Two options that always make an appearance in the world of mind-altering substances from nature are shrooms and weed. Both hiking and backpacking are different adventures, so if you’re still not sure, there’s nothing to worry about. If you’re trying shrooms vs weed for the first time, we want to help guide you in choosing what’s right for you.
If your goal is personal growth or a more relaxed mood, it’s good to be familiar with the difference between psilocybin mushrooms and cannabis flowers. This guide will cover psychedelic effects, the importance of safety, legality issues and common ways to use them.
What Are Shrooms and Weed?
Often referred to as magic mushrooms, shrooms are fungi, wild or not, with psilocybin. Taking psilocybin causes your body to create psilocin, which eventually interacts with serotonin receptors in your brain. As a result, people report seeing altered images, feeling differently and becoming more aware during a psilocybin experience.
On the other hand, weed, sometimes called marijuana, is taken from the cannabis plant. The plant has THC and CBD, different cannabinoids that impact the brain differently. The main compound for the ‘cannabis high’ is THC, and CBD gives you non-intoxicating therapeutic effects. Marijuana strains vary from sativa, indica and hybrids, each supplying a different set of results.
Effects: Psychedelic Trip or Cannabis High?
If you’re trying to choose between shrooms vs weed, the experience you want to have will largely determine both.
What to Expect from a Shroom Trip
Full shroom trips can last between 4 to 6 hours at times, and users report:
- Breathing walls, vivid colours, morphing shapes, etc. Shroom visuals
- And art or a connection with music or music, music, a higher level connection to the natural world or the life artistic functions as such.
- Times of great joy or laughter, or when someone realizes anything so great and laughs or even cries out from it.
- If taken in the wrong setting, it may cause occasional anxiety or confusion.
- ‘I’ dissolves away, you lose the sense of ‘I,’ you merge with your surroundings and become everything is really opioid.
The psychedelic effects can be surprisingly powerful, and it’s safest to feel them in a safe and controlled environment.
What to Expect from a Cannabis High
Generally, the cannabis high is mild and depends on weed dosage effects and the type of strain. This is what you will likely feel:
- (weed relaxation and marijuana euphoria) Relaxes or a euphoric feeling
- So it increases sensory perception, and suddenly, food is better tasting, and music is better sounding.
- Enhanced creativity and spontaneous ideas
- It is taken in high doses, sometimes resulting in weed paranoia or dry mouth.
- To relieve pain, anxiety or sleeplessness
Depending on the consumption method, how long weed high lasts differs: 2 – 3 hours (inhalation) and 6 – 8 hours (edible cannabis).
Comparing Weed vs Psychedelic Trip
Of course, new users often try to equate a weed high with a psychedelic mushroom trip, as if it’s one and the same, but the experiences are drastically different.
Cannabis makes you feel a bit differently about things and is used socially or recreationally. But shrooms mess with your reality a little more real and deep. Having psychedelic mushrooms, myriads of users find spiritual insight, emotional healing or personal growth.
If you are just trying your first dab into the scheme of mind-altering substances, then weed might be a little easier to manage. If you’re emotionally prepared for something deeper and introspective, a shroom journey could be a life-changing experience.
Methods of Consumption: From Smoking to Microdosing
How to Take Shrooms Safely
Psilocybin mushrooms come in a few ways that you can consume them.
- It is safe to eat dried shrooms raw or with food.
- Make a tea from them.
- Shroom chocolates or capsules are to be consumed
- Microdosing shrooms, a tiny amount (around 0.1–0.3g) of everything from mood to focus, without hallucination.
A mushroom dosage guide should always be followed. For beginners, you want 1 to 2 grams of dried mushrooms in a safe, familiar place.
How to Consume Cannabis
Cannabis offers more versatility:
- Smoking weed vs eating edibles: Edibles give a stronger high than smoking but take much longer to take effect
- Vaping cannabis is cleaner and less irritating for the lungs than vaping tobacco crops.
- Local or low-intensity effects are offered by topicals, oils and tinctures.
And when you do try a new product, particularly edibles, remember it always starts low and goes slow. It takes 30 minutes to two hours for edibles to make their effects felt.
Mental Health, Creativity, and Therapeutic Use
More and more people are seeking cannabis or shrooms for creativity and therapeutic purposes. Here’s how I rank them.
- The medicinal potential of cannabis includes stimulating creative brainstorming, relaxation of the body and short-term mood lifting. In particular, CBD-rich strains are great for anxiety.
- Shrooms are frequently used therapeutically for trauma, depression and anxiety at the end of life. It can also give emotional breakthroughs — or play with perspective — all via shroom hallucinations.
Both substances are said to have long-term mental health benefits, according to some studies—when taken intentionally. However, individual reactions to magic mushrooms will vary from one individual to the other, and hence, anyone with a previous history of psychosis or mental instability should seek advice from professionals prior to using magic mushrooms.
Legal Status: Are Shrooms Legal in Canada?
This is a very common and important question for Canadians: are shrooms legal in Canada?
- Nationwide, cannabis is legal for adults aged 18 or 19, depending on the province. Trusted dispensaries like Supreme Dispensary can be where you buy products online.
- Though, psilocybin mushrooms are still illegal for recreational use. Though psilocybin is allowed for medical exemptions and clinical trials by Health Canada, possessing or selling it outside of that exception is illegal.
As psychedelic therapy becomes more of a mainstream topic of discussion, this might change. For the time being, be smart and know the local laws in your area.
Safety Considerations: Don’t Skip This
Both used responsibly, can be safe but can be dangerous if they are not.
Safety Tips for a Shroom Trip
- You should always use a trusted source.
- Don’t combine it with alcohol or other drugs.
- Quiet, safe trip
- If it’s your first time, then you should have a sober friend or trip sitter with you
- You should be prepared for emotional ups and downs.
Cannabis Safety Tips
- If you’re new, stick to low-THC strains or CBD-heavy options
- Stay hydrated
- Don’t drive or use machinery while high.
- Take note that cannabis side effects may include dry mouth and anxiety
- Make the sessions short and instead take breaks between them to avoid dependence
Also, mixing weed and shrooms is not recommended for new shrooms users. The two combined can blow you out of sorts or make you anxious.
Choosing Between Weed and Shrooms
At the end of the day, it’s down to your intention, your comfort level or your curiosity.
Ask yourself:
- Do I need a manageable buzz or a mind-expanding journey?
- Is this a physical safe space and, more importantly, an emotional safe space?
- But am I educated about how to consume psychedelics or cannabis responsibly?
- Have I already mentally prepared myself for a deep dive into my own thoughts and feelings.
And if you’re still unsure, there is no rush. Begin with the feeling that you can succeed and that that is a safe place. Make sure you’re always intentional and informed, no matter what.
Final Thoughts
Choosing shrooms vs weed is pretty much choosing between two worlds. Cannabis works as a smooth entry into altered states, offering relaxing and uplifting effects that can be worked into a busy life. Psilocybin mushrooms send you deeper in, occasionally in unknown ways, but in the event that you find yourself experiencing life-altering understanding.
We believe in supporting your journey through peace, play or personal growth, and so at Supreme Dispensary, we are proud to offer high-quality cannabis flowers, edibles and vape products. We are not licensed to sell psilocybin at any of our licensed dispensaries and only want to see education, safety and self-awareness around all forms of exploration.
Explore our cannabis collection today at Supreme Dispensary, and take the first step toward your ideal trip—whatever path you choose.