hi, ladies and gentlemen,

I am fascinated by changa. we all are, probably
It's still spring time and loads of beautiful, wonderful smelling plants are blossoming, and walking through parks or woods I cannot help myself sniffing those flowering plants and wonder about how nice it would be to dry some of it and add it to changa blend.
then safety question comes up.
how can I be sure, that this tiny flower doesn't make my heart explode or another beautiful shrub doesn't make me suffocate or something? is there a safe way to experiment? any thoughts are much appreciated, thanks.

Liklyut

I highly recommend against picking plants up and smoking them without knowing what they are. Just ID them first and look into it.

seconded. i would suggest not even rubbing them on your hands and putting that in your mouth. some of them contain high concentrations of digoxin which can do the opposite of explode your heart: stop it within 2 days very discreetly.

very agree.. part of me was hoping that you guys gonna say "do it this and this way and you'll be fine!", but logic is logic.
you know, I have a nice lemon plant ant I dried some of blossom petals, had one toke [yes, I know I shouldn't have] and it was the most amazing smoke I have ever had. and I still have some, how can I know that it is safe or unsafe to smoke? is there a database of some sort with chemical analysis of plants or something similar?
there must be a way. I take care of this plant, I love it, and I think it could talk to me with some spice

In nature bright and colourfull is usually an indication to predators of being poisonous as a warning to ward off danger for both sides sake hahah,animals and plants wise so ill agree to being carefull(esp those darn frogs :lol

Oh ja and one thing ive read in those survival books to help you be sure on it is wether other animals consume it is a sign of it being toxin fre,observe the animals(birds,worms,snails etc etc)and you'll know hope that is of help

I cannot fight off some bugs off my beloved lemon, maybe that's an indication of safety?
just being silly...
yeah, as beautifully as it smokes, probably I shouldn't do it. but damn it, it's better that anything! shoot.

by the way, lemon flowers are safe to eat, would that mean it's safe to smoke dried petals?

no, one does not imply the other at all.

you may find this resource fruitful,
just enter the plant's name on the search:

http://www.accessdata.fd...cripts/plantox/index.cfm

Thanks for that link, I had fun with it!
and as you said, edible doesn't mean smokeable.
but then what about Lotus, Mint, Calea, Mullein - are they proven to be safe to smoke? yes, lot's of people do, but maybe there are effects that will come up much later?

tricky area is this

Well to be more clear the animals eating it removes the doubt of it being toxic,but as far as common sense goes smoking anything is nt really good regardless of the substance it damages alveoli and most of the oils and such of the substance content sits on the lungs,but its just a thing we do i guess i have yet to learn of a form of smoke thats not damaging to the lungs unless its a vaporizer which im also not 100%sure of maybe you can blast your curiosity with your plants through that hahaha

has anyone added roses to their changa ? is smoking rose safe ,

i,ve got lotus , mint , jasmine and roses now to choose from and mix

Definitely suggest mint. Aroma is uplifting, menthol is a vasodialator and increases lung absorption for the good stuff to get in there more efficiently. You got to put a very small amount though, as its too potent and it can ruin your batch as you will not be able to remove it if you do not like how mint-potent it became.

You know... smoking anything isn't safe, so it's kind of a silly question.

If you like the smell of a plant, dry it and toss it into hot water or hang it in your home, make incense if it's safe, there are tons of great uses for plants. There's no need to smoke the stuff to enjoy it, or even get psychoactive effects. In times long past, when minds were calm enough to take notice of subtlety, people would often enjoy the effects of psychoactive trees (especially DMT-containing ones) by simply sitting under them.

A great many fruit blossoms are alright to smoke, lemon being one of them, but there's no hard and fast rules about anything. You're best off positively identifying a plant and then finding bona fide information on its uses and toxicity. Other people have done the legwork for you, no need to put yourself at risk.

There is likely an herbalist near you that can give you a lot of great information that can be difficult to find online. If you simply ask what options there are for smokable herbs for psycho-spiritual use, and don't seem like a stupid kid looking to get high, they are usually quite helpful and will likely have some herbs on hand that will do nicely. Some even carry a stock of entheogenic plants as well, though their willingness to sell them to you will likely depend on your relationship with them. It is, after all, stupid to use psychedelics without first knowing what one is getting into.

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For what it's worth, I've used rose petals in smoking blends for a long time with no ill-effects. In fact, when I smoke spice from a regular pipe, I'll often spread it over strong red rose petals and then fold them in half to form a sort of screen, sticky side in, and top with herbs. The rose petals help reduce irritation and provide a wonderful flavor, and seem to me to potentiate the experience in amazing and gentle ways. Roses are definitely harsh in large quantities though, like most herb smoke.

I'm sorry, but approaching this from a chemistry standpoint, I find that very hard to believe. I have never heard anyone mention any mechanism by which psychoactive molecules might escape their leaves and diffuse in the surrounding atmosphere. Even if that were possible, I am certain that if they formed sufficient densities to cause even a threshold reaction, we would have found out about it long ago.

Now, if you knew that the plant of psychoactive and you liked that about the plant, there might be some placebo or positive associations that would lift your mood, but that is almost certainly in your head.

With the exception of the Manchineel tree, I have never heard of a plant that might be able to create 'spooky action at a distance.'

Blessings
~ND

^^ perhaps he's speaking metaphorically , or perhaps he's just voicing his opinion about mass deforestation thats taking place

perhaps he's just speaking out because of the love for the trees

also thanks Neural and HQ ,

Well, sure. You're correct... but you've also missed the mark of what I'm trying to say entirely. I can see how a chem-oriented, psychedelic-oriented person might get the impression that you've got to get the molecules lodged in the synapse gap to get anything similar to the effect of the drug, but this is an entirely preposterous idea in terms of ways one might explore and seek altered states and gnosis (magic/k, mysticism, shamanism, hypnosis, energized meditation, etc).
If you have any doubt, feel free to peruse subjective reports of mugwort use. So far as I've found, it seems to have the most dramatic effect when used in this manner.

The idea behind it is placebo effect... but it is generally done with awareness of this fact (barring perhaps some spirit-oriented paradigms in which one might believe to be the recipient of some subtle energy or action outside of material existence), and participation with the effects that manifest. In the same way that an experienced traveler can break through on a 5mg dose (and in decreasingly rare cases, with no dosage at all) by "opening up" the effects with their own mental energy and focus, anyone with keen senses, patience and a sincere appreciation for the living beings and task at hand can open a smell up into a trip. No, this is not our normal modus operandi here in the west or on the Nexus, but it is of use in the exploration of consciousness to the skilled and attentive practitioner. If you need to put a dose of a drug in your body to achieve a significantly altered state, then obviously this method is unfamiliar to your bang-zoom point of reference.

Now, if you're a Jungian (or hell, even a spiritualist) kinda guy, you can add in that through society and complex interaction resulting in subtle, non-objective information being shared and stored through communication, the result is an implicit library of related experience that is all accessed and correlated simultaneously through the common experience of that one smell/taste/sight/feeling. As you participate in the experience, more and more connections are made between artistically related fragments of information flowing mercurially through the parallel right brain and the sequential, objective left brain... Then all one needs to do is to passively observe this process itself unfolding or accelerate the process actively to the point of sensory overload... and there you have it: Gnosis in all its glory, with all the trappings, and all the utility. (And usually much easier to navigate without the chemical interference)
In fact, I'll argue that without actually imbibing the substance, the experience is much more valuable in the sense that the user knows exactly how the state came to be, and is not gawking in wonder and mystery after it has already done so without explanation.

So I ask: If the effect is the same, if the presence of spirit and manifestation of the mind are the same, if the intensity and and depth of the experience are the same, and if the sensory and physiological symptoms are identical how can it be said that one way is bona-fide, and the other is "all in your head"? They are indistinguishable by Pepsi Challenge. It's two sides of the same coin... one way just requires work and skill (or sensitivity and serendipity).
If you're not willing to put in the work, you're going to have to take the drug to achieve the state. If you've worked and succeeded at participating with the workings of the mind and body to the extent that its capabilities are at your immediate and voluntary disposal, then you are free to enter any state however you please. It doesn't matter whether it's calmly one one's ass or from the business end of a GVG... Gnosis is Gnosis. Do with it what you will.

Awww...

I give all the credit to Orion and Olympus Mon. I'm not sure why, though...

All the blame, however, is mine.