Table 3 Themes related to enhancement
Main Theme | Subthemes | Example Participant Responses |
|---|---|---|
Tension reduction/ balancing of psychedelic drug effects (N = 27) | N/A | “Helps ease my anxiety and mellows me out” “Cannabis helps calm me down, and during a bad trip especially” “Balanced me out” |
Enhancement to psychological processes (N = 11) | Ambiguous enhancement to psychological processes (N = 2) Increased positive affect (N = 6) Cognitive enhancement (N = 5) | “Weed makes everything better and more manageable” “Made me feel so chill and happy” “Just enhanced the joy” “Changed mental state to a much more introspective state” “Helped to make me feel less out of control” |
Intensified psychedelic drug effects (N = 12) | Ambiguous enhancement of drug effects (N = 3) Enhanced visual effects (N = 7) Enhanced body effects (N = 4) | “Sometimes makes me trip harder” “It intensified the visuals” “It brought me more into my body” |
Enhanced psychedelic come-down (N = 8) | Extension of psychedelic drug effects/intensified come-down (N = 7) Enhanced recovery from psychedelic drug effects (N = 2) | “It helped to re-invigorate my trip in the latter 3 h of my psychedelic experience” “I always use after, while coming down. Helps to prolong or wind down” |
Overall ambiguous enhancement i.e., participant reported enhancement but did not elaborate (N = 7) | N/A | “Absolutely enhanced it” “Made everything better” “Enhanced” |