How to get high?

January 14, 2011 10:13 AM

What is the healthiest way to get high?

When I go out with friends we tend to drink quite a bit. I maybe do this on average 3 times a month. I really enjoy this but worry about the effect it has on my liver/brain and overall health. Sometimes I choose to drink just a drink or two but quite frankly do not seem to have quite as good a time.

I don't really care for alcohol that much and don't drink much at home (just an occasional glass of wine) but sure like the feeling of a good buzz. I've never really tried any drug except xanax a couple times which a friend had given me (it basically just knocks me out). I'm not looking for spiritual or pyschological answers/techniques etc. I am just wondering if there is any healthier way to get that buzz than what I'm currently doing.

posted by tr45vbyt to health & fitness (28 answers total)

Sex or exercise.
posted by dfriedman at 10:13 AM on January 14, 2011 [4 favorites]

Red wine.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:15 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

Seconding the above, dfriedman beat me to it.

Also perhaps fasting, though there is debate on how healthy that is for you. Personally, I think it's somewhere between neutral and good.
posted by RolandOfEld at 10:17 AM on January 14, 2011

Doing something I'm good at in a competitive arena does it for me. Like trivia nights, silly as it sounds.
posted by phunniemee at 10:18 AM on January 14, 2011

Runner's high :)
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 10:25 AM on January 14, 2011

I'll add meditation to sex and exercise.

(Together, and you're going tantric...)
posted by MisterMo at 10:26 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

nthing dfriedman.

Also art, jazz (I like Zena Parkins), rollercoasters, dance parties, meditation, guided imagery, snorkeling, black light cosmic caverns and La Monte Yong's Dream Room.
posted by abirae at 10:27 AM on January 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

Exercise and sex are great highs without taking any substances.
In terms of getting high, I don't think drinking the amounts you are would be considered particularly problematic.
Xanax for the inexperienced does exactly as you've encountered. Opiates are all good and fun, yet if you take them for pain you generally (at least I rarely don't) get a 'high'. Amphetamines are nice in small therapeutic doses. I enjoy my cannabis regularly and which safely can be eaten or vaporized in a healthy fashion. Never put in your body what you don't understand, including risks, potentially life threatening side effects, and legal repercussions of possession.
To each their own, caffeine is a wonderful substance as well.
posted by handbanana at 10:27 AM on January 14, 2011 [3 favorites]

Perhaps try using a vaporizer, if you're not opposed to that sort of thing.
posted by Bron-Y-Aur at 10:29 AM on January 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

Marijuana through a vaporizer.

I think that's more the type of answer you're looking for? I love my life so much I'm almost always "buzzing" so the high on life answers are real despite being maybe sounding corny to you.
posted by zephyr_words at 10:31 AM on January 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

Pretty broad definition of "get high" going on here.

Get some good marijuana and ingest it via vaporizer or baked goods.
posted by Anatoly Pisarenko at 10:32 AM on January 14, 2011

Chocolate + Coffee + Wine. Depending on where you live, there are places where you can get all three. And supposedly in moderation (like anything) they're all fairly healthy habits.

You might glean some other things out there too from doing some simple searches.
posted by samsara at 10:34 AM on January 14, 2011

Yes sex is probably my biggest high in life and exercise works also but just to clarify my question I am looking for something to substitute for alcohol when I go out with friends to get buzzed if there is something healthier.
posted by tr45vbyt at 10:52 AM on January 14, 2011

Really good dance music, loud, gets me high.
posted by Dragonness at 10:53 AM on January 14, 2011

Apply Sangamon's Principle.



Don't, obviously, it's bollocks. But cool bollocks.
posted by cromagnon at 11:06 AM on January 14, 2011

I would drink a ton of espresso. It almost makes you feel like you are on cocaine if you aren't used to the caffeine.

Salvia is also a legal herb which will seriously get you high for 10-15 minutes. I remember doing that in college, sitting in a dark closet and listening to trippy music. For 15 minutes I was hearing voices and all sorts of stuff, and then after 15 minutes, poof, back to normal with no side effects.
posted by darkgroove at 11:08 AM on January 14, 2011

Pot cookies.
posted by Lutoslawski at 11:18 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

Salvia is most definitely not, for most people, a social drug. A party is no place to lay on the floor/emerge from water for ten minutes/two weeks. Shit, maybe it is. I've done it, but I don't think that's what you're looking for. People I've seen try it fall on the spectrum between checking out for a few minutes and attempting to flee in blind terror. The former come back with stories of sentient mantises and experiencing death, and the latter don't want to talk about it. YMMV, obviously.

If you're inexperienced but interested in pot, try smoking it both by combustion and vaporization. They result in different cannabinoid combinations making it to your blood and can be quite different, depending on what your greenery is like. Eating it is yet another distinct experience.

As for drinking, red wine would be better. Maybe drink on an empty or nearly empty stomach? It might be worse for your stomach, but you'll get that buzzed feeling with less booze.
posted by cmoj at 11:37 AM on January 14, 2011

just to clarify my question I am looking for something to substitute for alcohol when I go out with friends to get buzzed if there is something healthier

In general, the social drinking you've described (three times a month, drinking enough to get a good buzz) is not going to be harmful for you, unless you've got some underlying health problems (high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.) you haven't mentioned.

If you've eaten enough during the day and stayed well-hydrated prior to drinking, you should be fine. Pace your drinking throughout the evening rather than trying to get a quick rush. A slow, steady buzz is more enjoyable and easier to maintain anyway.

Of course this all comes with the caveat to be aware if you start to develop any problem behaviors. Be extra cautious if you have a family history of alcoholism. And always make sure you have a designated driver or other safe way to get home.
posted by amyms at 11:49 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

I find that weed, alcohol, and various substances all give me a different kind of high. For instance it probably wouldn't be much fun to smoke up and then go to a party with a bunch of people who'd been drinking. I'd be all "have you ever really thought about the fact that we shit in the bathroom????" and everyone else would be all "STFU and come do a shot!!! I love you so much!!! Woo!!!" There would also be a temptation to combine substances, which in my experience is not such a great idea.

If you are going out drinking with friends, eat well and hydrate throughout the day leading up to the event. Stick to drinks that are relatively low in alcohol and which you can nurse (I prefer red wine or a substantial yet not overly alcoholic beer like stout). Don't drive.

I find that caffeine produces my favorite kind of buzz, these days, but if I was having an espresso high and everyone else was WAAAAASTED, MAN!!!! I would probably want to punch them all in the face.
posted by Sara C. at 1:38 PM on January 14, 2011

Salvia is also a legal herb which will seriously get you high for 10-15 minutes. I remember doing that in college, sitting in a dark closet and listening to trippy music. For 15 minutes I was hearing voices and all sorts of stuff, and then after 15 minutes, poof, back to normal with no side effects.

DO NOT DO SALVIA WHEN YOU ARE OUT ON THE TOWN.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 2:07 PM on January 14, 2011

Probably nitrous.

Even something as "safe" as weed can have horrible side effects - it's one of my worst experiences ever!
posted by Earl the Polliwog at 3:00 PM on January 14, 2011

Salvia is also not really fun for most people. Marijuana is relatively safe but the "healthiest" way to consume marijuana is with edibles. These work great but can take 30-90 minutes to take an effect making it hard to figure out if you've had enough or too much. Smoking or vaping is obviously much faster but aren't great for lungs. Vaping is better than smoking but you're still pulling oily residue into your lungs.
posted by chairface at 4:26 PM on January 14, 2011

I think the sex and exercise advocates though well intentioned are on a different page. Some people enjoy the use of inebriants and there is no real substitute. You’re asking for a different intoxicant that may not have the deleterious effects of alcohol.

But alcohol has been used since recorded time and exhaustively researched. More than any other drug the long and short term effects of alcohol are understood. In many respects that makes it a relatively safe drug… in some ways.

The problem with alcohol use is its insidious nature. What starts as a few weekends a month can so easily slip into an abusive habit. And that’s not corny as the examples are legend and all too common.

That said I like to drink and get plastered with my friends on rare occasions. I’ve had times when I saw trouble ahead and stopped drinking altogether for a time. But it’s a part of life I heartily enjoy.
posted by PaulBGoode at 5:33 PM on January 14, 2011

I enjoyed cannabis back in the day and think it's far less unhealthy than alcohol consumption (I'm a researcher looking for useful small molecule cannabinoids for a small pharma) even when smoked, but I definitely wouldn't consider it a party drug. Use it before going to a concert, a hike on the beach or out in the woods, or a "trippy" movie, sure, but it will make you awkward in conversation with those who haven't consumed any.

As mentioned above, Salvia is most certainly not a party drug, and probably the least researched recreational drug in common use. It will also knock you on your ass for a good fifteen minutes. Only try it if you know what you're getting into. Set and setting are very, very important. Salvia is also not legal everywhere, so be aware of your local laws.
posted by Thoughtcrime at 6:22 PM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

DO NOT DO NITROUS! OR ANY OTHER INHALANT!

this can easily leave you dead, or brain injured for life. this is coming from personal experience. i am not one of those hyper sensitive OMG everything can hurt you people. i love marijuana, and if i wasn't allergic to alcohol, i would probably like drinking too.

BUT - whoever thinks that nitrous done on your own is safe is very uneducated and, frankly, an irresponsible idiot.

and anyway, the buzz only lasts for 30 minutes maximum (usually much less) unless you're walking around with loads of the inhalant, constantly intaking it.
posted by assasinatdbeauty at 8:44 AM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]

oh, also, there is legal imitation marijuana, here's a good source -

http://www.k2legalsmoke.com/

you can just roll your own cigarettes, or if you want to be fancy and fit in, empty and traditional cigarette and either do half tobacco, half k2 (or weed), just just all k2. enjoy wherever smoking is permitted. according to all studies done, k2 does not show up on drug tests, because, well, it contains no THC (the part of weed that gets you high). the chemical structure is completely different.
posted by assasinatdbeauty at 8:50 AM on January 15, 2011

A note on the "legal imitation marijuana:" These drugs are legal because they're not analogs to THC (other wise they would be illegal under the damnable Federal Analog Act of 1970). They definitely have activity at the CB1 receptor and they're not fat soluble so they're out of your system much faster than THC is, but that's about all that we really know about them. There's lots and lots of research on the cannabinoids found in marijuana (well, at least THC and cannabidiol), but little to none about the drugs being sold legally in your local head shop. Who knows what other effects they might have or under what conditions they're manufactured? I'd stick to the real stuff unless you're somewhere where it's really hard to get it. Our drug laws aren't based on safety or any other sane rationale, after all; just because drugs are legal does not mean they are safe.

Figure I'd add a disclaimer since I've commented twice in this thread: I've tried several different forms of "legal imitation marijuana" and I've used Salvia, which is also legal in my state. Unlike the OP, I was not concerned about safety, though.
posted by Thoughtcrime at 8:53 PM on January 15, 2011