Name that drug

June 17, 2008 10:48 AM

Name that drug.

I remember reading an article about a drug that some consider the most powerful/potent/psychedelic in the world. There was an accompanying YouTube video that showed a few (Dutch?) guys under the influence in someone's apartment. They were doing some crazy stuff, but I can't remember what exactly. Maybe acting like animals or something.

Can anyone help me out on the name? Thanks!

posted by mpls2 to health (23 comments total)

If you're talking about something extra powerful, my money is on DMT (dimethyltryptamine), and less likely, ibogaine.
posted by crapmatic at 10:53 AM on June 17

Obligatory link: Erowid
posted by meta_eli at 10:54 AM on June 17

Do you mean salvia?
posted by iconomy at 10:54 AM on June 17

The answer depends heavily on what you mean by "most powerful". If you mean the traditional "smallest dose required to achieve affects" the answer is good ol' LSD.
posted by Justinian at 10:58 AM on June 17

Here's an incredibly annoying video of some Dutch guys smoking salvia...
posted by iconomy at 10:59 AM on June 17

Probably DMT, although I've heard good things about NyQuil.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:01 AM on June 17

It could be Jimson weed (datura stramonium).
posted by nitsuj at 11:08 AM on June 17

Chances are if they were doing 'stuff' that involved moving around or interacting with the world, it wasn't DMT (or at least, not until most of it wore off). DMT practically knocks you out while most of the peak hallucinations are occurring. Salvia Divinorum seems like a possibility, the hallucinations are supposed to be fairly concrete instead of hazy and dreamlike, and of a much different nature than LSD (altho I haven't tried Salvia myself, yet).
posted by FatherDagon at 11:19 AM on June 17

Was this by any chance that article by the journalist that spent a bunch of time with some drug heads in a house, and they were scraping whatever drug it was off some white dragon thing? One of the drug-heads ended up staying in the house eating blue Otter Pops and the rest of them went to Vegas and smoked something out of light bulbs?

Maybe someone can Google it up from that, if that's what you're thinking...
posted by fiercecupcake at 11:24 AM on June 17

Yay! Found this: 72-Hour Party People.
posted by fiercecupcake at 11:26 AM on June 17

I'll also chime in with salvia. It is certainly making the rounds in articles and the media lately, and has also become a bit of a Youtube meme.
posted by naju at 11:35 AM on June 17

I was going to suggest datura / Moonflower as well. Judging by stories from this Hunter S. Thompson-esque character I hung out with once in a place named Moonflower Canyon.

(For the record, I'd also like to say that the "salvia" I'm named after is the non-psychedelic variety.)
posted by salvia at 11:36 AM on June 17

It's Salvia, for sure. Interesting stuff...
posted by Cosine at 11:37 AM on June 17

and legal!
posted by Cosine at 11:47 AM on June 17

Ayahuasca? There's more than just DMT in there...
posted by sunshinesky at 11:50 AM on June 17

My vote is for Salvia. Still legal and sold in headshops across Canada. My friends who have tried it describe it as a short, powerful trip that wears off in minutes.
posted by Brodiggitty at 12:36 PM on June 17

...drug that some consider the most powerful/potent/psychedelic in the world

In terms of dosage I think Justinian is right with LSD.

However, I think that, especially with psychedelics, this is pretty subjective. For example, some people can smoke some amount of salvia and feel nothing, while the same dose will knock the next person out.

DMT (which is contained in ayahuasca, among other psychoactives) supposedly creates some of the most intense effects of any hallucinogen, taking you completely outside of your usual perceptions. Or maybe it's more accurate to say that it takes your usual perceptions completely away. Whatever.

There's also a tremendous number of synthetic psychoactives other than LSD that may or may not be on the same scale of dosage and "power," I'm not enough of a psychoactives freak that I know that off the top of my head, but Erowid is definitely a good source, as is in particular Pihkal and Tikhal (also hosted on Erowid) by the Shulgins.

The point being--and I don't mean to be flippant--that this question is meaningless on a certain level. Can you fine tune it a bit?
posted by dubitable at 12:41 PM on June 17

I've experimented with a wide variety of psychedelics and I'd be willing to wager it was DMT, Salvia is a very mild high in comparison. While I'd agree with those suggesting LSD is the most powerful, DMT will take you further out of your comfort zone almost instantly, and only for about 5-25 minutes. Salvia on the other hand is definitely not going to be considered the strongest to those who are well experienced. It's brief effects are potent but beyond some minor trickery it's short lived and relatively grounded in reality. I'd suggest reading some DMT experiences on Erowid.

Do you remember how they were administering the drug? Definitely need more info if you're looking for certainty.
posted by huxley at 12:51 PM on June 17

Okay, and I'm also going to take this opportunity to remind people who might be tuning in and curious about this stuff to BE CAREFUL, educate yourself on the substances mentioned, and FOR F$'S SAKE DON'T MESS AROUND WITH JIMSON WEED / DATURA. You could die. You could also die doing something stupid on any one of these substances if you aren't responsible (like driving while using Salvia, as I saw a Youtube video of some idiot...almost... doing).

My point with this is to be pro-responsibility, pro-not-dying or hurting yourself and others, and pro-not-doing-stupid-crap that'll further the cause of the nanny state imposing its will upon us. Don't treat these substances lightly.
posted by dubitable at 12:52 PM on June 17

I'd be willing to wager it was DMT, Salvia is a very mild high in comparison.

I haven't tried DMT, but I tried Salvia at 5x and was completely detached from reality for about 10-15 minutes. As in, I was in a completely hallucinated visual world, unaware of my friends around me, and the only thing I was hearing was loud music coming from a speaker next to my head, in which I heard many things that are not there in reality. I've tried the usual hallucinogenics, and 5x was hands down by far the most powerful hallucination I've experienced. While I enjoyed it, more than 10-15 minutes would have been much too much. Those annoying Dutch kids are doing 10x, if the title is to be believed. The people I've known who reported a mild Salvia experience are those who tried it in it's natural, non-concentrated form, which is evidently a whole different trip.

For what it's worth, I'd say it's nothing to take lightly, and once in a lifetime was enough for me.
posted by ga$money at 1:39 PM on June 17

Thanks, guys. it's Datura that I was thinking of.
posted by mpls2 at 2:25 PM on June 17

I was thinking Datura as well- it's become somewhat "popular" in Europe over the last few years. An 18 year old German man cut off his tongue and penis with garden shears after drinking datura tea.
posted by oneirodynia at 7:15 PM on June 17

Confessions of a salvia eater
posted by homunculus at 9:45 AM on June 18