Stoned

The use of stoned to describe drug intoxication dates back to at least the 1920s and 1930s, when it was applied to alcohol intoxication. By the 1950s and 1960s, it had become firmly associated with cannabis. The metaphor is fitting: being stoned implies feeling heavy, planted in place, and unable to move with normal agility, as if one's limbs have turned to stone. The term gained mainstream recognition through 1960s counterculture and became a permanent fixture of the English language.

While high is a broad term for any state of cannabis intoxication, stoned specifically implies the heavier end of the spectrum. You can be high and productive, but being stoned suggests you are likely not going anywhere for a while. The stoned experience is characterized by physical relaxation, appetite stimulation (munchies), giggly contentment, and a desire to sink into a comfortable couch. For many cannabis consumers, getting stoned is the goal of an evening session: a deliberate unwinding of the day's tension.