What to Do When You’re Greening Out

How to Handle a Green Out What to do when the weed smokes YOU.

You take that last toke. All of a sudden, you stop. That familiar sense of panic starts washing over you. You start sweating as your vision starts to fade, and your buddy mentions that you’re looking a little pale. Maybe you didn’t have enough food or water today. Maybe you were ruminating over something that happened earlier. Or maybe you just got too faded. But there’s no time to worry about the past. Right now you’ve got a problem on your hands, and it threatens both your safety and your good time. Welcome to greening out, a weed-induced anxiety attack that makes you feel like your brain is melting. From nausea to auditory hallucinations to just straight up passing out, greening out is never a good time. A bad green out has the potential to put someone off weed forever. But don’t feel like a noob if it happens. A green out can happen to anyone, even the most seasoned of stoners if they’re not careful. Luckily they’re both preventable and remediable. If you start to feel a green out coming on, just follow these simple steps and you should be able to dodge a potential catastrophe.

Step 1: Don’t Panic

First off, disengage. Whatever you’re doing, drop it and relax. Letting your anxiety run amok is the single worst thing you can do for yourself when greening out. Try to remind yourself that you’re just high, and no one ever died from getting too high. I know that sounds like a tall order when your brain’s frying like an egg, but if you can regain control of your thoughts, there’s a chance you can avoid the green out altogether. Weed plays a huge role in anxiety relief, so even though it’s partly to blame for why you’re in this mess, you still have a pretty good shot at regaining control over the reins of your mind. That said, if you’re already feeling dizzy and seeing black spots, you need to prepare for the worst. Still, calm yourself. Focus on your breathing, and prepare to ride it out as you follow these next steps.

Step 2: Alert Your Comrades

Keeping quiet is not the way to go. I get it, no one’s ever excited to tell their friends they’re greening out. Who wants to be the buzzkill with a low tolerance who brings a swift end to the group activity? And all those eyes on you don’t exactly help when you’re freaking out. But if this gets any worse, your friends are gonna find out anyway. The people you’re with are your lifelines. Moral support is exactly what you need right now, and not having to hide how you feel is going to make this way easier on you. Don’t worry about whether or not people will take it well. If they don’t, you ought to find new people to smoke with.

Step 3: Get Comfortable

If you showed up to the sesh tired, it may very well be how you got here in the first place. A lack of sleep is always enough to ruin your day, and it’s no different with cannabis. Find somewhere safe and park your ass! Greening out is often accompanied by a sense of detachment from the body, and this can sometimes result in a perceived loss of your sense of touch. You definitely don’t wanna be standing up, especially if you’re feeling faint. Find a couch, a park bench, a bed if it’s available. Somewhere with a breeze would be ideal. Get comfy and allow yourself to sweat out the spooky thoughts. Having a friendly person nearby might also put you at ease as you wait out your episode.

Step 4: Nourish Yourself

A lack of adequate nutrition is a huge contributing factor to green outs. The smartest stoners always have water on hand. Dehydration is an all-too-common culprit when it comes to greening out. And eat something if you can. This might prove difficult if you’re feeling nauseous, but as soon as you feel able, get some sustenance in your body. Preferably something with no caffeine. And remember your terpenes! Certain terpenes actually have the ability to mitigate the effects of THC. Beta-caryophyllene can be found in black peppercorns, and limonene can be found in citrus fruits. Also, consider stocking up on some CBD drops, like CBD Magic’s Full Spectrum CBD tincture. Remember, CBD counteracts the effects of THC, so you might be able to use some to restore your sanity. You can even get CBD cartridges that work with your vape pen. Just be sure you’re not using a cart with THC in it, because…

Step 5: Don’t Smoke Any More

The last thing your brain needs right now is more THC. Your brain’s CB1 receptors become overwhelmed when too much THC is administered, causing you to feel like you’re losing your mind. So while cannabis is typically good for anxiety relief, more weed is NOT what you need right now. And lay off the drinks (or any other substances). Greening out often results from mixing cannabis with other drugs. One common offender is alcohol, the effects of which speed up and synergize with THC. So stay clean until tomorrow, when you should be feeling completely restored. Get Well Soon! Feeling any better yet? Hopefully this information is of some assistance to you, or at least calms you down when your time comes.

Remember, greening out can happen to anyone if they’re not careful, so don’t be too hard on yourself. It does tend to happen to people who are not super familiar with the effects of cannabis, so it’s important to stay educated and always be prepared for a disaster. Many green outs can be avoided simply by lessening the amount of cannabis you consume in a day. If you’re looking for an effective way to regiment your cannabis use without giving it up entirely, check out this article on the benefits of using a dry-herb vaporizer.

References: https://weedmaps.com/learn/cannabis-and-your-body/what-is-greening-out https://darta.net.au/wordpress-content/uploads/2015/01/YPID-GREENING-OUT.pdf https://www.thebluntness.com/posts/signs-you-re-greening-out-and-how-to-handle-it