I found this on an ethobotanical site and ordered some. It says that it contains anabasine that is related to nicotine. It also says it has been used by native tribes for snuff. Has anyone ever tried it for snuff and what is it like?
J
Jarhog
B
bob
sounds dangerous from what I’ve read about it. About all I can find on it is that it is definatly a toxin and that it’s a hallucinagenic. Though it’s hard to find anywhere willing to give any info on does for smoking or tea and nothing about snuffing it. So I guess if we don’t hear from you will assume it’s good stuff. I guess I’am saying be very carefull and play it safe.
J
Juxtaposer
I have tried it. The stuff grows as a weed around here. Handle it as you would any other tobacco. The same warnings apply such as do not eat. The same symptoms occur with overdose such as hallucinations. N. Glauca has very little nicotine, anabasine being it’s major alkaloid is similarly effectual on the nicotinic receptors in your brain.( i.e addiction ) As snuff I would consider N. Glauca as interchangeable as N. Tobaccum and N Rustica can be. Not to mention tomato leaves and other solanaceae. I speculate that N. Glauca’s use, also called tree tobacco, is limited commercially due to the growth patterns of the strain. As I recall from what I have read, it has been grown for insecticide as N Rustica has, and it has been sold for Hooka tobacco in less wealthy regions. Experimentation is welcomed but I think you will find that N. tobaccum is the all around best choice for a snuffer. Yes…better than N.Rustica as an all day snuff. I would be personally interested in the details of your find. I currently have several hundred grams of N. Glauca in various stages of cure.
T
thehookster
In my opinion they will never have a equal as good substitute as good old tobacco. I sure hope I will stand to be corrected because this PACT act crap don’t sound good at all. I sure have my fingers crossed on that issue! any which way it goes I have enough to last awhile and after that ill have to settle for american snuffs ¤ that really would suck though, I sure love all my other countries snuff ¤ Mann whY don’t they just leave us alone? What ever happen to our freedom and rights?
I
ibild
I can tell you Hookster,
D
donjorge
There has to be a way around all this…I bet it could be smuggled in somehow.
B
bob
start our own vice centered delivery service.
J
Jarhog
We need to start some snuff-easys.
J
Johano
Its an 11 yrs old thread but the idea instrigues me a lot. I wonder what kind of snuff can be made of this glauca species regarding anabasine effects. Did anybody here notice this tobacco tree growing somewhere near them? Im interested in procuring some leaf material for experimentation
V
volunge
I think someone used to grow it in my parents’ neighbourhood. I recall my father showing me a handful of some weird leaves, which didn’t look like tobacco at all. He told me he was treated by a neighbour, who grew it in his garden; quite tall plants they were. I shrugged and advised against smoking it. That was 4-6 years ago.
In my turn, I’m interested in experimenting with N. sylvestris, which has a fair amount of nicotine (up to 1.4 %) in green (non-cured) leaves. Sylvestris is widely planted as ornamental summer/autumn plant in urban gardens and squares here. I procured some seeds years ago, but didn’t sow them upon reading about the carcinogenous properties of nornicotine (N. sylvestris is high converter; most of nicotine is converted to nornicotine during air curing). Later on I found another study (Alcaloid Composition of Nicotiana Species by Verne A. Sisson and R. F. Severson), which discovered significantly lower conversion rate in freeze-dried leaves…
V
volunge
Report on anabasine (N. glauca) effects: https://erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=38989
J
Johano
@volunge I did read that report already, seems like it has more of depressant action. I dont think that silvestris N content can be considered high since tabacum can have up to 3% and rustica 9%. Wouldnt bother with this one
J
jpsks
nicotina glauca grows wild in my garden about twice a year a few plants . was going to dry it and try smoking it but ended up throwing it away
J
Johano
@jpsks let me know when u got some, I would pay for this stuff in sticks, snuff or whatever
J
jpsks
its starting to grown again @johano probably be a month or so before it starts to flower ill keep you up dated
J
Johano
@jpsks hi, any updates?
V
volunge
Nicotiana sylvestris in my close vicinity:
The size of some lower leaves is on a par with rustica. I go by this place every morning and my curiosity is getting unbearable. All I need is a couple of leaves for a test…
V
volunge
I haven’t tried N. sylvestris, but will give glauca a whirl by the end of this month. Have you tried turning some to snuff already, @Johano?
J
Johano
@volunge Not yet, but Ive got all the ingredients ready I was wondering though, how would you go about alkalising this percentage wise?
V
volunge
Golden mean would do it - 4% sodium or potassium carbonate, 3% salt and 26% water. But I will definitely try it pure first, finely millled.
V
volunge
@Johano, I have milled N. glauca leaves you sent me and took a couple boxcars of pure, non-alkalized powder yesterday.
My coffee grinder cannot cope with small amounts of matter and I ended with about 0.2 g fine powder only. I’ll have to grind the remaining coarse siftings manually when I get hold of a proper mortar and pestle. Really looking forward to trying alkalized N. glauca snuff!
In terms of burn and effect, pure N. glauca powder feels very much like pure N. rustica. The smell is very faint, not grassy at all. Drip is slightly salty, not bitter. I found it very pleasant, but mind you, so far I have only had a couple of boxcars. Actually, it was more enjoyable than a pure powder of my non-topped rustica middle leaves.
P. S. Plot twist - I will alkalize it dry with wood ash, following Moroccan nefha 4:1 ratio (by volume). More to follow!
V
volunge
Having no ash at hand, just alkalized the rest of @Johano’s supplied Moroccan N. glauca sample with 4% calcium hydroxide (slaked lime). I. e., bone-dry mixture of 0.96 g N. glauca (medium-to-coarse grind) and 0.04 g calcium hydroxide, mixed using mortar and pestle.
I’ll share my findings on the effects later.
Cheers!
J
Johano
Almost forgot about it. Still got some crushed leaves to give it a try. Curious, how was it? Ive seen some Glauca plants on Lanzarote islands lately. Specifically, on a volcanic grounds they seem to like very much. Even harvested some seeds there that I loosely sprinkled on the ground in our family house garden. Might see some random sprouts next year, since its already too late for it this year I believe.
V
volunge
Oddly enough, the alkalized mixture I didn’t find any stronger than pure glauca powder and this left me wondering if freebasing anabasine is even a thing. The sting was on a par to that of rustica mixed with same amount of calcium hydroxide - not caustic, by any means. So, safe to go in these terms.
I went through all that mixture in just a couple of hours or so, taking it as a regular N. tabacum or rustica snuff (i. e. a full boxcar load per nostril) every 15-30 minutes. No adverse effects noticed whatsoever. The drip wasn’t acrid or bitter and tasted agreeable.
Although the amount was too scarce for arriving at any firm conclusions, I would like to note that it didn’t quite scratch an itch for nicotine to me. I didn’t feel any nicotine-like stimulating effect, yet it mitigated the cravings.
I will continue experimenting next year, hopefully (or later this year, if I manage to source another N. glauca sample; curious to try it out as a moist snuff).
V
volunge
This Russian entry about anabasine (main alkaloid of N. glauca species, close to nicotine, citizine and lobeline in pharmacological properties) on Wikipedia mentions indication of anabasine hydrochloride in single doses from 1.5 to 3 mg in form of pills, dental films and chewing gum, for treating nicotine addiction (in 1980s, the USSR) - Анабазин — Википедия.
Gamibasinum / Гамибазин - chewing gum with anabasine (smoking cessation drug): https://youtu.be/2Qa06RUwngU?si=e-p1uC8-G1hdDOoK
Gamibasinum label: https://ne-kurim.ru/upload/information_system_5/2/5/6/item_2564/gamibazin.jpg
Anabasine toxicity - 11-16(+/-1) mg/kg (a mouse bioassay) (WebCite query result)
V
volunge
This surveillance https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/17086/stanfill_global(2011).pdf?sequence=1 suggests (judging by FT/IR spectral pattern unlike either N. tabacum or N. rustica) that some African nasal snuffs, for instance, Nigerian tombak, might be made of other tobacco species, such as Nicotiana glauca.