Cannabis and art have always gone hand in hand. From its modern cultural beginnings with jazz musicians in the roaring 1920s, to the psychedelic art movement in the 1960s that made cannabis part of pop culture, these two have always been together. Even today, beautiful hand blown glass pipes are the vessel of choice and countless artists testify that cannabis makes them more creative. If the renowned astrophysicist Carl Sagan said that cannabis enhanced his creativity, could he be wrong? Painters, musicians, comedians, and every other type of artist either use or have tried cannabis to boost their creative abilities. The acceptance of cannabis being a creative enhancement has been a part of the culture for 100 years. But why?
Back to the question. Can cannabis make you more creative? As with every big idea, the answer isn’t clear cut. The associations of cannabis and creativity are very nuanced. There are a lot of variables, and we are here to give you every detail available. Isn’t the internet wonderful?
What Part of the Brain Does Cannabis Effect?
Creativity is associated with the frontal lobe part of the brain, and cannabis increases blood flow to that region. Using PET scans, this 2002 study found that cannabis increased blood flow to the frontal lobe, and increased its activity. Another study further confirms the association of blood flow to the frontal lobe, and creative ability.
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Divergent Thinking and Creativity
To understand creativity, you have to understand divergent thinking. Divergent thinking is a vital component of creating any art. This type of thinking is defined as “thinking that moves away in diverging directions so as to involve a variety of aspects which sometimes lead to novel ideas and solutions.” In short, divergent thinking leads to connecting seemingly unrelated concepts to form new ideas.
In a 2011 study of existing literature, a group speculated that cannabis produced “psychotomimetic'' symptoms. Don’t worry. These aren’t symptoms of an illness. These “symptoms” are of divergent thinking. A different thought process that gives people the ability to connect seemingly unrelated ideas, and create novel associations. The foundation of creativity. Methods such as brainstorming and free writing are used to tap into divergent thinking. This mode of thought is used for so much more than making art. From scaling a business to building a bridge, divergent thinking is used to open up the mind to less obvious solutions. Becoming more adaptable.
Which Came First? The Creativity or the Cannabis?
A study used self reported, and objective creativity measurements for cannabis users versus non cannabis users. Both under the effects of cannabis, and when they were sober. The study also used the Big 5 personality test and found that cannabis users scored very high in the openness to experience category. People with a high level of openness already have higher creativity and imagination than those lower in openness. The researchers found that when they accounted for the user’s existing openness to experience, the effects of cannabis on creativity were abolished. In other words, people who are very open to experience are already very creative people. Technically, cannabis did not actually enhance those abilities. However, it offered them a new perspective, and ideas that they would not have arrived at without cannabis. We could argue whether changing your point of view with cannabis is creative enhancement or not, but if it is true for you, that’s all that matters. If you believe that cannabis enhances your creativity, try our hemp derived Stoner Patch Delta 9 THC gummies.
Why Does Weed Make You Think Deeply?
According to this study, it affects the evaluation of the creativity, not the creativity itself. When we evaluate the work, it gives us a positive bias. Evidently, cannabis makes us optimists when it comes to our art! Our hemp derived Stoner Patch Delta 9 THC Gummies are excellent for spending time in deep, introspective thought.
How Does Dosage Affect Creativity?
However, another study was inconclusive. That study found that high doses of cannabis impaired divergent thinking compared to the low dose group. It also found that low doses have no impact on creativity. But that doesn’t mean that low doses don’t affect creative evaluation like the study above. So, if you’re looking to enhance your creativity with cannabis, you can. But you’re actually enhancing your evaluation and giving yourself a more optimistic view of your creative work.
What is the Best Strain for Creativity?
The best strains for creativity are up for debate. We covered the effects of Indica Vs Sativa here, and just like this article, found that there are multiple factors at play such as terpenes, method of consumption, and CBD to THC ratio. We have quite a mixed bag of results from these scientific studies. This further confirms the fact that cannabis affects everyone differently, and you’ll need to find what strain works best for you personally.
But why would everyone think that cannabis boosts creativity if the science isn’t conclusive? Whether cannabis enhances creativity or not isn’t clear cut, but everyone knows that it alters our perception. One thing is for certain, that cannabis increases blood flow to the frontal lobe. This is part of why we see things from a different perspective while using cannabis, and have ideas that we would not have without it. This is viewed as creative enhancement, and it is, but also not. According to the study that accounted for people who were already very open to experience, it's a different point of view in the mind of someone who is already very creative.