What do hugs and weed have in common? Well, both either make you feel comfortable or earth-shatteringly anxious. Sometimes, mood dependent, they make you pretty horny. But apparently they could have the ability to make you bond with people. Like make real connections maaaan.

Praise be, stoners. This may add much needed weight to the decriminalisation argument. Researchers at the University of California have discovered the link between the “love” or “hug” hormone (oxytocin) and the effect of marijuana on human behaviour that improves interpersonal bonding. Oxytocin triggers the release of a chemical called the “bliss molecule” (or anandamide), which helps to activate brain receptors and increase happiness and motivation. Testing this with animals showed that mice which were given the marijuana, which stops anandamide deterioration, reacted as they enjoyed spending time with their mice mates much more, than mice that were served with a placebo drug.

This is the first study of its kind to look at weed and oxytocin, and on a serious note, looking into this further could help scientists know more about oxytocin and social impairments, like autism, and potentially develop new methods to tackle symptoms of autism. 

I’m not sure if I bond much with people when I smoke weed, or that I’ve seen much evidence of it either. Whenever I get stoned, or walk into a living room of people smoking and hanging out, I’m more freaked than friendly. Maybe I’m smoking the wrong weed. Maybe I’m hanging out with the wrong people.