smoke for three days before trying out lucid dreaming.

[gab]

Moved to Dream Signs and Recall

[smouse]

dont worry about it i smoke weed every day and I still dream lots and have lucids.

[ThisWitheredMan]

I smoked a bunch of weed yesterday and everyday and I had two LDs last night, one the coolest yet. It's all in your head, do whatever you want. Stuff like this is just an excuse people who didn't put in the necessary work use to justify a night of weak dreaming.

[puffintrees]

I'm thinking about stopping for a day or 3 and seeing if that helps me. For science.

[Ladendais]

In my opinion, it hasn't had too much of an effect on my dream recall, or the frequency of my lucid dreaming. For the last three weeks I have been smoking marijuana on a daily basis and although I have had a few lucid dreams throughout the process; I don't believe the plant directly increased the amount. Usually before bed I tend to meditate on what sort of "dreamscape" I might wish to encounter on that nights sleeping period and I also focus on the general topic of lucid dreaming as well. The influence of marijuana does help me isolate and focus on the topics of lucidity as well as "creating" a hopeful dreamscape but simply using the plant does not aid or hinder ones dream recall or lucidity. If you do smoke, and you think negatively and you do not embrace the plant as an intelligent source of enjoyment, respectfully you will receive the same treatment from the plants effects. Smoke weed and sit around laughing all day, and your brain will adjust to those settings and not think on a higher level; Smoke weed and educate yourself and expand your mind and appreciate the things on the earth, and your brain will adjust to a whole different set of thinking and properties. The choice is your own really, it is what you make it when it comes to a majority of things you experience within life.

[nito89]

I dont think it affects recall significantly, however i do believe it affects your dreams. I tend to find when i go to sleep after being (insanely) baked my dreams will be mundane, boring and just about hanging around in various places, therefore probably decreasing my chance at recalling it, because nothing significant happens. I dno, this is just a theory of mine and i have no proof either way.

[puffintrees]

In my opinion, it hasn't had too much of an effect on my dream recall, or the frequency of my lucid dreaming. For the last three weeks I have been smoking marijuana on a daily basis and although I have had a few lucid dreams throughout the process; I don't believe the plant directly increased the amount. Usually before bed I tend to meditate on what sort of "dreamscape" I might wish to encounter on that nights sleeping period and I also focus on the general topic of lucid dreaming as well. The influence of marijuana does help me isolate and focus on the topics of lucidity as well as "creating" a hopeful dreamscape but simply using the plant does not aid or hinder ones dream recall or lucidity. If you do smoke, and you think negatively and you do not embrace the plant as an intelligent source of enjoyment, respectfully you will receive the same treatment from the plants effects. Smoke weed and sit around laughing all day, and your brain will adjust to those settings and not think on a higher level; Smoke weed and educate yourself and expand your mind and appreciate the things on the earth, and your brain will adjust to a whole different set of thinking and properties. The choice is your own really, it is what you make it when it comes to a majority of things you experience within life. Hey, I've smoked weed almost everyday for like about 3 years, my MMJ card just expired this month, I love the herb. I took a toke before writing this post. I agree that the herb can be a great tool for meditating, medicating, and educating ones self. However, I would like to respectfully disagree that cannabis does not make dream recall more difficult. For myself, I never remember dreams. On days when I, for one reason or another, don't smoke, I remember my dreams vividly. Just my $.02

[benzilla04]

I smoke mj here and there and for me, it doesn't affect my dream recall. I still lucid dream while im under the influence of it but it might just affect others and myself in different ways

[youngtimmy]

I can never recall my dreams, or remember if i even drempt for that matter when I smoke weed, but when I havent smoked for a few days my dreams are vivid, and lifelike. I guess it depends on the person??

[ThisWitheredMan]

I don't think it does. I'm still convinced there's something else at work here, some state of mind you might be in or not be in as a result of whether or not you were stoned on a given day. I still can't fathom any logical chemical explanation for this actually being a thing beyond it being entirely psychological and, essentially, imaginary. To those who say that it does effect them, how do you smoke? That is to say, what do you typically smoke FOR? When/where do you smoke, with friends or alone? Do you smoke very regularly, or only once in a while? WHY do you smoke? I'm convinced there's a mindset thing going on here that has little to do with the drug itself. EDIT: I'm 'high' a good 90% of the time that I'm awake, pretty much every day, alone or with people. Irrespective of how much I smoke on a given day, some nights my dreams are heavily vivid and others they are not, and the reason this seems to be is directly related to how heavily I'm sleeping that night, which is based on numerous factors during the day such as exercise, bedtime, how busy I was, and the like. What I'm thinking is that you're perhaps just sleeping heavier the days that you smoke? Weed definitely will cause THAT, especially if you smoke right before bed or if you're not a constant-high smoker. The premise that 'being high' is DIRECTLY diminishing your dream recall/clarity is what I'm stuck on here, because I can't really imagine how that would work only on some people and not on others. There has to be an intermediary mindset thing going on, which is ultimately under your control.

[puffintrees]

Well, speculation aside, here is a study on the subject and here's a quote from it: Administration of THC significantly reduced eye movement activity during sleep with rapid eye movements (REM) and, to a lesser extent, the duration of REM itself. REM is the stage of dreaming in which we experience dreams. That being said, everyone's body is different, and it would be ignorant to claim that just because cannabis consumption doesn't affect your dream recall abilities that it doesn't affect others' or vice-versa. Edit: To those who say that it does effect them, how do you smoke? That is to say, what do you typically smoke FOR? When/where do you smoke, with friends or alone? Do you smoke very regularly, or only once in a while? WHY do you smoke? I'm convinced there's a mindset thing going on here that has little to do with the drug itself. I smoke using a one hitter or gravity bong, usually by myself, in my room. I smoke regularly, about .5g a day at least. I smoke because it helps me sleep, clears my mind, allows the creativity to flow, inspires myself to question everything and all around makes everything better.

[ThisWitheredMan]

If accurate I suppose that could explain people having fewer dreams, but not what people are describing here, that their dreams are less vivid or memorable. All the abstract suggests there is that REM duration is shorter, which could mean fewer or shorter dreams, but I don't think that has anything to do with vividness or memorability of the dreams you do still have? It's also not clear to me how much they're using in the test there. How many mg of THC translate to how many grams of weed, and of course all the different types of weed having different levels. They say "high dosage," and if it's a scientific study I imagine what they'd consider to be "high" to be a lot higher than what most people smoke in a given day, no? EDIT: The only point of reference I have offhand is a Triple Strength Bhang bar, which is 180mg of "cannabanoid content." From personal experience, as a person who smokes probably .5g a day as well, 1/4 of those things gets me positively shitfaced, uncomfortably high for like 3 hours. So 210mg a day seems like it'd have to be a HUGE amount, unless I'm missing something.

[puffintrees]

Regarding less vivid or memorable dreams, maybe that is due to the reduced eye movement during REM observed. And for the quantity of THC, 70mg(.07 grams) was administered for the first part and 210mg(.21 grams) for the last 3 days of a 2 week period. Assuming dank cannabis has about %20-25 THC and mids-lower quality has around %10 THC, then 70mg THC would be equal to .28-.35 grams (About a fatty bowl) of danks or around .7 of mids. 210mg would be equal to around .84-1.05 gram danks or 2.1 grams mid-quality.

[Woodstock]

I've never used it so I don't have any experience with how it affects dreams, but I agree with ThisWitheredMan. It should affect most people almost the same with something like that. Maybe it's harder for people who normally remember one or two because they're thinking differently while high, but if you smoke it in the morning I don't think it should affect it at all.

[puffintrees]

I've never used it so I don't have any experience with how it affects dreams, but I agree with ThisWitheredMan. It should affect most people almost the same with something like that. Maybe it's harder for people who normally remember one or two because they're thinking differently while high, but if you smoke it in the morning I don't think it should affect it at all. Not trying to be a dick here, but why are you throwing out random guesses about what the correlation is between dreams and a substance you've never touched?

[ThisWitheredMan]

Regarding less vivid or memorable dreams, maybe that is due to the reduced eye movement during REM observed. I think it's a bit of a leap to presume that amount of eye movement has any correlation to dream vividness. And for the quantity of THC, 70mg(.07 grams) was administered for the first part and 210mg(.21 grams) for the last 3 days of a 2 week period. No, check again, you misunderstood the grammar. Readings were taken on the last three days "of a two week period of 210mg a day." 210 wasn't the last three days, it was everything but the first six days. Three days baseline, three days 70mg, then two weeks 210mg, with only the last three days of those two weeks measured. Based on your envelope calculations, that's a fucking a gram of dank weed each day, which I really don't think the average smoker ever gets close to. I've been smoking pretty much every day for about three years now, and I still don't get close to a full gram in a day, if I had to guess it'd be maybe half a gram. Only my dopey friends who do dabs every day and launch their tolerance through the ceiling smoke a gram of danks per day. Not trying to be a dick here, but why are you throwing out random guesses about what the correlation is between dreams and a substance you've never touched? I don't think you have to have actually done the substance to make statements about the nature of brain chemistry. I think it's very possible people are reaction, consciously, in different ways to the effects of weed, but I do not think different people experience different effects. I think the effect is the same, and some people are not comfortable with that effect or some people can't handle it or whatever, but I think that's them, consciously, having a reaction to the standard effect. I'm basing this on, all the people I know who have smoked weed and "don't like it" or say it makes them nervous or paranoid or anxious or uncomfortable, ALL OF THEM are *already* very awkward, nervous, anxious, uptight people who are unwilling to let go and be loose, yet they try to claim, "oh, it just affects me differently." No.

[Woodstock]

Not trying to be a dick here, but why are you throwing out random guesses about what the correlation is between dreams and a substance you've never touched? What I said wasn't something specifically about how it affects me, all I said was I don't think it would an opposite effect on different people. I didn't say "Weed makes me paranoid" or "Weed makes me happy". That would be a random guess and with that I would agree with you.

[puffintrees]

I think it's a bit of a leap to presume that amount of eye movement has any correlation to dream vividness. First off, when I said due to, I meant correlated to. That being said, I don't see how it is any leap of faith to say that reduced eye movement and dream vividness aren't correlated when the stage of REM is generally accepted as the stage during which dreams are most vivid. Correlation does not imply causation. No, check again, you misunderstood the grammar. Readings were taken on the last three days "of a two week period of 210mg a day." 210 wasn't the last three days, it was everything but the first six days. Three days baseline, three days 70mg, then two weeks 210mg, with only the last three days of those two weeks measured. Based on your envelope calculations, that's a fucking a gram of dank weed each day, which I really don't think the average smoker ever gets close to. I've been smoking pretty much every day for about three years now, and I still don't get close to a full gram in a day, if I had to guess it'd be maybe half a gram. Only my dopey friends who do dabs every day and launch their tolerance through the ceiling smoke a gram of danks per day. Yeah, I agree, the study should have administered smaller doses and to more than just four test subjects. I don't think you have to have actually done the substance to make statements about the nature of brain chemistry. I think it's very possible people are reaction, consciously, in different ways to the effects of weed, but I do not think different people experience different effects. I think the effect is the same, and some people are not comfortable with that effect or some people can't handle it or whatever, but I think that's them, consciously, having a reaction to the standard effect. I'm basing this on, all the people I know who have smoked weed and "don't like it" or say it makes them nervous or paranoid or anxious or uncomfortable, ALL OF THEM are *already* very awkward, nervous, anxious, uptight people who are unwilling to let go and be loose, yet they try to claim, "oh, it just affects me differently." No. I've only meet a hand full of people that don't like weed, and, like you said, they're fucking weird regardless. But I love the herb, and have meet many cannabis smokers that, like myself, don't recall dreams as well when they smoke. I really don't think the ability to remember dreams is inhibited by my subconscious/conscious. And if it is, what, in your opinion, would I need to do differently to remember my dreams like you do?

[shooshtime]

For me personally I notice if I don't smoke for a few hours before bed then I have no issues with dream recall or having a LD, funny enough the night I had my first LD I smoked right before I went to bed so it really has a lot to do with the person and their mindset.