Consuming cannabis - Does It Make You More creative? Here's What We Have Found.

It’s no secret that cannabis has always been popular among artists. During the hippie era in the 1960s, many famous musicians like Bob Marley sang about marijuana. Madonna, Miley Cyrus, Snoop Dog, and Rihanna are also on the list of weed users. 

The words of Bob Dylan describe that many musicians didn’t use cannabis only for fun. He said in an interview that pot is capable of bending your mind a little. Dylan believed that everybody should bend their mind occasionally for creative reasons. Is that true – can consuming cannabis make you more creative?

We are all aware the legality and public image of cannabis changed over time. In this article, we will ignore any regulations and legal stuff. Instead, we’ll only focus on marijuana and its connection to creativity. Let’s check out the science behind this claim!

How Can Cannabis Boost Your Creativity?

Before we discuss it any further, let’s see what the studies discovered on using cannabis for creativity. For starters, let’s mention that it’s divergent thinking that’s crucial for a creative person. Divergent thinking means that you can observe and analyze the same situation or object in different ways. 

For songwriters, divergent thinking is crucial for writing metaphors. Let’s take the song Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys as an example. The author mentions that “this girl is on fire,” but that’s nothing else than a metaphor. It describes a woman ready to control her life and live freely. The words “live freely” might come to mind to everyone. But only a person with strong divergent thinking can come up with “this girl is on fire.”

The idea is that cannabis can boost this type of thinking if you consume it. According to scientists, creative people have more activity in their frontal lobe. That’s what marijuana can stimulate. Additionally, cannabis also releases dopamine. This is a chemical that boosts a good mood and euphoric feelings. Thanks to that, your inhibitions might fall, which means your inner editor won’t stop you from coming up with the best work possible.

What Does the Research Say?

You can find many studies on the effects that cannabis has on creativity. According to the thesis published by Humboldt State University, there was no obvious difference in the creativity levels exhibited by marijuana users and non-consumers. In the study, 242 people participated in a creativity task. Some used cannabis frequently, others moderately, and the third group consisted of seldom users. The researchers decided to give them a creative task while they were in a negative, positive, or neutral mood.

Although the results didn’t show an exact difference, the users claim it exists. The authors confirm that cannabis users report higher creativity. That begs an important question of how you can even measure one’s creativeness. The scientists rely on tests that analyze divergent thinking and questionnaires, but these showed different results in this study.

Can Marijuana Help Entrepreneurial Creativity?

You might think that entrepreneurship is boring, but it requires a lot of creativity. That starts at the very beginning, with the need to think of an original name for the company. It also requires getting an excellent idea for the business since you need that for success.

The study published in the Journal of Business Venturing focused on ideation tasks for new ventures. It’s interesting that the results confirmed marijuana users reported a higher level of originality than non-cannabis users. Another conclusion made was that their ideas were also less feasible.

Here is another important conclusion of this study – passion for inventing has a lot to do with the user’s performance. If a user was more open to new experiences prior to consuming marijuana, they are likely to be more creative once they use it.

Another research published in Consciousness and Cognition gathered more than 700 cannabis users and non-consumers. Sober marijuana users reported that they have a higher level of creativity than those who don’t use cannabis. They also performed better when doing convergent thinking tasks. The researchers argue this might be because of their personality traits. If you are less conscientious and more open to trying new things, that’s what makes you more creative. On the other hand, they also imply cannabis is there to get those things out in the open and help you to demonstrate them.

The Importance of How Much Cannabis You Are Consuming

It’s not only whether cannabis makes you creative but also how much is enough for creativity. A trial from 2014 gathered only marijuana users. The researchers divided 54 participants into three groups. Depending on the group, the participants received a placebo, low-dose, or high-dose cannabis with 22mg of THC.

The results were clear – those who took the highest dose had the worst results on divergent and convergent thinking tasks. That undoubtedly confirms that taking too much marijuana can negatively affect your creativity.

It all depends on the THC level in the cannabis you consume. A highly potent herb can cause psychoactive properties that hinder creativity instead of boosting it. Apart from the THC level, it’s important to identify old marijuana since the herb loses potency over time.

Final Thoughts – It’s Not That Simple

The best explanation about the effect cannabis has on creativity might have been given by Dr. Alice Weaver Flaherty. This neurologist suggests that cannabis is a stimulant. It can boost the frontal lobe activity, which is important for creativity. She admits that cannabis can trigger the creative sections of the brain. However, she warns that the dosage depends on the person.

Scientists claim that your personality traits have to do both with creativity and the chances of becoming a cannabis user. If you are passionate about new things and experiences, you are more likely to try marijuana. Those traits also fit a creative personality, so the two go hand in hand. 

And if you listen to the existing cannabis users, most would tell you that marijuana boosts their creativity. Many celebrities and even billionaires like Steve Jobs admitted they resort to this herb for creativity and relaxation. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide whether you want to try cannabis to get that creative spur.