DOSE:

repeated

vaporized

Hexahydrocannabinol

BODY WEIGHT:

80 kg

My journey with HHC began about a month after moving to a European country with strict anti-drug laws, meaning that I was about a month without access to cannabis. I bought an HHC vape in a CBD shop and was advised to be cautious. "It definitely does something bro, especially if you haven't been smoking too much," the guy told me. I took it home, took three moderate puffs, and became very high for about an hour or two.

I find the effects of HHC pretty much similar to the effects of cannabis. What is different then? HHC, at least when not habituated, feels more psychedelic to me. With higher doses, I sometimes get audial hallucinations - from hearing songs and voices in noises (e.g. in the sound of the rain) to hearing completely made-up sounds. With growing habituation, I get pretty fast to the point where I cannot get too much high anymore. It doesn't knock me out as much as would standard weed do (even after habituation). On the other hand, the low-dose effects persist and are very favorable to me - increased energy, motivation, and creativity. I like to vape the thing in the morning hours to boost my "productivity", as it doesn't affect my cognition in a too negative way. After some habituation, I can have a puff or couple more and be a fully functional individual, carrying out tasks as normal, with just some added enthusiasm and love radiating towards the beings that surround me.

A bit in the early hours of the day, and quite a bit in the evening to feel at least some relaxation. It is probably not surprising that my patterns of usage inevitably lead toward dependence.

When I decided to stay off the substance for a while, I didn't expect the withdrawal process to be completely painless. As a long-term cannabis user hopping on and off the wagon of habitual usage, I am very aware of the withdrawal symptoms of weed. Feeling down, restless, and having problems with sleep, are quite common symptoms for me. However, with HHC, the effects became much more pronounced. I had a couple of cycles of usage (several weeks, to several months, more or less daily) followed by abstinence (several weeks) and the withdrawal symptoms seem to differ based on length and severity of usage, as well as on the type (brand) of vape I was using. I am not sure if there is a difference between the main product (the HHC in the vape), the terpenes that are included (claimed to be extracted from the original plant source), or whether the occasional up to 0.5\% THC content makes a difference. Contaminants could also be present. Ultimately, it may be all down to subjective experience and psychological factors differing between my periods of usage.

With that said, what were the actual problems I went into? First days without vaping the stuff, I tend to become severely depressed. At the last instance of withdrawal, I spent an entire day basically lying in the bed, trying to get myself into work. These "down-times" were intermingled with periods of abrupt aggression without a clear cause. I barely held my shit together. The next day I didn't dare to take the home office again, so I went to work and felt just low-energy and down, but not terrible. Later in the day, I fell into a spiral of self-pity and decided to buy 1g of HHC-infused weed. I smoked some, then took one day off, smoked the rest on the following day, and so re-started my withdrawal with a less severe onset. This produced some anhedonia, but I wasn't feeling that terrible. So going cold turkey from the vapes felt more brutal to me than lowering the doses , and I didn't fall into the well of feeling completely shitty again. Interestingly, only after a couple of days, did the physiological symptoms kick in - sleeping issues, body temperature regulation issues, slight headaches, and lack of appetite.

I was surprised, to say the least. I talked to a friend who had used HHC vapes (for the first time in his life) for about a month, reporting about three days of depressed mood after starting withdrawal as well. This comforted me a little bit. But should it, though? Why is HHC abstinence so harsh in the beginning? Possibly, the difference might be that more or less a plain psychoactive substance is being ingested with the vape (pure HHC) compared to the mixture of nature-selected cannabinoids and other stuff that is contained in the plant material. Here in Europe, we don't have THC extracts commonly, I actually haven't had any in my life. If the purity of the material is the cause of the withdrawal-related pain, it would be of lesser concern to me than if the HHC alone was causing this.

So, caution really was a piece of good advice when dealing with HHC (especially in the form of the vapes). It is impossible to tell what does it do to the body at this point of having no scientific evidence and from a psychological point of view, it is also quite an uncharted territory. I certainly hope for the best in terms of the future of HHC, as despite the withdrawal issues, I still consider it my ally. Just the sweet nature of the clean high it showed to me must be taken with respect, knowing that when overindulging, I will be predetermined for one hell of a crash when hitting the pause (or the stop?) button.

Reported Dose: "40x 1-seconds puffs per day on average"

Exp Year: 2023	ExpID: 117157
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 34
Published: Aug 3, 2025	Views: Not Supported
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