Herbal Drugs of Abuse

   Herbal Ecstasy

The main drug in herbal ecstasy is ephedra or ma huang, a natural herb. It is legal in most states; although some states have recently banned the drug. Ephedra has been used for weight control, upper respiratory treatment, and is marketed as an energy booster. Effects may include euphoric feelings, increase in sexual sensations, increase in awareness, liver failure, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, palpitations, stroke, fainting, seizures, heart attacks, or death  (from 1993 to 1996, 15 ephedra-related deaths have been reported in the United States). It comes in a capsule or pill form, of various colors, and can be purchased from a variety of places, including gas stations in DeKalb, health food stores, record stores, nightclubs, and through web/mail order. It is commonly used at "rave" party settings. Other brand names of drugs containing ingredients similar to herbal ecstasy are Cloud 9, Ultimate Xphoria, X, and Rave Energy.

    Salvia

Salvia divinorum has been used as a “vision-inducing” mint by the Mazatec people of Oaxaca, Mexico and is a powerful hallucinogen. The fresh leaves can be chewed and kept in the mouth, eaten raw, dried and smoked, or prepared for injection. It’s said to be an extremely powerful consciousness altering compound and the most potent naturally occurring hallucinogen thus far isolated. Its effects are often extremely unnerving and there is a very real potential for physical danger with its use.  When the herb is consumed either by smoking the dried leaf or chewing the fresh leaves the effects are usually more mild than when it is vaporized and inhaled (manner of use like free-based cocaine). When consumed as such, one completely loses awareness of, and control over, their body, often moving about recklessly, while the individual has no awareness of where their body is or what it is doing.  Afterwards, users report they have no memory of any of their actual behaviors, and they often remember very different events. To an outside observer people in this condition have a vacant look in their eyes and a facial expression described as “like a frightened animal.”

               Acacia (“Wattle”)

This often grows locally in landscaped areas, such as parks, etc, and when used as a drug it is the bark that is used. The bark is thick, red, and fiberous and is smoked in various forms.  Smoking bark directly can give a mild hallucinogenic effect. Resin can also be extracted and smoked, or it can be further processed into crystal form.   This crystal when smoked provides intense initial hallucinations and mild hallucinations for up to an hour thereafter with relatively no reported after effects. “Trips” on acacia are described as extremely intense, providing a euphoric feeling and being physically demanding: giving strong tactile hallucinations and stimulation. Other physical effects may include gasping for air, staggering, screaming, and vomiting.

            Amanita Mushrooms (“Japanese Panther” and “Fly Agaric”)

A. muscaria is usually eaten (for more intense effects) but sometimes smoked. The skin is the most active portion of the mushroom. They can be dosed in "one to four caps," "one or two mushrooms," and/ or "30 grams of dried caps." A cap, of course, can vary in size from a half-inch sphere to an eight-inch platter and can be colored red or yellow (the red being more potent).  Effects vary widely and become apparent within half an hour to an hour, lasting from four to ten hours. Side effects often include nausea, slight loss of balance and coordination, and drowsiness. Smoking produces a more rapid effect of shorter duration. Euphoria and sensory alterations are characteristic, particularly alterations of hearing and taste. Visual effects have also been reported.  A. muscaria may also produce symptoms such as profuse salivation and mild perspiration.  Fly Agaric contains the same psychoactive compounds as A. muscaria and Panther Caps (ibotenic acid, muscimol and muscazone), but Fly Agaric can be more potent. 

These mushrooms are powerful. The effective dose range may be narrow; if it is exceeded, even by a small amount, the results may include a dissociative experience, a comatose state, or an inability to function. Though there are many who desire this kind of effect, no doubt it would be alarming to others. There is some evidence to support that the toxicity may vary according to location and season.  The Amanita genus has the species that cause 95 percent of all deaths   from mushroom poisoning such as Amanita virosa (Destroying Angel), Amanita phalloides (Death Cap). Apparently, one only feels the poison of these fatal mushrooms TWO DAYS after ingesting them, by which time stomach pumping is seldom any use. They appear similar to the "good" or non-fatal Amanitas.

   Ayahuasca  Vine (or “Yage”)

Ayahuasca as a hallucinogenic substance does not refer to one single plant, but to a singular mixture of two very different plant species (there is no such thing as an Ayahuasca plant, or a Yage plant). These combinations vary in potency according to the method of brewing. This brew has many names depending on area: Yage or Yaje in Colombia, Ayahuasca in Ecuador and Peru, and Caapi in Brazil (as it is prepared from the vine Banisteriopsis Caapi). 

DMT, the primary active chemical in Ayahuasca, in any quantity, is not orally active unless used in combination with a monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor. This basic principle is what makes Ayahuasca effective, producing what has been described as one of the “most profound” of all pychedelic experiences.  Sections of vine are boiled with leaves from any of a large number of potentially interactive plants, when results in a brew that contains powerful hallucinogenic alkaloids. This brew has reportedly been used for millennia for religious and medical purposes.

The plants that are used to make Ayahuasca are legal. However, some of the compounds contained within are not.  Processing or having the intent to prepare these plants for consumption would be considered illegal, yet the DEA appears to have no interest in prosecuting the use of Ayahuasca in the United States at this time.

The biggest physical danger in ingesting Ayahuasca is a hypertensive crisis caused by elevated levels of tyramine in the blood if an MAO inhibitor is taken in conjunction with dietary tyramine.  A hypertensive crisis can lead to headache, hemorrhagic stroke, myocardial infarction, rupture of a pre-existing aneurysm, and to death.   Other drugs (such as MDMA, amphetamines, migraine medicines, and over the counter cold medicines like ephedrine, dextromethorphan, etc.) can lead to a hypertensive crisis as they will not be metabolized while taking Ayahuasca.  Lastly, certain natural herbs such as Yohimbe, Ephedra, and possibly St John’s wort can have similar negative interactions when used with Ayahuasca.  

For information about uncommon drugs, this site lists links to specific drug information by drug’s “slang” names http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/slang/slang9.shtml

*This information was gathered from multiple internet resources, and significant effort was exerted to verify the accuracy of this information.                                                                                                                            Counseling and Student Development Center, 2001

Page last updated on December 23, 2004
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