Contact high
Drug-like effect from proximity to drug users
Contact high is a phenomenon that occurs in otherwise sober people who experience a drug-like effect just by coming into contact with someone who is under the influence of a psychoactive drug. In a similar way to the placebo effect, a contact high may be caused by classical conditioning as well as by the physical and social setting.
01Definition
The term contact high has its roots in the drug culture of the 1950s and 1960s.
In 1969, a drug abuse book for high school students defined "contact high" as "becoming high merely by interacting with one who is high". In 1971, a glossary of drug users' language describes a contact high as "a psychogenic 'trip' without taking drugs, by being close to somebody while he is on drugs". The term is sometimes incorrectly used to describe the high experienced by a person who has inhaled secondhand smoke.
In Alexander Shulgin's book PiHKAL, under the 2C-I entry, a notable reaction was observed in a participant who took a placebo while in an environment with other people who are under the influence of a drug. The participant wrote that he had "absorbed the ambience of the folks who had actually imbibed the material".
02In popular culture
The 1966 debut album by New York band the Godz was titled Contact High with the Godz.
Kokomo, the Beach Boys song from the 1988 film Cocktail and album Still Cruisin', includes the lyric "gave me a tropical contact high".
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Contact high”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.
