Many cannabis users are convinced that the drug not only heightens their mood, but also their creativity.
Creative luminaries also seem to endorse this idea. Steve Jobs said that marijuana and hashish would make him “relaxed and creative” while astronomer and author Carl Sagan believed that cannabis helps produce “serenity and insight.” In the artistic sphere, Lady Gaga said she smokes “a lot of pot” when writing music, and Louis Armstrong called marijuana “an assistant and friend.”
Despite these popular beliefs about the creative potency of cannabis, scientific consensus has remained hazy. Now new research suggests that cannabis may not be a gateway drug to creativity after all.
Cannabis users tended to rate high on the openness personality trait, meaning they were more likely to seek out new experiences, which itself was bound to creativity. When researchers accounted for openness, the cannabis-creativity connection was no longer up to snuff.
Cuttler
“This suggests that people who are open to experience are more likely to use cannabis, and they’re also more likely to be creative,”said Carrie Cuttler, psychology professor at Washington State University and an author of the study.
