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Coughing might feel powerful — but is it actually boosting your high?
Spoiler: It’s mostly just drama. Tap to find out if it’s a myth or truth.
Welcome back to Cannabis Mythbusters, where we don’t just blow smoke — we analyze it. And today, we’re diving face-first into one of the most hotboxed hot takes in stoner culture:
“Bro… if you cough, it hits harder.”
You’ve heard it from your cousin who smokes out of a Gatorade bottle. You’ve heard it from that one guy at the party who always forgets his lighter. You’ve maybe even believed it — mid-choke, eyes watering, thinking, “Yep, this is definitely working.”
But does coughing actually get you higher?
Let’s rip into it.
😤 The High-Pitched Hype
On the surface, it feels true. You take a monster hit, hold it for just a second too long, and suddenly you’re coughing like a Victorian ghost. Your vision sparkles. Your head spins. You slump dramatically into the nearest beanbag chair like you’re auditioning for Euphoria: Couch Edition.
Seems convincing, right?
Wrong-ish.
🧠 What’s Actually Happening Inside That Smoky Skull
Here’s the unglamorous science:
Coughing is just your lungs throwing hands with whatever you just inhaled. Whether it’s dry herb, vape, or an overenthusiastic blunt the size of a Crayola marker — coughing is a reflex, not a reward.
The truth is: most THC is absorbed almost instantly once it hits your lungs. Holding it in longer doesn’t do much. And coughing? That doesn’t magically push extra THC into your bloodstream. What it does do is mess with your oxygen levels.
Yep. When you cough hard, your oxygen dips, your blood pressure jumps, and your brain momentarily freaks out. That “WHOA” feeling? It’s not THC doing a backflip. It’s your body whispering, “Hey… should we be worried?”
TL;DR — You’re lightheaded. Not more baked. Just more dramatic.
🔬 The HH Scientific (ish) Experiment
Here at Haute Health, we believe in testing things the proper way. By which we mean: grabbing three willing participants from our office, giving them equal hits of a tasty strain, and assigning each one a dumb rule.
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Stoner A: Takes the hit and coughs like they’re in a Victorian tuberculosis ward.
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Stoner B: Takes the hit and remains deadpan calm like they’re teaching kindergarten.
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Stoner C: Takes the hit through a kazoo. No reason. Just vibes.
Then, we asked each to rate:
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How high they felt.
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How high they thought they looked.
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Whether the kazoo helped.
The results? Mixed. But also kind of amazing.
Stoner A claimed to be “outer-space high”, but later admitted they hadn’t eaten since noon and thought the spinning feeling was “mostly blood sugar-related.”
Stoner B felt “chill but responsible,” and later went on to alphabetize our snacks.
Stoner C became the office kazoo dealer and now insists music is medicine.
Science? Not really. But legendary? Absolutely.
🥊 The Internet Weighs In
Reddit’s stoner corners (aka the Louvre of half-baked wisdom) have debated this forever. The consensus?
“You feel higher because you just nearly passed out.”
Even medical pros agree: there’s no strong evidence that coughing increases THC absorption. Just the illusion of a more intense high due to your body panicking slightly.
Which, y’know, checks out.
🤓 So Why Do People Keep Believing It?
Because we love rituals. From tapping the top of a beer can to blowing on dice — humans crave cause and effect. Coughing feels intense, so we think it must be doing something special.
But really, it’s just your lungs delivering a firm “NO THANKS” to your decision-making.
💨 Final Verdict: MYTH
Let’s be real — if coughing got you higher, every allergy sufferer in April would be floating through a galaxy of cartoon snacks by now.
Coughing is not a cheat code. It’s not a flex. And it definitely doesn’t earn you stoner XP. If anything, it’s just your body begging for hydration and a break.
So next time someone says “Cough it out, bro — that’s how you know it’s working,”
just hand them a glass of water and say:
“No bro. That’s how I know it’s not.”
Stay smart, stay lifted, and keep busting the myths, one puff at a time.
📬 Want more weed facts, fakery, and foolishness? Hit that newsletter.
💸 Also we have $1 grams this week. No myth. Just madness.
