Jungle Fever: Smoking Paraphernalia & Legal Highs

Not only do people want their highs to be legal, they also want them to be safe. The last thing they need is for their legal highs to be adulterated with potentially dangerous ingredients. This is why it is always very important to check the ingredients before purchasing. If the goods are being bought online, this means carefully checking the information available on the vendor’s website, and then checking the details on the packet when they arrive.

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.

Legal highs have become increasingly popular in Great Britain in the past decade, with many legal high headshops operating online. They carry a multitude of legal ways for people to get high, everything from powders to pills, and smoking blends to herbal incenses. These legal shops have created a lucrative industry catering to British youth especially, but also to those who want a nice experience with a legal high.

Many legal highs require nothing more than a credit card, a vaporizer, a Roor pipe, or glass ashtrays to enjoy the experience, in the way of paraphernalia.  Many of these methods are very cheap and affordable, and some herbs that induce certain feelings can even be legally grown right at home.

In 2010, there were 41 new synthetic psychoactive substances invented and distributed in Europe that were all perfectly legal. The rise in legal drugs that produce highs is unprecedented. People enjoy using them because they can produce energy, enhance sex, create a sense of tranquillity, decrease stress, and give them a nice, natural high that is comparable to cannabis. Others stimulate a person so they feel energised, giving them the extra boost to stay up all night partying or some extra courage during socialising when they are otherwise rather shy. 

There are substitutes out there for cannabis a-plenty, but there are also herbal ecstasy and a slew of other choices for people looking for a 100% legal high. Just remember that if you are getting high legally, it is imperative to do so responsibly.

Salvia divinorum is a relative of the mint plant that originates from Mexico. It has also gained notoriety as a powerful hallucinogenic and, in the UK at least, as a legal high. Users report an altered perception of shapes and colours, the reliving of memories and some hysteria. The long-term side effects are still unknown, but due to salvia’s psychedelic impact it would be dangerous to drive, operate machinery or be left alone during a trip.

Salvia is traditionally consumed by slowly chewing a ball of leaves known as a quid. However, it is also smoked. Smoking generally brings on the effects quicker, typically after five minutes, before dissipating within half an hour. In contrast it can take over a quarter hour before chewing has an effect, but the trip can last over an hour. Due to the harshness of the smoke, vaporization may be preferred. The high vaporisation temperature can be an obstacle for smaller vaporisers like the Iolite (maximum temperature 190 C). More powerful models, such as the Volcano Vaporizer, and those that use an external lighter or heat gun, like the Eclipse Vape-2O Vaporizer, should be able to cope.

Kanna is the common name for Sceletium tortuosum; this herb originates from South Africa where it has a long history as a mood elevator and anti-depressant. The precise chemical mechanism is still not fully understood, but Kanna contains alkaloids, in particular mesembrines, that appear to work in a similar fashion to modern pharmaceutical SSRIs like Prozac.

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.

Some herbal remedies, which you can put in your Roor pipe or Eclipse Vape-2O vaporizer, claim to have aphrodisiac properties.  Chief among them are damiana and the yohimbe root.  The latter has actually enjoyed some success in treating erectile dysfunction in men, though herbal supplement shops sell them as an aphrodisiac for women as well.

Damiana

Damiana is a smoking herb that is used in traditional Mexican medicine to treat sexual dysfunction and menstrual pain.  It purportedly has similar effects to marijuana. 

Betel Nuts

These are chewed in India, and supposedly form a part of tantric sex magic.  However, they are known to be carcinogenic, so their use is not recommended.

Guarana

Guarana is well known as a stimulant similar to caffeine.  It is found in capsule form as well as in many of the energy drinks available in most supermarkets.  Its aphrodisiac properties are strongly linked to its stimulant properties.

Clinical trials on these herbal aphrodisiacs are few and far between. However, medical opinion seems to be that aphrodisiacs in general operate on the placebo principle.  In other words, anything can be an aphrodisiac if you believe it is.

The Vape-2O Vaporizer is a vaporizer that uses interchangeable glass vials to heat essential oils and concentrates for vaporization.  It can use smoking herbs as well, but it works better with viscous liquids than with powders or ground herbs.  It is a highly portable vaporizer that is designed to attach to a water pipe such as a hookah or bong.  Users are warned that the glass vials can get extremely hot, so be careful not to touch them.

Essential Oils for the Eclipse Vape-2O Vaporizer

Essential oils are mostly used in aromatherapy, but a few are known to act as legal highs.  Clove oil is recommended as a mild psychedelic drug, especially when used in conjunction with elemi oil.  Be warned, however, it is toxic in large doses, so be sure to only use a few drops.

The essential oil of nutmeg is reported to have similar effects to ecstasy, but it can cause nausea, and so can be difficult to take in large enough doses to produce the desired effect. 

Finally, it is worth noting that the synthetic cannabinoid known as ‘spice’, made from herbs and essential oils, was once sold as a legal high in Britain, but is now a class B drug.

The pills have been popped, the herbal smoking blends have been safely disposed of in a spinning ashtray and you are recovering from a great night out. However, just like with illegal drugs, users of legal highs can experience a comedown after partying too hard.  This article looks at some of the ways you can restore vitality the morning after the night before.

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.

It is well known that smoking is extremely bad for your lungs, whether it is tobacco or other legal highs. One of the reasons for this is that smoking generally involves the substance being burnt and you inhale the smoke, leading to you breathing in carcinogens and other nasty toxins.

With vaporisers, however, the substance is not being burned, but heated and therefore you avoid breathing in many of the damaging; overall, it is perceived as being a healthier way to smoke. There are various vaporisers on the market, but the Iolite is ahead of its time and is available in the form of an extremely convenient hand held device.

This vaporiser runs on lighter fluid and heats up to the desired temperature within 45 seconds, making it quick, easy to use and very portable. The internal chamber holds 500g of your favourite legal high and will continue to vaporise the herbs for approximately 15 minutes.

The device is sold in an array of colours and has its own carrying case, so you can take it anywhere discreetly. It also has its own accessory package, which includes cleaning materials, spare herb containers and spare mouthpieces.

The Iolite vaporiser is available to buy on many websites and is fast becoming one of the most popular products of its kind. It does not come cheap, but in comparison with its competitors it is still good value and worth every penny.

The bong or a water pipe is a filtration device designed to help smoke a variety of substances, including legal highs such as herbal blends and tobacco. The bong is similar in principle to a hookah pipe, but is easier to carry around and stores away in smaller places. It has been used as a means of smoking substances for thousands of years and has remained relatively unchanged. Bongs and their counterparts are used all over the world, but particularly in Thailand, Laos and Africa.

The bong allows the user inhale cool smoke, which is safer for the lungs and mouth and generally more pleasant. The vapours travel through the water and the user inhales it from the mouthpiece at the top of the device. Studies suggest that some of the mind-altering properties are lost in this process, so the user will have to inhale more smoke in order to have the same effect. This may result in having to use more of the legal substance than regular tobacco smoking.

There are many different types and sizes of bongs available on the market today and buying them is simple, especially online. In many shops bongs are classed as water pipes or smoking pipes, because it is illegal to sell any paraphernalia that is linked to illegal drugs, which is often the case with the bong. However, it is perfectly legal to buy and own a bong, as long as you are not smoking illegal substances. Other devices that are similar include Roor Pipes and chillums, which are also legal to use.

Although legal highs are widely used, it does not mean that your safety is guaranteed when you use them. Legal highs cannot be sold for human consumption and many outlets state that they are for research or scientific purposes only. This is the only way that the thousands of online suppliers can sell legal highs.

It is important to realise that since many legal highs are designed to mimic illegal drugs and that they can be as strong, if not stronger than the real thing. Therefore many people become ill or suffer undesirable effects, just as they would from illegal drugs. The truly worrying fact about legal highs is that there is very little research carried out on them. As a result, we know almost nothing about their long-term effects on health.

In addition, you may be purchasing a legal high that has components of illegal drugs, unbeknownst to you. This may find you getting into serious trouble if caught with the drug, even though you bought it believing it to entirely be legal. This is a great concern to the UK government and criminal justice department and possibly as soon as autumn 2011, new laws could be introduced banning some currently legal highs altogether.

If you are buying and using legal highs, ensure that you are in familiar surroundings, not mixing them with alcohol and always with people that you regard as friends or whom you trust. Remember that different drugs affect people in varying ways. It is also worth noting that using devices such as the Iolite can prevent you breathing in noxious gases when inhaling vaporised drugs.