MORG

If it's half as effective as c*ke it should be marketed as the "ethical" alternative :D I looked into RTI 111 but no info anywhere. Given methylphenidate is S8 then ethyl will be covered, but I'm no chemist, or lawyer. You first.

Cheers! VVVVVVV Gets P. eryngii plate VVVVVVVV

"What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence" - Chris Hitchens. Fair enough we can have a discussion, but lets remain cognizant of the fact that some people will always be more sceptical than others. I'd love to know if indigenous Australians used DMT, but post-colonial wishful thinking and pontification sounds like a desperate attempt to create a new age shamanistic mythology that we wish we had. Further, I find it a bit disrespectful that we would try and jam our own culturally desirable (and ultimately synthetic) indigenous history where it might not be welcome. Maybe we should let them tell the few stories they have left, instead of filling the voids colonialism created with whatever we might wish was true.

Heppy berfday Hillbilly! Hope it was full of Hillbilly-style fun.

I hope they do it Tanna-style with virgin boys masticating mouthfuls of the raw root. The only way to drink kava.

There's a thread on Crocus beer over at the Nook by Monk. You might want to determine solubility of crocin and/or safranal before you go ahead and dump all that exotica into your carbouy. I have a feeling they both might only be soluble at very high alcohol conc. Also, FM's Egyptian ethnobeer was "Nefertem's Triple". Just used shredded licorice root in a stout along with cacao nibs and coffee. The licorice root is fantastic for imparting body and a distinctive sweetness to balance your bittering.

You are one silly bugger.

Dear all, I am just chasing some samples for my study: a cladistic analysis of the Australian Strophariacae based on comparative ultrastructure of dormant basidiospores. I've still got some holes to fill and was wondering if anyone could supply me with a clean P. cuben?sis sample? Thanks. Further reading Ruch and Motta (1987) Mycologia Vol. 79, No. 3 pp. 387-398 Stocks and Hess (1970) Mycologia Vol. 62, No. 1 pp. 176-191

Hi Delilah, Nice to see you caring for your dogs so much! I don't think you've got anything to worry about. The seeds are not very appetizing, especially for a carnivore. They'd probably have to eat dozens of them to ingest enough alkaloids to have an effect, and the alkaloid (LSA) is not highly toxic at quantities present in seed. Go ahead and plant and enjoy your moonflowers! M

I am reminiscing about some fun things I did once with Sargol saffron and a tincture someone gave me. Does anyone have any idea where I can get similar top notch saffron these days?

Ah shit. I just bought one of these too. But Penta fucked me around royally. The communication was awful, they couldn't tell me if it was in stock, when I would be getting it. I read reviews of theirs on Whirlpool tech forum and they were hopeless. I ended up not getting it and battling them for a refund, which I got. I then ordered the 1215B from OnlineComputer Tech in Sydney. They were great. Do a Google search for "eee pc 1215 trackpad problem". You'll probably need to sort this out. I haven't opened mine up yet to fix it. Sorry I didn't read this earlier! Could have chimed in before you bought. M

Thanks you guys. I'm not around here much lately, but it's nice to feel the continuity from a few friendly peeps.

Sam Harris is one of my favourite writers and thinkers... so I was excited to learn he was posting a blog about one of our favourite subjects. He says it all so well and I'm glad the message will be delivered so coherently to those who would listen. Read it here: http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/drugs-and-the-meaning-of-life/ And make sure to read the footnotes! My favourite excerpts in case you're wondering whether to click through the link: "I have a daughter who will one day take drugs. Of course, I will do everything in my power to see that she chooses her drugs wisely, but a life without drugs is neither foreseeable, nor, I think, desirable. Someday, I hope she enjoys a morning cup of tea or coffee as much as I do. If my daughter drinks alcohol as an adult, as she probably will, I will encourage her to do it safely. If she chooses to smoke marijuana, I will urge moderation.[2] Tobacco should be shunned, of course, and I will do everything within the bounds of decent parenting to steer her away from it. Needless to say, if I knew my daughter would eventually develop a fondness for methamphetamine or crack cocaine, I might never sleep again. But if she does not try a psychedelic like psilocybin or LSD at least once in her adult life, I will worry that she may have missed one of the most important rites of passage a human being can experience." "Of course, the brain does filter an extraordinary amount of information from consciousness. And, like many who have taken these drugs, I can attest that psychedelics certainly throw open the gates. Needless to say, positing the existence of a “Mind at Large” is more tempting in some states of consciousness than in others. And the question of which view of reality we should privilege is, at times, worth considering. But these drugs can also produce mental states that are best viewed in clinical terms as forms of psychosis. As a general matter, I believe we should be very slow to make conclusions about the nature of the cosmos based upon inner experience — no matter how profound these experiences seem." "These chemicals disclose layers of beauty that art is powerless to capture and for which the beauty of Nature herself is a mere simulacrum. It is one thing to be awestruck by the sight of a giant redwood and to be amazed at the details of its history and underlying biology. It is quite another to spend an apparent eternity in egoless communion with it. Positive psychedelic experiences often reveal how wondrously at ease in the universe a human being can be—and for most of us, normal waking consciousness does not offer so much as a glimmer of these deeper possibilities."

Glad it was a success! Hillbilly's first fungus pic is Omphalotus nidiformis - did you see it at night? They glow in the dark. The second one might be a Ramaria species. Third one shouldn't be hard to ID with a book... I'll take a look tonight. Some Bolete. And the fourth one is a Cordyceps species.

Awesome! That Rafflesia is incredible. That would have been an exciting find. Did you get out into the rainforests yourself, or were you accompanied by a guide? Learn anything interesting about local ethnobotanical practices? Is the kratom M. speciosa? Did you bioassay? Keep the photos coming Thanks for sharing.

I've been quite interested in khat lately. The effects of a small quid are really very enjoyable, kinda like a Red Bull with more mood enhancement. My two plants are far too small to do anything with now so I think I might have to source some more for my collection. Here is an article on "Hagigat" which is reputably a pill made from Khat extract. Everything else I've read states that cathinone is unstable and virtually non-extractable. SAB: "Cathinone (and also the synthetic methcathinone) are quite unstable in any form other than as a 'strong acid salt' and as such extraction is virtually impossible without total destruction" So what of these pills? How are the alkaloids extracted/preserved? Drugs and dance as Israelis blot out intifada http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2...1296958,00.html Nightlife in Tel Aviv on a par with the best in London and New York Conal Urquhart in Tel Aviv Saturday September 4, 2004 The Guardian It is Thursday night and the young of Tel Aviv are queuing for their supplies for the big night out of the Jewish week. At the city-centre kiosks, some customers ask for cigarettes or some gum, but about one in three furtively inquires: "Hagigat?" The shopkeeper looks straight ahead. His hand moves below the counter and he pulls out a small white capsule, which he exchanges discreetly for 50 shekels (£6.50). Hagigat is the latest in a line of legal drugs which add spice to Tel Aviv's already potent night life. It means "party" in Hebrew and is derived from khat, a plant chewed in Somalia and Yemen for its amphetamine effect. Other legal drugs include "liquid energy", a test tube of viscous plant extracts, and amyl nitrate or poppers. As Tuesday's suicide bomb attack in Beersheba demonstrated, the conflict continues; Palestinian frustration is boiling less than a 20-minute drive from Tel Aviv. Yet the party goes on, driven by a desire to escape the grim realities of Israeli life. In the past four years of the intifada, Tel Aviv's nightlife has gone from strength to strength. Larger and better bars, and clubs that would put London, New York and Paris to shame, open and close regularly to satisfy fickle tastes. The only major upset was the killing of 21 young people in June 2001 as they queued for the Dolphinarium nightclub on the city seafront. "It was only when there was the bombing at the Dolphinarium that it hit people," said Amir Bar Yitzhak, the editor of the Leyla nightlife website. "That was right at the centre of nightlife. That started a decline in people going out, but they got used to it. Then people decided they were going to go out in spite of everything and party until they fell down. That has levelled out a bit now and things are more normal." Legal drugs have become a major part of the hedonism. Hagigat is described on the packaging as "an aphrodisiac of organic material. 100% natural without chemicals". "Drink after food and take with a lot of water. Sell only to those over 18," it advises. Ronen Hazut, the owner of a city-centre kiosk, said: "Hagigat sells fast. People take this pill and say it's amazing. It's our biggest money maker and that's why we sell it." Moshe Haimkevitch, his partner who has taken the drug, said: "You feel high, but you're still alert and know what you're doing. You have power and energy, and most important, it makes you incredibly horny," he told the daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. Another popular product is Liquid Energy, sold at a similar price. "This is drunk mainly during parties, and has to be shaken well. It has good effects and gives energy," said Mr Haimkevitch. In the past year several new venues have opened, described as "pick-up" bars. They feature large serving areas surrounded by scores of bar stools to ensure that everyone is visible to members of the opposite sex. David Tur opened Tel Aviv's largest bar, Lansky, last year. It cost more than a £1m to fit out and features 100 bar stools around the longest bar in the Middle East, if not Europe. "People come here because they want to see people. The customers here are mostly single or cheaters," he said. "This place is labelled a pick-up bar. I don't know what that means. There is a lot of interaction between people who don't know each other. If that makes it a pick-up bar, then it is." Mr Tur, who worked in London for several years, said the nightlife experience in Tel Aviv was totally different. "The interaction is very different here compared to London. Here you can see everybody, you are sitting next to everybody. It's not like you are going to a bar with your friends, you are sharing the experience with everyone," he said. Mr Bar Yitzhak added: "The atmosphere is warm, open and welcoming. Everything is straightforward. There is rarely any violence and you don't see any obvious drunkenness. You can always make friends; there is always someone to talk to." When drawn on the subject, most Tel Aviv residents favour compromise to achieve peace with the Palestinians. But on the whole they try to block out the military regime and the oppression of Palestinians. "I can appreciate it isn't much fun living in a refugee camp, or in the West Bank," Mr Bar Yitzhak said. "But I think it is hard for people elsewhere to imagine what it is like for someone to come to your favourite bar or cafe and blow themselves up. "We are in the middle of the barrel of a gun, yet everything is still so alive." A resident of Israel, originally from the UK, describes taking hagigat: I discreetly slip the capsule into my mouth and wash it down with Czech beer. Around the bar, I can see groups of men and women talking animatedly and some are dancing. Typical Brit, I won't dance or initiate conversation. "Where you are from?" pipes up one of my female neighbours."So you like Israel?" she continues. Rather than retreat into my shell, I smile broadly and start to chat. I feel a tingly sensation and a sense of confidence. I've had just one small glass of beer: this could only be the hagigat. The music is now flowing through my body. I look around the bar indulgently. This is a great night. Now I feel more than warm, almost sensuous.I need to stroke something, anything. The feeling remains with me for the next couple of hours. Eventually I feel a sense of anxiety and the warmth decreases. I feel impatient and I need another drink or maybe just another hagigat.

A friend of mine is looking to track down some Cinchona bark for homemade tonic water. I've done some searching in the usual Australian ethno and herb companies as well as checked the search engines here and at AEB. It looks like a very useful material but I can't find a single lead on obtaining any. Anyone got any ideas? M

The Botanic Gardens in Sydney holds 6/8 plants on the controlled list B. I can't get over the stupidity of trying to control Datura/Brugmansia... Why? Maybe they should make Travacalm S4 while they're at it. Oh, and clamp down on Duboisia too. They haven't mentioned Nicotiana. The more I look at this, the stupider it gets.

Hmmm... Brug and Datura seems like a clueless addition to this. They need a botanist consultant to help draw up some more realistic regulation. What I find interesting is that the sole source plant quoted for dimethyltryptamine is still Piptadenia sp. There are some very explicit questions in the discussion paper on which this community should make comment. Especially with regard to live plants. Section L. Legitimate use defence - plants 90. The model controlled plant schedule expands the list of categories of plants and fungi. The collection and use of certain plants by botanists and collectors raises the question of whether there is a need for a legitimate use defence, and on what grounds this would be available. For example, botanists or plant collectors may have a legitimate use of cactus species where possession would otherwise be an offence. 91. Similarly, given that all genera of cannabis are controlled plants, cultivation of any variety is an offence against Commonwealth legislation (subject to the defence in section 313.1 of the Criminal Code). It may be timely, in the context of considering application of the model schedules, to consider whether a defence might be warranted to allow commercial exploitation of industrial hemp for fibre or other legitimate uses. Question L Does the model schedule of controlled plants create any problems of inadvertent criminalisation, particularly in relation to the offence of selling a controlled plant within Australia?

+1 on not mixing with grog. Did that once and felt fantastic that evening but had the most toxic hangover ever. Dizziness, vomiting, aches and my vision was funny, kind of like the world wasn't as 3D as it should be.

I've seen a Cereus that tall, growing up against and clearing the roof of a two-story apartment block. The apartment block clearly wasn't built around the cactus and couldn't have been older than 1970's. So the cactus could be as young as 20-30 years.

But seriously, if you want to go hunting and give yourself the best chance, give Sapo a go. Don't stuff around with chewing leaves, roots or fermented succulent. If you want to chase an antelope over savannah for a whole evening or spot monkeys 50m up in the canopy before they spot you, burn a hole in your skin and wipe some frog secretions in it. Vomiting, shitting and sweating you'll lay contorted on death's door for a night, but when you wake up in the morning, God it feels good to be alive. Ask Faustus.