On another forum, the question came up as to whether or not Potheads can appreciate music. The classical music types think no. Though in my anecdotal experience, pot can enhance musical appreciation.
So my question takes on two parts.
I think the classical music types can’t appreciate pot.
Man, how times have changed. While most 70’s pot users were way more into Pink Floyd than Puccini, IMHO pot could be a catalyst for more deeply appreciating Stravinsky, Holst, Ginastera, Bartok, etc…
And Taco Bell too, but that’s another matter. 
There is a difference between music enjoyment and music appreciation. When you’re high, you’re not really in a state of mind to appreciate the style, form, historical context, dynamics, interpretation of a piece of music. That’s what music appreciation is, and it’s not necessarily about enjoyment. However, you can certainly get a greater amount of subjective/affective pleasure from music while high, and even hear elements you might not normally have noticed. This could feed into your long-term appreciation of the music, I suppose.
That’s gotta be a whoosh. I hope.
So, the people making this strange claim have never hung around any symphony orchestras, have they?
Try this (I have);
1> Get high.
2> Crank up some really good instrumental music*
3> Drive through Sequoia, Redwoods, the Black Hills or any other stunning vista.
IMHO, the proposition in the OP is ludicrous. Are they defining “music” as consisting only of their favorite artist/composers (which is somewhat usual for music snobs)?
Sez who? My state of mind? How would you know? - we’ve never even met. 
The Pot issue (from, in my case, decades ago) aside, almost all listening I have ever done would be considered “appreciation”. This doesn’t mean it’s not also “enjoyment”.
I guess your point would hinge upon why one listens to music in the first place. I couldn’t care less about lyrics, for instance… but I’m very focused upon key changes, time signatures, structure, etc… This is probably not typical, but it certainly is at odds with your sweeping assertion.
As a musician with some (aborted) classical training and a one time fondness for marijuana, I can tell you catagorically that you are absolutely wrong. My “appreciation” (in the academic sense) was, if anything, enhanced by being high. I “got” a lot of things that had previously gone over my head. It helped me appreciate jazz more as well.
Seconded. I began to notice all sorts of very specific things regarding the harmonies and bass lines and rhythms that I had never even picked up on before smoking.
Weed and Jazz music? This cat’s tuned in, far out daddy-o.
Out of curiousity, what made you lose your fondness for pot?
Well, I didn’t really lose the fondness, but I gave it up when I became a parent.
Back in the day, I found that I truly enjoyed, while high, this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this.
So I’m thinking that musical appreciation is pretty much independent of genre if one has the proper state of mind.
In my teens I used to turn up at parties with my parents Al Jolson album. Once people were sufficiently stoned I would put it on and everyone loved it. People would ask me whether I had brought it if they saw me before it hit the turntable. I admit there was some kind of “tradition” aspect to it but I don’t think anyone could have foreseen 70s dopers liking Jolson - it had to be the weed. Unfortunately someone stole the album at one party and my popularity soon waned.
Former pothead, forever music appreciater. (Is that even a word? Blame it on the weed.)
Classical music makes sense when I’m high. As the child of a musician, I tend to pick music apart as I listen, and being stoned allowed me to relax enough to enjoy the flow of the sounds, rather than analyzing one bit at a time. (FTR, shrooms increase(d) my enjoyment of music, thereby allowing me to go back when sober and relisten - and appreciate - songs I wouldn’t have otherwise given further thought to.) Back on track, pot has always made me feel more “connected” to music, and I can empathize with whatever feelings the piece conveys. This holds true regardless of if I’m listening to Tchaikovsky or Pink Floyd or Cake.
Listening to music high is wonderful although not necessarily better than when not in an altered state. Playing music when high is not such a good idea.
I haven’t smoked any pot in 21 years but I have been taking Hydro-codone due to a broken collar bone recently and have done some of both in the last week.
The assertion made in the OP is ludicrous. While I don’t toke the weed anymore, I never really “got” Mozart until I listened to him while high. That’s when it all came together.
And yes, I’m a “classical music type.”
Please DO NOT drive while under the influence.
Studies show that marijuana does not impair driving ability for habitual users. It’s not like alcohol. People actually become more cautious. I routinely drove while baked for years back in the day. It never affected my ability in the slightest. The hell of it is, I won’t drive after even one beer. Alcohol is different. This might not be PC to say, but there it is, and the studies back me up.
I would very much disagree. I haven’t smoked up in years, but playing while high on marijuana definitely let go of inhibitions and left-brained thinking (for lack of better way of describing it) and really let me relax and play more intuitively. It works best in an improvisational setting, but it works with very formal music as well. Of course, YMMV.