We’ve all got at least one interesting bhaang story, unfortunately, ‘interesting’ doesn’t always mean pleasant. There’s the usual ‘had too much thandai’ issue, which can lead to an extreme couch lock where every step feels like a million paces. However, another side effect of bhang in some people is a marked increase in anxiety, despite its anxiety-reducing popularity.
Bhang is made from the leaves and seeds of the cannabis plant. It’s beaten into a big ol’ mashup and then mixed into thandai and pakodas and what-have-you. Weed, hash, bhang, edibles, at the end of the day, they’re all cannabis based, and the active compound in cannabis is THC. According to Vice –
“THC binds to the brain’s cannabinoid receptors, releasing the neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, and GABA, a neurotransmitter that stops neurons from firing. Increased GABA and serotonin activity inhibits norepinephrine—a neurotransmitter involved in alertness and anxiety—which calms most people down.
That’s not the worst of it however, and they continued to explain –
“Paranoia is a separate but often co-occurring side effect of weed, typically caused by an increase in dopamine primarily in the limbic forebrain, Giordano says. This change in dopamine activity can make some people feel anxious and think others are out to get them or judging them.”
Basically, the same psychological transmissions that help most people calm down actually have the opposite effect on others.
People experiencing this are usually freaking out inside their heads, while not really doing anything on the outside. If your friends are feeling this, tell them the feeling will pass, give them a lot of water, and if needed, call the doctor so he can pop in a benzo. Good luck!
Chase recently did an in-depth investigation into the routes and processes of the narcotics coming out of the North-East of India. Watch the first episode below. You can watch the entire series here.
