If you've dabbled with the giggle bush, you've definitely fallen into a fit of laughter a time or two. There's a complex relationship between cannabis and comedy, as outlined for eons by comedians from all walks of life. From the famous George Carlin to Cheech and Chong, open experimentation with cannabis (and, of course, sharing those experiences) has created this deep-seated cultural connection between all sorts of people sharing an experience and sharing a laugh. But why exactly does weed make everything seem that much funnier? Below we're diving into some science on the subject of comedy and cannabis.
Why do we laugh in the first place?
A lot of weird stuff goes on in your brain to make you laugh. When something strikes you as funny, all sorts of areas in your brain fire up, including those that govern things like language, memory, motor functions, logic, and auditory interpretation. More or less, laughter is a reflex we have when something strikes us as funny. Humor itself is an idea, open for interpretation, made from things like social, cultural, and linguistic contexts. However, when we look at MRI scans of people laughing, humor can be observed in the frontal and temporal lobes — which, funny enough, is where cannabis plays a huge role itself.
Why does cannabis make us laugh?
On the sciency side, studies show that cannabis increases blood flow to the right frontal and left temporal lobes— which is where laughter and humor hang out. By increasing activity in these regions of the brain with THC, laughter just kinda happens. THC also binds to receptors that control our neural signals, which causes that blissful, euphoric effect we experience when we get high.
The unique effects of a cannabis high often put people more in the moment. When you get high to go through typical daily tasks or otherwise boring activities, it tends to shift your perspective into something a little more humorous and colorful. Life itself is this weird, ridiculous mess that comes into a clearer picture when we use cannabis to step into the moment. It makes it easier to find humor in everyday life, which is something we can all relate to and connect with.
Laughter is contagious (and cultural)
Between the physical and mental effects of smoking weed, things just seem that much more relatable, which makes it easier to find humor and share a laugh. However, you may have noticed that those giggle fits tend to happen more frequently in social settings. Cannabis itself is a social bonding experience, like going out for drinks. While cannabis boosts our moods and can stimulate the laughter parts of our brains, sharing the experience with other people makes laughing much easier— because laughter is contagious.
You can literally catch laughter from someone else on a behavioral science level. You're 30 times more likely to laugh when other people are around and even more likely to laugh if you already know them. Add cannabis to the mix, and everyone involved is engaged in a unique cultural experience. When everyone has that in-the-moment mentality, humor flows freely. Ideas are shared, logic is applied, linguistics is used, and inhibitions are released.
Cannabis and Comedy
At the end of the day, cannabis changes blood flow in the brain and neural pathways to stimulate laughter, and the good times roll even further when your loved ones are around and sharing the experience with you. Luckily all sorts of events are springing up to incorporate cannabis in social settings to help destigmatize cannabis use and explore the science and culture. With a lot of promising research on the use of cannabis for depression and stress, it's easy to appreciate that cannabis can help awaken our sense of humor.
If you're looking to explore cannabis and comedy with your friends and family outside of watching stoner flicks on Netflix, start at Flower Ave. Our curated catalog of products might be just the thing you need to bond on a deeper level with the people you love and have a great time while you're doing it. Centralized entirely around the connection we share with cannabis and its ability to make everything a bit more colorful, we're proud to connect you to the cannabis products you need to enjoy every aspect of life while you're exploring Washington DC.