We’ve all heard the horror stories of friends who have overindulged in le cannabis and who have had, let’s just say, “less than pleasant experiences.”
The overzealous toker getting blazed out of his gourd has become one of the oldest tropes in comedy that at this point it feels almost ubiquitous with the culture.
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Dude Where’s My Car, Harold & Kumar, Half Baked, Pineapple Express, Grandma’s Boy, hell, Strange Wilderness, these titles top just about every single “Top 10 Stoner Movies” list ever made.
Yet the majority of these movies main themes are just oversimplified compilations of played-out stereotypes. IDK, perhaps this is a controversial take, but I also think they all kind of suck with the exception of Half Baked.
They’re not horrible no and I agree there is a time and a place for almost every kind of movie, but my point here is that getting too high, just like getting too drunk, is overly exalted within pop culture.
But perhaps, like getting blackout drunk, perhaps it shouldn’t be.
Why You Really Don’t Want To Green Out
Getting too high in real life actually isn’t a very fun time, usually. It sucks balls. But we don’t really see this side and instead it’s always painted as a hysterical kind of event. And from a strangers point of view perhaps it is a bit.
But this shouldn’t be the main point, or the primary representation of cannabis within pop culture that is promoted in Hollywood. Cannabis deserves more respect than just “hey this is my crazy friend”.
To me, it seems true cannabis culture is more about individuality and personalizing your consumption habits to suit your specific goals with the ultimate effect being an overall enhanced quality of life.
Abusing cannabis like a homemade fleshlight is just insulting for a plant that offers so many other more nuanced benefits. Moderation, or “balance”, in everything is the key to a balanced life isn’t it?
Just a side note, I’m not trying to be a D.A.R.E kind of wet blanket here. Getting a bit too high is more often than not funny as hell. Greening out, or getting so high that you become uncomfortable and feel sick on the other hand just plain sucks.
The first rule in avoiding negative experiences, such as “greening out,” is understanding that consuming cannabis is not a competition but rather about achieving personal goals. Peer pressure has no place in the process. You control your own experience.
People find escape and acceptance in cannabis, escape from the constant hum of social anxiety, and acceptance in a community that’s uniquely always been receptive to folks from all ages, orientations, and walks of life.
Weed is for the people, it’s the people’s weed
Jonah Hill impersonating Woody Harrelson
Grab a sneaky Jamba Juice and go sit outside a local high-traffic dispensary and observe the type of people going in and coming out. You’ll see that it’s everyone. Blue collar, white collar, old, young, white, brown, black. It’s America baby, and it’s fucking beautiful.
Some of these people though will inevitably have a bad time. They’ll for whatever reason consume too much of a blunt or a brownie or a drink or whatever.
And when they do they’ll probably start Googling a few things in their attempt to understand what they’ve gotten themselves into.
So if that’s you, welcome, friend. This website is the broken in couch at your grandmas on a toasty Christmas Eve with a slightly scratchy winter sweater.
Here you will find an overview of what to expect and how to combat the effects of “greening out” because I’ve got a fare bit of first hand experience!
Spoiler alert, if you’re hoping for a magical pinch-of-the-fingers hack to instantly reverse getting too high I’ll tell you there aren’t, any instant ones at least.
But there are definitely some mindfulness hacks that can help steer you clear of that situation in the first place as well as a few tricks to speed up your recovery or becoming “de-high” if you will.
But first, what exactly qualifies as “greening out”?
What Does Greening Out Even Mean?
“Greening out” refers to experiencing unpleasant mental and/or physical side effects due to excessive cannabis consumption. Common symptoms include increased levels of stress, anxiousness, paranoia, nausea, panic, excessive perspiration, and disorientation.
Things get even more exacerbated when you introduce alcohol on top and this should be avoided at all costs because it results in a doubly bad situation.
How much cannabis does it take to green out you may be wondering?
The limit varies depending on a person’s body size, composition, pre-existing tolerance level, as well as the type of cannabis consumed. The are tons of factors that go into the overall impact of any given stoney experience
Was the weed potent LED-grown hydroponic or was it a more balanced outdoor sun-grown flower? Did you eat an edibles or sublingually absorb a tincture? Was that joint infused with hash or was it just flower? Did that vape pen contain distillate or was it a full-spectrum extract?
There are so many variables saying “X amount and X amount alone will result in greening out” is just impossible unfortunately.
Should you find yourself on the verge of greening out, remember that at the end of the day, or more likely within a few hours, these are temporary symptoms that will subside.
I’ve personally experienced greening out during an ill-fated trip to Las Vegas when I vaped excessively at a Cirque du Soleil performance while dehydrated and with an empty stomach—an obvious recipe for disaster in retrospect!
A similar experience was had later when first learning how to make my own infused MCT oil. Some of those first batches of brownies were mad potent.
What Causes Greening Out?
Scientifically speaking, the most extreme cases of “greening out” can be attributed to psychosomatic reflexes triggered by extreme sensory overload resulting from THC overconsumption which leads to vasovagal syncope.
This is the medical term for fainting caused by heart rate and blood pressure changes initiated by our central nervous system as self-defense mechanism causing impaired brain function due lack blood flow.
I only know this term because it recently happened to me during a routine blood draw after almost falling off the paper covered examination table.
Other unpleasant symptoms of the green-out include “the spins,” disorientation, nausea, vomiting, paranoia, confusion, and sometimes a bit of panic.
With the availability of high-strength options like tinctures and extracts today, accidentally consuming an excessive amount of cannabis isn’t just possible, it’s actually pretty easy to do.
Trying to navigate total THC percentages per “serving” between various cannabis-rich products like flower, vapes, edibles, and tinctures also adds complexity to the already intense experience that is a person’s first few trips to a dispensary.
Next, we’ll delve into preventive measures and how we can help reduce the impact of being too high even if the train has already left the station.
Lastly, we’ll offer advice on how best to ride out the storm so that you emerge on the other side unscathed, potentially enlightened, or at least as minimally unhappy as possible.
What’s Happening When You’re Greening Out
To understand the inner workings of greening out we must consider our body’s overall reaction to cannabis, when a whole multitude of different compounds interact with cannabinoid receptors throughout our body and within our brains.
THC specifically can impact the amygdala, the part of the brain that regulates response to fear and similar emotions like anxiety, stress, and paranoia. This isn’t always and it doesn’t mean these are inevitable emotional states, but it can happen.
THC is just one compound among many found in cannabis though.
In addition to high THC content, todays chronic also contains high quantities of other cannabinoids, which contribute to a greater “entourage effect” (think Optimus Prime) that has the potential to overstimulate some individuals.
Greening out often implies nausea, but it also encompasses broader symptoms like confusion, brain fog, difficulty walk, inability to communicate clearly, and even other physical manifestations such as excessive sweating and/or obvious nausea.
While some people associate greening out exclusively with mixing cannabis and alcohol I prefer identifying it as simply a result of excessive cannabis consumption because one can green out both with or without alcohol present.
Fundamentally, “greening out” is caused by consuming more cannabinoids than you can handle.
As a result the body panics and tries to protect itself, which causes a whole host of undesirable effects.
So how do we beat these unwanted side effects?
6 Good Tips For Avoiding a Bad Time
We’ve explored the phenomenon of greening out, why it occurs and why it’s best avoided due to its unpleasant effects.
Avoiding the worst of things simply involves carefully planning your cannabis consumption out in advance a little bit.
Just like how professional pilots with thick grey mustaches plot a flight path and plan, you must determine how high you aim to get and under what circumstances.
Are you simply seeking a bit of relaxation after work? Or will you be at a festival surrounded by tons of people? Perhaps you’ll be camping alone in a quiet secluded forest?
Considerations such as familiarity with your surroundings, the company around you, other ambient sounds, access to refreshments and snacks, are all ones worth making in plotting your course.
Your body is your craft. Pilot it with care and it will take you places.
1. Exact Dosage Control Is Hard So Just Slow Your Roll
The first tip for have a good time is to deciding ahead of time how much cannabis will most likely help you to achieve a predetermined desired effect.
A small joint might plenty enough for some simple relaxation while edibles may be a more suitable route to sedating outcomes or simply more effective if you’ve already got some experience blazing.
Exact dosage control can be challenging especially with things like homemade edibles where THC content isn’t easily determined unless the chef used a THC-testing kit.
As such, home-made baked goodies are almost always just an estimation so proceed with caution.
For those wanting more precision with their intake levels, vaporizers like the PAX or smaller .5 gram joints are good options that are easy to modulate because they allow for more incremental consumption.
Remember that edibles also take longer for the effects to kick in compared to inhalation, which often leads people to consuming more than necessary before feeling the initial effect have even had a chance to kick-in, resulting in potential multiples of discomfort later on.
It’s tough to stay disciplined. I get it. Today’s edibles just taste fuckin delicious that resisting a second crack of that 100mg chocolate bar or another handful of those 5mg gummies can be challenging at times.
But at the end of the day you control your actions and resisting abovementioned binges is the first step to having a good time.
2. Different Genetics Result In Different Experiences
Selecting strains that fit your intended outcome is another critical yet often overlooked aspect of the process.
If you aren’t asking a bunch of questions when deciding what cultivar to take home from the dispensary then you’re essentially flying blind as to what the impending effects of said cannabis are going to be.
Sure, it’s not as clear cut as just “indica vs sativa” but there are still massive differences between various cultivars, their terpene and cannabinoid content, and how that all impacts the end user.
This is why asking a budtender a recommendation based off a desired mood, setting, or unique situation is a perfectly valid type of question to ask and a helpful one at that.
3. Ease Into Things With High CBD Strains
Strains higher in CBD usually have “fluffier” impacts making them great beginner options, specifically the more balanced varieties that are high in CBD but still offer a bit of THC to spice things up just a bit.
The CBD strains I’ve smoked don’t hit like a sledgehammer but have more of a creeping calming effect. Most dispensaries will carry at least one CBD strain, or at least they ought to, which are great entry points into the rec market for sensitive individuals.
It’s also worth keeping in mind the fact that today’s cannabis is significantly stronger than they were decades ago so adjust your expectations accordingly if returning to the green after a long hiatus from use.
4. Staying Hydrated Helps A Lot
It’s also worth preparing for your experience by ensuring hydration and snacks are on-hand prior to blazing up since both help mitigate intense reactions in my experience.
It’s not just satiating the munchies that food and water helps with. Having a base of food in your stomach to help slow the digestion and absorption of edibles is also preferable to consuming them on an empty stomach.
Having something like refillable water bottle or a cold CBD soda to sip on is also a good way to help stay grounded and can help reduce additional stress that would otherwise could be brought on by dry mouth, or “cotton mouth” as it’s often referred to.
Cotton mouth is a legitimate common side effect where your mouth actually stops producing saliva because of how THC binds with salivary cannabinoid receptors.
Staying hydrated not only satiates uncomfortable dry mouth but also helps calm coughing fits should they arise.
5. Set & Setting Impact Experiences & Mood
In addition to setting your goal, choosing your strain, and maintaining hydration during a smoking or vaping session, it’s also vital that you approach the experience with the right mindset.
Without proper preparation in terms of both mindset and environment, you risk letting events unfold randomly which can lead to potentially undesirable outcomes.
By considering where you want to be prior to indulging – whether it’s at home on your living room couch, embedded within the tranquility of nature, or out enjoying a meal at a favorite restaurant – the more control you have over the trajectory of the experience.
On the flip side, mismatching consumption method or quantity with respect to your surroundings can increase chances of greening out.
6. Blaze With Trusted Homies
Another key element to having a solid time is having familiar company during these sessions – ideally someone more experienced who can guide you through the process without pressuring you into excessive consumption.
I’ve found experienced stoners are generally very chill folk who are usually more than happy to share their experiences and help newcomers navigate their own.
So if you’re unsure about anything related to marijuana usage especially as a beginner always opt for consuming alongside someone else with more experience than you as another layer of reassurance.
It’s also worth pointing out that having a true friend to share cannabis with creates some of the best and longest lasting memories.
What To Do If You Feel Like You’re Getting Too High
Life doesn’t always go as planned, and sometimes people consume more cannabis than they should without proper preparation. Mistakes happen, that’s life.
The first thing to do if you overconsume is to stay calm. Many of the negative psychological effects of being excessively high are often self-inflicted due to self-perpetuated panic.
The typical progression moves from increased stress to paranoia, to worry, escalating to fear, and [potentially] finally full-blown panic. Most sessions never escalate past paranoia but worry can still be compounding which is why staying calm is so important.
To prevent a mental domino-effect type of escalation, practice mindfulness.
Close your eyes, limit sensory stimulation you’re exposed to and use deep breathing techniques. Staying calm is vital when dealing with possible overconsumption.
Heck, grab your most favorite blanket and turn on a light hearted fun TV show to get lost in versus obsessing over how high you actually are.
Consuming CBD (particularly nanoemulsified CBD because it is absorbed much faster) is another potential aid if you have it handy.
My personal go to is to simply lay down, put some headphones on, play some chill as music, and simply sleep it off. It’s worked every time for me minus one tine at Cirque du Soleil.
How Long Does Greening Out Usually Last?
If you smoked your cannabis you should begin feeling less high within an hour.
If you ate too many edibles you may be greened out for multiple hours.
Your pre-existing tolerance level (or lack thereof) in addition to your unique biology and size will also impact how fast your body is able to return to a non-THC state of equilibrium.
As such, finding an exact duration for you on the internet is highly unlikely, no pun intended. Just know that inhalation generally will wear off quicker than edibles.
Be An Adult & Take Responsibility For Yourself
Enjoying cannabis requires an active effort in shaping a positive experience.
The plant, while remarkable, isn’t magical and doesn’t do all the work for you; it simply shares its genetic compounds with your biology.
As such, through free-will your usage choices will largely determine your overall experience. To buy cannabis you must be 21 and at that age you should have developed the ability to responsibly manage your time.
Achieving a good time with cannabis simply entails a little bit of preparation along with some reasonably measured intentions. You control how much you consume and thus you dictate your own experience.
If you disregard responsible precautions, then your consumption might lead to undesired outcomes. Unpreparedness could be a real bad time, depending on pre-existing tolerance levels and individual physiology.
The aim here is not to fear-monger but simply to promote moderation and respectful use of cannabis in effort to maximize the benefits while minimizing potential negatives such as greening out or feeling sick.
Cannabis offers variety in forms like extracts, flower, topicals, and tinctures all of which provide different avenues for individuals that can be tailored based on their goals and intentions.
Aligning cannabis consumption methods with pre-existing tolerance levels and desired outcomes can drastically reduce negative experiences.
Spend time at local dispensaries talking to multiple budtenders for varied perspectives on suitable products for specific impacts – leverage their knowledge, it’s literally their job!
Don’t hesitate asking questions because informed decisions depend upon gathered information regarding purchases including type of product/strain consumed along with expected experiences said product/strain.
You can gradually explore higher doses or different forms of consumption once you are comfortable in understanding what your body likes.
You Do You
Remember, in case you need to hear this, you should feel confident in ALWAYS ignore peer pressure.
Cannabis isn’t a competition but more of an inclusive passion where everyone aims to relax without being coerced into more than they’re comfortable consuming.
This isn’t a frat house kegger shit. This is chillaxing shit.
If someone is peer pressuring you that’s indication they don’t understand the plant well themselves and isn’t someone worth listening to IMO.
Enjoy your bud how you want, that’s all that matters.
Speaking of things to listen to though….
As a thank you for staying with me to the end, here is one more little secret weapon you can add to your arsenal of anti-Green Out weaponry. Your own little ace up your sleeve if you will.
This is my personal playlist that is just kind of a mashup of chill ass vibes that I’ve lazily just labelled “Retro Chill”.
This playlist is scientifically proven to help chill you the fuck out and put you in a chill ass head space which can work like magic when you feel like you’re starting to fly too high and need a little bit of grounding.
If this genre isn’t for you that’s find. Find something calm that works. Classical. Ambient. Vapor. Elevator music. Whatever it is just embrace the emotional power that music is uniquely suited to deliver.
So, go forth and explore the marvelous world of cannabis with gusto because it truly is a wonderful one when you approach it with a mindful resolve.
Over time you will get more comfortable, develop a small tolerance, and delight in discovering new strains and consumption methods.
Life’s a trip, let’s enjoy the journey right?
