Skunk v Hash - The effects of weed on dreaming

I am still very much a Novice oneironaut, and have been practicing lucid dreaming for just 3 months now. Before I began to learn how to lucid ream I smoked weed daily, but i quickly realised this was not a habit that could continue in the same way.

It is fairly common knowledge that smoking weed is incompatible with lucid dreaming and dreaming in general because THC acts as a suppressant to REM sleep. But I have found there is very little practical information on the effects of smoking weed on dreaming. This is mainly because the effects seem to be different for different people.

In this post I want to share my first-hand experiences of smoking weed and the effects it has had on my dreaming, and the experiences of friends of mine too. And most crucially point out the effects of the changing variables;
- Type of weed (Skunk v Hash)
- Timing and Amount

1. TYPE;
Before i began any dream practices, I was smoking skunk daily. This was generally the green highly potent strains of weed, that are most popular because of strength and taste. I would remember dreaming very occasionally, and very seldom remember any in-depth details of my dreams.
Any trainee lucid dreamer knows that the first step towards lucidity is to start recalling your dreams. For this, it became clear that smoking any kind of weed was problematic. I decided I would stop entirely for a couple of weeks and boost my dream recall. Once i was capable of remembering several dreams every night I was able to re-introduce weed occasionally and monitor the effects. The following are some general observations that seem to be fairly consistent...

- Skunk - I noticed a reduction of REM periods throughout the night. I generally sleep deeply through my normal REM dream periods, and have no recollection of waking at all during the night. However, REM sleep and dreaming definitely seems to re-emerge in the morning time as the effects wear off. But I experience a grogginess and lack of awareness that really hinders remembering the dreams that I do have. Other heavy users of Skunk have also told me that they tend to experience dreaming only in the final stage of their sleep cycles before waking properly. Generally they similarly fail to recall those dreams with any in depth detail.

- Hash - I have found that smoking Hash, the Resin form of weed, is generally a far better option. I certainly find that I have more memory of having had dreams throughout the night if I have smoked Hash, than with Skunk. In other words, Hash seems to repress REM LESS than skunk. However, I find that I still experience the grogginess throughout my nights sleep which prevents me from waking and recalling my dreams in the middle of the night, and also makes it harder to recall any in-depth details of my dreams in the morning.

Despite the greater difficulty of recalling dreams, I would argue that smoking Hash is definitely more compatible with dreaming and lucid dreaming.
Interestingly I was explaining my attempts in lucid dreaming with a friend recently, whilst we smoked some hash together. He had never heard of LD'ing before, and I explained the basic premise. The next morning he called to tell me that he had become lucid in his dream that very night. He remembered becoming lucid and 'knowing' he was dreaming. However, he did not remember any specific details of the dream.

I have also been told by another friend that since switching from smoking skunk daily, to smoking hash daily, that she had begun having dreams far more often and also remembering them fairly well, even without dream journaling.

In my own experience, I have had varying levels of success with both recalling dreams and becoming lucid in my dreams having smoked Hash before going to bed. I have been able to become lucid, and I have also managed to recall very detailed dreams after smoking hash before bed. I also have had experiences of almost zero dream recall upon waking after smoking Hash, despite the fact that when sober I generally will recall 3-5 dreams per night.

A more positive side effect has been that smoking hash has at times given me really notable and interesting dreams, including one nightmare i remember where i was confronted by a grotesque green demon, no doubt a representation of my weed problem. I have also found that on the nights one day after having smoked, I will often dream about smoking with friends or rolling a joint/spliff somewhere. I have even listed 'rolling a joint', as a dream sign of mine.

The key is without doubt, timing and amount.

2. Timing and Amount;
I have found that my biggest problem when smoking Hash before bed is not the suppression of REM (of which there is certainly some, particularly in the early hours of sleep) but the damage to my mindfulness and prospective memory. If I am really stoned before going to bed, I more or less pass out when going to sleep, rather than having any level of consciousness as I slip into sleep. I make no attempt to remind myself to remember my dreams, and as a result when I wake after a dream I forget to lie still or focus my immediate attention on remembering my dream. I often feel disorientated, or completely unsure of what time it is. This total lack of mindfulness seems to be very unhelpful when trying to remember dreams, and when attempting to use any types of methods to induce lucidity. Alertness is often non-existent.

Therefore, it seems obvious to say, that smoking earlier in the day or smoking a smaller amount before bed is less harmful to dream practice. I find that if I have smoked some hash in the day, and the effects have worn off before I go to sleep then I am more far more likely to remember my dreams and even become lucid. I certainly don't believe there is a 48 hour window until you can remember dreams properly and can become lucid again, as I have heard from some sources on the internet. I think at most the window is 6 - 12 hours depending on the individual, and depending on how much you smoke. With skunk this is probably towards the longer end of the scale, perhaps longer.



In short, a daily habit is probably going to prevent proper dreaming practice. However, if you can manage to smoke less habitually, and only once or twice a week, it seems that a balance can be struck.

DR