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Marijuana helps me to smell.

Discussion in 'Medical Marijuana Usage and Applications' started by Greyfolk, Dec 16, 2009.

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  1. #1 Greyfolk, Dec 16, 2009
    I was born with no sense of smell. It seems to be hereditary as my Mother also has no sense of smell.
    I started smoking weed 3 years ago. Until then I had no concept of what things smelled like. But, since I have started smoking, I have had glimpses of smell.
    For example, yesterday I smoked then I peeled a banana for my daughter. For the first time in my life I could smell the banana! It was amazing!
    I have also had the pleasure of smelling, on rare occasions--and usually only once: a cigarette, my own gases, the ocean, rain, and once I got to smell what my daughter smells like! It has been a wonderful couple of years.

    Is there any research out there on marijuana and it's effects on the sense of smell? If so I love to read it, if not, is there anyone willing to research this further?
     
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  2. #2 MrBooMY, Dec 16, 2009
    I know from my own use that it intensifys the sense of smell, so that is probably why it's helping you. God help you if you go by a dead dog in the road when baked. Man what a stink, I almost puked.
     
  3. #3 Greyfolk, Dec 16, 2009
    lol. I have been preserved from the smell of dead-wet, dog. I hope there is research out there, otherwise I'll be a proud guinea pig!
     
  4. #4 homostoner, Dec 16, 2009
    wow, that's great. reminds me of the book "the giver" where the guy can't see colours but then he begins to get glimpses of them randomly. hahaha.

    that's weird though, because after i smoke weed i can't smell anything... the smoke seems to block my smell receptors lol.


    oh and welcome to the city :wave:
     
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  5. #5 hubblybubb, Dec 16, 2009
    To quote Hank Hill- "is there anything propane(marijuana) can't do?"
     
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  6. #6 jr1508, Dec 16, 2009
    glad to hear that, for me on the other hand like homostoner said i can't smell as good lol, my friend always perinoid about it smelling like bud, asks me if it smells like bud and i can't smell it at all lol.
     
  7. #7 Greyfolk, Dec 16, 2009
    I have been looking around for some answers and so far this seems like news to them. I called the Taste and Smell clinic in DC, they never heard of marijuana helping this sense. I also contacted some Drs at NORML who also never heard of this. But, there are only a handful of us in the world with congenital hyposmia or anosmia. So, I did not expect a slew of answers. I just hope to find a researcher who is interested in learning more about the connection between pot and smell. :smoke:
     
  8. #8 xaviere, Dec 16, 2009
    I am FASCINATED by olfaction chemistry (the chemistry behind smells and odors, and how we and other animals perceive smells)!!

    Congrats, Greyfolk, for getting to smell some of those things you've mentioned!

    I'm reading Luca Turin's book, "The Secret of Scent." Turin is a perfume critic. In this book, he's trying to give the layperson reader (that is, a reader who is not a chemist) an idea of the background and also puts forth his own hypothesis on how we perceive odors. It's complicated, because most enantiomers (chemical compounds which have the same chemical formula as another, but a slightly different physical configuration) evoke the same smells as their "sibling" compounds. I'm not doing a good job explaining, sorry. Like one molecule has a "right-hand" configuration, but another has a "left hand" setup (think of hands or gloves--you cannot put a left glove on your right hand without it being weird)--yet both the R & L (R&S if ya wanna get technical, grin) molecules give us the SAME SMELL most of the time. If you think about most receptors on our cells, this doesn't really make sense--receptors are configured in such a way to accept only one configuration of molecule.
     
  9. #9 Greyfolk, Dec 16, 2009
    That actually may make sense. My left hand receptors may have always worked, but my right hand receptors do not (or they work too--but do not communicate w/ the left) This might explain why when I smell something, I immediately recognizing it as if I had been smelling it all of my life. Marijuana may help to bridge a gap between the receptors. Is this close?
     
  10. #10 Greyfolk, Dec 16, 2009
    A response from Dr. Dale Gieringer at NORML:

    This is the first time I have heard a report about marijuana helping to improve the sense of smell.
    However, it reminds me of a similar report by a doctor I knew who had a color-blind patient who could discriminate colors better with the help of marijuana.
    There seems to be something about marijuana that stimulates senses of all kinds.

    Unfortunately, the government has made it virtually impossible to conduct MJ research. Until govt regs are changed, the prospects for research on rare disorders like yours are exceedingly slim. :mad:
     
  11. #11 Greyfolk, Dec 16, 2009
    I'll just keep up my own private "research" until I find someone else who wants to help find a cure for congenital hyposmia or anosmia. Perhaps a blog on my progress?
     
  12. #12 Highest THC, Dec 22, 2009
    wow amazing story, for me it pretty much makes it way harder to smell unless its some delicious food.... god im hungry..
     
  13. #13 Doobamatic, Dec 22, 2009
    That's truly interesting.... I'll be sure to post any information I find out regarding the subject in here.
     
  14. #14 nickzzzx, Dec 23, 2009
    That's great that you have been able to smell certain things, but are you sure it's cannabis that's causing you to smell?
    I'm not doubting its potential because we all know how versatile the plant can be, but there are also many factors in your life that could've influenced such a change. Maybe changes in diet, natural bodily changes, or environmental factors could've influenced your ability/inability to smell.

    The reason I'm questioning cannabis is because it dulls my sense of smell in a way, or makes it very hard for me to differentiate between things.
    Everyone reacts differently though so there is definitely a possibility that cannabis 'enables' something in your nose...

    Are you only able to smell when you're high or is it while sober too?
     
  15. #15 Greyfolk, Dec 29, 2009
    It is hard to explain why i think cannabis has been able to help me smell. When I smoke I am able to smell some things that I have never been able to smell before. This may or may not be a direct correlation to the weed.

    A note from a Dr. friend on the subject:
    There have been some VERY weak correlations to marijuanas effect on upregulation and potentiation of electrical impulses steming from olfactory (smell) centers of the brain however these have been only anecdotal conclusions. Its also relatively impossible to draw conclusions because all the studies that have been looked at are in animals. The government is very squimish on finding another ligitimate use for the drug so funding and "resources" for such a project would be hard to come by. The short answer here is that no one really knows if it has any effect long term on olfaction but it does seem to have an acute response enhancement.

    Olfaction is tied to one of the most primative parts of the brain and is directly in contact with the hippocampus which is the center for memories which is also strongly tied with the limbic system (emotional well being). It is also possible that the sheer birth of your daughter, or feeling of emotional fullfillment could enhance olfaction. It is well known that certain scents can bring people back to memories of better (or worse) times and have a definte emotional impact.

    The conclusion here is I wouldn't jump to say that the marijuana is the cause of the change. However, there could be a correlation.
     
  16. #16 xaviere, Dec 29, 2009
    The tags on this thread are great, very descriptive: anosmia, congenital hyposmia, marijuana, medicinal marijuana, smell

    I totally could see different cannabinoids affecting the sensitivity of receptors, Greyfolk! Plus, we have so many endocannabinoids naturally present in our brain, I agree that probably several compounds in cannabis could be helping you to detect odors, scents and fragrances!

    Agreed that smell is such a primal sense, intimately tied to so many important structures in the brain! It could be a combination of intense emotion AND the cannabinoids. Hm.

    Oh, and Luca Turin thinks that our noses are like biological spectrometers--that the olfactory receptors are sensitive to the different types of chemical bonding within molecules, like the smelly thiol bond S-H. Take a look at the aforementioned wiki page on the Vibrational Theory of smell, it's pretty cool.

    Smell is such a frakking huge part of my existence, I'm glad you've at least gotten glimpses of how great it is!
     
  17. #17 Greyfolk, Jan 2, 2010
    REPORT: Yesterday I was changing the water in my fish tanks, something I do every month, and I smelled salt for the first time. I opened up the bag of sea salt, and like the banana, I was overwhelmed by the pure scent of salt. It was amazing. I had been smoking for a few hours at the time. :hello:
     
  18. #18 avnatanyel, Jul 18, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 18, 2011
    I haven't been able to smell for about the last 4-5 years except for very fleeting circumstances where I might catch a hint of a scent before it's gone forever. However, since I started smoking weed again (it had been 15 years or so) for my insomnia (oh, how I cannot begin to properly praise the blessing of sleep that has been returned to me:hello:) I have also begun to catch more scents more often and they aren't lost immediately. I'm not cured or anyhing but catching the scent of jasmine blowing through the yard or vanilla or honey again...or even dirty dishwater is truly wonderful.

    I still can't smell my stash though and I have missed that scent since before I lost my sense of smell. :(

    I still wish you could buy those xmas tree things for your car that smelled like fresh fruity buds.
     
  19. #19 Stoner Guy, Jul 18, 2011
    honestly i don't think salt has a smell. maybe a very light aroma. maybe you did smell it because of the fact you have not smelt anything so you may be more sensitive when you can smell. good luck! cheers! :smoke:
     
  20. #20 Storm Crow, Jul 18, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 18, 2011
    In response to this post, I started looking for stuff on cannabis and the sense of smell. Unfortunately, the folks who could benefit the most, haven't checked in to GC for a while! :( But, here's the new section on "Smell/ Odor Detection"-

    Marijuana Odor Perception (full – 2004)
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    Cannabinoid action in the olfactory epithelium (full – 2007) Cannabinoid action in the olfactory epithelium

    The endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoyl-glycerol controls odor sensitivity in larvae of Xenopus laevis. (full – 2010) The Endocannabinoid 2-Arachidonoyl-Glycerol Controls Odor Sensitivity in Larvae of Xenopus laevis

    Endocannabinoid modulation in the olfactory epithelium. (abst – 2010) Endocannabinoid modulation in the olfactory epithe... [Results Probl Cell Differ. 2010] - PubMed result

    Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol may palliate altered chemosensory perception in cancer patients: results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial (full – 2011) Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol may palliate altered chemosensory perception in cancer patients: results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial

    Cannabinoi receptor-mediated regulation of neuronal activity in the main olfactory bulb (abst – 2011) Cannabinoid receptor-mediated regulation of neuronal activity in the main olfactory bulb -- Heinbockel et al. 25 (1): 855.3 -- The FASEB Journal


    And since the sense of smell is tied into the hippocampus, these may explain a lot! :D

    New neuron production can be increased in the hippocampus of aged rats following cannabinoid treatment (abst – 2009)
    [FONT=&quot]smokeWeedErryDay[/FONT]

    Cannabinoids promote hippocampus neurogenesis and produce anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like effects (full - 2005)
    [FONT=&quot]Journal of Clinical Investigation -- Cannabinoids promote embryonic and adult hippocampus neurogenesis and produce anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like effects[/FONT]

    Hope that helps- whenever you guys get back to the city! :gc_rocks:


    Granny :wave:
     
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