It is not uncommon to hear people say that when they smoke weed, they get super creative and get all of their best ideas. Rest assured that you will not only hear this from only a person or two. Cannabis has been linked to creativity for decades. There has been a common cultural connection between artists doing their best work while they are high.
However, it is important to examine the how and why for this creative outburst, and whether or not it is truly linked to cannabis.
Smoking weed boosts your creativity?
Research shows that creativity is spurred when the frontal lobe in our brain experiences an increased amount of cerebral blood flow. This means that the more active that this amount of blood is in our brains, the more creative you will become.
Experiments done regarding cannabis have found that consuming weed increases the amount of cerebral blood flow to your frontal lobe. Research has found that people are able to perform a given task more effectively when they have higher activity in their frontal lobe.
Cannabis can stimulate that part of the brain which is what makes people more creative after smoking weed. Creative activity stimulates your output in two ways; by activating the nucleus accumbens inside of your brain and by activating higher levels of frontal lobe activity which is where divergent creativity comes from.
Divergent vs. Regular Creativity
Divergent creativity is when you sit down and deliberately think about all the solutions that you have on the table. In simple terms, divergent creativity is brainstorming, coming up with creative ideas in a free-flowing way.
More often than not, this type of thinking is what leads to more creative and/or imaginative concepts. Divergent thinking and/or creativity can be increased with cannabis, especially if you want to free your mind to go in any direction.
The amount you consume is key
The bottom line is – you can increase your divergent creativity with cannabis but the amount you consume is key to your successful creative thinking. The same concept applies to alcohol, for example. If you drink a beer or two, you might come up with a semi-crazy idea. However, if you overdo it, you will not be able to use that idea or be able to come up with anything creative at all, to begin with.
The same applies to cannabis when it comes to dosage. Studies show that low doses of cannabis can improve the fluency and flexibility of your creative thinking. This refers to the number of responses you can generate and/or the total number of new ideas that you can come up with. This might also refer to the variation of these ideas.
If you overdo it with the dosage, originality starts going down the drain, getting replaced with no creativity at all. It can be hard to figure out the appropriate dosage but you also have to think of bioavailability – how available a certain nutrient or compound is to the body, or how easy it is for the body to absorb.
Certain methods of consuming weed have a higher bioavailability such as infused lollipops. The type of strain also plays a significant role here since different strains have varying levels of THC.
Your creativity matters
You will also need to take into consideration existing creativity levels in one’s personality. An already creative and artistic person will have a higher creativity level after they take cannabis when compared to someone who is not creative to start with.
However, if you fall under the ‘not creative’ category, cannabis might help to get you creative, boosting your creativity and ideas.
Conclusion
The moral of the story is to do what works best for you! If you haven’t found the perfect creative balance yet, play around with different dosages, try different strains, and see which one is best for you. No two persons are alike!
Keep checking out our blog for more tips and updates on cannabis in Malta!