As I mentioned in a previous post, the incense blends since the days of Spice haven’t quite cut the mustard. However, of recent, there have been a few new blends released that are greatly improved. The one that really tickles my fancy is the new Thai High Super Strength.

Its highly palatable taste and its fluffy consistency make for an extremely smooth and pleasurable smoke, whether it’s in joint, bong or pipe form. The smoke is not nearly as harsh as most of the other incense blends which often make you feel as though your chest is going to explode.

As for the effects, the term ‘Super Strength’ is pretty much spot on!

I fear I may have used a bit too much in the first joint I rolled, as it seemed to put me straight to sleep. In subsequent spliffs I used just a little pinch and this seemed to do the job quite nicely. I would advise working up to larger joints so that you can judge its effects to your own tolerance.

In small amounts I would describe the actual effects as being really chilled and mellow along with a slight touch of euphoria (which is always a welcome touch). Over the course of an evening I found that I became increasingly buzzed with occasional fits of laughter.

As always, I would recommend listening to some chilled music and good company for an evening of pure delight.

Oh yeah, I also hear that Thai High have released a bubble berry scented blend which I am eager to try out.

Filed under: Legal High Reviews on May 16th, 2011 | No Comments »

The Volcano Vaporizer is one of the most popular types of vaporizers on the market today. Known as the ‘King of Vaporizers’ for a reason, (that being that it is quite simply the best) this vaporizing device features a conical heating base and controls which enable you to manipulate both the airflow and the temperature.

Vaporizers are known now as one of the most effective and safest way of inhaling substances that would otherwise be smoked. Because the substances are not combusted but rather heated until they turn to vapour, there are no carcinogens so the risk of damage to your lungs no longer exists!

Volcano Vaporizers are simple and easy to use. Simply switch it on to the desired temperature and leave it to heat up for a couple of minutes, then put your ground weed/tobacco/whatever you want to inhale into the heating chamber. Clip a balloon bag over the chamber and watch with wonder as it begins to fill with vapour. Remove the bag and inhale at your very great leisure!

Volcano Vaporizers are an absoulte luxury, but are so amazing and easy to use and a great device for those who are trying to give up smoking. I have yet to be able to afford one myself, but if I gave up the tobacco entirely and put the money I saved towards one I could probably afford it very quickly. This is an investment in your own health as well as your leisure and free time. And the high you get off a Volcano Vape is quite simply the clearest, cleanest and best high I’ve experienced.

In fact, that’s me sold!

Filed under: Vaporizer on March 11th, 2011 | No Comments »

I’m already looking at what would be the best music festival to go to this year.

Music Festivals are not just about the music; it’s all about the atmosphere to me. In fact music comes second when deciding where to go.

I’m looking at going to the Latitude Festival on the Suffolk Coastline. No bands have even been announced yet but that is not important. It’s the feeling and the vibe of the event that is most important to me. And the vibe of Latitude in recent years has been proven to be one of the best around!

Not only a music festival, Latitude is also a celebration of literature and performance, with stages dedicated to poetry reading, theatre, comedy and burlesque to name but a few.

I’m looking forward to cracking open a packet of Giggles and heading down to the comedy stage. Having previously played host to Rich Hall, Richard Herring, Stephen K Amos, Dave Gorman and Sean Lock to name but a few, I feel that having an enhancement such as a Giggle or two would make for an extra special night!

Then of course the music itself. I wish I had caught Nigel Kennedy last year. Roling up a joint or two of Blast Off and listening to his rendition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons whilst watching the sun set over a lake would have been a magical experience.

Of course there is the bonus of just being in such a beautiful place as the Suffolk countryside. Tucked away amongst the trees, dancing as the sun goes down over he most beautiful skies known to man.

Yup. My mind has been made up. Latitude it is for me this year.

Filed under: Natural on March 11th, 2011 | No Comments »

There have been some wonderful drug trips in cinema history; some fun, some not so fun. the ‘Gutterballs’ sequence in ‘The Big Lebowski’, while ending on a dark note sees our hero, The Dude, involved in a massive dance/bowling sequence with lots of scantily clad ladies. It is fun, funny, sexy and stylish. This is in sharp contrast to the terrifying moment in ‘Trainspotting’ where our lead Renton is going cold turkey and watches a dead baby crawl across the ceiling towards him.

However, while there are drug references all over cinema, some of my absolute favourite moments are actually from children’s films and TV. One thing that every one of these films/clips have in common is that I saw them as a child and in some way they traumatised me. But isn’t that the mark of a good piece of TV?!

5. Alice in Wonderland

Honestly, it’s hard to think of a single moment from this film which isn’t drug inspired. OK, I know that there is no evidence to show that Lewis Carroll so much as even abused aspirin, but the references and alegories are certainly here for all to see, especially in the Disney film version. A Catepillar smoking a Hookah pipe? State altering mushrooms? Not to metion the sheer volumes of psychedelic colour used.

In this clip Alice talks to the flowers after she has been shrunk, and they sing to her. The colours and imagery used are simply stunning, and wouldn’t look out of place during a mushroom trip of your own!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA1QJMtJ6_A&feature=related

4. Pink Elephants on Parade

OK, so it may not be a drug reference as such, (alcohol’s not a drug, it’s a drink. Thank you Chris Morris and Brasseye!) but it certainly is incredibly trippy.

We all know the scene, I am sure. Dumbo has gotten himself drunk on bubbly and witnesses this parade of pink elephants. At times beautiful and at time incredibly terrifying, this scene actually put me off getting drunk when I was a child. I have a very vivid memory of watching this as a little girl and making a very solemn promise to my mother that I would never ever EVER drink alcohol.

My how the times have changed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=944cPciN-kw

3. Climb Inside – Ren & Stimpy

Ren & Stimpy was frequently very psychedellic in both style and content. One reviewer described the background style as being “reminiscent of holes in reality or the vision of a person in a deep state of dementia,” which certainly sums up my feelings on the subject too! I remember feeling quite nauseous at times watching Ren & Stimpy as a child, particulalry when they showed the gruesome and highly detailed close ups.

This little scene, where Stimpy somehow manages to turn himself inside out and climb inside his own belly button under the instruction of Jerry the Bellybutton Elf, epiomises the psychedellic nature of this classic cartoon, Apologies for the quality of the clip!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9m7mhACGPU&feature=related

2. Heffalumps & Woozles

This is of a very similar vein to ‘Pink Elephants on Parade’ and is a warning to each and every one of us about the evils of excess! After overdosing on honey, Winnie the Pooh has this nightmare vision.

I was debating for a while about whether I would place this or ‘Elephants on Parade’ higher. Even though this scared me as a child and even put me off honey for a bit, much the same way that ‘Elephants’ put me off alcohol, I think this has a wee bit more charm. Beautifully animated, wonderfully colourful and psychedellic, and if you don’t know the song be prepared to be humming it for the rest of the day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLnADKgurvc

1. Yellow Submarine

Everyone must be more than aware of how much the greatest band of all time were influenced by their mind altering drugs, LSD in particular, and this remarkable film is a perfect illustration of such.

John Lennon stated quite categorically that Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds wasn’t about LSD, even though the initials say otherwise, but that instead it was inspired by a drawing his son Julian had done. When John asked his son what the drawing was, Julian replied ‘it’s Lucy in the sky with diamonds.’

Whatever the inspiration for the song was however, there can be no denying that the visual imagery in the Yellow Submarine film, and for this song in particular is very much inspired by hallocingenic drugs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7F2X3rSSCU

Filed under: Natural on February 8th, 2011 | No Comments »

I am a big fan of ‘the natural approach’ when it comes to a lot of things in my life. I don’t dye my hair using chemicals, for example, I prefer to use henna. I really hate eating processed food and much prefer to cook everything I eat myself from scratch using fresh, locally sourced ingredients. But when it comes to health care many people, and until recently I include myself in this, automatically turn to the pharmaceutical companies and the drugs cabinets.

But there is another approach. After all, many of the drugs that we now take to combat various symptoms such as insomnia, nausea, period pains, depression etc have only been discovered very recently, but these are problems that humans have suffered from for thousands of years, so there must be alternatives available. Before the advent of these drugs, us humans used herbal remedies.

For many years I have had problems with eczema. I was born with it, and although it has got much much better over recent years, stress can induce a bout of it. I particularly suffer with this behind my ears and no amount of creams that the doctor prescribes seem to work. It is as if my body has gotten so used to the amount of steroids and other harsh chemicals that it refuses to accept that more is being added. I recently heard of a plant called called mullein that can help. It claims to alleviate migraine symptoms, earache, and be effective on eczema, especially around the ear. Sounds perfect, I thought. And it it really does seem to be helping. I made the mullein into a water infusion, and use it to gently wash around my ears and already, after only a few days the soreness has gone and they don’t feel as dry.

It’s not the only plant that I’ve found can help alleviate minor problems. Peppermint tea is infintely better than any indegestion tablets you can take, and it tastes nicer too. Marshallow herb made into a tea seems to help when I have a flare up of IBS. If I’m having trouble sleeping I can make a tea out of Wild Lettuce and chamomile.

Of course sometimes an aspirin or paracetemol can’t be beaten, but if you can cut as much of the crap out of your system as possible, so much the better!

Filed under: Natural on January 21st, 2011 | No Comments »

There are many ways you can get high, and not all of them involve taking a drug of some sort.

Sleep deprivation , for example, if taken to an extreme can put you in a state of being in a waking dream, as if you are on some kind of hallucinogen. Nothing vivid, or brightly coloured, but it is possibe that you may see movement. Weird, blurry shadowy figures move around in the corners of your vision, and your imagination runs riot. From personal experience I can tell you that this is not anything you should be doing out of choice. It came about for me as the result of a very tough couple of weeks while in my final year at uni during a massive bout of insomnia. I’m still not sure what was real and was wasn’t during those couple of weeks.

Exercise is another one, and the reason that some people actually get addicted to going to the gym. When we exercise our body produces natural endorphins that resemble opiates, producing a feeling of well being and analgesia. If the exercise is strenous enough it can also produce feelings of actual euphoria. People get addicted to that endorphin kick. Incidentally, you also get the same endorphin kick through sex or through eating a good and really hot curry, so there’s plenty of hope for those of us who abhor spandex and all of its evils.

Filed under: Mood Enhancer on January 21st, 2011 | No Comments »

I’m usually a fan of turning off the TV and listening to music when I’m high, but sometimes a good comedy or film can’t be beaten, particularly if you’ve been smoking some good herbal incense. One absolutely great film to watch high is Pineapple Express. It has everything you’d need; laughs, action and drugs!

The story revolves around Dale Denton and his dealer mate Saul Silver. Dale witnesses a murder at the hands of a drug lord and a bent cop. At the same time he just so happens to be toking on a Pineapple Express joint that he bought from Saul. He panics, drops it and drives away. The Pineapple Express is so rare that (Plot Convenience here we come!) the murderers are able to trace it back to Saul, and so the two buddies end up running for their lives. The film escalates quickly to set pieces that are both ridiculous and fantastical, but all the more enjoyable for that. The film has a suitably downbeat ending with the film’s main protagonists sat in a cafe, beaten, bloody and exhausted and talking about their adventures. The dialogue was so realistic and wonderful; we’ve all been there, mashed out of our brains and doing such ridiculous things that all you can do afterwards is laugh and say, “I can’t belive that just happened!”

This is a clever black comedy that is filled with heart, and is one that is certainly enhanced by smoking a few of your own as you watch the protagonists go from joint to joint. The performances, particularly from James Franco as the dealer Saul, are fantastic. This is a film that stoners everywhere will relate to, whether that be smokers of the real stuff, or advocates of herbal blends, such as myself.

Filed under: Legal Highs News on January 7th, 2011 | No Comments »

Tobacco based snuff has probably had the biggest resurgence of anything in recent years and it is all thanks to the smoking ban.

The fact is, people enjoy tobacco. They like the taste, the smell, not to mention the relaxation and the nicotine. I do not know a single person who has given up smoking as a direct result of the smoking ban, but I know of a lot of people that have stopped going out as a direct result.

However, I know of at least a couple of people that have taken up this new habit in order to be able to indulge their habit and still come out to the pub.

Snuff has been around for a good couple of hundred years; the earliest reported use was when Columbus discovered the Americas and witnessed the Taino-Indians in Haiti using it. The earliest use in the Western world was in 1561 when the Queen of France, Catherine de Medici used it for medicinal purposes. Following this it become fashionable to snort tobacco, and so snorting was much more popular than smoking.

These days it could not be easier to indulge in a little snuff habit. There are many different varieties of snuff available, some of which come in a little pre-filled bullet, some of which come in a more traditional tin allowing you to take a pinch whenever you want. There is an abundance of flavours available; if youw ant your tobacco to taste and smell like tobacco you can go for a traditional, unflavoured variety, but if you want something that tastes of tia maria, or oranges, or strawberries or whatever you fancy, there is that option too!

Snuff is a tobacco product that contains nicotine, and so of course it is addictive and can cause some health problems, but it is certainly a lot better for your health than smoking! And with the added benefit that pubs and restaurants cannot ask you to leave if you put a pinch of snuff up your nose, it is easy to see why we are tuning the clocks back on our tobacco habits!

Filed under: Snuff on January 5th, 2011 | No Comments »

I’m always keen to try highs that are found in nature as opposed to ones that have been manufactured in a laboratory, but up until now I have yet to try Kratom. I’m not sure how I have managed to miss it off of my ‘to try’ list.

For those of you who don’t know, Kratom is a stimulant derived from the plant Mitragyna Speciosa that is native to areas of South East Asia. It has been used by locals for many, many years to aid physical and manual labour. Traditionally they chewed the leaves whilst working; this would produce a numbing and stimulating effect.

Kratom is pretty widely available now. More often thnan not it comes in a very fine powdered form that can be mixed with liquids or turned into a tea and then ingested.

I used a packet of UEIm Ultra Enhanced Micro which can be purchased at headshops and mized it into a glass of juice, then drank it down straight.

Wow. I felt fantastic. My mind felt clear, calm and happy and my body felt like it just had to do something. Even boring chores like housework felt really enjoyable. Once I’d done one thing I couldn’t wait to do the next! I went for a really long walk and the more I did, the more I wanted to do.

The effects came on incredibly quickly, after only about 10-15 minutes and I felt energised for several hours. After doing a little research I have found out that at larger doses Kratom becomes a sedative rather than a stimulant, and can even have slightly psychoactive effects. I shall certainly be experimenting with this one!

Filed under: Legal High Reviews on December 16th, 2010 | No Comments »

Could it possibly be true? A pill that you can take that will not only make your pills work even better, but that will also make your come downs easier?

I came across a pill called Elevate that contains 5-HTP. This is a serotonin booster, which makes your body and mind more relaxed enabling your pills to take effect better. Serotonin is used by the body to combat various ailments such as depression and can be used as an apetite supressent, but in this case it opens your bidy and mind up to the experiences that taking a pill gives you.

I took an Elevate pill then about half an hour later I took a Blessed. Those of you who read this blog regularly will know how much I enjoyed Blessed. I found it to be a really uplifting experience, one that was not too harsh (or at least wouldn’t have been had I not been drinking heavily too!) and one that was relatively easy to get over the next day.

Well, these pills made the whole experience even better. Using my prior knowledge of Blessed I knew not to drink on it, but I’m sure that I came up quicker this time, and I am certain that this is because of the Elevate that I had taken. It seemed to be a smoother come up this time as well.

As for the next morning… hangover? What hangover?!

Seriously, I would very much recommend these pills to anyone taking a legal high.

Filed under: Legal High Reviews on December 16th, 2010 | No Comments »