Cannabis and Consciousness: Rediscovering What We’ve Been Taught to Forget

“Cannabis brings us an awareness that we spend a lifetime being trained to overlook and forget and put out of our minds.” – Carl Sagan

In the quiet moments after consuming cannabis, many users report a familiar yet profound shift in perception—a lifting of veils that normally filter our experience. This phenomenon deserves more than casual observation. It invites deeper exploration into how cannabis might help us recover forms of awareness that modern life systematically trains us to abandon.

The Narrowing Path of Conventional Perception

From early childhood, our education system rewards particular forms of attention while discouraging others. We learn to prioritize linear thinking, verbal processing, and goal-oriented focus. These cognitive skills serve essential functions, but their dominance
comes at a cost.

What gets left behind? Our innate capacity for:

 ● Open awareness: The ability to perceive without immediate categorization
 ● Sensory richness: Full engagement with the textural complexity of experience
 ● Present-moment consciousness: Experiencing time as an expansion rather than a
scarcity
 ● Metaphorical thinking: Seeing meaningful patterns and connections across
disparate domains

These modes of perception don’t disappear entirely—they’re simply relegated to the
periphery, accessed primarily through dreams, artistic creation, or fleeting moments of wonder.
Cannabis as a Cognitive Tool
Cannabis isn’t simply recreational. Throughout history, various cultures have recognized its potential as a cognitive tool that temporarily adjusts the filters through which we process reality.
The endocannabinoid system, now understood to regulate numerous physiological
processes, appears to influence how we prioritize sensory input and access memory.
Cannabinoids like THC and CBD interact with this system in ways that can temporarily
modify habitual patterns of perception.

Research on cannabis and divergent thinking suggests that moderate doses may enhance creative problem-solving and pattern recognition precisely because they disrupt conventional associative pathways. One study from the University of London found that cannabis users demonstrated more flexible semantic processing—the ability to identify unusual connections between concepts.

What We Relearn Under Cannabis Influence

When used mindfully and in appropriate contexts, cannabis often helps users rediscover:

1. Sensory Immersion
The texture of fabric against skin, subtle variations in music, or the complex flavor profile of
simple foods often become remarkably present. This isn’t hallucination but rather a removal of the filtering mechanism that normally prevents sensory overwhelm.

2. Childlike Wonder
The ability to approach familiar subjects with fresh curiosity emerges when cannabis
temporarily suspends habitual thinking. This state resembles what Zen practitioners call
“beginner’s mind”—a perspective unburdened by accumulated assumptions.

3. Introspective Insight
Cannabis often facilitates access to thoughts, memories, and feelings that daily
consciousness has learned to bypass, potentially revealing important psychological material that deserves integration.

4. Associative Thinking
The connections between seemingly unrelated concepts become more apparent, fostering metaphorical thinking and unexpected insights—crucial ingredients for creativity and
problem-solving.

In this light, responsible cannabis use becomes not merely recreational but potentially educational—a way to remember what we’ve been trained to forget, and perhaps to integrate those insights into our everyday awareness.

“The illegality of cannabis is outrageous… an impediment to full utilization of a drug which
helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world.”
— Carl Sagan