Effects - Is cannabis a stimulant, a depressant, a hallucinogen or none of these?

[BlackSkullRacer]

When I was in drug-education classes, as anti-drug as they were and how much they lied about drugs, they said that cannabis is in a class in its own.

This makes sense because it doesn't fit clearly into any category based on what I've heard about the effects.

Stimulant: I have heard that cannabis increases heart rate, but I have also heard that this is because the material is being smoked and that the blood vessels are dilated. I have seen people intoxicated on cannabis, and they are not hyper like kids are after having too much caffeine, so it can't be a stimulant.

Depressant: Cannabis is a muscle relaxant, so it seems more like a depressant than a stimulant. However, cannabis does not have the risk of slowing breathing down, like alcohol does, as nobody has ever died of a cannabis overdose, so it can't be a true depressant.

Hallucinogen: I have heard people tell me that they have had crazy daydreams on cannabis because of their increased creativity and how they find things funny. However, they have also told me that they can always "snap out of it." One of my friends tried salvia once and said that he literally thought he was in another world and couldn't snap out of it. As such, cannabis can't be a true hallucinogen.

[Reuq]

I think that it can effect people indifferent ways, maybe this is down to changes in strain... personal reactions... whatever you want to call it. This makes cannbis hard to place, because it can be many things.

[EscapeDummy]

Cannabis is a mild psychedelic/hallucinogen more than anything else. I believe this is the general classification for the substance. Your reasoning for what makes a true hallucinogen is incorrect, also. Only salvia, DMT, ketamine, and a few other substances will truly take you to another world; only deleriants like datura and diphenhydramine (they are not psychedelics) will actually give you true hallucinations. The dummy has done LSD and mushrooms many times, and while you can't just "snap out of it" always, you don't think you're in another world. Yet, they are true hallucinogens. And the deleriants, despite producing real/true hallucinations, are not hallucinogens, at least how the term is classically defined.

Cannabis exhibits both stimulant and depressant properties, sativa tending towards the stimulant side and indica more of the depressant side. I'd say cannabis is more of a stimulant, as heart rates can increase significantly, and cannabis provides a lot of mental stimulation. However, it acts as an analgesic and relaxes muscle tone, both depressant qualities. Interesting substance, but again I'd say cannabis is more a (mild) psychedelic/hallucinogen than anything else.

[Tony Williams]

I would say they were right. It's sort of it's own thing/or all. Maybe just call it an intoxicant?

[Endless Summer]

SWIM would definitely class it as a mild hallucinogen though it is so much more than that. A mixture of several categories SWIM guesses. SWIM definitely uses it for its hallucinogenic and psychedelic qualities and not for its "stimulating" or "depressing" qualities.