26 Stoner Thoughts to Contemplate While High

Getting stoned may lock you to the couch or give you extra motivation.
It may trigger a case of the giggles or a case of the munchies.

But it will always affect the way your mind works. You may be more alert or more relaxed. You may be more focused or more lethargic.

One thing’s a given, though. Your thought processes change after you’ve smoked a lot of weed.

When that happens, you can have odd thoughts that might not otherwise have occurred to you. And you can look at seemingly ordinary problems or questions and think about them in an entirely different way.

Those ideas that appear to come out of the left-field are often called “high thoughts,” and we’ve collected some of the interesting ones that may have popped into your head while smoking.

We’ll run them down after briefly discussing why high thoughts are so common.

Why Weed Makes You Think Differently

If you suspect that high thoughts are caused by THC, you’re on the right track.

The body has an extensive chemical messaging system called the endocannabinoid system (ECS). Neurotransmitters known as endocannabinoids travel throughout the central nervous system, attaching to ECS receptors and delivering messages that coordinate bodily functions like immune response, pain control, sleep, and brain processing.

That brings us to weed. The molecular structure of cannabinoids like THC is almost identical to the structure of an important endocannabinoid. When you ingest cannabis, that similarity allows THC to interact with ECS receptors — and disrupt the body’s normal communications.

There are lots of ECS receptors in the brain, which is the primary reason why weed’s effects are most noticeably felt on brain function [1]. For instance, THC activates the brain’s pleasure and reward systems, which is what makes getting high so enjoyable.

Here are two more pertinent examples for our discussion of high thoughts.

THC causes temporary changes in the brain’s hippocampus, which is largely responsible for coordinating memories and facts. It also affects the cerebral cortex, which handles most of the brain’s higher-level mental functions.

So it’s true: we think differently when we’re stoned.

That’s why when we’re using an energetic sativa strain, we may be more creative or better able to see and attack problems differently than when we’re sober.

It’s also why we’re likely to have odd, strange, or thought-provoking high thoughts after indulging in a bowl of primo weed.

50 High Thoughts to Consider

You’ve probably already had some of these “interesting” questions pop into your head during a smoke sesh. If not, they might be fun ones to think about next time.

Deep Thoughts

Our sincere apologies to Jack Handey and SNL for this heading. We were high when we decided to use it.

1. If God created humans, who created God? Did he create himself?
2. If Hitler hadn’t been rejected by the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts when he was young, would he still have become “Hitler?”
3. It’s common courtesy for a tall person to help a short person reach something on a top-shelf. Why would it be an insult for a tall person to ask a short person to pick up something they’d dropped because they’re “closer to it?”
4. The Roman Empire lasted for more than a thousand years, but we just consider that to be just a single period of time. Will people in the future think of everything that happened between 1020 and 2020 to be a single time period?
5. We think we’re smarter than our pets because they can’t understand what we’re saying. Do pets think the same thing about us?

Stoned Conversation Starters

Ideal ways to get to know people better over a bowl or joint.

1. At what age were you the happiest?
2. If you were a baseball player, what would be your walk-up song?
3. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever experienced but can’t explain?
4. If you had to go off the grid, where would you live, and what would you take with you?
5. Who’s the celebrity you’d most like to share a bowl, joint or blunt with?

Pointless but Funny High Thoughts

These probably won’t start any meaningful discussions but may get everyone laughing or thinking.

1. Why do we get annoyed that our laptops take so long to charge when we have to recharge for eight hours after just 16 hours of being awake?
2. Who had a better life, George Jetson or Fred Flintstone?
3. Why do doctors and nurses leave the room before you take off your clothes — but then come right back in while you’re in your underwear?
4. Can you daydream at night? If you fall asleep during the day, do you have nightdreams?
5. Does it mean anything that “strap-on” spelled backward is “no parts?”
6. Would Google have the world’s best matchmaking service if they just hooked people up based on their search histories?
7. Why are you always late to work, even if you get up 15 minutes earlier so you won’t be late?
8. How many people would start (or go back to) smoking cigarettes if they discovered a cure for lung cancer?
9. Do accessibility laws require businesses to label dangerous surfaces “Do Not Touch” in Braille?
10. Why do we call green jello “lime,” but we call strawberry or raspberry jello “red?”
11. How come you can “drink” drinks, but you can’t “food” food?
12. Why didn’t Cinderella’s shoe vanish at midnight like the rest of her ball outfit?
13. When you sweat while wearing a sweater, does that make you the sweater? For that matter, if you’re waiting for a waiter, aren’t you the waiter?
14. Why are humans the only mammals that drink other mammals’ milk?
15. Who came up with the idea of hitting ourselves on the hands when we enjoy a performance?
16. When you have birthday sex, aren’t you really having sex to celebrate the fact that your parents had sex?

High Thoughts: FAQ

Q: Why are all of your high thoughts in the form of a question?
A: Maybe we’ve been watching too much “Jeopardy.” Or maybe it’s just the weed talking. Besides, what’s wrong with questions?

Q: Do scientists know for a fact that the interaction between THC and the brain causes high thoughts? Or is that just theory?
A: It’s a theory, but a theory based on a lot of research into the effects of cannabis use on the brain. Scientists have documented altered patterns of brain activation following weed use, affecting virtually every region that controls cognition, memory, and the other brain functions that help us think the way we do. And be honest: haven’t you had high thoughts like these while smoking up, too?

References

Iversen, L. (2003). Cannabis and the brain. Brain, 126(6), 1252-1270 [2].

Sagar, K. A., & Gruber, S. A. (2018). Marijuana matters: reviewing the impact of marijuana on cognition, brain structure, and function, & exploring policy implications and barriers to research. International Review of Psychiatry, 30(3), 251-267 [3].