In Summary: A High by Any OtherName: Exploring the Motivations forConsumption of 'Legal Highs'

People who regularly use legal and semi-legal drugs for recreation are motivated by a combination of factors including the desire for novel experiences, the perception that these substances are safer or less stigmatized than illegal drugs, and the ease of access through online and commercial vendors. The study, based on ethnographic interviews with 26 individuals over five months, found that users often seek out substances like Spice, Salvia, Kratom, Ayahuasca, and hallucinogenic seeds to achieve specific psychoactive effects, while also navigating legal ambiguities and personal risk assessments.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Citation: Thompson WE (2017) In Summary: A High by Any Other Name: Exploring the Motivations for Consumption of ‘Legal Highs’. J Drug Abuse. Vol. 3 No. 2:10 A large number of legal, semi-legal, synthetic, and organic drugs are sold online and through commercial vendors as novelties, often bearing the label “not for human consumption.” This qualitative field study was based on extensive ethnographic interviews conducted over a five month period with 26 people who regularly used synthetic and organic drugs for recreational purposes. Some of the more popular and common legal and semi-legal drugs of choice among these users included, but were not limited to: “Spice” (typically sold as incense or potpourri containing marijuana-mimicking substances), Salvia (salvia divinorum, a South American brush that produces a deliriant effect when ingested or smoked), Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa, which has varying effects similar to opiate highs, stimulants, marijuana, and alcohol), Ayahuasca (a combination of herbs and plants that produces powerful psychedelic effects somewhat similar to LSD, “Magic Mushrooms” (spores that produce a variety of hallucinogenic effects), Hawaiian Baby Wood Rose and Morning Glory seeds (both of which when brewed as a “tea” produce hallucinogenic experiences) [1].