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.

IOLITE vaporizers have a distinct black mesh look, with a complementary colour near the handle. The colour options available for this vaporizer include red, green, yellow, orange and purple. Besides the colour, the vaporizers are all the same model, and look the same. Of course, the cost for any one of the colours is the same.

Every IOLITE vaporizer that can be purchased is small enough to fit into a pocket. If by some chance the machine malfunctions, replacement parts can be purchased from the company website. There are also various accessories to the vaporizer available, including screens – both mesh and fine mesh screens are available.

For the person who knows that they are going to be drinking that night, there is no need to get started too early. The idea may be tempting, but those who start drinking too early are guaranteed to pass out early, or get sick along the way.

Along the same lines, it is crucial for people who are planning to drink to eat some food before consuming any alcohol. In fact, all drinkers should be eating along the way, even if they are just eating pub food. Keeping the stomach full reduces the chance of nasty hangovers. This is especially true if there is a long day of drinking planned, such as what may occur at a music festival.

Once the drinking starts, drinkers should avoid mixing alcohols, as this tends to increase the risk of nausea. For example, having a glass of water after every drink keeps the drinker hydrated, which reduces their risk of developing a hangover. Another tactic is to take a break between drinks so the body has a chance to recover.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.