Plants as Recreational Drugs

Recently, stories about young people using exotic plants to get high have been all over the news. The media attention highlights a trend that appears to span the United States.

A news story out of western Nebraska reported that teens in that region were ingesting the seeds of a common flower, known as moonflower, to get high. The seeds cause incoherent and unruly behavior, and the effects apparently last for days. This potentially lethal plant causes hallucinations followed by euphoria.

Another recent news story, from North Carolina, reported that a high school student was arrested for selling Angel’s Trumpet — a plant that is prevalent in the region — as a recreational drug to at least five other students. Local authorities and parents were stunned when the “drug” they had never heard of sent at least one youth to the hospital.

The use of plants as drugs is not a new phenomenon; indigenous cultures have been using plants in religious rituals for centuries. However, the increasing popularity of these plants among youth as recreational drugs does appear to be a somewhat new development — and a dangerous one.

A 2006 article in The Independent, a newspaper from the United Kingdom, relates how the British government’s decision to ban magic mushrooms started a trend toward using other botanical items to achieve a high. Among these newly popular substances are:

Pep Pills: Also known as Funk Pills or Party Pills, these pills are made from a chemical derived from the pepper plant. The substance was originally developed as a worming treatment for cattle. The drug causes a rush of ecstasy but carries a high risk of overdose. It contains the stimulant benzylpiperazine (which has been banned in the U.S., Denmark and Australia), as well as other chemicals from the piperazine family, which are also used to create the impotence drug Viagra.

Amanita Muscaria (Fly Agaric): This drug is a red-capped, white-spotted mushroom, which has been long known to have psychoactive effects. Because it does not contain psilocin, it is not included in the British government’s ban on magic mushrooms.

Kratom Leaf: Leaves of the Mitragyna speciosa tree of Malaysia and Thailand. Described by one British recreational drug retailer as “one of the most effective and pleasurable psychoactive herbs.” Kratom leaf causes a dreamy sensation and may be addictive.

Salvia Divinorum: This herb has seen increasing popularity in the United States. According to a federal drug use survey published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in February 2008, approximately 1.8 million people 12 or older reported using salvia divinorum in their lifetimes, including 750,000 who used it within the year prior to the survey. Use was most frequently reported by respondents who were young and male. Salvia is a common plant that can create an intense high lasting less than an hour, as well as produce hallucinations and cause unpleasant mind trips.

Ayahuasca Sacrament: A shamanic plant potion that can induce vomiting before narcotic effects begin. It is particularly dangerous if mixed with antidepressant drugs.

Peyote: Peyote cacti contain the hallucinogenic drug mescaline, which has a similar effect to LSD. Peyote has been used by Native American tribes for centuries as a shamanic plant that can create visions of an alternative world.

A growing number of websites which provide detailed information on using and mixing recreational drugs are adding fuel to the trend. In a story appearing on the CBS News website, one anonymous young man related how he almost died after following drug-mixing instructions from a popular website. An exotic combination of chemicals and plants caused an overdose that almost ended his life. Until his near-fatal overdose, the man said he didn’t take recreational drug use that seriously: “I thought, you know, hallucinogens were fun things to do on a Friday night.”