Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!!! I'm tempted to ask what are the "desired effects" one would want to achive? Coma?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1523&item=2901764314
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1523&item=2901835241
How bright is this?
How can they advertise this? Sell? Illegal?
Oh it's quite legal in most places. If it was illegal we could not grow them, like Papaver somniferum and Lophophora sp. in the USA. Canada allows most 'herbs' but there is pressure from the US to ban these plants. In ways you can see why, but it isn't right to ban a plant in my eyes.
Its advertized on a group called metaphysics for healing, wiccan, witchcraft and so on. I mentioned under my post reg. poisonous effects of Brugmansia that some branches of these groups use both these and other psychotropical plants to enter into the spirit world. The unfortunate thing is, that these plant drugs are superflous for any wiccan that have received proper training, but most of them don`t. Their philosophy ranges by a mixture of Gardener, Crowley and a bit Viking romance. Some of them probably know a great deal of secret symbolism, but none know the code to what these really are, that is why they are secret still if anyone knows them. So most of these people are not ready but anyway they try to cross what we call the threshhold by using drugs. That is a problem in Denmark too both among witches and groups of spiritual naive youngsters that insist to be taken serious as satanists, but if fact don`t know what they are talking about. Many of them can`t even count backwards from three to zero if this could save their lives. :|
In Denmark it has been sugested to give them at least a foundation of brief teaching, so that they would let the drugs be, but we have an old saying, that when the pupil is ready the teacher appear and these are not ready. Its a shame to see such adds and something should be done about it, but I am affraid that by banning them they will continue this development where we can`t see them.
JMHO Tonny
Dennis are right. It isn`t illegal and I don`t think that anyone should start to mae a fuzz about it. The group of people I mention do as they please anyway and a ban will only force them into secrecy and no. 2 reason is, that people like us would have to go underground with our passion for these plants too. *lol*
Poppysue, no they are not taking this for coma. The human psyche contain several layers under the personality as we know it from daily life. To know these personalities can scare most people to insanity and a way to lessen the pressure from the fright is to blurr the judgement powers of the mind with drugs. It is these "personalities" that is called Gods or heroes in the mythologies and the story board of any mytholgy show how these layers interact. Neurological speaking our daily consiousness is ceated by the frontal lobes and parts of the cerebrum taking excessive control over impulses from the limbic system, but when the limbic system start to take control the reaction in cerebrum is dead fright and to lessen this fright some people use drugs.
edited to put in an explanatory line.
This message was edited Wednesday, Dec 25th 6:02 PM
I had seen that the other day and was wondering about contacting e-bay about it, but if it is legal there will be nothing done about it.
I think its legal. In Denmark dried leaves of D. stramonium was until recently sold as "Folio Stramonii" and was recommended to smoke them in order to relieve asthma symptoms.
Accidents involving Datura or Brugmansia is in my opinion over estimated. If we consider, how many people are growing these and for how many years and compare to the very few (sometimes selfwilled) accidents we know we will come up with one or two accidents worldwide, but maybe 5-6 million gardens or more per year, where both plant species are grown. Two to 5 millions is a very low risk. :)
My old FIL had Asthma very badly. My dh says he can remember as a kid that his dad grew them (Datura) and used to hang the leaves in the garage to dry. Then whe he got really bad - he would send him or his mom to get him a few leaves which he would stay in the bedroom and smoke them. It did releive his spasms.
I agree whole heartily Tonny. I realize datura has been used for centuries for ritual and medical practices but I'd never ever promote or suggest that it be taken it as a recreational drug. I've read a bazillion different ways the plants have been used and many of them are harmless but it's people's ignorance that can be dangerous. It's the teenagers and young fools looking for a cheap "high" that are scary. One bonus for the plant is anyone that has experienced toxic doses will probably never try it again. From all accounts that I've read about ... it's not a nice drug and the experience is terrifying.
Exactly Poppysue, it is quite unlike pot and acid in the fact that it is not recreational. Even the natives didn't do it for fun, it was for spiritual purposes.
In many tribes only the chief would take the drug, and at least one tribe had a rule that it would be taken only once in a mans life.
So many websites talk about it as a drug. There is a book I have/had that suggests ingesting Hydrangea aspera because it has arsenic or strychnine, something like that, that leaves you intoxicated. Jeesh!
Datura/brugs are called deleriants (spelling?), which is similar to getting high from rat poison. It is the toxic effects from poisons that give the scary visions.
PoppySue, I think that it is scary with these young fools too and wish that something could be done about it. If they just didn`t know about Brugs and Dats that would solve half or more of the problem.
Dennis, that is correct. They consider it very dangerous to take Datura more than once in a lifetime. Its very easy to become addicted and close to impossible to skip the habit when first formed.