This makes sense given that cannabis tends to enhance or magnify sensory experiences in general. With just a mild buzz, people seem to slow down and experience the sensory moment more intensely.

I've read some research on that effect, which suggests that the stoner "forgetfulness" trope could help explain why. Cannabis does mess with memory, at least temporarily, and can evidently partially disconnect links between short-term and long-term recollection.

The theory goes like this:

When a person is high on THC, sensory experiences are placed into short-term memory like always, but the neural circuits that typically kick in immediately to link those memories to long-term memories are inhibited to some extent. Therefore, the sensory event you're experiencing while stoned might feel more novel, less routine, and therefore more significant and/or exciting.

The same researchers say this effect may explain why people on THC feel that time passes more slowly. Since sensory input "feels" new and requires more processing to evaluate, the THC user becomes more wrapped up in the experience, focusing more on it, which requires time and concentration we seldom otherwise devote to sensory activities.

To understand where the researchers are coming from, we can think about how children experience time as passing more slowly than adults do. The younger the child, the more pronounced that effect is. One reason for that might be that sensory experiences are new for children, who have to process them with more attention — more neural resources.

So, when we're using THC, we can regain some of the sense of childhood wonder in new experiences.

Or at least that's the theory.