Fake Pot: What's the deal with these Marijuana Alternatives?

submitted: September 14, 2003

I've seen a lot of posts about these from newbies in the Smokers Lounge, and I'm pretty sick of seeing these questions repeatedly and so are other Eco Green members. Many have requested that answers to these questions be submitted to the FAQ so...

Why are they legal?
The reason these 'Marijuana Alternatives' are legal is because they contain no THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol), which most marijuana smokers know is the chemical that produces your high. These alternatives contain zero THC.

Are they worth buying?
Obviously the answer to this is No if you are planning on getting high from them like you would normal Marijuana. If you just want something to smoke, then you might consider buying them, but you wont get any intoxicating effects. Although you may suffer a throbbing headache along with a case of Buyers remorse.

Why do people mistake them for actual Marijuana?
When you look at a typical example picture of one of these alternatives that might be found in magazines like High Times, the pictures may look impressive, but if you read a little deeper into the sites, you will notice that it doesn't say anything about actually getting you high at all. They say things like: "Looks, smells and tastes just like the real thing!" but very rarely mentions anything about getting high.

What are some of the known ingredients of these Marijuana Alternatives?
Ingredients of 'Inda-Kind' and 'Sweet Green' bought from Riverdale Organics have been revealed by a few hard working researchers. Inda-Kind's ingredients were listed as "cheshteya buds" and the Sweet green is also cheshteya and "Arabian marachobah". These researchers carried out an internet search for 'cheshteya', and found that the word only appears on other legal herb sites and no others at all. They concluded that it was just another word for Mullein, which is also commonly used as a legal herb smoke.

The bad thing about that is that Mullein can be bought at most herbal stores in America for about a dollar but the 'cheshteya' costs A LOT more than that. 'Arabian marachobah' was also a term found to exist only on these legal herb sites. The Inda-Kind product was also found to contain mentha piperita (peppermint), passiflora incarnata (passion flower), and S. Officinalis (soapwort). What is even stranger is that other legal herb websites list the ingredients to Inda-Kind differently, which have included Wild Dagga (Lion's Ear), Indian Hemp (dogbane) and Nepeta Mint (catnip). Ingredients found in Riverdale's herbal hash products were Marybud (Marigold), Jamaican Tangawizi (ginger), Artemesia absinthum (wormwood), Salvia O (common sage) and, again, cheshteya.

Buds bought from International Oddities (another legal herb retailer) look more impressive than Riverdale's, but they are essentially the same ingredients with prettier packaging. The 'buds' were simply herbs that had been compressed around a stick with some kind of added resin on the outside to simulate trichomes. It should be noted that all the above 'Legal herbs', when smoked, were said to have induced an almost instant headache.

So are all these 'Legal Alternatives' garbage?
Actually no, not all are a waste of time. There is 1 plant that is legal (at the moment) that will produce intoxicating effects. The name of this is Salvia Divinorum (more commonly just 'Salvia'). But beware, if you get hold of this, be very careful because the effects aren't the same as Marijuana, and have been known to be very intense in some cases, as Salvia is a psychoactive. Adding to the possible danger of this plant, the effects on your health are relatively unknown, and have the potential to be very dangerous, or even deadly if you suffer from a heart condition.

People with undiagnosed heart and/or high blood pressure conditions who use Salvia, are at risk of suffering and unexpected stroke, heart attack and possibly even sudden death. Like I said before Beware when using Salvia. Eco Green / GrowFaq does not condone or encourage usage of this drug or any of the afore mentioned alternatives. Eco Green is a Marijuana ONLY site and this was only written to answer frequently asked questions on this topic. As with any drug, please read up on it before you start taking it.

I hope this clears up some of the confusion.