Too High: What Does 'Greening Out' Mean?
Signs That You Might Have Used Too Much Weed
How much is too much? Even with cannabis, it is possible to get too much of a good thing. Overdosing weed however, is not the same as overdosing on street drugs or misused prescription drugs. Overusing weed can happen, and the term for it is "greening out."
Smoking too much pot or eating too many cannabis edibles won't cause you to black out the way alcohol can cause you to black out, but an excess of marijuana can cause other mild-to-serious symptoms.
Later in this article, we will explain why it takes less pot to make you green out in some situations than others — and the reasons may surprise you. But first, let's review eight ways you can know you have greened out.
Before we get into greening out, we should mention here that one of the dangers of consuming street cannabis is that you don't know what you're getting. Marijuana that is laced with other drugs can be dangerous and even fatal. When you buy legal marijuana from a licensed retailer who grows, cultivates and sells their own products, you're getting a better, safer product. Look for a cannabis seller who discloses terpene and cannabinoid profiles on their products, so you know what you're getting.
8 Symptoms of Being Too High
Greening out symptoms are something that is hard to experience but easy to recognize.
Cannabis and its chemical constituents have a very favorable safety profile. Even the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) recognizes that it is impossible to get a lethal dose of any part of the cannabis plant. It is impossible to have a fatal OD from THC or any other cannabinoid or terpenoid extract from cannabis.
No fatal overdoses from cannabis have been recorded in the medical literature, but that doesn't mean that people who aren't used to pot and people in some special situations we will discuss in the next section can't experience greening out.
Here are eight of the most common symptoms of being too high.
Anxiety
Many people use cannabis to relieve anxiety. Paradoxically, some strains of marijuana can increase anxiety.
Smoking buds provide both THC, which increases anxiety, and CBD, which reduces it. The higher the THC content of the product, the greater the likelihood that using it will cause anxiety.
Whistler Therapeutics found that four strains that are particularly good for relieving anxiety are Blueberry Lambsbread, Bubba Kush, Kosher Kush, and Skywalker OG Kush. These strains all have the faint aroma of jasmine and tea tree, along with citrus and floral notes. This scent is due to the chemical trans-nerolidol, which has a sedating effect.
They also received reports that four strains often increased anxiety, and generally failed to relieve it. These strains included (surprisingly) CBD Shark, Chocolope, Green Crack, and Tangerine Dream. These strains all contained guailol, which is responsible for the aroma of Blueberry and Ice Cream strains. It seems to blunt the calming effects of other cannabis chemicals.
Dizziness
Cannabis can cause dizziness, especially to newbies. Smoking pot or eating marijuana edibles lowers blood pressure by activating receptors in the linings of your arteries that tell them to dilate. This reduces blood pressure. When you move from lying down or sitting down to standing up, your blood pressure goes even lower, and you may feel dizzy or even pass out.
The effect is, basically, too much of a good thing. The human body makes its own "endocannabinoid," a chemical called anandamide, to keep blood pressure from going too high. The CBD in cannabis does the same thing. Dizziness is a greater risk when you are taking CBD, smoking a high-CBD strain like Harlequin or Ringo's Gift, or eating CBD edibles.
Drowsiness
"Mellow and relaxed" is a good thing. "Barely can stay awake," not so much.
The THC in cannabis has many of the same effects on the central nervous system as the over-the-counter sleep aid melatonin. The higher the THC content in a cannabis product, the more it activates the CB1 cannabinoid receptors in the central nervous system, and the more you want to sleep. When you do fall asleep, THC helps you achieve deeper sleep.
Indicas tend to cause more sleepiness than sativas.
Limb Heaviness
Another greening out symptom is limb heaviness, which feels exactly how it sounds: Your legs and arms feel like they’ve got weights attached. You might be laying on the couch and feel a heaviness when you try to stand. Why do your limbs feel heavy after smoking too much marijuana or eating too many cannabis edibles?
THC affects your body’s natural endocannabinoid system by slowing down the communication between your brain and your central nervous system. This is great for pain management and stress reduction, but when you’ve overdone it on THC, your limbs feel heavy.
Slower Reflexes
Because of the same brain-nervous system connection, some people experience slower reflexes when they’ve had too much cannabis. Cannabis intoxication can interfere with some people’s ability to perform complex tasks, and it’s worsened by mixing with alcohol (not recommended). Being high can slow your reflexes, which is why you should never drive after using marijuana, and you should wait at least eight hours before doing so. Some people also report seeing things in slow motion when they are very high; this is, again, due to the brain’s relaxed messaging to the nervous system.
Increased Heart Rate
It's not unusual for a marijuana user's pulse to accelerate 20 to 30 beats per minute while using a cannabis product. Some users, however, will experience a doubling of the heart rate.
This effect is due to parasympathetic innervation, which is a technical way of saying "relaxing the nerves that keep the heart from beating too fast." Cannabis reduces the amount of blood inside the heart between beats (in technical terms, it lowers diastolic pressure without raising systolic pressure), so the heart has to beat faster to provide itself with oxygen.
Strains like Harlequin, Pennywise, Ringo's Gift, and Jack the Ripper that are great for cannabis users who have high blood pressure can have this effect on users who have both heart disease and controlled blood pressure.
Paranoia
Most of the time, our brains have an executive function that keeps us from seeing connections that are "too out there" to be useful in our lives. We don't, for instance, assume that if there is no pie in the refrigerator, it can only mean that a pie-loving octopus from outer space beamed in and ate it. Or maybe it was stolen by a band of pie burglars.
Sometimes, however, the inhibitory function of the brain goes awry, and the result is paranoia. This can happen when THC and CBD inhibit the fear extinction circuits in the brain. Fears you ordinarily would quickly dismiss don't go away because the amygdala is not working as it should.
In people who feel a need to hide their use of cannabis, high-THC strains often make paranoia and anxiety worse. Another factor in paranoia and cannabis is that the more years people use cannabis, the more they have to deal with paranoia, although they may experience paranoia as increased awareness.
Difficulty Urinating
Greening out can also result in difficulty urinating, more specifically, feeling you haven't finished after urinating. Some doctors call this urinary retention, and it is more common in men than in women. In one study that we found from the National Center for Biotechnology Information, patients who suffered from incontinence and multiple sclerosis saw a slight increase in bladder control after using THC. The study explains in detail how cannabinoid receptors affect bladder control. The findings, while incomplete, could suggest a link between cannabis overuse and urinary retention. If you experience urinary abnormalities before, during, or after using marijuana, it’s time to see a doctor.
Other symptoms of cannabis toxicity
A rare condition called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, or CHS, leads to vomiting, nausea and abdominal discomfort and even cramping. CHS typically affects people who use heavy amounts of marijuana over a prolonged period of time. CHS is diagnosed and treated by medical professionals, usually by abstaining from marijuana.
Does Alcohol or Prescription Drugs Make Greening Out Worse?
You may have heard that alcohol makes greening out worse. In terms of physiology, however, that's not really correct. THC and CBD slow down the rate at which the liver can process alcohol. Regardless, cannabis and alcohol should be consumed at different times.
Greening out can result from interactions between cannabis and prescription drugs. Use cannabis with caution if you take amiodarone or digitalis for heart disease, thyroid replacement hormones, or any medication for a seizure disorder or a psychiatric illness.
How to Calm Your High
Greening out symptoms always fade with time, but they fade faster if your liver is healthy enough to clear both THC and CBD out of your system. That means you should stay away from alcohol, Tylenol, and non-essential drugs until you start feeling better. And if somehow you can avoid indulging the munchies, your liver can act even faster.
Because CBD can cause some symptoms of greening out, it really isn't a good remedy for the problem. Showering can distract you from symptoms, but, no, taking a shower doesn't kill your high or get rid of THC in your system.
Oddly enough, a glass of milk can provide the tryptophan your brain needs to make serotonin to start feeling good again, if you feel too high.
As GoodRx Health says, “The only real remedy is time, but you can do a lot of self-care while you wait to improve your comfort,” if you’re too high. This includes drinking water, which some theorize can help flush THC from your body faster. It will also keep you hydrated, so if you feel thirsty, drink water.
To avoid the feeling of being too high, especially if you are new to marijuana or if you are trying a new strain, start slowly with your marijuana dosage. Wait at least 30 minutes and observe how you feel before smoking more or eating more edibles.
This article is for informational and educational purposes only, and should not be substituted for professional medical advice.