Does Marijuana Actually Make You Creative?

By VIVIAN NNAGBORO

There have been numerous arguments as to whether the consumption of marijuana either as edibles or through smoking can help boost creativity in individuals. A lot of people seem to think that it can be a way to boost creativity, but does it help? People who consume it seem to think it helps boost their creativity. Quite several scientific experiments have been conducted to test this theory and they have yielded interesting results.

In 2014, a study was carried out by scientists in the Netherlands to find out if marijuana made people more creative and better problem solvers. 53 participants were used and divided into three groups; the first group was given high portions of marijuana (22mg of THC), the second was given a lesser portion (5.5mg of THC) and the last was given a placebo (dummy medicine). They were asked to complete two tasks, one of which was to think of the many uses of a pen and the other was to find the link between the words ‘time’, ‘hair’, and ‘stretching’ (Answer: Long). The first group could barely pull off the task and the second group managed to do reasonably well but there were signs of increased creativity in their performance. The study concluded that Marijuana does not make you more creative.

A recent study done in 2022 by American psychologists, suggests that the use of marijuana does not actually increase creativity but increases how creative you perceive yourself to be. They came to this conclusion after observing the effects of marijuana on a group of people. The marijuana made the group more jovial which often translates to more favorable evaluations of one’s ideas and the ideas of others.

An expert in Cannabis and chief of medical toxicology at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Lewis Nelson believes that the data surrounding this question is fairly mixed. He states that the consensus is that non-creative people tend to be a little more creative when they consume a small dose of cannabis but people who are already creative do not so much.

With the available data, it is safe to conclude that marijuana in no way makes you creative, rather it just boosts your confidence in your creative ability. So, if you are taking in marijuana with the hope of becoming a creative genius, you’re probably wasting your time.