DOSE:

smoked

Lactuca spp.

(dried)

BODY WEIGHT:

120 lb

Roughly a year ago, my brother introduced me to a plant that he called “wild lettuce”. I thought he was joking, but being short on cash at the time, I started using this terribly acrid bitter herb as a substitute for greens in salads.

I noticed no effects from it, but considering that I was regularly consuming copious amounts, I decided it would be a good idea to look it up and find out what it really is. I was a little bit surprised to find out that “wild lettuce” was indeed its real name, or rather, prickly lettuce-lactuca serriola, a related variant, and that some people smoke it for a recreational high.

Now I’ve never been a big drug user, in fact I had never even smoked pot before in my life, but seeing as it was literally growing everywhere in my yard, I decided I might as well try it.

The first attempt, I took some leaves and let it dry for a day and smoked it. I felt nothing. I did some more research, and found that most of the active chemical, lactucarium, is in the stems.

Second time, I cut up some stems, let them dry out a couple days, and smoked this in a tin foil pipe. I took a few hits. It didn’t take much. After 10 minutes I started feeling a choking sensation like my throat was closing up, 5 minutes after this, I felt the high kick in. At first I just felt very relaxed, laid down to take a nap. Then euphoria starting coming over me. Everything felt brighter, clearer, more colorful. Sensation was altered, touch seemed more pleasurable, everything seemed like I was experiencing it for the first time. A childlike playfulness and curiosity came over me, and I suddenly felt an urge to go outside and play on the swings.

Went and did that for awhile. 45 minutes in I started coming down. The euphoria subsided, and the choking sensation intensified along with some nasty after effects I did not enjoy. Some anxiety, feeling lightheaded, etc. This lasted about 15 minutes. The whole experience lasted one hour.

I tried it again several times after that, with similar results. Spacing the hits 15 minutes apart from each other seemed to make the comedown more bearable. I started noticing some effects from taking it regularly that didn’t wear off, like I found that it was causing slight speech impediment. I also found it was taking less and less to notice the effects--I’m wondering if it’s similar to kava in that the more you take it, the more sensitive you become?

In any case, although the first few trips were awesome, the last few times I tried it were disastrous, and I’ve been afraid to take it since. The trip started out nice. I just took one hit, hoping to just relax so I could calm down and study, but it hit me harder than I thought it would. I couldn’t focus and felt the urge to go outside. I did, and once there felt like I needed to lie down. I laid down, oddly, on the sidewalk, completely oblivious to all the bird poop that was on it. Then I felt I needed to take a walk; started walking down the road only to feel like I needed to lie down again... so I laid down in the middle of the street, and then I started feeling the gravel and noticing how nice the hot gravel felt against my skin. So I started vigorously rubbing my hands into the gravel, and burying myself in the dirt. At which point I thought, “what am I doing?” Began to panic, and ran inside to ask my brother to take me to the doctor.

I could not explain what was wrong, instead I kept pointing to the wild lettuce and saying, “see this plant? See this plant?” Halfway to the doctor the effects wore off, and feeling rather foolish, I told him there was nothing wrong with me, that I was just high.

I tried it one more time after that. That time, I skipped the euphoria altogether and went straight to the panic attack. My friend took me to the hospital, and I have not tried it again since. But I miss it!

The problem, I’ve found, is that it’s so wildly unpredictable. It reminds me of a really unhealthy relationship. You can’t separate the good from the bad, you never know what you’re going to get, but you just can’t get the same intensity elsewhere that makes it so addictive.

Since then, I’ve been experimenting with various other drugs to try to get the same effect, but nothing has been comparable. I’ve tried blue lily, kava, kratom, Mexican dream herb, and various combos, things that I’ve heard are similar to wild lettuce, but they’ve all been rather disappointing. Very subtle effects if any at all, definitely not the same euphoria I got with prickly lettuce. The only thing that comes close is absinthe. I would love to find something that will give me a similar high, or be able to find a way to smoke it that’s not so intense.

I never noticed any effect from consuming it orally.

Exp Year: 2020	ExpID: 115208
Gender: Not Specified
Age at time of experience: 27
Published: Feb 23, 2021	Views: 2,944
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Lactuca spp. (153) : First Times (2), Hangover / Days After (46), Retrospective / Summary (11), Unknown Context (20)