I've been a student of both biology and theater, so I'm able to see things rationally and fantastically at the same time. When something strange happens I come up with both a logical and supernatural answer. An orb in a photograph is both a trick of the light AND a ghost. The small silhouette seen out of the corner of my eye is both a protein deposit on my contact lens AND a fairy. When I’m on a crowded subway and know which seat will open up next it’s because I picked up on physical cues…AND because I’m psychic.
Humans, like other animals, are blessed with intuition—that feeling you get in your gut where you just know something to be true without reasoning. The sense that allows horses to know when a storm is coming is the same sense that lets you know who is calling before you see the caller ID. Psychic ability (or the sixth sense) is just an expansion of our innate intuition, which means everyone has the potential for psychic ability. Especially stoners.
In the super fun 1971 study On Being Stoned, Dr. Charles Tart found that most marijuana users believe in psychic powers and have even experienced supernatural phenomenon while high. (Duh.) Tart even recommended that researchers looking for subjects “prone to paranormal experience” should consider marijuana users. “Either marijuana use affects judgment such that a large number of ordinary experiences are judged to be paranormal, or there is a very high incidence of paranormal phenomena associated with marijuana use, or both.” Sounds like my kind of dude.
Besides Tart’s study and that one part in Doug Benson’s Super High Me, finding scientific evidence of increased psychic ability while using cannabis is difficult. Parapsychology and all the fun psychic-y stuff that goes with it is considered a “pseudoscience” (sorry, Dr. Venkman) and not everyone knows how great marijuana is yet. Those two things combined mean that not a lot of scientists are champing at the bit to research this stuff. But that doesn’t mean you can’t research it at home!
Start by enhancing your own innate psychic abilities. There are a lot of great books on the subject, but here are some quick tricks that work for me. First, consume some cannabis. Then consider doing some meditation, yoga, or anything that promotes physical awareness. Relaxing your body will help open your mind. By being present in the moment you will be able to intuit what is happening in and around you. Using your sixth sense is not about making something happen, it's about being open to something happening. The more you listen to your intuition, the more your intuition will guide you and the more psychic experiences you will have.
Pull a Dr. Venkman and try some psychic games next time you and your friends are high (sans the shocks). Play “Guess the Card”—or Pog if you are a child of the ’90s.
Add snacks into the mix by trying to guess the color of the Skittle before you take it out of the bag. If/when you get bored with that, try sending your cat psychic messages and see if they respond. Even if nothing mystical happens, cats are still fun to be around.
But before you pull out your old Ouija board, be careful. Heightened awareness and intuiting a situation are one thing but experiencing upsetting phenomenon like hallucinations and hearing voices is another. If you are hearing and seeing scary things, it could be a sign of schizophrenia (not a demon) and you should seek the help of a medical professional (not an exorcist).
Increased psychic awareness doesn’t mean you’ll see ghosts all the time or be able to talk to the dead…but your highs will become increasingly heightened and magical experiences leaving you feeling more connected to others and the world around you, which is always a good thing. See you on the astral plane, friends.