Munchies and More: The Effects of Marijuana on the Brain

Hey I did some research myself and I called a doctor who does research in Colorado and he was saying that the reason for "munchies" is because there's a chemical in marijuana that has the same composition as a chemical your body releases to let you know you're hungry. It's an instinctual reaction he was saying and also has the effect of making you crave more marijuana, so when you smoke you want to smoke more but the feeling goes away after you stop smoking.

from my expeirience with marijuana, the munchies only seem to occur when i am bored or have nothing better to do. however when i start to eat, there becomes a sense of joy in eating and i am able to eat in large quantities (enough food for 4 people to be satisfied). i am 6 foot and weigh 150 pounds, so eating large quantities of food isnt a normal occurance and i beleive that it is in this ability induced by marijuana that there is a sort of pleasure in eating that is enhanced by the drug which makes it a more enjoyable activity coupled with an almost bottomless stomach, thus inducing the so called "munchies." however, this is just my veiw on how my body reacts to marijuana. what is true for some may not be true for others.

Would you say that marijuana would be good for a person who has swelling around spinal cord?

Would say that marijuana is life threatning, with one who has no medical ailments?

marijuana can reduce pain lower body temp, increase appetite.

not quite a quote but that was listed in this. then one would go on to wonder if marijuana causes munchies. read your own research

marijuana isnt addictive. people who get addicted usually smoke blunt wraps and that has tobacco in it so thats what they get addicted to. and the munchies thing is true

if munchies aren't real than i shouldn't be able to eat like two pizzas. like i think it would be pretty hard to convince me to do that. just saying

I believe that one's body has the desire to eat when high because eating will restore the balance in your body; it will bring you down from your high. There will be a particular craving for sweet or fatty foods, because that is what will bring your high down the fastest. There is no scientific data I can find to support this belief, just lots of first hand experience. I only get the munchies when I have smoked a considerable amount. I find if I smoke just a little, I have a functional "high", which is a state where I will do other activities and the marijuana has a relaxing and beneficial effect. If I smoke a lot, then I feel a bit overwhelmed and out of it, I get food cravings, and after eating, feel better.

It is all relative. Each person will react differently and have different levels of tolerance. Nevertheless, craving food is a common effect.

Finally, marijuana, especially the strains of genetically modified and enhanced marijuana available since the early 1990s, is very addictive to people predisposed to addictive behavior. It is a psychological addiction with some minor uncomfortable physiological effects from withdrawal. Don't let the "psychological addiction" confuse you- it is a real addiction.

The main issue with marijuana addiction is that it isn't devastating. It just makes you function at a lower level. It can reduce anxiety, tension and pain, but it also makes you a bit dumber and slower- which is relative. I know many people who smoke and are still high earning educated professionals- but they are really intelligent- they have the brain cells to spare. Being dumber for them is still way above average. Be careful of such people- they can mislead you into believing you can do the same. Most chronic smokers (not occasional or casual smokers, I am referring to people who smoke every day) who are past college age are idiots- harmless and even funny at times- but idiots nonetheless.

Oh please. Munchies are definitely real. I was stoned every day for about a year when at university. Unfortunately, they r very real. PersonallY i think it's because you 'spin out' like when drunk but you feel dizzy almost from smoking too much. You also start to feel shaky. I think eating the food gets you back in your body. I'm serious. You get so 'spaced out' that you panic and eating is the only way to turn your brain off and stop a major panic attack. Seriously that's my experience after as I say a year of heavy daily smoking, and I'm female. I haven't done any drugs for 8 years now. And I don't drink. For vanity and spiritual reasons! hehe. I mean horses/animals don't drink do they, and they're lovely.

I spent a lot of time thinking about this one day with my brother. I came up with a few theories. First is about the shakes, hypoglycemics often experience the shakes when they are low on blood sugar. The best cure for this of coarse is simple sugars, aka crappy junk food. Another thought came to me when I realized that I don't get the munchies, and as so happened on that night night I was over at my cousin's and all he did was watch TV and eat junk. I on the other hand talked with my brother about the beauty in the randomness and infinite complexity involved in the growth of a tree. I also recall hearing at some point that weed makes you horny. I'd now like to draw on Plato's theory on personality. Plato believed that there were three elements involved in someones personality. Plato, I'm sure by the way, was an avid user of marijuana. He did after all travel to India, and the middle east during a time when marijana or ghanja, was prevalent. So plato said that the first area is desire, desire to eat, desire to be comfortable, desire to do it. The second is emotion. The ability to love, to fight and die, courage, spirit, sadness, altruism. The final is intellect, the desire to learn and increase knowledge, and the ability to analyze concepts, and synthesize theories. Marijuana, I believe, causes one to stand out, and all the others to dim. I hope you can all find examples in your own lives to back up what I'm talking about.