Cannabis and microdosing

My journey with cannabis and LSD

Cannabis is considered by many to be a relatively light psychoactive substance, perhaps mildy psychedelic at times, but it is not really in the same category as psychedelics such as LSD or psylocibin.  I first smoked cannabis a few years before I began experimenting with psychedelics (or microdosing with cannabis and LSD), and had both positive and negative experiences.  At the time I mostly enjoyed marijuana for its sensual effects and the way in which it enhances music, sex, art, film etc.

I wasn’t ever really a daytime smoker, and I preferred it as a winding down substance at the end of the day or at weekends.  I never had any major problems with cannabis, but never really loved it either.  Sometimes I could go down a mental wormhole and find it difficult to pull myself back, but in time I learnt to go with the flow more and also found some of the difficult thoughts ultimately helpful for uncovering aspects of my psyche that I’d previously not been aware of.  The more I faced up to some of my difficult sessions with cannabis, the more I started to enjoy it, and it started to feel like the teacher plant I’d read it to be.

The very first time I took LSD was a full, ego-death inducing dose. At the end of an intense and totally mesmerising 10 hours, I decided during my comedown that cannabis was needed.  As it turned out, a whole joint was the last thing I needed and it completely ruined my crystal clear, wonderfully clean trip I’d had up until then.  Comedowns can be difficult, and the feeling of not knowing whether you’re coming or going is tiring after a while, especially if you just want to sleep at the end of your trip.  Adding another substance into the mix was risky in hindsight, although I’ve heard from some people who find cannabis enhances their trips in a very positive way.  The problem is, you don’t know whether you’re one of those people until after you’ve tried it.  Then again, that’s also the case for psychedelics, with or without cannabis added.

Following my acid trip becoming somewhat tainted by cannabis, and feeling quite disturbed by it for a couple of weeks, I decided to stay away from cannabis for a while.  I figured that since I’d felt so comfortable with LSD, it was much more my kind of drug than cannabis anyway, and maybe I could gain more insights through exploring psychedelics.  It’s important to note that not being great with cannabis does not mean that you should avoid psychedelics, even though many believe that’s a logical conclusion.  The reason for this is that most people see LSD or other psychedelics as stronger drugs than cannabis, and I don’t think they should be compared in this way – they are too different.

Effects of microdosing LSD and cannabis

After I’d properly integrated and processed my first LSD trip, I gradually started to enjoy cannabis much more.  I feel that it started working in my brain differently, gave me a much clearer high, and I rarely got stuck in thought patterns or loops like I used to.  It also helped me to tap back into the psychedelic experience, which I was very grateful for.

I noticed when I started microdosing with LSD, that there comes a point (normally about 6-8 hours in) where I feel stimulated but also a little tired and in more of a mood to relax.  I decided to try smoking a small amount of cannabis when I had that feeling, to see how it steered the experience.  It’s now become something I do regularly at the end of a microdosing day.  I find it more useful combined with LSD than with mushrooms, mainly due to the more actively stimulating effects of LSD.  In my experience, microdosing with LSD and cannabis together makes for a very clear and enjoyable high.  At low doses they work brilliantly together, which is interesting because it seems at higher doses the results are very mixed, depending on the individual.

At the end of a microdosing day it’s possible to have a really interesting and insightful 3-4 hours from microdosing cannabis.  It also helps prepare you for sleeping, which some people find more difficult after microdosing.  A little goes a long way, which I think is especially true for cannabis.  The modern desire for the strongest weed can be counterproductive and lower amounts of THC, taken regularly tend to work better than an instant peak.  I’ve found that too much weed can prevent me from benefiting from the clean insights that I get from the psychedelic microdose.  It’s a fine balance, and the secret to getting the most out of all this is not trying to maximise effects, but fine tune the experience so that it works just right for you.

Note:  I’ve also found that smoking a couple of hours after taking a microdose of LSD works well, but is better if you don’t have too much else to do.  Microdosing LSD has a very clear effect that makes it possible to go to work and do other things that many people wouldn’t be comfortable doing with cannabis.  For this reason, I prefer to mix the two when I have no other obligations and can decide exactly what I want to do in the moment.