Science Explains the Close Link Between Coffee and Cannabis

Many marijuana users report that after smoking Sativa they experience the same effects as after drinking coffee. These are two pleasures, whether in the morning or afternoon, that no one wants to forego. Their relationship, according to science, is closer than people think: the secret to the link is at the root of it all; that is, in the plants from which both products stem.

The two are derived from plants with elements that, upon decomposition, cause very similar physiological reactions. They can stimulate the user, generating euphoric effects (although, in the case of grass, it depends on the type) and also produce the same pleasant sensation.

According to studies by Ohio State University and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, this is something that also has to do with how these compounds derived from plants affect the brain and the nervous system. Coffee contains a chemical that mimics the effects of marijuana's psychoactive component.

Researchers have explained that when someone starts drinking coffee he experiences euphoria, and keeps on drinking to achieve the same effects as in the beginning. It is in this process that caffeine stimulates the neurotransmitter system, just like cannabis, and makes a person need much more of the drink to feel its effects.

The researchers also found that the products mutually impact their use: the more a marijuana smoker drinks caffeinated coffee, the more marijuana he consumes; the less caffeine he consumes, the less he smokes. Somehow the beverage's components "encourage" those accustomed to it to smoke the plant. In any case, caffeine increases the effects of cannabis itself.