Anonymous

Chacruna also can be propagated easily from leaf, so if there is a good leaf on the plant, you could try planting it. Let me see if I can dig up a thread I've seen...OK, here it is: http://forums.ayahuasca.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2656 Looks pretty easy.

My god -- that's a lot of kava!Dont get me wrong: I drink kava often myself and I'm quite well aquainted with the effects (having explored them all the way from unnoticable to day-long hangonver. I know how I make kava, and I curious how the professional establishments did it. Still, at 4L my feeling is that the cold-water infusion must be a little weak. When I make kava, I tend to take three of four heaping spoons, add to about 4 oz. milk and 4 oz. water, add a good quantity of sweatened vanilla syrup (to kill the taste) and mix in a blender. Slam down, unfiltered. Ugg. Hate the taste, love the effect (especally some of the Fijain cultivars; they have a quite euphoric chemotype). But drinking unfiltered kava is, er, challenging. I couldn't imagine that many people would make a social occasion of it. quote: the powder get's infused in cold water for 10min and than strained of with a cheescloth. traditionally a strainer made out of plant fiber is used. the effects are somehow similar to alcohol, but much softer and cosy.I much prefer kava to alcohol, especially the chemotypes high in kavain and methysticin. So is this the general procedure in the modern establishments, or more of a traditional preperation?

A little of-topic, but: I live in the States (east coast), and I've never been to a kava drinking establishment (I think there are a few nakamals in Hawaii, but that is close to 10 hours by air!). Could someone be so kind as to describe their experiences? What kind of drinks are made, how much is consumed, and -- most interestingly -- how are the drinks prepared? I'm sure they don't have masticating virgins! Blenders? Some kind of specialized grinder/maker? Also, do they filter or just grind finely? I've found it very difficult to filter kava, so I'd be interested in how that could be done en mass.

If I may place my experiences here: Material: 5x broad-spectrum extract (heated ethanol used as solvent). Combined with no other substances or psychoactives. Effect: Despite four attempts on different days (seven bowls maximum taken), no unambiguous effects where felt. That's not to say I was at baseline, but any effect I felt could have been attributed to the act of smoking, placebo effects, or other subtleties. +/- on Shulgin scale. Material: 10 grams dried material, made as infusion with hot water. Again, no other psychoactives were present. Taken on an empty stomach. Combined with honey to cut bitterness. Effect: Slight giddiness, but nothing which was unambiguously non-placebo. +/- of Shulgin scale. Material: 17 grams of dried material, infusion made with boiling water. A total of three large mugs of tea drank. Combined with honey. Taken on empty stomach, but a meal was eaten not long afterwards. Effect: Similar to previous attempt. Ambiguous effects. [This is my most recent attempt, having been performed last night before diner.] Maybe I'm doing something wrong -- using an infusion instead of a decoction, for example, or perhaps not acidfying the water -- but until I have better data I will probably stop my experiments, or at least experiment no further once the smoking extract is consumed. Considering that 17 grams of material represents $30.00US worth of herb at market prices, this herb is just not worth it. Friendly has gotten good effects from smoking extract, but as far as I can tell he usually mixes it with marijuana (for which he has a medical prescription). I have yet to find a non-marijuana user who has experienced good effects with smoking, and the tea makers seem to use ungodly ammounts of material given current prices. For recreation, at this point I'll stick with kava and kratom. (Edit for typos) [ 17. August 2004, 05:43: Message edited by: Anonymous ]

Stump remover is often pure KN03 too, at least in the states:

I believe that you're speaking of the Principality of Sealand:http://www.sealandgov.com/ It's not a "loophole," really -- Sealand was established in international waters. Later, when the definition of national waters was increased, the founder of Sealand fought it, claiming that it was illegal to take him back into the fold. To everyone's surprise (including Price Roy), the courts agreed. Sealand's sovereignty hasn't been strongly tested, and as they have no defense, it could be assumed sovereign only until Britain decides otherwise.

Thanks for the clarification Torsten. I must admit, the snuff nomenclature gets a little confusing at times! :confused:

I don't think Ott would in general agree. From the Pharmacotheon: quote: A Brazilian epena snuff prepared from Virola theiodora was found to contain principally 5-MeO-DMT, with lesser amounts of DMT, MMT, 2-methyl-tetrahydro-beta-carboline (MTHC) as well as its 6-methoxy derivative. A Brazilian nyakwana snuff prepared from the same species likewise contained principally 5-MeO-DMT, with lesser amounts of DMT, MMT, 5-MeO-MMT and 6-MeO-MTHC, a total of 11% alkaloids.Keep in mind that I'm not trying to champion Ott's opinion over yours; I'm just pointing out that there are differences in opinion on Bufotinen, 5MEODMT, and N,NDMT when it comes to activity in the various entheogenic snuffs.

Thanks everyone! I read in another forum that while alkaloids are often freebase, that any processing of the plant material will result in them forming conjugates with the organic acids present. Torsten, you say that none of the common plants have their alkaloids in freebase form, but I've heard tell several times that the common fungi do. Any idea of this is true? The context was the extraction of alkaloids via ethanoloic means, forming a mixture of precipitates including "freebase alkaloids." Edit: for poor typing skills [ 24. July 2004, 00:59: Message edited by: Anonymous ]

This may be a simple question, or it may be impossible to answer accurately; I've heard conflicting things. In general, do alkaloids exist as organic acid salts when they are in the bearing plants, or do they exist in freebase form? Does it vary from plant to plant? For the most part I've seen it claimed that they exist as acid salts (and I believe this to be true), but on the other hand I've seen some claim that freebase forms are common in nature. Knowledgeable guidance appreciated!

I always have a fire extingisher handy when working with flamable solvents. Everyone should!But I still think it is relatively safe insofar as when the oven is turned on there are no vapors present, and if one opens the door and fans between heating cycles the vapor level in the oven will remain low.

Safe? Define safe Actually, if you take a little precaution, I think it's pretty safe, but THAT'S JUST MY OPINION. That and $3.00 will get you a frufru coffee. First, keep in mind that EtOH will boil (in any reasonably powered microwave) in 5 to 10 seconds, at which point you'll need to turn the power off. What I usually do it open the door at this point and blow across the surface of the material to speed the evaporation. So, the door is opened every few seconds, keeping the concentration of the vapors low. When lazy, I've been known to do two or three power/boiling cycles before opening the door. This is probably less safe. Really, boiling EtOH is safe, provided there are no sources of sparks. The question each of us has to ask oneself is: is my microwave full of sparks? I can't answer this question, so PLEASE don't take this post as a encouragement to do this at home. For a discussion of microwave techniques, see this thread on making Salvia tincture: http://forums.spiritplants.com/index.php?s...showtopic=12135 The thread is a little hard to follow owing to the fact that Sphere, in one of his cyclical rages decided to delete all of his posts. Even so, it's an interesting thread. Standard disclaimer (taken from the thread): Life can be dangerous, and you should live it fully, but at your own risk. The universe is comprised of many bits of hard, pointy matter which can put an eye out, and some of if burns quickly and with great heat. The techniques in this document involve some of those quickly burning things, so you can hurt yourself and your stuff if you're not careful. You are responsible for your own safety. I am not. Addendum to experience report After about an hour and a half I was still feeling effects, so I decided to smoke another five inhalations. Interestingly, the effects didn't increases much, so it seems that the dose curve on this one may be non-linear. There is a little peak of effect a few minutes after smoking, but it levels off a bit later and stays flat. By this point it was getting late so I went to bed. I slept without incident, but don't know how long the effects lasted. Truth be told, I feel a little strange today, so it's possible (albeit unlikely) that this ally could have a substantial half-life. [ 01. July 2004, 08:35: Message edited by: Anonymous ]

This morning I swung by the Post Office and was greeted by a little package from friendly: two oz of L. inebrians. Through a bit of an addressing mistake it had taken a little while to get to me, so I was very happy when I saw that it had arrived. Having waited for a week and a half, I decided I couldn't comfortably wait any longer. After my wife and I put the kids to bed, I prepared a 10x broad-spectrum extraction; solvent was 95% ethanol; "poor man's reflux" used (i.e. successive washes with solvent heated (and subsequently evaporated) in a microwave, with final drying done in a 150F oven. Total prep time: approximately 2 hours. Total material processed: 5 grams. I'm not a smoker (anymore), and I don't often smoke herbs. What's more, I've been trying to recover from a case of pneumonia, so my lung capacity and ability to smoke is pretty poor right now. I have a very small water pipe which I use occasionally for Salvia and the like, and I was able to take five puffs. My lungs rebelled, so I put the pipe away after the fifth inhalation. I'm in the midst of the effects right now. I'd rate it as subtle but definite. There is a slight euphoria, and I'm a little "spacey" right now. No intense somatic effects, although my body is relaxed and I have a very slight headache (perhaps from the smoke). I notice no loss of coordination and could probably drive safely, but I would avoid it of corse owing to my unfamiliarity with the herb. Overall, I'd rate it as "deserves more research." The effects are a little subtle for my taste thus far, but these are first impressions. As discussed in the "pyro lago" thread, repeated exposure may be necessary to truly explore the state. Also, other modalities will need to investigated, but I imagine they would be much less efficient. I smoked maybe a 10th of the extract, so total equivalent smoked is about 1/2 gram. For tea, I've heard numbers around 10 grams. Provisional classification: Euphoriant. Relaxant. Thanks Friendly!

Well, as I haven't smoked cannabis in close to 20 years, I think I qualify, so I'll let you know!I remember way, way back...I didn't feel effects of cannabis until I had smoked it many times. I always assumed that the delayed onset of effects was more biochemical than psychological, but it may have multiple components. For example, I took some kratom tonight, and while the dose was similar to my last does and the strength of the effects was the same, the experience was much better this time. This was only my fifth time with kratom, so -- as you say -- I think I'm still learning my way around the landscape.

That's interesting. It's the first I've heard of reverse tolerance effects. I'll keep that in mind as I test (should have had some stuff shipped out last Friday...a little surprized that it hasn't shown up yet, but you know how "priority" mail can be!)