{"id":2017,"date":"2020-08-19T21:45:18","date_gmt":"2020-08-19T21:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/weedmaps.com\/learn\/?p=2017"},"modified":"2026-02-22T14:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T14:40:12","slug":"stoned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/weedmaps.com\/learn\/cannabis-and-its-evolution\/stoned","title":{"rendered":"What does \"stoned\" mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

By definition, being \"stoned\" is the experience of intoxication by the effects of cannabis. Often used to describe the heavy, sedating, and relaxing experiences sometimes associated with using cannabis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\tWhy is it called getting stoned?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The origin of the term \u201cstoned\u201d dates back to biblical times, when sinners were pelted with stones as a form of punishment. In the 1920s and 1930s, people started using \u201cstoned\u201d or \u201cstone drunk\u201d as slang for people who were heavily under the influence of alcohol \u2014 most likely because excessive alcohol use could make people look beaten, battered, and physically worn down \u2014 in other words, as if they'd been physically stoned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Etymologists aren't entirely clear as to when the stoned definition shifted away from being an alcohol-related term to being more closely tied to cannabis use. The first citation in the Oxford English Dictionary for the term \u201cstoned\u201d was in 1953, where it was defined as \u201cunder the influence of drugs\u201d in the glossary section of the book \u201cThe Traffic of Narcotics<\/a>,\u201d co-written by Harry J. Anslinger, the then-Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and notorious cannabis foe. As cannabis use became more widespread in the 1960s, \u201cstoned\u201d references in pop culture were more likely to be referring to cannabis than alcohol, like in Bob Dylan's \u201cRainy Day Women #12 & 35<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\tOther origin theories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The internet is full of unverified theories about the origins of the word \u201cstoned\u201d and how it relates to cannabis, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n