Legal highs come in various forms, such as party pills or herbal ecstasy. While it is legal to have possession of them, it is equally important that they are not injurious to health.

The big attraction about legal highs is they are not only safe to use, but are also safe as an alternative to drugs classed as illegal here in the United Kingdom. In order for them to be safe to take, the legal highs should not contain any ingredients that threaten the health of the user. These hazardous ingredients include BZP and Mephedrone.

Arguably one of the best ways to ensure the legal highs are safe to take, is to buy them in seed form. For instance cannabis seeds can be purchased. These seeds come in various forms, regularised and feminised. However, anyone purchasing them should be aware of the legal situation here in the UK. While it is perfectly legal to buy them as collector’s items, they cannot be legally cultivated.

Many online headshops offer a variety of mushroom spore kits, and many times these mushrooms are not legal for human consumption. Sellers get around this law by clearly stating on their websites that the mushrooms or kits are not for human consumption or are sold only for “research purposes”. It is perfectly legal to buy these mushroom kits, grow these mushrooms, and possess them. Many of these mushrooms can produce various levels of a high, though they also come with a danger.

No one should use a mushroom to get high without careful and diligent research. They should also make sure to always do so in a safe environment in case their experience is not pleasant. Some people enjoy the experience they get from mushrooms that are legal to possess in the United Kingdom, but some have had unpleasant experiences and do not try them again.

It is important to remember that just because these mushrooms are all natural it does not mean they are safe. If you feel any adverse effects following your experience with any mushrooms, whether purchased through headshops or grown and gathered yourself, please make sure to seek out medical treatment immediately.

Unlike herbs that can be smoked or used with vaporizers like the Eclipse Vape-2O Vaporizer, mushrooms are ingested, so please be sure you know which one you are taking and do your research ahead of time.

Herbs are commonly used to induce legal highs, but they also help take the edge off for people with anxiety and social phobias. Some herbs can act as stimulants, such as Indo Kratom, while some are used to help people deal with daily stress, such as Skullcap. Others offer a safe and legal alternative to marijuana, with herbal replacements such as Wild Opium Lettuce, Wild Dagga, and Baybean, which is used in Mexico as an alternative to marijuana.

Many herbs are completely safe and suitable for use by those who are 18 and older if they are used responsibly and treated with respect. Some herbs can also be great for medicinal purposes and offer treatments for ailments such as menstrual cramps, lack of energy, and mood disorders.

Botanical herbs can be smoked with the use of a Lolite or rolled with tobacco in a Rizla rolling machine tin, but many are also recommended for use in herbal teas or powder form. Depending on the desired effects, these herbs can be taken safely in a variety of different dosages.

Most botanical herbs tend to act as sedatives or create mellow feelings in the user that are comparable to cannabis. Many of these can also be grown at home and seeds can be purchased easily online, unlike cannabis seeds which are illegal in the UK and in many different countries around the world.

Try some of these 100% legal herbal blend options the next time you are looking to mellow out or relieve some anxiety.

Buying cannabis seeds is surprisingly easy in the United Kingdom. They simply cannot be sold for cultivation. This is what sets them apart. So while it is perfectly legal for you to buy, sell, trade and possess cannabis seeds, it is not legal to use the drug.

People in countries around the world where cannabis is legal, however, purchase cannabis seeds, cultivate the plants and then use the cannabis as a drug. Some countries have made it completely legal to smoke cannabis, and many people in those countries will make use of the rolling machine rizla and spinning ashtrays to create a really great experience.

This information is strictly for educational purposes only, because it is illegal to get high on cannabis in the United Kingdom. There are some legal cannabis substitutes, however, that can be found at headshops around the United Kingdom. These substitutes offer a mild high that is usually 100% herbal, just like cannabis, but completely legal.

For example cannabis seeds have traditionally been used as bait by anglers. Boiled before use, they are a particularly effective lure for enticing carp. Birds, both wild and domestic, are also very fond of the seeds. For many years bird feed companies were among the few exempted from the total prohibition of hemp in the United States.

However, cannabis seeds are also fit for human consumption. They are extremely nutritious being a quarter protein and high in vitamins and essential fats such as Omega-3 and Omega-6. When dried and pressed they can also produce oil that is very low in saturated fats. This cannabis seed oil does not fry very well as it has a low smoking temperature, but it makes an excellent dressing. It has a nutty flavour, which is perhaps unsurprising considering that cannabis seeds are technically nuts. Cannabis seed oil has also been widely used in cosmetics as it moisturises the skin well without being greasy.

The benefits of using Kanna are a reduction in stress and anxiety and an uplifting of moods. It is particularly useful for those suffering from irritability, phobias, depression and post traumatic stress disorder. In high doses it can produce a euphoric feeling followed by a period of sedation. Kanna has relatively few negative side effects, but some users report headaches, slight nausea, a loss of appetite and insomnia. It is recommended that Kanna should be avoided by those who are pregnant or on psychiatric or sedative drugs.

Kanna can be sold as preformed pills in 50mg doses or more cheaply as a loose powder. This can be slowly chewed dry or mixed in with hot water and drunk as a tea. It can also be smoked or vaporized using a vaporizer like the Iolite by those who want to avoid the carcinogens and other toxins produced by burning. Some users even prefer to snort Kanna. A snuff bullet blizzard can be a useful tool for storing and measuring out Kanna for those who choose this method.

Legal Speed and Ecstasy

These drugs mimic the effects of amphetamines and MDMA, or ecstasy, which combines amphetamines with a mild hallucinogen, which makes colours and sounds appear more vivid.  Products such as High Beams, which are sold as a legal alternative, tend to be synthetic drugs with little herbal content, and it is not always easy to tell exactly what is in them. Suppliers usually warn you not to take them with alcohol, as they can lead to dehydration and the mother of all hangovers.

Legal Hallucinogens

These are typically natural drugs such as fly agaric mushrooms or salvia, which have been used for centuries to promote trance-like states and hallucinations. As they are plant or fungus based, people often assume that the effects are milder than those of synthetic drugs, but this is not always the case. Very often, they are labelled as being for research purposes only and not for human consumption, in order to exploit a loophole in the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Smoking Blends

These are blends of herbs and flowers that can be smoked in a Roor pipe, converted into roll-ups using a Rizla rolling machine, used in vaporizers such as the Volcano Vaporizer or Iolite, or inhaled like snuff using the Blizzard Snuff Bullet.

Blends available include Pineapple Express, a pineapple scented mixture of herbs and synthetic chemicals inspired by the film of the same name, and Algerian Blend, which contains five psychoactive herbs soaked in valerian and wild lettuce resins for a sedative effect. Smoked to excess, however, it can act like an opiate, so be careful.

Multivitamins

Your body can lose vitamins and minerals while you are off your face on legal highs.  Many online head shops sell recovery products designed to replace these nutrients, though there seems to be little difference to similar products sold in high street chemists, apart from the price.

Serotonin Boosters

Many legal highs boost the production of serotonin, the brain’s natural ‘happy chemical’, which can then become depleted, leading to a comedown.  Serotonin boosters operate on a ‘hair of the dog’ principle, giving a small boost of serotonin to regulate brain chemistry more effectively.

Valerian

Valerian is a herb used as a natural sedative, to help bring people down from the buzz caused by legal highs, if they need it, to allow for a good night’s sleep, and also as an anti-spasmodic.  A summary of studies into Valerian’s effectiveness published in the American Journal of Medicine showed mixed results, finding a statistically significant improvement in the sleep quality of those taking the herb, but finding evidence of bias and flawed methodology in the studies themselves.  However, it has been highly valued in both western herbalism and traditional Indian medicine for many centuries.

Archaeological and Historical Evidence for Ritual Plant Use

Cannabis seeds have been found in Bronze Age burial pits in Romania and on board Viking long ships. The paraphernalia found alongside them would appear to indicate that they were smoked ritually. Archaeological finds from the Western Han dynasty in China also inspired the Red Dragon herbal blend from the American company Earth Spell Exotic Herbs LLC, based in Colorado Springs. Closer to home, the Nine Herbs Charm is an ancient Anglo-Saxon poem that provides detailed rituals for collecting nine sacred herbs to use as medicine or to promote a dream-state. In particular, mugwort, the first herb mentioned, is sometimes smoked by modern day shamans to induce what they refer to as ‘astral dreaming’.

Legal Highs in Shamanism Today

The original herb used by the Siberian shamans, who gave their name to the practice of shamanism as ‘shaman’ means priest in the Tungusic languages of Siberia, was the fly agaric mushroom. A powerful hallucinogen, it is legal to own in the UK, but must be labelled “not for human consumption” if sold.

Another popular herbal high used by Native American shamans, or medicine men, was wild lettuce (Lactuca virosa). Often sold by online head shops, either in plant form or as part of an incense blend, it tends to be marketed as an aphrodisiac and sleep aid, a rather contradictory combination, one might think, rather than as a gateway to the spirit world. However, the Hopi Indians smoked the resin of this plant in order to enhance dream states, a practice continued by many shamans today.

There are many substances that provide the same effects as illegal drugs, or effects that are very similar. These may be types of herbs, fungi, crystals or powders, and the Misuse of Drugs Act does not control these. However most of these substances are considered illegal, under legislation currently in force for medicines. Sellers of these substances have a variety of terms used to refer to them, and they cannot be advertised, sold or supplied for human consumption. Phrases frequently used are ‘research chemicals’, ‘bath crystals’ or ‘plant food’.

Sellers of legal highs have a wide range of paraphernalia to assist with the taking of these particular drugs. They include Roor Pipes, Iolite vaporizers, rolling machine Rizla, glass ashtrays, the snuff bullet blizzard and hookahs.

Other useful accessories include bongs and pipes, grinders and stash pots, digital scales, lighters and spinning ashtrays. Many such products have been developed for their novelty and aesthetic design and, as well as being highly practical, have an added ornamental value.