The Top 10 Most Bizarre Legal Highs

Humans have been getting high since they first walked the earth. It seems only natural that the people of today would still seek to discover new and interesting ways to achieve these different states of bliss. On rare occasions, this experimentation works, but more often than not it achieves very little. In some cases, it results in complete absurdity, and these are examples of just that – the ten most ridiculous legal ways people try to get “high.” Number 1 is the worst of the worst. Spoiler: they don’t tend to work.

10. SMOKING CORN SILK

Back in the 70’s when luxuries were less abundant and smoking tobacco was seen as cool, farmers would often gather the silk of corn they grew to dry out and use as a tobacco substitute. Apparently it is a tradition that persists to this day in some areas of the world and is becoming weirdly popular as a potential way to get high. Can you? No. The only thing you get from smoking corn silk is an inhibition to the amount of oxygen reaching your brain.

9. i-DOSING

i-Dosing is all about getting high from the power of sound. These collections of digital “drugs” supposedly alter your state of mind to replicate the effects of a certain drug – without any of the side-effects. All you need to do is plug in some headphones, sit back, and relax. It has gained such notoriety, that anti-narcotic agencies have scrambled to warn parents of the dangers.

The thing is, there is no danger because it doesn’t work. Sure, they can make you feel more relaxed or energised, but so can normal music. It basically takes the notion of binaural beat therapy and dresses it up in a way that is going to appeal to the gullible by stating it can replicate the exact highs of other drugs.

The thing is, it is impossible to cause the chemical changes with sound alone. It is worth noting, binaural beats can affect perception and is often used in clinical trials to research sleep cycles, but it cannot be used to change the brain so significantly.

8. SNORTING ROCKETS CANDY

Depending on where you live in the world, these are also known as smarties or fizzers. Some genius thought it would be a good idea to snort them, not really understanding human anatomy and assuming that because they fizz the tongue, they could possible fizz the mind. All you are likely to get from this child-like rumour is a nasal infection.

7. SMOKING PEANUT SHELLS, OR IS IT SKINS?

The fact that no one knows which it is, shells or skins, should be a big give away that this supposed high doesn’t have much in the way of truth about it. Some people are adamant that you need to take the shells and crush them up, while others reckon you need to spend hours peeling off the thin skin to roll up in your papers. Trust us, if this worked, there would be no argument about what you need to do, and many more people would be doing it.

6. VODKA TAMPONS

That’s right, we are not joking. Enterprising teenagers, in a bid to get “totally wasted” are soaking tampons in alcohol and stick them places best left unmentioned. The theory is, that because these areas have a thinner skin membrane, alcohol can be absorbed directly into the bloodstream. Even if this stupid idea works, bypassing the liver when alcohol is concerned is never a good idea. You won’t get high, you will get alcohol poisoning.

5. BEEZIN’ WITH BURT’S BEES

Burt’s Bees is a brand of all-natural cosmetic products that is being utilised in a very strange way. A bunch of bored people have found out that if you rub some of Burt's Bees lip balm on your eyelids, you get a weird tingly high. How someone discovered this, we can’t imagine, but the craze is now causing people across the world to start “beezin’” with similar products.

This tingling sensation is caused by the peppermint oil in the lip balm. It is not psychoactive; it donst get you high. It just makes you feel weird for having tingling eye lids. It is the exact same as how shampoo with peppermint oil in makes your scalp feel tingly.

4. NUTMEG

So, nutmeg contains trace amounts of myristicin, a psychoactive compound. The only problem is that you need a hell of a lot, of which there isn’t in nutmeg. It means people raiding their spice rack in a hopes to get high have to consume loads of this, quite frankly, awful tasting substance to get anywhere near what they are looking for. Unfortunately, while consuming large amounts of nutmeg has the potential to give you a slight buzz, it also causes nausea, vomiting, drowsiness and headaches that can last for days. The benefits don’t really outweigh the costs!

3. SMOKING A TWIX BAR

This one just made us laugh out loud. This isn’t some slang for a new street drug, you literally smoke a Twix candy bar. Apparently to do this, you bite off each end, light one side - holding the lighter there, as it obviously won’t catch and burn - while breathing in through the other end. The result is an inhalation of burnt chocolate and smoky biscuit – yummy! There is no high to speak of, and honestly, the craze probably started as a prank.

2. BANANADINE

You wanna get high!? All you need is bananadine! Simply take 7KG – yep really - of bananas, scrape off the insides of their skins, boil it up and then put it in the oven until it can be ground into a fine black powder! Smoke four cigarettes of those and you will be on your way to a new kind of bliss – the bliss of ignorance for not knowing you have completely wasted your time; there is no such thing as bananadine. It was a hoax from the 60’s meant to highlight the overzealous hysteria being created about drug culture, but it would seem that the irony was lost on a lot of people, and now the bananadine high is still a myth that persists to this day.

1. JENKEM, A.K.A BUTT-HASH

This is the worst of the worst, truly the craziest “high” we have ever heard of, and we can’t for any reason see why people would want to do it. It involves human waste, so if you are squeamish, you can probably get a good enough idea of what is going on already without reading any further. For those with a morbid curiosity, you have been warned.

Jenkem, or widely referred to as “butt-hash,” is fermented human waste. Its use apparently started in Africa back in the 90’s, but has since been proven to be a hoax. That isn’t stopping people though, who have been fermenting their own shit and piss, in order to huff the fumes and get “high.” The only thing you are going to get from that is a rock-bottom sense of self-worth.

As you can see, some people have gone to absurd, and often disgusting lengths to try and get high. All of these are a complete waste of time, so if you hear someone saying how wicked they are, avoid at all cost. If you really want to get high, we have much better options available!

Adam Parsons

Professional cannabis journalist, copywriter, and author Adam Parsons is a long-time staff member of Zamnesia. Tasked with covering a wide range of topics from CBD to psychedelics and everything in between, Adam creates blog posts, guides, and explores an ever-growing range of products.

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