Showing posts with label cannabinoids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cannabinoids. Show all posts

Thursday, June 18, 2026

They ruined cannabis: Grow your own

(Ambrosia Buds) Why old weed hits better

Monday, June 1, 2026

Drunk monkeys? Ancient highs? Legal highs?


How good are legal highs kratom, kava, kanna?
(Metta Beshay) Patreon: mettabeshay. All links are at linktr.ee/mettabeshay. "Getting high" [finding a temporary way out of our "normal" or usual state of consciousness] is an almost universal human experience. We are taught that alcohol is the default option for humans, but I learned that this is not the case.
 
Let's delve into the history of kanna in South Africa with the Koi Koi and the San people (Khoi San people). [The San people were made famous in The Gods Must Be Crazy (film series)].

Let's discuss the complex morality of the growing kratom use in the world. 

Let's try the most famous and confusing legal magic mushroom, the shamanic fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) and explore how to use it for sleep.

Finally, let's learn the best methods to prepare the popular Pacific Island plant kava.

I try all of these plants [from Nature's Plant Pharmacy] and provide a firsthand and honest report on how they make me feel.

I have learned that there is an insane number of legal plant medicines to explore, such as Mormon Tea made of ephedra, shrooms like psilocybin, areca nut or betel nut, Salvia divinorum or seer's sage, and fermented kanna...

CHAPTERS
  • 0:00 Intro and disclaimer
  • 1:28 Amanita muscaria (fly agaric)
  • 6:39 Kava
  • 12:50 Kratom
  • 22:58 Kanna
  • 30:17 Outro
WARNING: This video is strictly for educational and documentary purposes. I do not recommend anyone to try or repeat any of my actions in this video.

SOURCES
  • The father of pharmacognosy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedaniu...
  • High Uses of Benadryl / how_to_trip_safely_on_benadryl
  • Kanna: Kanna History: https://kanna-info.com/history-of-kanna
  • Basic kanna info: https://www.erowid.org/plants/kanna/k...
  • Ann and Alexander Shulgin talking: • Ann and Sasha Shulgin Discussing Phen...
  • European Conquer Kanna reports: “The Present State of the Cape of Good Hope” Translated in 1731 Active ingredients: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
  • True Review Kanna Video: • Video Zembrin: https://www.amazon.com/Nutricost-Zemb...
  • Mesembrine: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31299...
  • Mesembrine: https://www.drugs.com/npp/sceletium-t...
  • Pharmacology of Kanna: / all_you_need_to_know_about_kannas_pharmaco...
  • More Chemistry Talk: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...
  • South African Ethnobotanist post / clarification_on_kanna
  • Source also good dosing info and more: https://sceletium.com/knowledge/
  • Its Chemical Action: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26615...
  • Amanita: Amanita History: https://psychedelicspotlight.com/a-cu...
  • Amanita Psychnautwiki: https://psychonautwiki.org/wiki/Amani... • The Fly Agaric 🍄 Facts, Myths, and Ex...
  • Great Podcast Kava: Great Kava Info • The Science Behind Kava Alcohol Use in Micronesia https://micsem.org/article/alcohol-an...
  • Native American Powwow • I Experienced My First Native America... • Salvia Trip Professionally Filmed • Salvia 2023 bad trip
  • Mandrake: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles...
  • https://www.botanical.com/botanical/m...
  • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
  • https://wellcomecollection.org/articl...
  • https://digirepo.nlm.nih.gov/ext/dw/1...
  • https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscri...
  • My kratom source: https://left-coast-kratom.com/buy-bul...
  • My kanna source: https://sceletium.com/product/sceleti...
  • My discount code: METTA99
  • My Amanita muscaria (red mushroom) source: https://mn-nice-ethnobotanicals.com/c...
  • My discount code: METTA
  • Kava and kratom extract shot: https://www.shorebreakkava.com/produc...
  • Discount code: METTA
  • Cashapp: https://cash.app/$MettaBeshay
  • Venmo: @Metta-Beshay
Oh, thought I was joking? No, I want that dang dolla. Instagram: mettabeshay
  • once; Metta Beshay, Oct. 10, 2023; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly, orig. June 16, 2024

Thursday, February 12, 2026

Weed psychosis: real Reefer Madness now


Weed Psychosis is exploding in America (but nobody warned us)
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
(African Diaspora News Channel) Feb. 10, 2026: Rosemarie Havsom reports: Marijuana (from the Chinese mahua,* not Spanish "Mary Jane," weed, pot, the Devil's cabbage, cannabis, THC/CBD) is being sold as “safe,” “natural,” and “harmless” — but emergency rooms across America are seeing a disturbing surge in weed-induced psychosis, paranoia, hallucinations, schizophrenia and violent breaks from reality. This isn’t about old-school [2% THC] weed. Today’s high-THC products are 10–30x stronger than what past generations used — and the brain is paying the price.

  • Buddhist clingy hungry ghosts
    *According to our botany and plant medicine teacher, USC's Dr. Adams, who is fluent in Chinese and whose wife is Chinese, our word "ma-rijuana" (potent strain of hemp) comes from the Chinese word ma, including mahua (麻花), mafen (麻蕡), and mabo (麻勃), referring to specific parts of the male and female flowers of a cannabis plant with differing cannabinoid ratios. More
  • For "spiritual" uses, see: entheogenic use of cannabis
  • Don't smoke drugs, Kids, because according to good Dr. Gabor Mate if one has early childhood traumas, one will become addicted to its use and abuse.
This video segment was produced by the African Diaspora News Channel team.  All content is human-generated and delivered. Connect with Rosemarie: @havsom

Saturday, December 20, 2025

Lost Cannabis of the Silk Road: Stans


Field of dreams...greens (hemp)
(Strain Hunters) The Lost Cannabis of the Silk Road, Kyrgyzstan Expedition | Strain Hunters, Episode 1.
  • What does Buddhism have to do with Central Asia?
  • Buddhism in Kyrgyzstan
  • The historical Buddha and this iteration of "Buddhism" (the timeless, rediscovered Dharma) was born in ancient Gandhara (the three seasonal capitals collectively referred to as "Kapilavastu" (Pali Kapilavatthu and Kapilapura) not Nepal, but modern Afghanistan -- Bamiyan, Kabul, Mes Aynak -- and Pakistan and Bihar, India, near Himalayan foothill regions of the Hindu Kush and Kashmir)
  • Though born here, modern scholars imagine a Silk Road transmission of Buddhism
  • The wandering ascetic (shramana) Siddhartha awakened in Bodh Gaya ("Enlightenment Grove"), Bihar (Vihar), but at that time there was no "India." That came into being when many disparate kingdoms and republics were untied under Buddhist Emperor Ashoka. Prior to the many mahajanapadas or "familial territories" (lit. "greater territorial clan footholds").
  • Soon after awakening (mahabodhi or "great enlightenment"), the Buddha (the "Awakened One") returned to his hometown in Central Asia, Kapilavastu (quite likely Bamiyan, according to Indian historian Dr. Ranajit Pal) and gained many Scythian/Shakyian/Saka followers, many who took up a life of wandering asceticism and followed him back to Bihar (Vihar'), so named because there were at one time so many viharas (Buddhist temples, monasteries and nunneries, and chaityas) across the land.
  • Technically speaking, "Buddhism" was born in Rajgir, India, where the great former-Brahmin Buddhist monk Maha Kassapa called together the First Buddhist Council to standardize and create a formal "religion" or "Eastern philosophy"
  • The Kharosthi (Gandhari) language texts (Gandhāran Buddhist texts) are the world's oldest known Buddhist texts.
The only three connections of cannabis (ganja, marijuana, herb, flower, pot, weed) to Buddhism that we are aware of are indirect and not very connected to enlightenment, but some users of this plant treat them as if they are connected.

The first is possible but unlikely. Potheads are convinced -- either through wishful thinking, speculation, or some handed down mythology that got stretched to enhance cannabis' glorious reputation -- that when the wandering ascetic Siddhartha (the Bodhisatta or Future Buddha) was engaged in severe asceticism, he took less and less food until he was down to just one cannabis seed a day. This would have been a healthy choice because hemp is so incredibly nutritious, though not likely psychoactive.
  • Hempseeds are extraordinary because they are one of a very few plant sources of balanced Omega 3, 6, and 9 fatty acids plus a great source of protein.
  • To emphasize how dedicated struggling Siddhartha was to attaining Buddhahood, his austerities (tapas), penances, and asceticism are spoken of in the extreme to make a point. He ate a bowlful of grain (most often said to have been rice or sesame maybe mustard seed). Then regarding that as too indulgent, he took only a handful...until he took only a single grain a day. That didn't work to gain him calm, insight, or enlightenment, and he gave all of these practices up for the Middle Way that avoids extremes of hedonism and asceticism. He realized that jhana practice was the way to awakening/liberation, serving as the foundation of insight (vipassana, lit. "clear seeing").
Rules, rules, rules

Fat Happy addict Homer (olioart.com)
The second is a curious omission in the Monastic Disciplinary Code (Vinaya and Pāṭimokkha and Pratimokṣa), such as one freely available translation by American Theravada monk Ven. Thanissaro Bhikkhu (abbot of Metta Forest Monastery, San Diego), which states and explains (with a backstory) all the rules Buddhist monks and nuns vow to live by.

There are major rules, lesser rules (which might be described as "minor"), and many more miscellaneous rules of etiquette. Which is which is not completely obvious.

When Ananda was told by the Buddha that after his passing into final nirvana, the monastic order (sangha), could democratically vote to alter or abandon the "minor rules" but not the others. Ananda did not have the presence of mind to clarify by asking which were which, so the historically-based Theravada tradition chose to keep them all. But Buddhist Councils debate, argue, and attempt to define or redefine them, even on occasion voting to modify or better explain them. For instance, maybe in the past monastics walked or were driven, but today a rule might be relaxed to allow them to drive.

Among arguably "minor" rules is a rule that monastics can smoke [such as tobacco], but what exactly they would have been smoking in those days is not thoroughly specified. They can smoke something. So a monk or nun might smoke hemp leaf, THC-containing weed, or herbs and flowers and grass and think that no violation (of the rules they live by as laid down by the historical Buddha) is taking place.

(It may well be that cannabis was not very powerful back then so that it made little difference). Smoking weed would be taking a risk because one of the biggest rules incumbent on all Buddhists is the Fifth Precept to "abstain from intoxicants that occasion heedlessness," namely beer and liquor.
  • The way the rules are classified is by way of seriousness and their consequences. As regards the most serious, there are FOUR "defeat offenses" (parajikas). This is a little odd because these four are the Five Precepts with one exception. The only one left out is the fifth, consuming intoxicants, getting high, taking a substance that occasions heedlessness (which mean breaking other rules through neglect, indifference, lack of mindfulness, or the ignorance that comes from being high a.k.a. tripping balls). Isn't it odd that getting intoxicated does not rise to a "defeat" offense but all the others do? Because of intoxication, one is likely to commit any of the other offenses, including the defeat offenses of sex, stealing, killing, or lying [about attainments] that immediately and irrevocably lead one to lose one's ordination as a monk or nun for this lifetime.
What is the drug?

The Path of Purification
The third is related but tangential. There is the existence of an entheogenic elixir (an amrita or Greek ambrosia) called soma (an Indo-Aryan combination of natural "drugs" such as divine cannabis, of some extraordinary strain, Asian blue lotus or Egyptian blue lotus, fermented mare's milk or kumis, and other variants, perhaps psychoactive mushrooms or other DMT-containing ingredients, plus additives to process, enhance, or preserve it).
  • Texts describe the preparation of soma by means of extracting juice from a plant, the identity of which is now unknown and debated among scholars. The ancient Historical Vedic religion's soma and Zoroastrianism's haoma (Avestan, name of the drink and plant) are not exactly the same [7].
  • There has been much speculation about the most likely original botanical.
  • Some accounts, such as those from practitioners of yogic Ayurveda, Siddha medicine, and Somayajna, identify the plant as "Somalata" (Cynanchum acidum) [8].
  • Some researchers have proposed candidates including:
  • Amanita muscaria (Fly agaric shamanic mushroom),
  • Psilocybin (magic mushrooms),
  • Peganum harmala (the alkaloid harmaline), and
  • Ephedra gerardiana.
  • [Into this or as a later substitute, it is believed cannabis was steeped in mare's milk kumis, perhaps a "poor man's soma."]
  • So legendary is soma in the West that The Doors of Perception author Aldous Huxley used it as a central ingredient in his novel Brave New World, suggesting that the word refers to a psychoactive, entheogenic, psychedelic substance similar to mescaline, derived from cacti like peyote and San Pedro. But these might only be substitutes for the real thing because the character Linda tries mescal (the psychedelic protoalkaloid mescaline) and peyotl (peyote) and longs to get back to the World State and real soma.
  • The society described in Brave New World keeps its citizens peaceful by various methods, including the constant consumption of the soothing, happiness-producing drug "soma."
  • Botanical identity of soma–haoma
Zoroastrians use a soma to this day, identified as the plant ephedra, whose effects mirror the descriptions found in the Rig Veda [a pre-Hindu Brahminical text of great importance to Hindus].

The old Vedic religion was the belief system of some of the Vedic Indo-Aryan tribes, the Aryas (Aryans) [14][15], who migrated into the Indus River Valley region of the Indian subcontinent [16].
  • [To be clear, the word Aryan, "noble," came to designate "enlightened" in Buddhist usage rather than being any kind of reference to race, ethnicity, or "Iranian" usage from which it originally derived.]
  • The Buddha was a self-proclaimed Aryan [his mother, Maha Maya Gautami, being Iranian (from Sistan-Baluchistan, according to Dr. Ranajit Pal in his most remarkable book Non-Jonesian Indology), a descendant of the "Solar Race" (The Story of the Lineage or translation of the Nidanakatha in Buddhist Birth Stories by T.W. Rhys Davids).
Sakka, King of the Devas
The Indo-Aryans were speakers of a branch of the Indo-European language family, which originated in the Sintashta culture and further developed into the Andronovo culture, which in turn developed out of the Kurgan culture of the Central Asian steppes [17].

The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesized Proto-Indo-European religion [18, Note 1] and show relations with rituals from the Andronovo culture, from which the Indo-Aryan people descended [14].

Sakka in Christianity: St. Michael
According to Anthony, the Old Indic religion probably emerged among Indo-European immigrants in the contact zone between the Zeravshan River (present-day Uzbekistan) and (present-day) Iran [19].

It was "a syncretic mixture of old Central Asian and new Indo-European elements" [19], which borrowed "distinctive religious beliefs and practices" [11] from the Bactria–Margiana culture (BMAC) [11].

This syncretic influence is supported by at least 383 non-Indo-European words that were borrowed from this culture, including the god Indra [Sakka] and the ritual drink Soma [12]. According to Anthony:


"Many of the qualities of Indo-Iranian god of might and victory Verethraghna were transferred to the adopted god Indra [Sakka of the Sakas], who became the central deity of the developing Old Indic culture.

Indra was the subject of 250 hymns, a quarter of the Rig Veda. He was associated more than any other deity with Soma, a stimulant drug (perhaps derived from ephedra) probably borrowed from the BMAC religion. His rise to prominence was a peculiar trait of the Old Indic speakers [20]." More: Soma (drink)
  • Strain Hunters; Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Herbs: 'Planting Medicine,' Pot (Pacifica)

Pine needles are full of Vit. C and phytochemicals

The herbalism and plant medicine show (KPFA)
"Planting Medicine" airs Tuesdays at 1:00 pm on KPFA.org (Berkeley) and KPFK.org (Los Angeles).

"Planting Medicine," formerly "Herbal Highway," enhances the community’s knowledge of herbal (plant) medicines by sharing voices of traditional, holistic healers and their shamanistic healing practices.

Hosted and produced by Emiliano Lemus (aka "Emilia No-Lemus") and Renée Camila.

Planting Medicine originates in the San Francisco Bay Area, each Tuesday at 1:00 pm on 94.1 FM in the Bay and 90.7 FM in the Los Angeles Basin and online at kpfa.org and kpfk.org.

Call the LA studio at (818) 985-5735 and the office (818) 985-2711. Listen LIVE.
  • Available for listening after the show at kpfk.org/archive.
  • Today's show: Medicinal Berries: Host Emiliano Lemus dives into the world of medicinal berries. Join them to learn about the special healing properties carried by these wondrous fruits.
  • (Please don't call in with questions about drugs. This is a serious show about herbs and legal medicinal uses. And if you do call, don't laugh like Beavis & Butt-Head.)
15 Victorian drugs for kids and Brits
(Gaslight Diaries) Shocking plants (heroin, cocaine) and chemicals used as 'medicine' in England

World of herbs is bigger than pot

Good vs. Bad Bud: Differences to Notice
(Cannabis Guy) Oct. 10, 2025: Cannabis Guy breaks down the four signs of quality cannabis — look, smell, and feel. What frosty trichomes really mean, how terpenes reveal top-shelf flower buds, and how to avoid the classic signs of mids. From dull, dry buds to sticky, aromatic flower that burns clean and smooth, this is a complete guide to spotting good cannabis every time. Whether a grower, buyer, or just tired of getting burned by low-grade bud, this video teaches how to identify real quality legal pot.
  • Chapter 1: The Look: Visual cues reveal most of a bud’s story. Good: vibrant greens and purples, orange pistils, shimmering frost of trichomes. Trichomes are cannabinoid and terpene factories. Structure and density—tight, compact buds = good growing conditions. Contrast with bad weed: dull, brownish, yellow, moldy, airy, or leafy. Warning: buds with seeds, excess stems, or gray fuzz.
  • Chapter 2: The Smell: Aroma is a major quality indicator. Good: bold, distinct scents like citrus, pine, diesel, or berries—driven by terpenes with good preservation through proper curing. Bad weed: smells like hay, grass, or wet cardboard → poor curing. Stale, bland, or ammonia-like smells = old or wet-jarred weed → bacteria/mold risk.
  • Chapter 3: The Feel: Texture reveals quality. Good: sticky, springy, and resinous—snaps when broken. The “snap” test is proof of proper drying and curing. Airy/hollow buds = poor lighting or low nutrients. The ideal feel = sticky, dense, but not brittle.
  • Info: When it comes to bad vs. good, knowing how to tell good flower apart from trash is key. More

Monday, May 26, 2025

Thom Hartmann: Weed reverses aging?

If Black don't crack and Asian don't raisin, could THC in cannabis be part of the reason?

Smoke THC, who TCH? (Thom in 2004)
Thom Hartmann or TCH (Thomas Carl Hartmann, born May 7, 1951) is now pro-THC? The American is a progressive radio personality, author, businessman, and nominal liberal [pro-Bernie, pro-Hillary, pro-Democrat] political commentator [1, 2]. Hartmann has been hosting a nationally syndicated radio show, "The Thom Hartmann Program," since 2003 and between 2010 and 2017 hosted a nightly television show, The Big Picture. More
  • AUDIO: Brain boost from THC in weed? When you think of cannabis, improving brain health might not be the first thing that comes to mind. In fact, you’ve probably heard the old trope that cannabis fries your memory... (The Mercury News)

Thursday, August 29, 2024

Microdosed herb and mushrooms: BREZ



Natural entheogens bring closer to nature.
Alcohol is bad, insidiously bad. It doesn't seem that bad. "What's the big deal?" we say. One drink is numbing, two dumbing, three a downward spiral. In time drinking gets worse. Hangovers, dysfunctional coping skills, dependence, mistakes of all sorts, consequences one goes into denial about.

"But everyone drinks." Everyone does not. "Europeans do it worse, well, maybe not worse, but the US isn't the only abuser of alcohol." Look at Australia. It's liquid ignorance, rotten bread extract, you know, fermented and putrefied in a barrel. God drank.


Mother Nature prefers natural things.
Though that was really just grape juice that was starting to turn and, in those filthy times in that filthy place, fermented sauce was safer than water. Clean water is now available, and fresh grape juice is much healthier. No amount of alcohol is healthy. Oh, you didn't hear? This has been proven. The red wine myth has been debunked.

Resveratrol is in grapes, not alcohol. Higher concentrations are found in supplements and fresh juice than "wine." (Vine is vino, which is where we get wine and winos).

Synthetic drugs are bad, m'kay? Preservatives, flavorants, all of that stuff is garbage. What's good? Mother Nature.

If only Mother Nature made things pop right out of the soil or in green fields! Wait, She does? Shrooms and cannabis grow freely with beneficial medicinals? Sign me up! If only someone could gather items from the Plant Pharmacy and can them, put Mother Nature in a jar. Here's the BREZ (breezy) pitch:

Drinking has evolved

BREZ's adaptogenic formula harmonizes to elevate every moment. Brighter colors, louder laughs, and tastier snacks are often reported.

The perfect effect
This is the experience you’ve been waiting for. Each sip is a ticket to bliss – wherever and whenever. [And it comes in a can.]

What people are saying
BREZ: "Breezy" in a can? What's the catch?
"Just the right combination to create a relaxing experience while not losing any control. I love BRĒZ as a replacement to alcohol."    – Cody

"I was surprised. The microdosed formula was perfect. It provided a light, energetic buzz with no anxiety, and it tastes great."

 – Jennifer

"Awesome alcohol alternative. Citrusy and sweet with just a subtle bite – I will def be ordering more!"  – Cassie

Rating (4.9/5.0 stars)
It's got, according to try.drinkbrez.com, 4.9 out of 5.0 stars, based on 1,016 total reviews.

"Tasty and breezy! I’m definitely a fan. The flavor is really nice and refreshing, and it made me feel so mellow and peaceful without being tired or anxious. Highly recommend!" - Kristen E. More

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Miracle cure for insomnia, addiction BANNED


Yes, there’s a MIRACLE CURE for insomnia and addiction. It's called GHB (Gamma-Hydroxy-Butyrate), condemned in a Big Pharma (in collusion with the capitalist US government) propaganda campaign to associate it and label it "the date rape drug." Roofies (Rohypnol) is still legal.
Liquid ignorance
Alcohol is the "date rape drug" but no one calls it that because alcohol manufacturers are making hundreds of billions a year marketing it as a good time. That's capital. No one can speak in favor of this medicine without simultaneously promoting rape. That's propaganda. Ivermectin is "horse medicine," a "dewormer," and never mind that it's also an award-winning human drug used for years without a problem and with great benefit.

But pay newspaper comics to mock it so that no one realizes it helps people overcome COVID-19 or other parasitic infestations, and Big Pharma laughs all the way to the bank. Why was it banned from use for the pandemic? It is because no "emergency authorization" could be granted if there were a viable treatment available.

Government shots or alcohol?
So that it worked could not be allowed to stand in the way of needing a phony emergency authorization to shield hospitals and doctors from being sued for injecting people with highly experimental and toxic vaccinations, no matter how much they harm people, leading to a massive increase in sudden deaths and "vaccine harm" cases that are now documented as publicly available data but is never spoken of.

Why isn't there a cure for insomnia?
A medicine so good it is abused at raves for recreation as if it were a pleasant psychedelic
.
(A Midwestern Doctor, June 2, 2024) Let's explore the critical importance of good sleep and the abhorrent campaign the FDA waged to outlaw a life-changing medication which threatened the entire pharmaceutical industry. Story at a glance:

•Proper sleep is one of the most important things for our health, and when it is disrupted, many severe issues consistently emerge (e.g., heart attacks, psychiatric illnesses, car accidents, fatigue, diabetes, cognitive impairment, or dementia).

Fake vaccine means real Big Pharma profits
•Unfortunately, poor sleep is an epidemic throughout our society. This is in part due to the importance of sleep not being understood (e.g., sleep is essential for learning yet educational programs like medical training sleep deprive students) and in part due to the fact the existing sleeping pills are sedatives which block the brain’s ability to have healthy sleep.

•In 1964, a sleeping medication hit the market that was remarkably effective for a variety of conditions (including insomnia) and hence profoundly improved the health of its recipients.

Because it threatened so many different [capitalist, for-profit] drug markets, once it reached America in 1990, the FDA in collusion with the media launched a ten-year take down of it, which in many regards was almost identical to what they did to ivermectin.

It was successful, and very few people are even aware that this drug exists or that the many of sleeping disorders we face are easily treatable. More