Top 10 Bizarre But True Drugs And Their Effects
- Published April 1, 2009 by GregoryA - 199 Comments
Seeking the ultimate high, people have ingested all kinds of bizarre chemicals and plants through history. Fortunately they have related (those who lived anyway) their experiences so we can now recount them to you. Prepare to be shocked by some of the contents on this list – you will almost certainly not know the drugging abilities of the majority of these. They may not be the most pleasant alternatives for when you run out of weed, but they certainly work. This list starts off with quite a bang, so get reading.
Anafranil is an anti-depressant that causes people to have orgasms every time they yawn. Yeah. No joke. A 1983 article in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry found a case of a woman in her twenties who came every time she yawned! She even used it to her advantage: “She found she was able to experience orgasm by deliberate yawning.” This is one drug that had better not be outlawed. Now I just need to find a doctor willing to prescribe it!
Yes, this pesticide – which has now been made illegal in many countries, can produce feelings somewhat like Ecstasy (Hear that environmentalists?? You inadvertently banned a great hallucinogenic-drug!) A popular cocktail was made during the ’50s (called the Mickey Slim) was made by adding a small amount of DDT to gin! In the image above we see two women getting utterly stoned on DDT.
DIPT is a tryptamine that affects auditory (sound-based) functions. Users experience things such as voices on the radio being lower in pitch than usual, music sounds distorted, and some people experience light hallucinations. The drug can cause the odd feeling of being bloated, but if you take an antacid immediately after consumption, it usually solved the problem. During the drugged experience, some users also claim to hear a constant ringing in their ears – this can (unfortunately) last for up to two weeks.
Saffron is a flower used as a food additive. The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Substances states that the orange-yellow flower “…is known to have…narcotic effects similar to those of opium.” Saffron actually has an ancient history of use as a drug – the Ancient Minoans used to drink a tea infusion of it to get high and the Persians and Greeks considered it an aphrodisiac. The Romans and Egyptians used it in various medicines.
It’s not just for cats anymore! Many who have smoked it say that it gives a mellow, pot-like buzz. Though most warn that you should not get your hopes up too high. It leaves a minty aftertaste and is apparently much easier to smoke that pot (and doesn’t cause coughing).
Xenon is a heavy, odorless, inert gas that can be found in the Earth’s atmosphere, lasers, gas-discharge lamps, medical imaging, in the process of creating nuclear power, for protein crystallography, in the production of MEMS (microelectromechanical systems), and for anesthesia. Naturally, most anesthetics – like nitrous oxide and Novocaine (which is made from cocaine), have hallucinogenic side-effects. It’s effects are said to be like that of nitrous oxide, except without the auditory-effects and the “headachiness”. One anonymous user on the web-site “Lyceaum” said that it gives the user an ability to, “…zero in on ’singularity’ thoughts and memories and hold them for ’sentimental orgasms’…”
Many poisons (such as arsenic and strychnine) and venoms have been known to have hallucinogenic (and sometimes beneficial) effects! Mountain-climbers in late-19th-Century Austria regularly consumed arsenic to, “…obtain healthy and sturdy looks…to appear strong and robust…”, and to “…facilitate breathing while climbing…” (Baron Ernst von Bibra.) In the 1902 book, “Morphinism and Narcomanias From Other Drugs”, it even says that a person can develop an addiction to arsenic. As for venom, The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Substances states that “…Holy men in India smoke cobra venom for its psychoactive effects. [T]heir dried venom glands or crystallized venom is often mixed with cannabis.” The Encyclopedia also reveals that ten Native American tribes in California were known to swallow live ants as a way of inducing hallucinations! The ants bite the stomach-lining, injecting their venom, and can be vomited while the ants are still alive.
As everybody knows, C-4 is a very effective explosive (1.34 times more explosive than TNT!). But is it a drug? According to the book titled Uppers, Downers, All-Arrounders, it is! The authors state: “Modern veterans have been known to ingest C4…for their psychedelic effects. Tremors and seizure activity can result, but usually not an explosion, as it takes a blasting-cap to set off the chemical.” No joke. In fact, the Marine Corps training document on explosives includes the following caution: “Do not ingest any explosive material!”
At one time, Eskimos and tribes in Siberia were known to consume the urine of another person who had consumed fly agaric mushrooms (amanita muscaria). They did so for several reasons: Firstly, since there wasn’t an infinite supply of mushrooms, this approach help to conserve and economize them. Not only would drinking the urine of someone who had consumed the mushroom get you high, but also drinking the pee of the person who had drunk the first “batch” of urine would get you high! And so forth and so on, going up to 5 different “generations” of people! An added benefit was that pre-digested mushrooms didn’t cause as much nausea and cramps as just eating them directly. They loved this high so much, that they would butcher and eat reindeer who had also eaten fly agaric for a contact-high!
No, it is not an alcohol made from salamanders, but rather from what they produce. Salamander brandy obviously can’t be found in your local liquor store. It is non-commercially produced in Slovenia. There are at least two ways of making it – both of which involve animal cruelty: (1) The salamanders are hung from their back legs, and brandy is poured onto their bodies, and drips into a cup. (2) The salamander is placed on a sieve, and brandy is poured onto them until they drown. The point of this is to infuse the alcohol with the poison salamanders produce when they are defending themselves. Nonetheless, it is said to produce symptoms like LCD and Ecstasy combined, in addition to the effects of the alcohol (although, the alcohol content is particularly low)!
Alright, it’s not exactly old books – it is the fungi and molds that occasionally grow on them! Some of these molds and fungi are said to have hallucinogenic effects. Don’t go eating pages of old books right-off-the-bat, though. They usually also come with side-effects, such as nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and confusion!
Source: The Disinformation Book of Lists

























April 2nd, 2009 at 1:34 am
nothin like a mug of p!ss to wake u up in the morning…
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:36 am
Yeah! I’m high!
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:37 am
I knew about a few of this, some were new. The one that REALLY blew my mind was saffron, I had no idea!
As per the ‘Old Books Bonus’ one, there is just something about the smell of a really old book that I love. Could this be somehow related? I’ve never eaten the pages, but the smell is intoxicating.
Used book stores are one of my favorite places. (Not because of the smell, just that I love to read. Can always find something of interest at a used book store.) Perhaps now I will take caution…
Cool list.
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:37 am
Wow… most of these effects sound pretty cool!
(except #2 & #1… I’d rather not)
But #10 sounds amazing… due to self-induced insomnia I yawn about every five minutes so I’d be on cloud nine with that one…
And the last time I smelled an old book from the library somebody must have been making a spliff on it because there was cannabis resin in it and it smelled like socks…
Another great list
!
PS – jfrater… I just found you on Twitter and I think you should get back on there.
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:39 am
Hmmm, im gonna go eat some C4 now. Thanks GregoryA
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:39 am
Great list. I gotta get my hands on that anafranil.
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:42 am
Number 9 sounds gross! Great List!!!!!!
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:46 am
Sex is my anti drug
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:52 am
nothing: I love the smell of old books too – I always thought it was the familiar smell of them from my childhood but now I realize it is clearly the drugs!
Copaface: I don’t even have time to do everything I want here!
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:53 am
jfrater: but…but…but even John Cleese is on it now!
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:55 am
Don’t really believe the anafranil one. I took that for a while many years ago and that didn’t happen.
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:57 am
My mom died 18 1/2 years ago of cancer, but she was given some alternative cancer treatment which was her own urine. It was added to an I.V. I thought that was gross too, but she lived 6 months longer than she would have with chemotherapy or traditional treatments. She was only given 3 months after being diagnosed so we got her for an extra 6 months. Her quality of life was better up until the end and I am thankful for that. So, I guess urine (if administered correctly) is not so bad, but still is gross.
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:05 am
i had a friend that tried smoking catnip, apparently it had no effect, he sid it was just like smoking one of those herbal quit smoking aid cigarettes. any drug causing orgasms has to be number one not ten
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:05 am
I should get Anafranil for my girlfriend…. I’ve been having some problems with “you know what”… nothing to be ashamed with!! Its all because of the Credit Crunch stress!!
I’ve tried some of these… but nothing beats pot with redbull!! POWERFUL
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:22 am
5 generations of urine!! wow
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:29 am
i came to this list half expecting to have tried all the listed substances!
at least i know i can my bibliophilia (always hunting that mis-marked first edition, somewhere, somewhere down in the dark and dank stacks of glorious used book stores…) may have a physical cause!
then i thought it was a half-n-half (of half-truths) april fool’s joke. “Anafrani” can’t be found anywhere worth a damn on the internet, a bad sign for it’s existence (but do you, GregoryA, like ani difranco? one never knows…).
DIPT seems to be real, catnip seems to be disproved, “various venoms and poisons” is vague unto utter meaninglessness….
but in the end amanita muscaria will pass whatever active compounds it contains down through the urine of many users. the problem is that is doesn’t seem to be psychoactive in the traditional western sense. some thought it was “soma” but it’s not a pure hallucinogen in the modern sense. reports on amanita are mixed:
http://www.erowid.org/plants/amanitas/amanitas.shtml
p.s.
does ayahuasca not count? is it considered “not bizarre” in the western world these days?
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:33 am
– 10 –
“..”said to produce symptoms like LCD, Ecstasy, and acid combined..”
LSD is Acid J!!
Lysergic >acid
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:34 am
^ Whoa.. my post went all funny. You get the point though!
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:35 am
16. lo : I found Anafranil quite easily, including the aforementioned “sexual complications” that can arise from its use
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:50 am
I guess item #1 would be very similar to the age old hobby of toadlicking.
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:54 am
Item #2-Urine
There are many tribes of natives of the Americas that have also used urine to share the experience of Peyote cactus buttons.
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:00 am
This list be straight trippin
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:16 am
Interesting reading. I knew about some of them, but never heard about psychoactive properties of C4 or saffron.
Getting high with saffron would be very expansive but also dangerous: a dose of 20g/kg can be lethal.
For the strychnine, that’s not a psychoactive drug: it’s effect is to increase muscle response to nervous influx (perfect antidote for curare which has exactly the opposite effect). In low dose, it acts as a muscular stimulant, but at higher doses can lead to death by paralysis of respiratory muscles or heart (effects similar to tetanos).
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:22 am
Number 1 happens to me when I sneeze…..pass the pepper….
)
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:34 am
yeah i quite fancy a go at number one?! as for catnip getting you high i think i will stick to weed ;o)
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:35 am
After the rock star that snorted his dead father’s ashes, glue and spray sniffers, and kids that literally choke themselves to get high, I just don’t think anything on this list was able to shock me.
Except the urine thing. That’s gross.
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:35 am
as for saffron its probably cheaper to buy illegal drugs!
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:00 am
DDT is still used in Thailand! Mmmm, how much is a small amount?
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:26 am
Damn, I used to take 8 Anafranil pills per day, but never had the orgasm-when-yawning side effect!
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:31 am
Wow, what an informative list. I think ill stick to whiskey as my drug of choice. Though Anafranil sounds very tempting…..
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:38 am
How much saffron do I need? I have a little bag that my mum brought back from Zakynthos and my weed is running low……
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:50 am
Guys I don’t know… this all sounds a bit too much like hogwash for me; the list was published on 1 April afterall… but fine lol… that Clomipramine stuff sounds like the business, except sources tell me it only produces that effect on 5% of people…
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:52 am
Oh, and it can cause impotence and ejaculation difficulties; sorry so so so not worth the risk
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:52 am
30. creepygirlfriend : I believe ethanol would be your drug of choice then. But whiskey, that’s a good delivery system if you ask me
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:04 am
19. Mark-
please share your credible Anafranil link.
i’m not one to turn down info on any potential psychoactive compound, but i’m also one to look for empirical evidence that it does something to you (meaning “you” plural) other than a placebo effect, or simply poisoning you and giving you “edge of death” effects.
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:09 am
19. Mark-
please share your credible Anafranil link.
i’m not one to turn down info on any potential psychoactive compound, but i’m also one to look for empirical evidence that it does something to you (meaning “you” plural) other than a placebo effect, or simply poisoning you and giving you “edge of death” effects.
Oops…forgot to say great post! Looking forward to your next one.
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:10 am
35. lo : Well I’m at school – universal excuse, oh yeah – so the only thing I could get on was Wiki, I have to assume that the ‘pedia is correct or else I can’t survive here :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anafranil
Sorry if you’re not a fan
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:27 am
So what you’re saying is that if I ingest C-4, it’ll blow my mind?!
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
Feel free to use that one.
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:28 am
Mark-
well, i just found this about “anafranil” (Clomipramine):
“Clomipramine is a tricyclic agent with both antidepressant and antiobsessional properties. Like other tricyclics, clomipramine inhibits norepinephrine and serotonin uptake into central nerve terminals, possibly by blocking the membrane-pump of neurons, thereby increasing the concentration of transmitter monoamines at receptor sites. Clomipramine is presumed to influence depression and obsessive and compulsive behaviour through its effects on serotonergic neurotransmission. The actual neurochemical mechanism is unknown, but clomipramine’s capacity to inhibit serotonin reuptake is thought to be important. Clomipramine appears to have a mild sedative effect which may be helpful in alleviating the anxiety component often accompanying depression.
As with other tricyclic compounds, clomipramine possesses anticholinergic properties which are responsible for some of its side effects. It also has weak antihistamine and antiserotonin properties, lowers the convulsive threshold, potentiates the effect of norepinephrine and other drugs acting on the CNS, has a quinidine-like effect on the heart and may impair cardiac conduction. ”
from here:http://www.mentalhealth.com/drug/p30-a01.html
all i can say is it certainly doesn’t sound like a substance that’s even vaguely recreational.
-and the list simply said it was about “bizarre but true” drug effects, so i guess it sorta “belongs” here. but treating OCD, chronic panic attacks, and major clinical depression isn’t “bizarre” in my book.
in fact, it seems to be a drug that could stimulate dopamine/norephephrine/serotonin which could help the above mentioned disorders.
stimulating those same brain chemicals can also bring someone into clinical mania -you don’t feel a real need to sleep. or eat. you pursue wildly reckless behaviors that result in instant gratification -like sex, shopping (the buying part), gambling, random extensive traveling, etc.
maybe GregoryA was referring to this “manic sex response” in the original list?
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:42 am
37. Skydiver : *groan and facepalm followed by suitably disdainful look* Why?
38. lo : It does mention yawning and orgasms down a bit further… Sounds good (I’m a male so, what?) to me!
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:53 am
Mmmm…I love that old book smell. Nothing quite like it.
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:54 am
is some kind of april fools joke??????
i no most of people are viewing this on the 2nd april but at the top of the page it says it was published on the 1st april by GregoryA???????????
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:03 am
We used to do what the picture in #9 is showing. During the summer, the “fogging jeep” would drive through all the neighborhoods spraying for mosquitos, and all the kids would run out and play in the insecticide fog. And you wonder why kids of the 60’s are so screwed up…
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:10 am
Female…check, In her 20’s…..check. Bring on number 10!
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:15 am
I’m kinda with lo here on the april fools day, just for the amount of times the descriptions say “no joke”. Methinks this list doth protest too much. I think we got day-aftered.
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:15 am
cool..hehe
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:34 am
Amazing what some people will do to get a buzz… I’ll stick to alcohol, sans salamanders.
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:38 am
Mark: Gosh, your right! This is what happens when I’m posting @ 430am on LV instead on asleep like I should be.
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:48 am
this seems like bullshit…but if its true i want number one!!!!!!!!!!
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:49 am
Does he mean to say LSD instead of LCD in number one?
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:50 am
You know…. I just think I’ll stick with wine and weed…
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:50 am
I love this line: “but usually not an explosion” from ingesting C4. Really? Who was the 1st person to say, “Let me see what this will do? Ha!
Also… sign me up for #10!
I wonder what kind of affect somone would have if they smoked beaver ass?
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:04 am
Smoking cat nip? Give me a break….teenagers would have been doing this years ago if it worked, you can by buds of it at almost every pet store.
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:07 am
my friend sent me a link to something disgusting. im kind of surprised it wasnt on here. its called “butthash” (i think..??) and what you do is urinate and poo in a container, blend it in a blender then pour the mixture in a bottle. after that you put a balloon over the top and set it outside on a hot day for 24 hours. when that is done, you take the balloon and inhale the stuff inside!! yea…gross xD
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:19 am
This smells like the Bizzare Genetically Modified Organisms list, some truth but Mostly lies…
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:30 am
I liked last year’s better.
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:33 am
Um april fools? Look at the date?…
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:39 am
swirly memories of an evening huffing freon from air conditioners in college. Fill a whole trashbag of the gas and you can feed a party!
Whawawawawa-wa-wa-wa-waw-a
the thing with catnip is I was watching videos on youtube of dogs digging holes and thought, These dogs are getting high. just look at them. like catnip for cats, dirt is for dogs.
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:43 am
All drugs are chemical poisons that you (usually) take a non-lethal dose of, whether we’re talking Prevacid, aspirin, alcohol, caffeine, or pot (THC). Fun stuff.
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:46 am
Well, I would throw my lot in with the “April Fools!” joke, but I’ve actually heard of the mushroom/pee thing before (unless that was a joke, too?). I was waiting for an April Fool’s list, too- last year’s was hilarious.
So, just warning you, Jamie, you may get some pissed off, uppity person coming on here and yelling at you to take down this list. It won’t be me- I really like the list- but you know how those uppity people can be. (I’d still like to know the name of the company that dropped you over the suicide list.)
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:49 am
@Cedestra= If you recall the genetically modified list had a piece of truth in it too, the glow in the dark fish
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:55 am
#2 is not that great…..
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:00 am
I’m kidding. But as another bonus- there is the hoax e-mail about jankim (at least I think it’s a hoax!)Anyway, my husband who waorks at a jail actually recieved the e-mail warning workers to be vigilant. Too gross to describe… Enjoy!
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:03 am
What´s with the links for missing pictures from #1 and #2?
Is this the first steps into turning LV “politically correct”?
It would be such a shame…
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:07 am
ooops my bad, this time they showed up.
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:11 am
Wow. Crazy list. I like it. ^.^ I’d totally do any of these. Except the whole urine one. Kinda of a tabboo here in Texas… XD
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:18 am
I don’t think I’d be up for trying most of these – way too out there for me. The first one does sound interesting though and I think that the only people willing to smoke cat nip are pot heads in need of a fix.
Also, I just have to say that using animal cruelty as a way of getting high is horrible and wrong.
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:21 am
LCD? – I broke off the corner of my flat screen monitor and ate it – will report back later on psychotropic effect…
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:29 am
you guys are dumb
an antidepressant that gives you the big O….right…why wouldn’t it be prescribed to every patient suffering the inability to get off?
why would catnip make a human mellow..it makes cats go psycho?
and ya can’t vomit ants live ants..stomach acid anyone?
oh and nice photoshop of women standing next to the truck…ha ah
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:33 am
DDT is still used because it’s the only thing that works. The application has gotten a lot tighter and controlled, however. More than a million people die every year from malaria and millions more have died needlessly because of overblown fears about DDT.
It’s scandalous.
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:34 am
I guess some people have been pretty hard up for a high.
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:38 am
hey,
i’ve been dying to say this – you really need to learn the difference between “it’s” and “its” !!!
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:41 am
i’d be really interested to see where you got this information.
your number one is a case study because you only mention A case with ONE girl. not exactly a commonality.
you refer to ecstasy as a hallucinogen
you refer to LSD as LCD
old books aren’t drugs and neither is the fungi. most kinds of mold or fungus is toxic to humans and causes food poisoning which in turn causes varying levels of a high. you can’t just eat any old mold out of a book and be high.
i dunno. do you even do drugs man? you seem rather uneducated in this subject.
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:42 am
fantastic, i dont know if anyone pointed this out but no1:
“is said to produce symptoms like LCD and Ecstasy combined”
ive never heard of LCD as a drug :S
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:42 am
57. diogenes
Whawawawawa-wa-wa-wa-waw-a
Sounds familiar!
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:43 am
also catnip is not easier to smoke than pot and you have to consume a rather large amount to feel anything close to a “mellow pot-like high”
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:44 am
munro,
drugs are bad mmmkay?
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:05 am
I found this for all the non believers.
http://www.snopes.com/risque/aphrodisiacs/yawn.asp
I usually trust snopes
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:15 am
Actually clomipramine does actually cause a small number (5%) of female patients to have orgasms on yawning but it has the opposite effect in males, making them impotent.
Xenon is used as an anaesthetic, however its use is limited due to cost and difficulty in obtaining it.
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:37 am
What about tequila?
My hard spirit of choice is scotch, and I live amongst the bourbon drinkers, love a properly prepared gin Salty Dog, and worship a bartender who knows how to make a good Bloody Mary from scratch, but I have never been able to explain the effect that tequila has on me or others I have observed. I’ve seen people do things that were completely alien to their sober personalities. It is truly the “what the hell did I do last night?!” drink/drug.
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:42 am
I feel a little sorry for the salamanders, but what a way to go!
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:43 am
Mmmm my fellow list servers I smell a rat April the 1 st
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:58 am
Also on the effects of tequila -
this explains the activity I was speeking about
trust me this is an absolute must see!!!
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:08 am
I think it’s a pretty good list. The name is a little misleading; a better choice would be Bizarre Drugs or Compounds and Their Effects.
Quite a few things I didn’t know, and wouldn’t have ever thought of myself. I always wonder how people find out these weird things have these effects. Drinking pee? Who knows maybe the deer do it too? But chewing on C-4?
I’m thinking that it is a pretty lucky sub-set of people that get the yawn-wow effect. The flood of serotonin and other awesome hormones after an orgasm can’t be but helpful to an imbalanced brain. And Snopes says so, so it must be true.
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:21 am
GregoryA, I have to say, interesting list. I’ll have to research some of your claims, but at least it will be interesting research…and no, I don’t mean by ingesting the substances!
I actually take #10, Anafranil, and have been taking it for quite a long time…years…but I’ve never had that particular side effect (that could be because of all the other prescription drugs I take, some quite heavy).
I’m uninterested in recreational drugs, though in my youth I had my share of joyful drugs, now all drugs mean to me is what are the side effects, how will they cloud my mind, how much will they steal from me.
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:36 am
Nice list,
Don’t forget about Magic Markers, Whip Its, and Robitussin
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:22 am
Interesting list; and differing from a few people on here, I can easily believe them all. I kinda knew about the fly agaric one; just not the five generations bit. It must not be water soluble or something (is it something like cillosybin?). Poisons of course give us all kinds of effects which a user could interpret as ‘high’ or ‘dying’ depending. DDT is very toxic – just as glue is very toxic – so naturally they are both possible intoxicants. Same goes for the C4, but I was most surprised by the Saffron – I did not know that.
23: Yes, most things can be lethal at high doses – even alcohol and nicotine. You can eat yourself to death, just as you can sleep yourself to death.
51: I see you’re still trying to get over that Beaver Ass Juice list, maybe I should buy you some? (Notice I said ‘buy’ and not ‘get’)
58: I’d say ’some’ drugs are poisonous. Opium, given in regular supply and of extreme pure quality, is appearantly quite harmless to the body. No evidence has been found that regards cannabis as a poison, but some evidence points to asprin and even caffine.
83 – Mom: C4. It isn’t unusual for (gov’t/fed) agencies to test all kinds of materials on live subjects to test their real-world effects. Some people may remember the LSD trials (was it the 70s?). Labs are also basically funded to analyse the effects of every material on Earth in the hope that they can be better understood, and perhaps have many alternate uses. AND, besides all that, there are just too many damn fools out there who will try anything to get high / kill brain-cells.
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:41 am
Getting serious for a mo, I personally believe that chemicals (sorry, prescription drugs), which are prescribed for mood disorders do more harm than good… having been on the pharmasutical drugs before. Did you know doctors get paid for prescribing these drugs? Drug companies actually ’sponsor’ doctors – that’s right! – and they’ll have folks believing anything; to the point where folks are plain scared to death to come off them.
Unfortunately, drugs often mask very real root causes of dis-ease, which, in my case, where all psychological. A combination of high stress, and total un-self-worth put me into depression. The drugs turned me into a zombie – and that was horrible. It took courage to kick the drugs and to fight for myself. It worked.
BTW, please don’t take this as ‘advice’, only purely a personal opinion. Drugs for regulating blood-pressure and heart problems are not the same as mood alterers.
You know, I don’t know why I typed in all that? What’s it got to do with this subject?
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:41 am
snorting anthrax gives you a great high…until your heart explodes.
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:47 am
79. TEX, You should then try Mezcal and Zotol (both mexican), the effects are much more dramatic.
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:47 am
i like the picture used for #2.
even my mother liked it, she stood behind him and sorta groped/held him while someone took a picture
funniest fountain i’ve ever seen
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:51 am
In Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, they take Adrenochrome (sp?). Apparently it is from the human adrenaline gland. Is that a real thing?
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:58 am
I saw this shocking documentary “Darwin´s Nightmare” where homeless kids from Tanzania inhale the gases from melted PVC bottles. They get a kind of high that lasts for days but fries their brain cells.
Truly sad and painful.
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:03 pm
#2 made me gag a little bit.
#1 is one of those things where I stop and think, “Who came up with that!?”
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Wow. If Anafranil doesn’t cure your depression, I don’t know what will!
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I think we’ve been duped!! There may be some truths thrown in to question the validity of the list.
I do have one drug though that is bizarre. To me at least. People take embalming fluid (yes, what they replace your blood with when you die)and dip cigarettes in them, let them dry and then smoke it. I used to work in a Drug & Alcohol facility and we called it Fry, because it would basically “fry” your brain.
I just wonder how people come up with this stuff, “Hey, lets stick this cigarette in embalming fluid and see what it does!!” “okay man, let’s do it” I mean, really??
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Haha in high school we got some kid to drink my piss for $5. I think it goes without saying he never lived it down and is probably still a virgin
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
mcamp- thats what some people call pcp, then stupid kids thought it actually meant real embalming fluid and…
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:22 pm
We need another list: 10 substances that really aren’t drugs and will instantly win you the Darwin awards if you try them.
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Saffron is NOT a flower. It is the dried stigma of the Saffron Crocus, which IS a flower.
That is all.
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Holy men in India smoke cobra venom?
Hell, I would smoke it.
Who’s the baddest muthah fukah in town?
Yeh, thats right. me.
you keep away from that dude. word is, he’s so bad he smokes cobra venom.
cigarettes are for sissies.
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Lifeschool; Maybe kick-backs to Doctors is legal where you live. Here you would go to jail or at least lose your medical license.
Did you also know that many mental health related disorders are actually due to either an inability to use or manufacture or regulate one or more brain chemicals? You would say that a medication that fixes that is bad? I think you are confusing people who have unrealistic expectations of happiness and expect (and often receive) a pill to cure it with mental illness.
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:00 pm
hmm. i’ve been on anafranil (number ten) for a good number of years. unfortunately, i’ve never experienced that side-effect…
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:06 pm
I’ve read this list three times and watched the comments roll by. I still feel that this list is a little dubious.
No links, no sources, and a site that is known for previous Fools day jokes.
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:08 pm
April Fool !
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:16 pm
“”"like nitrous oxide and Novocaine (which is made from cocaine),”"”
you fail…
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Isn’t Xenon inhaled by scientologists?
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:42 pm
I’d like to meet a lady that takes Anafranil. She might actually enjoy my boring stories.
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:57 pm
90. psychosurfer
You and I must frequent similar habitats. I am familiar with these libations. The last bottle of sotol I bought in a little store near Portrero del Llano south of Ojenaga/Presidio. It was actually in a sealed bottle so I could bring it across the river. It was better than some I’ve had, time before that it was cloudy and in a big hot sauce bottle. Guess when they bottle it they had to use whatever was laying around. Sorry to say, I made it about half way through that last one, and for some reason I walked to the kitchen and poured it down the sink, not sure why now.
April 2nd, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Crimanon: I assure you this isn’t an April fool’s day list
Anyway – it is the 2nd today – not the first
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:47 pm
I think this is a dangerous and misleading list. There are very few warnings about the dangers of trying any of these things but a very reckless abandon in the writers way wording this. i would hope this is a joke.
very disappointing
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:15 pm
#10 – Anafranil (clomipramine)
Holy crap!! Gimme some of that!!!!
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:16 pm
I love books but hate the smell of old ones. Musty and acidic…ugh.
Don’t know if this qualifies but I have a terrible love of the smell of mothballs and those (supposedly carcinogenic)white block hanging toilet deodorizers. I try to avoid them as much as I can. i think they have some kind of benzene in them and they definitely give a high when inhaled. They will also probably give you cancer and shorten your life so they are NOT recommended.
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:17 pm
BONUS – Old books…
No wonder I love the nineteenth-century section of the used bookstore so much… ha ha ha!
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:22 pm
aprils fools. #111 Dan, grow a pair for christs sake
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Regarding catnip, I heard that it was used as a substitute for cigarettes in the movie Thirteen. The two lead actresses, Evan Rachel Wood and Nikki Reed, were underage at the time and could not smoke real cigarettes. So the director (can’t remember the name) improvised by using rolled up cat nip.
You guys should see Thirteen. It is a really good movie.
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Number 10: “I’LL HAVE WHAT SHE’S HAVING!!!”
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:35 pm
how was number 10 not number 1? best…..drug…..ever!
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Ok… i take Anafranil and that definitely doesn’t happen…….at all. Ever.. lol
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:58 pm
nod nod..(milking desperately white rabbits’ urine all the while..)
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but . . . . Anafranil can cause lots of problems. And the yawn/orgasm thing only affects a small minority of people who take it, about 4 – 5 percentof users.
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:18 pm
121. Lusus: I can second that.
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Is this list an April Fools joke or is it a serious list?
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:03 pm
the salamander brandy is very interesting, nice list btw.
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:25 am
121 Lusus
agree.
April 3rd, 2009 at 5:06 am
Wahahaha, this is interesting!
April 3rd, 2009 at 5:35 am
Dana, I thought I was the only person who likes the smell of mothballs and they toilet deodorizers! Didn’t know they had carcinogenic properties but that may explain why I can’t buy them any more. Probably just as well, it was just the smell I liked didn’t get high from them. Now I just stick to the smell of Windolene, love it! However, I do know a few folk love the smell of that as well.
April 3rd, 2009 at 9:08 am
109. TEX, yeah problem with those is that you rely on luck to get good quality/taste, although they´ll sure get you hammered. A friend once told me that Mezcal actually contains Mescaline, but I seriously doubt it since peyote is a whole different cactus.
April 3rd, 2009 at 9:28 am
128 – psychosurfer
That’s one reason I brought it up. I’ve been in many discussions where people swear they feel some psychotropic effect from these cactus liquors. To my knowledge neither the agave or sotol have any substances in them that could cause this effect, so how could it be present in a distillate. Maybe it’s the method of drinking it “fine” that does it.
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:20 am
I’ve heard that Saffron mixed with green tea will actually cure opticarectuma in 89% of the cases of this dreaded disease.
April 3rd, 2009 at 11:46 am
I think #6 is just trying to get people to try something that won’t work
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:43 pm
I printed and ate the list but nothing happened…I want a refund.
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Robitj: It’s not that old of a list. You should put it on a shelf for a few years first.
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Actually there is one more little tidbit of info on DDT that most folks never hear about. Because of Rachel Carson and her fantasy book, Silent Spring, untold millions (of PEOPLE)have died from Malaria due to DDT being banned worldwide. At least those birds were safe. Thank God for Rachel.
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Maybe the List IS working…I am imagining the Author commented on my comment…the secret is the chewing I think…
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:54 pm
WAIT! You’re not the Author…who are you??? Who are all these people?? Spinning….room spinning…..look at the colors….
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:08 pm
this is a unique list!!! it was fun to read!
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:23 pm
My goodness, I mean what will people not do to get a high. lol I want to know who were the first people to think of trying these things and their reasoning, now that would be a very interesting read.
April 3rd, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Jamie: I only see this list for the 1st.
And if it tells you anything you need to know about the site , I just now received the email notification for your comment.
April 4th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
lol im going on a school trip to Slovenia this Monday. BETTER STOCK UP ON THE Salamander Brandy!!!!!!!!!!1
April 6th, 2009 at 7:47 am
Does anyone know if Saffron can be bought in the U.S. or is it an illegal plant because of whats mentioned about its effects?
April 6th, 2009 at 10:20 am
Saffron is a spice. You can buy it in any supermarket.
April 6th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Viagra is also a Pschoactive medicine. Used to treat erectile dysfunctions, it also has a side effect of giving the user a pleasant bluish tint of all that is seen with they eye while the effects last.
April 6th, 2009 at 10:53 am
I’m just mad about Saffron
Saffron’s mad about me…
April 6th, 2009 at 10:56 am
well hello, Mellow Yellow
April 6th, 2009 at 11:11 am
gabi: (whispering) quite rightly…
April 6th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Alright you two – stop it now!
before someone starts…
OH CRAP,
Gliddy glub gloopy
Nibby nabby noopy
La la la lo lo
Sabba sibby sabba
Nooby abba nabba
Le le lo lo
Tooby ooby walla
Nooby abba naba
NOW SEE WHAT YOU’VE GONE AND DONE!!!
April 6th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
It could be worse, TEX, there could have been a drug component in shoe-fly pie!
April 7th, 2009 at 10:15 am
According to Snopes, the Anafranil side effect is not seen in 95% of the folks who take it. Way more likely is that its use inhibits sexual function. So, there you go.
True side effect? Sure.
Wildly sensationalized? Absolutely.
April 7th, 2009 at 10:47 am
TEX
Forgot to write this morning but hopefully it still applies to your timezone…
GOOD MORNING STARSHINE!! THE EARTH SAYS HELLO!!
…and why?! I don’t mind when mellow yellow gets stuck on my head but why THIS song?!
Kirikub
Sensationalized perhaps… But a good plenty of these listed show side effects in a small percentage or only when taken in excess. But in the plus side, it got you (and hopefully others researching for truth) so I think this list is still a good thing.
G
April 7th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
The only time I ever had the sensationalized headline side-effects (before they were known to exist), was way back when I was taking Ambien.
I had every side-effect they eventually wrote about plus some they never did…my life was the warning label on the drug!
LOL!
Oh sure, it’s all fun and games now, but somebody could have gotten their eye poked out!
Seriously, though, I even drove asleep. It was really scary.
April 7th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
151. segue – “side-effects…was way back when I was taking Ambien.”
I had issues when I was prescribed Lunesta! Gentle sleep aid, my ass… I didn’t really have the physical side effects but rather the psychological ones. It got to be too much to handle mentally so I threw the rest of the pills down the toilet.
April 7th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
gabi, what kind of psychological side effects?
I got a bit scared, though not as much as I should have been (which might have a side effect in itself), seeing as I was driving while asleep ( I’d find my car a block away from my apartment…and I had assigned parking!), cooking, toasting, cutting up carpeting, phoning friends, walking the neighborhood…but I was never affected psychologically.
So. My question. What were your symptoms? I’m intrigued.
April 7th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
I think the final straw were the nightmares. Nightmares were common prior to the insomnia that led up to the Lunesta but the dreams were even more vivid and at times I felt like I was trying to physically wake up but my mind was trapped in the nightmare. Sleep was in no way restful. Other issues (some that I alluded to in another list) included sluggish thoughts (I felt like I spent my days mentally wading through muddy water. Trying to decide was to eat for lunch was exhausting), hallucinations, paranoia (which is bad when you’re living on your own situated in a neighborhood where the houses are so far apart it feels like you’re completely isolated in the middle of the woods…it’s the stuff of scary movies, haha), depression, lots of suicidal thoughts… I won’t say it was directly caused by the Lunesta because I can’t say for sure; a lot was going on then. However, when I looked up details about Lunesta they do list those as potential side effects and they were taking place roughly the same time as the medication. I did feel remarkably better albeit fragile after I stopped taking them.
April 8th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Oh.
Yeah. I did have all of that, but I put it down to the morphine. Now I can see that it was the combination of the morphine and the ambien, because once I stopped the ambien all the rest of the stuff stopped too…I was just too overwhelmed to put 2 and 2 together and have it come out 4. Or even 22.
April 8th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Speaking of nightmares, I may have spoken of these in another list long, long ago:
I used to have these nightmares where my eyes would be open, and the air all around me, all over the room, in depth, would contain shapes and numbers and letters. They glowed in neon colors, and some of them pulsated like a heartbeat. Some of the squilly shapes pulsated also, and seemed to be of paramount importance. There was some key to this…message, is what my mind kept calling it. And I had to unscramble the message or something dreadful would happen to me. The letters, numbers and symbols kept changing places, so I never got a chance to unscramble them, and then the dream always changed to a truly, horrible, dreadful nightmare.
Everytime.
April 9th, 2009 at 4:39 am
No one knows about the saffron thing because Nobody can afford enough saffron to get high with. Damn talk about an expensive habit.
April 9th, 2009 at 8:05 am
How about Shrooms? – are they still used often as they were in the past? What kind of sensations do they bring about?
April 12th, 2009 at 6:07 am
i wonder if any of it is better than the two pounds worth of beer i just had…. im happy…but tis really is surprising…c4, saffron, salmandor….it seems we can get high whenever we want….i want more info on this topic …..is anyone listening?
April 12th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
The catnip thing is totally wrong. I just smoked some, litteraly 3 hours ago, and it was much harder on the lungs than regular weed, had a terrible taste, and I did not have any high whatsoever.
April 12th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
The ayahuasca!
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0603/features/peru.html
April 12th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Tex 147 Hair is the best musical ever!!
Also I ingested Morning Glory seeds once. Made the poison control center lady very nervous. She wanted me to go to the hospital to have my heart monitered. She kept calling me back to make sure I was ok.
Does anyone remember something called “rush?” It came in a little bottle. You’d sniff it and be blown away for 5 seconds.
April 12th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
162. Eugene, was it from Chinatown? When we were working on stage, in particular (because you could work a 20+ hour day) we’d get this stuff from Chinatown in bottles, just take the top off and drink it down .
It would give you a tremendous rush for a short period, but keep you going for a half hour or so. It was the job of some p.a. to keep the directorial and camera crew supplied as long as the night lasted.
April 13th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
segue 163: No it was something you would briefly inhale. I think if you were to drink it, it would kill you. We’d take a small sniff and it felt like you were spinning and falling for just a few seconds, but it seemed to last much longer. You weren’t supposed to do it a lot, like more than 3 times in a night. It was weird stuff. I guess it was closest to huffing than anything else.
April 14th, 2009 at 12:08 am
I think your rush was what we called poppers in college. Got them from the gay bois in the town. The rush was pretty much your brain cells dying, but it supposedly made sex WAY better. I never experienced it, but I’m not a boy. It /was/ relatively cheap however, and a bottle lasted FOREVER.
College. Eek.
April 14th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Er, I mean, I never experienced the monster orgasms. Which is just too damn bad since the sex was plentiful.
April 14th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
164. Eugene : Huh? No, then, never heard of it. Interesting stuff though, by the sound of it. Oh, drat. Probably just as well. During late adolescence I was willing to try just about anything (how does anyone survive that transitional stage from childhood to adulthood?), and I not only tried most of what was offered, but I came through with most of my brain-cells functioning.
Now, I’m forced to be on some of the very things I tried to avoid then.
Ain’t life weird?
April 16th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
returning to this list. with my comment before, here is a link i found about “butthash”
please excuse my wrong wording, it is called “jenkem” and here is a wikipedia article about it. (if you are interested of course) =]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butthash
(personally…i find drugs to be a waste of time. my sister and i discovered a natural high. and its also healthy for you. when we do yoga in our aerobics class, we feel relaxed, just like people who smoke pot describe. people should try that haha)
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:40 am
THis was posted on April first. Don’t believe any of it
April 25th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
i can honestly say that catnip is B.S. as a teen i once tried this and it had no effect other than a gag reflex from the terrible taste.
April 28th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
if you want to get high climb a bloody mountain.
April 28th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
…and then smoke.
May 1st, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Hi, this is GregoryA! I want to thank all of you for your comments and contributions, this is my first list! Hopefully, there will be more to come!
May 13th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Does anyone know where a person can by pain medication online?
May 13th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
174. Cybogen : Rather than doing it (maybe) illegally, why not just go to a pain specialist? I see my guy once a month.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:04 am
You know its LSD, not LCD right -_-’
June 21st, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Lol….imagine a junkie being so hard-up that he goes to the library for a high. Nice bonus.
June 24th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
damn you, listverse. I’m so tempted to try catnip now.
June 25th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Old books? Hm, no wonder I feel so happy in the library… xD
July 1st, 2009 at 11:48 pm
*ahem*
I think someone forgot to put DMT on the list, the “king” of psychedelics naturally produced in your brain but only released during times of great stress (near death experiences) or deep REM sleep. It creates your dreams in short.
July 3rd, 2009 at 4:25 am
Women have an intoxicating scent in their body, especially underarm and other strategic places. Aren’t they similar to drugs?
July 9th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
so what salamander would be used in making the brandy???
July 9th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
does it matter if it’s a run of the mill salamander or does it have to be a certain kind???
July 16th, 2009 at 4:22 am
This seems dubious to me about the orgasmic yawn.I for instance would have gone blind whilst writing this post, waiting for my coffee to kick in. Arsenic abuse was well known however so who knows?
July 16th, 2009 at 4:30 am
Eugene its Rush oil its “incense” and it sucks. I say stick with the ones that work. Generally you get what you pay for. Rush can be bought at almost any head Shoppe here but it does seem rather volatile to be no more psychoactive than it is. Poppers as documented by Hunter S Thompson are I believe amyl nitrate.
August 9th, 2009 at 8:09 am
#10 is hilarious i know SO many people that are gonna want that one! and #2 is so disgusting. no wonder i love the old book smell so much…
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:45 am
everybody is a dick
HEY LOOK MADIX
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:45 am
everybody is a dick
HEY LOOK MADIX
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:27 pm
ai de plm
vreau tot!!!!!!!
September 10th, 2009 at 4:54 am
Here a another couple of weird ones, as I do not do drugs and never have I would seriously doubt the sanity of anyone who tries these. They are true and stupid.
Russian Army, eating shoe polish spread on bread.
Europe sniffing explosive starters for engines. Not common now as vehicles have generaly improved.
Sniffing of sheep wool, the lanolin sends some people bonkers, probably sheep as well
September 10th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Gotta check out the “Devils Breath” it is like a ruffee but a million times worse…
September 16th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
that looks like claire danes in that picture. Man was she smoking 10 years ago
September 16th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
yeah M Mac… you probably participate in a orginized religion and believe theres a man up in the clouds. if I was you I wouldn’t go around passing judgment on anyone mr. schizophrenic
September 25th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
About anafranil:
Most of these side-effects are dose related and/or tolerance will develop with continued use.
Allergic/toxic: skin reactions and photosensitivity with increased frequency of sunburns are seen in a few percentage of cases. Rarely liver damage of the cholostatic type, hepatitis, and leukopenia or other forms of blood dyskrasia are seen, also severe acute allergy including difficulties in breathing, skin reaction, chest pain etc.
Other side effects may include heartburn, weight gain, but also nausea and bruxism – teeth-grinding while asleep – (the latter due to the strong inhibition of reuptake of serotonin).
The drug often causes sexual problems in men (e.g. impotence, ejaculation difficulties). In about 5% of patients, it can instead cause inadvertent orgasms when yawning.
from wikipedia.
thanks, i will keep my brandy.
October 2nd, 2009 at 8:05 am
Damn I need to get me some of that “LCD”!
October 10th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
hmmmmmmmmmm…..all sound tempting, me prefer smoke weed and fly safe with some more pot to reach 7th sky
he he he enjoys guys/gals , live life love life…….
November 14th, 2009 at 7:29 am
Great list. But #1? That’s bullshit. I’m from Slovenia and have never heard of something like this.