Science Cannabis

84 THE SCIENCE OF MARIJUANAPerception becomes more sensitive, and the user has a heightenedappreciation of everyday experiences. A nurse describes seeing the Chinese-stylepagoda in Kew Gardens in London under the influence ofmarijuana:It was like the pagoda had been painted a bright red since I had last seenit—about an hour before. The colour was not just bright, but more thanbright, it was a different hue altogether, a deep red, with lots of addedpigments, a red that was redder than red. It was a red that leapt out at you,that scintillated and pulsated amid the grey sky of a typical dull Englishafternoon. Never in a thousand years will I forget that sight. It was like myeyes had opened to colour for the first time. And ever since then, I havebeen able to appreciate colour more deeply.(Berke and Hernton, 1974)New insight and appreciation of works of art have often been reported.Many users report that their appreciation and enjoyment of musicis especially enhanced while high; they gain the ability to comprehendthe structure of a piece of music, the phrasing, tonalities, andharmonies and the way that they interact. Some musicians believe thattheir performance is enhanced by marijuana, and this undoubtedly accountedfor the popularity of marijuana among jazz players in theUnited States in the early years of the century. Ludlow described hisexperience of attending a concert while under the influence of the drug:A most singular phenomenon occurred while I was intently listening to theorchestra. Singular, because it seems one of the most striking illustrations Ihave ever known of the preternatural activity of sense in the hasheesh state,and in an analytic direction. Seated side by side in the middle of theorchestra played two violinists. That they were playing the same part wasobvious from their perfect uniformity in bowing; their bows, through thewhole piece, rose and fell simultaneously, keeping exactly parallel. Achorus of wind and stringed instruments pealed on both sides of them, andthe symphony was as perfect as possible; yet, amid all that harmoniousblending, I was able to detect which note came from one violin and whichfrom the other as distinctly as if the violinists had been playing at thedistance of a hundred feet apart, and with no other instruments discoursingnear them.