Does weed really make you more creative? Local artists and famous celebs weigh in.

Vices By Harris Alterman

Ah, the age old debate: Does weed actually make you more creative, or does smoking it just trick you into think you're the next Björk?

Some say yes. Some no. Some say “Let’s go to Wendy’s,” because they’re too high to answer the question. But we wanted to hear what artists who have thrived in different art forms had to say about it. So, we asked some of our favorite local artists, comedians and musicians, and then scoured the web to see where our favorite stoney celebrities sat on the issue.

A Musician’s Opinion

Jamie Laurie (Singer/Frontman of The Flobots)

"The first time of only a few times I've ever smoked weed, I tried writing a rhyme. As I wrote, I found I only really retained the most recent word in my memory at any one time, so the whole piece read like one compound word. Then later I was listening to a rapper named Motion Man and he reminded me exactly of how I'd written and I was like "Hey!" In general, I'm not a smoker. I found that weed only exacerbated characteristics that I don't need exacerbated: obsessiveness, tangential thinking and an arguably false sense of epiphany."

A Comedian’s Opinion

Nathan Lund (The Fine Gentleman’s Club)

"I love weed. I smoke weed to slow my brain down because sometimes I feel frenzied with my thoughts unless I'm high. I think that smoking weed makes my brain and a lot of people's brains behave differently than it normally does. When you're sober you're more closed off. Weed can help you open up. When I’m high I’m more open to finding the humor in something. It can make you feel more relaxed, giggly, silly, and those things can lead to more creative ideas. Any of my jokes that involve silly wordplay were probably written while I was high. My joke about Clear Mustard which I call Ham Sanitizer. My joke where I call a handful of Honey Nut Cheerios my heart pills. I also think if you smoke all the time you can get pretty lazy. However with the right doses and if I'm feeling excited to sit down and write, you know I'm going to smoke weed."

A Writer’s Opinion

Cameron Pierce (Head Editor for Lazy Fascist Press)

"I know a lot of writers who enjoy weed and a lot of writers who don't. It seems to have no effect on the work produced. Most of them who do enjoy weed still write sober. Personally, I no longer smoke, but even when I did, I can't think of a single time when being high gave me a halfway decent idea. I mean, does the world really need a story about a person with a PEZ Dispenser for a heart? I wrote a lot while high too. The results were simply never any good."

A Music Producer’s Opinion

Daniel Simmons (LA-based producer)

"I think weed allows you to look deeply into something and bypass barriers of your mind that you normally have when you're sober. So can weed make you more creative? Generally yes. I love listening to and analyzing music while I’m high because I can hear everything. A sober mind can only focus on three elements in a song at once, but when I’m high I get completely immersed in a song and can hear everything at once. It also heightens my ability to sculpt the sounds, getting clarity and separation between each element, and to clearly hear the song's emotion and whether or not it is authentic. I can listen to number one hits and hear what makes them stand out from the stuff that doesn’t make it to the top."

Another Musician’s Opinion

Reason the Citizen (Denver-Based Hip-Hop Artist)

"I think in the right environment, weed can absolutely enhance creativity. If I’m in the studio writing to a new beat, odds are there's a joint lit. On the other hand, if I'm in a party type environment, that blunt isn't likely to spark anything except another blunt. Definitely a fine line."

A Graphic Designer's Opinion

(She wanted to stay anonymous)

"Weed does enhance creativity because it brings subconscious ideas forward into your conscious. It also provides a momentary break from non-productive focus, like if you're just staring at something and trying to figure it out and getting nowhere, it redirects your attention away from the task at hand so when you come back, you're kind of jolted into a new idea."

A Multi-Talented Creative Force of Nature's Opinion

Kitty (Singer, rapper, producer, writer, viral video star)

"I think it just makes me weirder, which translates to more creative."

But ... don't take their word for it. Here are what some of your favorite big-name celebs think about weed's creativity-boosting powers:

Seth Rogen's Opinion

"I smoke a lot of weed when I write, generally speaking, I don’t know if it helps me write. It makes me not mind that I’m writing. And I don’t know if it makes me work better, but it makes me not care that I’m working. Who wants to work? But if you’re stoned, it doesn’t seem like work."

Lady Gaga's Opinion

"I smoke a lot of pot when I write music."

Steve Jobs' Opinion

"The best way I would describe the effect of the marijuana and the hashish is that it would make me relaxed and creative."

So there you have it. There's no denying that weed has a genuine effect on people's brain chemistry, but how it manifests is a personal reaction. For some, this can lead to creative insights. For others it can lead to jumbled thoughts and poor ideas. It may not work for everyone, but if you’re the right kind of person, who smokes the right amount, at the right time, you might come up with the next brilliant idea. Like ham sanitizer.