Archive for January, 2009

I have been using drugs of various kinds and descriptions for some years now. Not only do I really enjoy the experience whenever I get the opportunity, I actually believe that it opens my mind and makes me a more rounded person. Nowhere is this more true than with my Salvia trips.

I started using Salvia about a year ago. I bought some off the Internet when I’d heard the politicians arguing so passionately about it. I was told (incorrectly, it turns out) that Salvia is kind of a cross between LSD and marijuana. In fact its effects have little in common with either.

So anyway, my younger sister (she’s 22) has occasionally tried drugs with me. I decided that I would introduce her into the wonderful world of Salvia; she wilfully agreed and we set a time and a date on which we would together help her with her first Salvia trip.

I stayed sober while she took the first hit. Her eyes went glassy and she sat there for a few minutes, seemingly unconscious. When she came around, I asked her if she’d fallen asleep. Oh no, she replied, far from it.

You see, while she was under the influence my sister – Sally – was having the time of her life! She was chasing a multicoloured dog around a rotating room. The walls kept morphing into strange shapes. At one point the table she was sat next to changed into a huge version of my, only to morph again into the old and outdated stereo system that sits in the corner of the living room.

Did she enjoy it? Enjoying is perhaps not the right word, but she certainly felt that her eyes were more open than before. Would she try it again? Hell yeah, of course!

Salvia is a plant – that much nearly everyone knows – but where exactly does the little beast come from?

The Salvia Divinorum plant has large green leaves, hollow square stems, and white flowers with purple calyces. These calyces a resemble flower heads with what are known as ’separated’ leaves. the Salvia Divinorum plant produces very few seeds indeed, which makes it unique among the Salvia family. What’s more surprising is that the few Salvia Divinorum seeds that do appear rarely, if ever germinate. Salvia Divinorum’s woes on the reproduction front continue, as its pollen fertility is weak. The only way to get Salvia Divinorum to reproduce is by cutting or layering the plant.

Interestingly, Salvia is what is known as a ‘cultigen’; that is, not occurring in a wild state. The Mazatec Indian Shamans obviously knew that they were on to a good thing when they first spotted it!

All this weakness and apparent sterility would normally indicate that a plant is a hybrid of other species. Whilst this is a possibility in the case of Salvia, no other species has been noted as being a possible parent species. Scientists struggle with this question to this day. The plant itself is almost as enigmatic as the drug that is produced from it!

Salvia is, of course, the close cousin to the Salvia plants that are so popular in our gardens. The plant’s flowers are striking and beautiful; these garden plants do not contain any of the active psychedelic ingredient Salvinorin A. Salvinorin A is the bit that makes Salvia Divinorum usable as a drug, and it is that which the US government is trying so hard to ban from the country.

There is still much to be discovered about this interesting plant, and it is with relish that scientists continue to explore it.

Phuket is consistently one of Thailand’s most visited destinations thank to the large number of beaches and beautiful areas it has to offer. For any holiday to Phuket, the first thing you’ll think about is what kind of Phuket hotel you are going to stay in for your time on the island.

Before you make any decisions, you’re going to have to think about what kind of budget you have to spend your stay at your preferred Phuket hotel. Phuket has everything from decent budget digs to the most luxurious of sprawling resorts, complete with spas and all the trimmings.

The budget shouldn’t be too hard to decide on, but it may be a little more tricky picking the area of the island you want your Phuket hotel to be in. Do you want privacy and seclusion or are you more of a party animal looking to be in the thick of things?

If you want to be in the thick of the action, there are plenty of Phuket hotels in Patong. Patong is the main area of Phuket where there are lots of restaurants bars and clubs, making it a lively part of the island. Although perhaps it might be a little too lively.

Away from Patong, the rest of the island is a lot more chilled and the Phuket hotels have a lot more to offer. You might want to consider staying in an area such as Mai Khao or Nai Yang, which are beautiful beach spots in Phuket.

After deciding on what type of Phuket hotel you want, you’ll be ready to choose on the booking agents to make your reservations. There are a number of trustworthy booking agents to choose from, so you needn’t worry about being ripped off or ending up in a dive somewhere.

Kenneth Rau, 47, is thought to be the first person in the US to be charged with the possession of Salvia, a Class C felony in Rau’s home state of North Dakota. Salvia – and its active ingredient salvinorin A – were banned under North Dakota law in 2007.

Police entered Kenneth Rau’s home on April 7, 2008 as they searched for his son, Scott Rau. Scott was found hiding in a neighbor’s basement, the courts heard, and he attacked police with a baseball bat. The officers at the scene conducted a ‘clear’ search of Kenneth Rau’s apartment, fearing for their safety. While checking this out, Officers spotted a marijuana pipe on a computer stand. After searching the rest of the apartment, police found 8 ounces of Salvia, some drugs paraphernalia and a quantity of marijuana.

Kenneth Rau and his legal team were arguing for suppression of the evidence in the case; they considered that the search of his apartment was improper and those items found during it should be, they argued, inadmissible in the case.

Unfortunately for Rau and his team the Judge ruled that the police were well within the rules when finding the drugs. Firstly the ‘clear’ operation was a matter of routine when officers felt that they were in danger; secondly they did not search any of the private rooms to find the marijuana pipe, it was in clear view; thirdly a thorough search – that which revealed the Salvia and the marijuana – was done with Kenneth Rau’s consent (albeit under the knowledge that if he failed to give consent a warrant would be obtained). Kenneth Rau is a former attorney, and understood the consequences of his actions, the Judge said.

The trial was due to start on January 21, but had to be moved back due the availability of witnesses.

Awesome service is something that I always look for in a restaurant: it is the thing above all else (up to a point) that will keep me coming back to one particular establishment.

Now we’ve all heard of the Iron Cactus Mexican restaurant in Austin, Texas. It is famed for its selection of tequilas, and the rooftop bar; the fish tacos and tortilla soup are winning followers, too. I love this place, and its not just the drinks or the Mexican food that is served that keep me coming back. Let me describe the treatment we got during a recent visit, and perhaps this will help you to understand why it is that I love it so much!

Firstly we got here and requested a seat. Now there were ten of us so this was no mean feat in a busy Mexican restaurant; I made it more difficult by asking for a seat by the window. The waiters and hosts broke their backs trying to accommodate our request and, lo and behold, we got what we wanted.

Then there were two vegetarians in the group which, I’m sure you’ll appreciate, don’t usually get much choice with Mexican food. Not in the Iron Cactus though, where their requests were heard sympathetically and served to perfection.

This is a really top class restaurant. I approve!

Nebraskans who smoke may be in luck: Sen. Russ Kapisek of Wilber introduced a bill (LB611) that would allow cities, towns and villages opt of the smoking ban that goes into effect on June. The statewide ban was passed by lawmakers last year.

Those responsible for the original bill did consider an opt-out clause, but the idea was comprehensive rejected at that point. It will be interesting to see whether Karpisek and his supporters can give this idea some extra legs this time around. Certainly current smokers will hope so.

Given the above information, it is interesting to note that the same Sen. Russ Karpisek has introduced a bill (LB123) which would make it illegal to sell or possess salvia divinorum, with selling it carrying penalties of up to 20 years in prison. Salvia fans and users will be pleased to know that a similar bill was introduced last year but didn’t quite make the final voting stage. Let’s hope it stays that way, for the sake of freedom-loving Nebraskans everywhere.

In a discussion over the bill, Assistant Nebraska Attorney General Corey O’Brien showed his ignorance of the substance by telling the Assistant Nebraska Attorney General Corey O’Brien that Salvia is similar to LSD. He went on to announce that it can make people dangerous to themselves and others. Smells like a lot of unfounded scaremongering, to me, and is typical of the uneducated way in which politicians and authorities are approaching the subject of Salvia Divinorum.

How you can hope to ban something without fully understanding it is a little bit of a mystery to me. Salvia is not regarded as dangerous by anyone who knows about it; impartial scientists can confirm that the drug is not like LSD. Where do these people get their ‘information’ from? Rejecting something because it is ‘different’ is a very slippery path, and one which the US has been guilty of in the past on a number of very tragic occasions.

The title may sound a bit of an oddity, but it’s true. There are so many examples across the net of where you can get an Acai berry free trial offer, and quite simply they’re all scams. There are plenty of reputable and honest Acai suppliers that will give you an excellent example of this wonderful product. I can pretty much say with certainty, though, that the vast, vast majority of these honest Acai dealers will not offer an Acai berry free trial offer.

You see the Acai berry free trial offer is just a way to get you signed up to an expensive and difficult to cancel monthly subscription You are then shipped a very poor product at great cost; it is only at this point do people start to realise that they have been scammed.

Sometimes these companies will provide you with a drum dried Acai extract that has been all but destroyed during the ‘refinement’ process. Heat damages and severely affects the antioxidant properties that make Acai what it is.

The simple conclusion that can be drawn from this brief analysis is that the Acai berry free trial offer is no better than an elaborate scam. Stay away from these, and buy your Acai from a reputable source.

Dissociation is a psychological state. Dissociation comes as a natural part of the use of some psychoactive hallucinogens. If you read part one of this series then you will know that Salvia is a psychoactive hallucinogen which puts users in a dissociative state. But what exactly does it mean to be in a dissociative state? Read on.

A dissociative drug (for example Salvia) is one which blocks signals to the concious – thinking – part of the brain from the other parts of the brain. This retards the brain’s ability to perceive things in the ways that we would normally perceive them. If, when I have a sober mind, I look at a chair then I will recognise that it is a chair. It is made of wood and is designed for sitting on. If I look at the same chair under the influence of Salvia then I may just see some kind of malformed object (the signals telling me its shape being blocked) and in perceiving this object other parts of my brain may decide that this chair is actually moving towards me, and has wings. If I consider myself at the same time as the chair then it may be that my thoughts get confused and I actually imagine myself as part of the chair.

The fact that we are not rationally processing certain information can sometimes feel like we are perceiving things in a different – or perhaps spiritual – way. This is the way that the Mazatec Shamans view the effect of Salvia Divinorum on their minds.

Dissociatives might have effects on the central nervous system and might – although this has never been known to occur with Salvia – effect your nervous system enough to cause death. Fortunately Salvia is one of the safest drugs that we know of, and scientists have even mooted the opinion that it may have beneficial effects on the human body.