Dangers of space cakes – Amsterdam Coffeeshops FAQ

This is part of an Amsterdam Coffeeshops FAQ series

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So there must be hazards involved with eating space cakes, right?

Yes, definitely. These can be far more dangerous than just smoking for a few reasons and this cannot be stressed enough. Firstly, since smoking weed gets you high within a minute or so, we all have a built-in protection from overdosing in a harmful way. Nearly all of us will completely forget that we are even smoking once we get to a certain highness level, so it’s like an automatic shut-off valve. If you are sitting there pondering whether to take another toke or not, you really aren’t all that high. And if you ARE all that high, you’ll be thinking about how loud the music suddenly sounds in this coffeeshop, or how the girl sitting at the next table would look a lot more like Jessica Alba if she gave you permission to remold some of her facial features.

But since space cakes always take a long time to hit you, overdosing is not only possible, it’s quite easy. It’s very common for people to eat one and then quickly grow impatient assuming the thing was really weak or contained no cannabis at all, only to consume another one or two with the hopes of hurrying things up or making sure a proper high is achieved. This can be disastrous when the first one really kicks in just a bit later, and then the other one or two kick in after that.

I don’t want to make this seem more dangerous than it really is though. These things can be extremely fun, and I highly recommend them, especially for people who are curious about getting high but who have problems with the whole smoking side of things. Put very simply: ask the person at the shop about how strong each space item is, and then consume only the amount they recommend for you. Wait a minimum of two hours from when you eat the space cake before you consider having another one or part of another one, and you’ll be totally fine.

What is an overdose of space cakes like?

It’s not pretty at all. Even for the most experienced smoker who has never experienced being “too high” they can definitely feel “too high.” Trust me. All sense of time and direction are completely lost, often replaced by panic or extreme paranoia. You might experience geometrical shapes twisting through your line of sight, but not in a fun way like being on acid. You’ll realize you are too high, and maybe getting higher, and the only thing to do is try to get to a safe place and wait it out. Some visitors to Amsterdam actually end up in the hospital in this situation, but the emergency crews know there isn’t much help they can give you. You won’t die from this or have permanent brain damage, but you will really regret not listening to the people who warned you about this when they sold you the space cakes in the first place.

Overdosing on space cakes can and does happen, but never to people who are careful going in. It really takes quite a bit in order to reach this horrifying level of highness, so be careful, but as long as you are you shouldn’t pass up one of the best rides you’ll ever go on.

How can I avoid eating too much?

The best thing to start with is you should listen to the advice of the people who sell these space items to you. They know all about the risks of eating them, and newcomers will almost always be asked a few questions before they sell to you, and then are given a short lecture before you dig in. Each place knows the strength of each item they sell so the last thing they want to do is ruin someone’s holiday by eating twice as much of this as they should have.

Most places, for this very reason, have a combination of brownies, cakes (usually a simple poppy seed cake), cookies, and muffins. They know that this one is twice as strong as that one, and usually the smaller cookies are the best for first-timers or people who don’t weigh much.

So as long as each person has no more than ONE item, the chances of overdosing are almost zero. The risks always start when people become impatient and have another one or two space items.

Can I drink alcohol while on a space cake?

Obviously you can, but for many people it’s not a good idea. I strongly urge people to stay away from booze the first time you do edible cannabis. Once you get used to the balance, it can be really fun, and the combination won’t make you nauseous or anything, but problems definitely can happen when someone eats a space cake and then starts downing Heinekens while waiting for the cake to start taking affect.

People who aren’t used to this combination can get really sloppy in a hurry, and they become a major burden on their friends if they are lucky enough to have friends who aren’t just as bad off. If you see people staggering through the streets of Amsterdam with a loyal friend on each side holding them up as they walk, chances are this is what did it.

And especially if you had the space cake and began drinking on an empty stomach, fainting when you try to stand up becomes a real possibility. The combination of alcohol and a space cake seems to relax people physically to a degree that their legs can give way beneath them upon standing up, but this usually only happens when you a feeling queasy already while just sitting there.

But with all of that said, it’s super fun once you get the hang of the doses and whatnot. Drinking while tripping on space cakes is something to be careful about, but not something to avoid forever.

Animated video that gives you some idea what an overdose is like

Here’s a video of an emergency call placed by a cop who felt like he and his wife had overdosed on pot brownies, and someone added some basic but hilarious animation to help illustrate things. One interesting thing about it is the cop sounds totally lucid and almost normal, but in his mind he feels like he’s dying, and that time is going “really, really, really slow.”

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