Getting stoned and putting on some songs may be a stoner stereotype, but the observant cannabis user will know that there’s just something different about music when you’re high.

Those who have consumed cannabis seem to have a higher sensitivity to the intensity of sound. Specifically, they are more sensitive to sound intensity thresholds. As a result sounds are clearer and thus more meaningful. Researchers also found that cannabis users have a greater speech perception. This means that they are able to distinguish words from background noise much better than when they were not under the influence of marijuana.

Another study found that marijuana use can make it harder to perceive time as a continuous stream of past into present leading to the future. A result of this is that people who are high are more intently focusing on the present moment, and experience the present with a greater intensity. Theories argue that this explains why marijuana users prefer music that contains soundscapes, full of echoes and reverberations.