Terms like psychoactive, intoxicating, psychotropic,
… non-psychoactive, mind-altering, mood-altering often come up in cannabis conversations. What actually happens when we consume cannabis? Are the effects of CBD and THC different?
Will CBD get me high? Typically, no AND there are outliers! We often use the words intoxicating and psychoactive interchangeably, but we need to clarify what they mean.
Wiki states: “A psychoactive drug is a chemical substance that changes nervous system function and results in alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, or behavior.” Caffeine is psychoactive but it doesn’t make you high.
Wiki states: “Intoxication is a transient condition of altered consciousness and behavior associated with recent use of a substance. It is often maladaptive and impairing, but reversible.” Alcohol is intoxicating and it does make you tipsy.
The key difference between psychoactive and intoxication is impairment. CBD does not impair your cognitive abilities, it may even enhance them by increasing energy, focus and memory. THC can impair your cognitive abilities depending on the dose. Low doses of THC, especially when accompanied with CBD, greatly reduces the occurrence of impairment.
With the right, personalized dose, CBD interacts with the nervous system and can alter your mood in a positive way. CBD is altering functions in the body to bring about homeostasis, pain management, lessen anxiety – we WANT these alterations! We know that THC can be intoxicating and make you high at higher doses. CBD generally doesn’t make you high at low or higher doses; there has been the odd situation when a consumer has felt some high effects from CBD, though it is unusual. The best way to begin consuming cannabis is to start low and go slow when you are working with CBD and THC. As you slowly introduce cannabis into your body, you can eliminate negative side effects by going slow and paying attention to how a dose responds in your unique body.
If you happen to experience an unwanted high, be sure to check out these 5 tips on how to manage an unwanted high.
Do you have your CBD dose dialed into your needs? I can help you with that. If you need a tweak, starting place, dosing ideas or guidance on your situation, let’s chat!