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Herbal Highs Offer Alternatives to Illegal Lows
In the experimental days of youth, getting high can be fun-but the penalty if caught is usually not worth the buzz. For those who fear prison time, here are some legal ways to take a trip.
Salvia and Herbal Ecstasy can be purchased online or in head shops. Salvia has been one of the most popular alternative highs in the rave scene since baby pacifiers found their way around the necks of candy kids everywhere. Currently, Salvia has been banned in some U.S. states, but it's still available in Colorado. It may or may not be scary to know that the effects of Saliva have been compared to those of LSD or mushrooms-but only last five to 15 minutes.
Herbal Ecstasy is made of common herbs like Ginkgo Biloba and Ginseng and can be smoked, snorted, or swallowed. Users report feelings similar to those of illegal ecstasy, like extensive touchy-feeliness and an unquenchable thirst for happiness.
Effects usually take 20 minutes to set in and can last three to five hours. Herbal Ecstasy can even be purchased at gas stations under names like Cloud 9, Ultimate Xphoria, and Rave Energy.
If sober times are getting you down during late nights of existential thinking, turning to natural herbs may be a better alternative to heavy drug or alcohol abuse.
Nevertheless, altering your state of mind will always make you more susceptible to falling out of windows. -Alicia Schuster
LOCAL BIZ: Purple Haze 2017 E Colfax Ave 303-329-0055
No surprise, Colfax is home to one of the city's premier head shops. For those not privy to the inside scoop of what exactly a head shop is, here's a brief definition: a head shop is pretty much a place where you stock up on your smoking paraphernalia, like roach clips, rolling papers, and Sublime posters.
Now Denver's own Purple Haze not only has the accessories needed to smoke beaucoup bowls full of flavored tobacco, but also boasts a very nice array of glass-blown artwork. Quite a dichotomy for a little shop purposed for the selling of natural herbs.
Alas, Purple Haze isn't your average head shop-it doesn't have that creepy "Bob-Marley-is-haunting-me" vibe, and it's a proud retailer of local arts.
Purple Haze is a great place to stop in, make some mildly dazed and confused acquaintances, and pick up those goods you need to get through one of those all-day weekend classes. -Dana Dill
THE HITLIST: Top Ways to Hide Drugs
Underwear express Break out that old pair of extra large underwear that your grandma passed down to you from her days in the Navy. With all the roomy compartments, it's a great place to stash your stash.
Mouth service Give new meaning to tongue-in-cheek by pocketing your "gum" up in your mandible.
Good hair day Grow out your hair to your best ability, and never wash it or brush it so it gets all huge and ratty. It'll look avant-garde and will be a great "extra pocket."
Toe jam Play up the nastiness of your feet so no one will suspect that the things you carry between your toes are anything but infectious diseases.
Your holes More than likely you have things on your face like a nose and ears and tiny tear ducts-all great places for hiding your goodies.
Up yours Up your butt and around the corner.
FACTOID A person hooked on methamphetamines changes drastically in physical appearance over a very short period of time. The science behind the look of a meth addict is that blood vessels and skin elasticity are destroyed by the drug, making the user look years, even decades older than they really are. And formication-when the addict picks at the skin, hallucinating over bugs-alongside the decaying of teeth, further aid in the degradation of the user's appearance.
BUZZWORD: Ganoobies (guh-noo-bees) n. - term used to describe the uncontrollable laughter that overtakes a person after they have spent time in and/or around a cloud of marijuana smoke.
As in: When asked about my red, misty eyes, I tried to tell the officer that my grandmother had just died, but my blunt had just given me the ganoobies. He didn't take my giggles as serious heartbreak over grams; thereafter, I spent the night in jail with the munchies.
THE TIMELINE: A Brief History of Drugs
150 AD POPPY FLOWER POWER Opium is used by Alexander the Great and Roman gladiators to overcome painful injuries-or worst case, die painlessly. It is known as the drug of mercy.
1590s SMOOTH SAILING Exported from the New World, tobacco is known as the original "gateway drug" because it's addictive and aids in the smoking of harder drugs.
1800s KILLER PAINKILLER The most powerful painkiller in the world is introduced to treat alcoholism. Doctors believe it is better to be addicted to morphine than to alcohol because addicts are less violent.
1898 INTRAVENOUS INJECTIONS Originally introduced as a powerful cough medicine to fight pneumonia and tuberculosis, heroin is sold by Sears & Roebucks in a kit complete with syringes and needles for $1.50.
1937 FIRST HIGHS Growing all over the U.S. in the form of a weed, marijuana is deemed illegal because it's thought to make people incurably insane. It inspires the shocking film "Reefer Madness."
1980s SNORTING BOOM Derived from the leaves of South American coca plants, cocaine boasts 1.5 million addicts snorting the stimulant on a daily basis all over the world.
THE SKINNY According to the Drug Enforcement Administration's most recent poll, there are 6.5 million illicit drug users in the 18 to 25 age group.
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