If you’ve ever smoked weed or have just simply watched Cheech and Chong or Harold and Kumar movies, you know that after smoking weed people get super hungry, a sensation called the munchies. The munchies just aren’t a lack of will power after smoking, its actually a side-effect of the chemicals in weed.
Your appetite is boosted when you smoke weed because of the THC, tetrahydrocannabinol, that you inhale when you smoke marijuana. THC triggers the sensors in your brain that are in charge of smell and taste, making you taste and smell more intensely. Because of these heightened senses, your appetite increases.
In an experiment on mice, a group was fed THC and another group, the control group, was not fed THC. The mice were then placed in an area with bananas and almond oil. The group with the THC ate the most and smelled the oils for the most time. Sure the rats with THC could’ve just been hungrier or had a better sense of smell, but if done correctly, the experiment proves that THC is the cause of munchies in weed smokers.
This appetite boosting chemical doesn’t just cause harmful consequences, like ordering twelve pizzas at 4 am or eating way more Taco Bell than is healthy. THC can help people who are suffering from lack of appetite, like people undergoing chemotherapy or suffering from HIV. Smoking medical marijuana can help these people suffering from horrible conditions live more comfortably and for longer.
Estes, Adam C. “Why Smoking Pot Makes You So Hungry.” Gizmodo. Kinja, 20 Apr. 2014. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.
“Why Does Marijuana Cause The “Munchies”? – TruthOnPot.com.”TruthOnPot.com. TruthOnPot.com, 22 Nov. 2010. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.
Its amazing how marijuana, such a controversial and current subject in today’s society can be seen in a positive light for once. Although I personally am not a marijuana consumer/user in any form I am glad its potential has been revealed to help assist in the management of pain and consumption for those with illness and living with chronic pain. According to this link marijuana can also be used to assist with muscle spasms due to multiple sclerosis, nerve pain, seizure disorders, and Chron’s disease, amongst the others you listed in your post. Great job on this post!
I like this post and how it explores a recent study on rats who have THC in their system. I think that the experiment could have been executed better or the design was not planned out very well. It could have been that some of the rats had a better sense of smell than the others or the THC increased their smell so they were more inclined to eat the food over the rats without THC and normal smelling senses. The heightened senses could play a huge part in the munchies! Take a look at this article http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2555839/Mystery-munchies-revealed-Cannabis-use-heightens-sense-smell-taste.html
Wow, i actually really enjoyed reading this post. The munchies are a real thing, and yes i can vouch for that. I did not know that there was a scientific reason behind them though. I think the experiment was super helpful although I hate how they did it on mice.. I think it would of been the same amount of effective if they did it on humans. Is it only the amount of THC that causes our great urge to eat, or are there other chemicals attracting us to ever type of unhealthy food possible…I wonder if theres a certain type of chemical in weed that could attract us to healthy foods… That’ll be the day. heres another blog, or post about the munchies and the greens. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2451/how-does-marijuana-cause-the-munchies
Interesting. I know that when my friends grandmother was being treated for chemotherapy she used medicinal marijuana to ease the pain, and I know that she had no appetite due to the chemo as well as because she was scared the disease would take her life. Fortunately the disease did not take her life and due to the munchies she was able to get through it while still eating a healthy amount. http://firstwefeast.com/eat/best-munchies-recipes/
Oh wow! I had no clue that there was a scientific reason behind the munchies. When you wrote about your senses being temporarily heightened, I thought that was very interesting. This is something a lot of people would definitely be interested in reading so it was a great post! I found a cool website that shares some creative “munchy” snacks here: http://www.oddee.com/item_98741.aspx