Contributor: Robert Wallace
We’ve all experienced this at one time or another over the course of our lengthy cannabis careers. We’ll enjoy a nice, hearty smoke session, enjoy our expected high, only to look up and realize that not even a half-hour has passed. But, prior to that glance at the clock, we would’ve bet our lives that multiple hours had elapsed since our smoke session had ended.
It’s a strange phenomenon, but it routinely feels like time slows down when we’re high. This type of distorted sense of time is pretty trippy when you realize it happens more often than not. But how does marijuana use affect the perception of time passage? That is an intricate question that’s worthy of an equally intricate answer.
But, before we dive too deep into the details surrounding this THC time warp that we experience on a regular basis, let’s hear from an expert in the field. Out in London, there’s a psychiatrist by the name of Zerrin Atakan, who has been studying cannabis, and its effect on our perception of time for almost a decade now.
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Starting way back in 2012, Atakan has discovered a litany of interesting things throughout the course of his experiments.
Speaking on what he’s come to learn thus far on the matter, Atakan remarked that, “One of the most commonly reported effects of cannabis by users is to distort the perception of time. Our review of papers on the topic showed that 70% of studies found that users experience over-estimation of time. In other words, users felt using cannabis made them feel as if the time was longer than the actual time.”
This powerful bit of information can explain a great deal. For instance, it’s easy to see, given that statistical data on time perception and cannabis, why so many artists choose to partake in marijuana before, during, and after a project.
It allows them the freedom to “take their time” on their work. And, even though the same amount of time passed for the non-smoker, they were able to utilize each second in a more thoughtful, patient way, allowing them to make the most of their time. And, when they come back down, they are routinely overestimating times, because the effort that they put forth felt like it would’ve taken them much longer, had they not been high. So, all that checks out.
But it’s not just folks across the pond who are doing research on this matter. There’s a handful of cannabis scientists on the mainland, here in the states, that are working around the clock to help explain this time-related occurrence in cannabis consumers.
Take Deepak D’Souza for example.
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He’s a Professor of Psychiatry over at the prestigious collegiate establishment, Yale, and he has been the head of multiple studies on this subject. He, much like his UK counterpart, was excited and flummoxed by this recurring misconception of time.
Specifically, D’Souza said, “I was fascinated by the observation that some drugs can distort the experience of passing time, and the phenomenon was not well understood. I was particularly intrigued by the observation that in some individuals who found the effects of cannabis unpleasant and also experienced time dilation, the overall experience was even more unpleasant.”
That presents an interesting new wrinkle in the scientific data collected on the matter. In D’Souza’s study, he took roughly 44 people who had varying experience levels with cannabis, and presented them with tedious tasks to distract them from only counting the passing seconds, after they had consumed cannabis. Then, after they completed whatever task that may be (i.e. counting a certain letter on a screen, and things of that nature), they would be asked to estimate how much time it took them to do so.
The results of this study found that people who were admittedly “high” overestimated the amount of time by almost 25%, while their sober-selves were underestimating these times by roughly 15% or so. These results were proven valid, after a placebo group showed absolutely no changes in time estimations whatsoever.
On these findings, D’Souza commented, “Marijuana dilates time – that is, five minutes is experienced as ten minutes. So the subjective experience is that time is passing slowly – but that feeling can only occur if the internal clock is [sped] up.”
All that to say that those who were under the influence of cannabis, regularly felt like the passage of time was much slower, especially when compared to their sober counterparts, who were routinely underestimating how much time had passed. Which, when you look at it from a broader scale, could come down to the relaxed nature that a stoned participant would have, versus the potentially-anxious mindset of a sober individual.
Those with a more mellow mind, take things slowly and don’t feel “wound up” to the degree that a sober person would be. Thus, they feel like things are moving slower than they are, which would account for their overestimations of time passing by.
Speaking more on the data discovered in this study, and its potential ramifications and consequences on the human body and mind, D’Souza said, “Many basic human behaviors rely on temporal judgments in the seconds to minutes range. For example, deciding when to cross the street based on perceptions of approaching traffic, following a beat in a musical composition, or returning to the stove just prior to the tea kettle whistling.”
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Atakan also was more than happy to share his two cents on the matter. Of which, he said, “Given that timing is everything, there is no action or behavior which does not require the precision of timing. So if the timing is disrupted via cannabis use, this may have important implications on normal functioning.”
Adding, “There are not yet enough studies to provide more detailed information on the topic. More research with robust methods is required to reach conclusions about the precise effect of cannabis and its active compounds on time perception.”
Which just seems to be the underlining conclusion for most cannabis-related hypotheses nowadays. More studies and exams need to be done on the matter before anything can be labeled as “set in stone.” But, as more and more laboratories across the nation open up their cannabis-related research projects, the sooner we’ll learn everything there is to know about our beloved Mary Jane.
