Euphoria

Effects – Euphoria

Humans have used cannabis for many thousand years not only to treat physical ailments, but also to produce spiritual effects and euphoric feelings.

Generally speaking euphoria is a feeling of intense joy and pleasure accompanied with elation and excitement. Medically it is recognized as a mental and emotional condition, and, strangely enough, it is usually listed as one of the side effects of cannabis. One may argue that feelings of joy and happiness are actually desirable effects, on the other hand, as an old proverb goes: “too much of anything is bad”.

Chemical Background

Just like alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, or cocaine, cannabis use is associated with a temporary rise in dopamine levels leading to euphoric feeling that drug users experience. Cannabinoids, such as THC, indirectly increase dopamine by blocking the action of neurotransmitter called GABA. Its job is to get rid of dopamine released in the nucleus accumbens, however, once GABA neurotransmitters are blocked by cannabinoids their action is neutralized and more dopamine released.

Feelings of Euphoria under the Influence of Cannabis

Especially when you are not a regular user, you may find that events or situations that wouldn’t normally seem amusing become quite funny after ingesting cannabis. Most users generally enjoy this experience, however addiction experts argue that “artificially” induced euphoria is not a very healthy state of mind.