Question: Who knew that marijuana can improve your night vision?
Answer: Many people around the world. For example, Jamaican fisherman who smoke cannabis or drink a tincture infused with it say that they can see better when they are out fishing at night. It helps them avoid dangerous reefs. But why believe what they and other cannabis users say?
Let’s hear from science which now offers a way to measure night vision: “Objective assessment of night vision has recently become possible with the development of a portable device, the LKC Technologies Scotopic Sensitivity Tester-1.” Hurray! If something can be scientifically measured, then it must be real. But let’s see what the Scotopic Sensitivity Tester-1 reveals.
Ethnobotanists (people who study the relationships between plants and peoples in particular contexts) took the technology to the Rift Mountain region of Morocco (a major cannabis producing area) and conducted a case study. They recruited three Moroccan men who were “kif-experienced” (kif is a cannabis product that is smoked). The men smoked kif and were then tested for vision.
Results: vision improved in each man after smoking kif.
In reporting their findings, the authors humbly comment that their case study is very small (true). Nonetheless, they say, further study is merited.
Any volunteers?
Image: “IMG_9576 copia” from flickr user realight, licensed via Creative Commons.
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