Finally, an Explanation for Why You Eat Like a Monster When High

The last time I was high I had a panic attack. But I got over that panic attack with an industrial-size bag of Bugles, a gallon of ice cream and a triple dose of benzos. Science has already explained why benzos help, but now we know a little more about why you get so goddamn hungry when you’re faded as hell.

Here’s what’s up: Scientists interested in what causes the munchies subjected adorable mice to a substance that mimicked the “active ingredient in cannabis, THC.” What they found, and subsequently published in Nature is that marijuana may “hijack” a complex neuronal system that controls hunger, but that the effects of THC may actually be counter-intuitive to how we think marijuana makes hunger take over, forcing your feelings of hangriness to come to the forefront of consciousness.

From Scientific American:

These doped-up rodents tend to keep noshing, even if they’ve already eaten their fill. But what’s going on in their little mouse brains? Paradoxically, the researchers found that the cannabinoid receptor turns on the neurons that normally make animals feel full.

But what happens next is different from usual. When the “hey-I’m-full” neurons get triggered by the THC receptors, they wind up sending a “hey-I’m-still-hungry” signal that send us scrambling for the cupcakes. (This is your brain on drugs.)

No, actually, this is your brain on drugs:

According to Scientific American, this research wasn’t just done for the giggles that getting mice high might produce. Instead, the data collected might help those who are living with depression or cancer get their appetite back and allow them to eat in a healthy way. Win for everyone?