Cannabis and Creativity

Should drugs be used to facilitate creativity?

Published on April 20, 2012 by V. Krishna Kumar, Ph.D. in Psychology Masala

Cannabis is reportedly the most popular illicit substance in the world. Its estimated one-time use in 2009 ranged from125 million to 203 million people (aged 15-64) (UNODC, 2011). According to a report by WHO, cannabis use has increased since the 1960s in North America, Europe, and Australia particularly among young people and is commonly associated with youth culture. The report also summarizes the acute and chronic effects of cannabis use including various cognitive (learning and recalling information, integrating complex information, increased risk of psychotic disorders) and psychomotor impairments (higher risk of accidents when driving intoxicated).
In light of these effects, it was interesting to find a study on the effects of smoking cannabis on creativity. Schafer and colleagues (2011) reviewed literature suggesting that the effects of cannabis on creativity have not been extensively studied nor are the mechanisms by which it stimulates creativity well understood. However, they suggested that cannabis produces psychotomimetic symptoms, which in turn might lead to connecting seemingly unrelated concepts, an aspect of divergent thinking considered primary to creative thinking. A drug induced altered state of mind may indeed lead to breaking free from ordinary thinking and associations, thereby, increasing the likelihood of generating novel ideas or associations. Weiner (2000), for example, noted “From American Indian use of peyote to Chinese people using plum wine, to Coleridge’s opium use, and Hemingway’s alcohol consumption, individuals have found that the exaggerated emotions and altered perspectives they’ve gained from drugs stimulated their creativity” (p. 211).

Find a Therapist

Search for a mental health professional near you.

Find Local:

Schafer et al. identified two groups of participants, one high (average age 21.37) and the other low (average age = 21.62) on trait creativity and tested them in two counterbalanced conditions: non-intoxicated (day 1) and intoxicated (day 7). Creativity was measured using three tasks: (a) verbal fluency (give as many responses linked to a given alphabet in 60 seconds); (b) category fluency (give as many verbal responses linked to a given concept category in 60 seconds); and (c) Mednick’s Remote Associates Test (give one word that links three given words; 4 minutes given for each of the 16 word triads on the test). They found that while both trait creative groups scored higher on state schizotypy as assessed by a self-report questionnaire on the intoxicated day, there were no significant differences between the two groups on the Remote Associates Test, thus ruling out the possibility that increased schizotypy played any role. However, verbal fluency scores for the low trait creativity group increased to the level of the high trait creative group on the intoxicated day, but the latter group’s scores did not differ on the two days. Also, the category fluency scores did not differ on the two days, but the high trait group performed better than the low trait group on both days.[read more at link}
References
Cummings, N. A. (2012). How it was and how it was disrupted. In Cummings, N. A. & O’Donohue (Eds.). Restoring Psychotherapy as the first line intervention in behavioral care (pp.36-62). NY: Ithaca Press.
Kennedy, R. (2012, April 4). How that sausage of happiness is made. The New York Times, The Arts, pp. c1, c5.
Schafer, G., Feilding, A., Morgan, C.J. A., Agathangelou, M., Freeman, T., & Curran, H. V. (2012). Investigating the interaction between schizotypy, divergent thinking and cannabis use. Consciousness and Cognition, 21, 292-298. doi10.1016/j.concog.2011.11.009
Weiner, R. P. (2000). Creativity & beyond: Culture, values, and change. Albany, NY: State University of New York (SUNY) Press.
[read more at link]

CaliCannabis420

Thursday, January 31, 2013