People like doing drugs. But people also like deciding to throw other people in jail for doing drugs. So we have a weird system where taking some dangerous/addictive drugs is commonplace, but taking other harmless/ awesome drugs is a crime.
14 of the Best (and Worst) Ways to Legally Get High
Get high while remaining on the right side of the law with these legal highs—but avoid the bad ones.
Published April 19, 2022
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People like doing drugs. But people also like deciding to throw other people in jail for doing drugs. So we have a weird system where taking some dangerous/addictive drugs is commonplace, but taking other harmless/ awesome drugs is a crime.
I’m in favor of decriminalizing every substance because I don’t care what the hell happens to the world, but until the glorious day when everything is legal, I’ll stick to the seven societally accepted drugs listed below, and stay away from the seven terrible ones.
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Best: Delta-8-THC
Best: Delta-8-THC
Delta-8 could be called “loophole weed.” Traditional pot’s psychoactive effect comes from Delta-9-THC, a federally controlled chemical. Its little brother Delta-8, though, is not controlled. Everyone’s experience is different, but many users report Delta-8’s high is similar to “traditional” weed, but less intense. They say it produces all the relaxation of weed with less paranoia. Delta-8 is not a federally controlled substance but it is only fully legal in 31 states, so check your state’s laws before you smoke up .
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Best: Kava
Best: Kava
Extracted from plants native to South Pacific islands, Kava provides a mellow, relaxing, mildly euphoric experience that is legal in all 50 states. It can be purchased in pill form (marketed as a“dietary supplement”), in pre-mixed drinks, or in powdered form, so you can brew up an earthy tea. Enjoy!
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Best: Kratom
Best: Kratom
Kratom isn’t an opioid, but it’s close. The chemicals in kratom interact with opioid receptors in the brain, producing pain relief, euphoria, and a stimulant effect, but Kratom is, most agree, safer and less addictive than opioids. It’s also legal on the federal level. The plant has has reportedly been used as a substitute for opium in Southeast Asia for centuries , and many of the 10 million or so kratom users in the U.S. are likewise replacing heroin, Oxycontin, and other opiates with this plant extract (although there is no research backing up the claim that this is effective.)
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Best: Liverwort
Best: Liverwort
According to biochemists in Switzerland , taking an extract of the humble liverwort plant can produce an experience similar to marijuana, at least in mice. Anecdotal experiences back-up the plant’s effectiveness in humans, with this user reporting a relaxing, mellow experience after smoking an extract of liverwort. While it’s easy to get liverwort and it’s totally legal, concentrating it enough to even see if it gives you a psychoactive effect might prove problematic. For now, file this under “interesting possibility.”
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Best: CBD
Best: CBD
CBD is legal in all 50 states and you can buy it in gas stations, drug stores, pet stores (in case your dog is anxious), and everywhere else. CBD is extracted from hemp plants, as opposed to marijuana plants, so it doesn’t contain THC, the illegal chemical in weed. I don’t feel anything from the stuff, but millions of Americans use it and say it reduces pain, lessens anxiety, promotes relaxation, and even lowers blood pressure .
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Best: Caffeine
Best: Caffeine
It’s easy to forget that caffeine is even a drug at all. We’ve all decided, as a culture, that it’s totally OK to take this stimulant to give us bursts of energy, but other stimulants are very bad. Drug prohibition is a bad idea across the board, but I’m happy The Man has spared this drug, as its short-term mood and energy boosting effects are integral to my life and the safety of those around me.
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Best: “Runner’s High”
Best: “Runner’s High”
“I get high from exercise!” isn’t just something healthy people say to remind you they’re better than you—it’s a real thing. Described as a sense of psychological well-being or euphoria that comes from strenuous, repetitive exercise, the runner’s high is widely reported among athletes, but we don’t really know why it happens . It’s a lot of effort for a relatively mild psychological effect, in my opinion, but the other benefits of exercise—living longer, being healthier, etc.—make up for it.
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Worst: Alcohol
Worst: Alcohol
I’m no tee-totaler, but it’s hard to look at the overall effect of alcohol on society and not think “this drug is legal, but I’m not allowed to take mushrooms?” Excessive alcohol use is associated with around 95,000 deaths a year in the U.S., with a monetary cost of somewhere around a quarter trillion dollars a year . Drinking can be fun, but the inebriating effects of alcohol are rarely worth the hangover. Your mileage may vary, of course.
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Worst: Nicotine
Worst: Nicotine
Putting nicotine on this list pains me, because smoking cigarettes would be awesome if it wasn’t so deadly. Nicotine is extremely addictive, and its most popular delivery method, smoking tobacco, has been shown to cause cancer, heart disease, and other terrible outcomes. There is some light on the horizon for nicotine fans, though: alternative delivery methods are only “ potentially harmful .” The research isn’t in yet to determine the extent of the harm, so you might get lucky.
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Worst: Abuse of common medications
Worst: Abuse of common medications
Looking through your parents medicine cabinet for substances that will get you high is a time-honored teenager tradition, but it’s a very bad idea. Whether you’re chugging cough syrup or downing handfuls of diarrhea medicine, the highs you get from common medications are nearly universally unpleasant and come with nasty and sometimes deadly side-effects. Just smoke some Delta-8 instead.
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Worst: Sniffing glue, paint, and other substances
Worst: Sniffing glue, paint, and other substances
You can get messed up from huffing all kinds of common chemicals, from gasoline to paint, solvents, and the compressed air used to clean electronics. Huffing is generally not a fun experience though. Depending on the chemical, you might feel dizzy, disoriented, and uncoordinated, but few report feeling “awesome and cool.” Studies of longer-term effects of huffing indicate habitual users suffer damage to the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and brain, but you can die from huffing quickly, too, a phenomenon called “ sudden sniffing death syndrome .”
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Worst: Salvia Divinorum
Worst: Salvia Divinorum
Salvia is not illegal under federal law, but this terrible drug is prohibited by 29 states. This very powerful hallucinogenic drug produces intense, short trips, thrusting many users into full dissociative states, complete with visual and auditory hallucinations. This would be fine for experienced heads, but newbie drug-users should probably stick to more pleasant drugs.
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Worst: Nutmeg
Worst: Nutmeg
In small doses, this common spice livens up your hot chocolate and bolognese, but if you take enough of it, it gets you high (although “high” might be the wrong description for nutmeg’s effect). About a half hour after ingesting too much nutmeg, you’ll likely experience nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Then the irregular heartbeats begin. Anecdotal accounts overwhelmingly report the nutmeg high as unpleasant, marked by confusion and a feeling of doom. It lasts for more than a day and is followed by a hangover that feels like “ God himself shat on your soul. ” On the plus side, nutmeg is rarely abused because few ever want to do it twice.
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Worst: Spinning around
Worst: Spinning around
Legal in all 50 states, “spinning around until you get dizzy” is a popular mind-altering experience among children, but only because they usually can’t get better drugs. Dizziness is so unpleasant, it’s considered a harmful side effect of many medications, with few, if any, taking drugs specifically to feel dizzy. As yet, the federal government has not outlawed the practice.
Crazy Stuff Teens Use to Get High
Many parents don’t think twice about having over-the-counter cough syrup at home. But if you take a lot at once, it can alter your thoughts or make you feel like you’ve left your body. You can become addicted. Too much can also slow your heartbeat and breathing, especially if you mix it with alcohol. You can die from it.
Inhalants
2/10
Some teens inhale household products like glue, Freon, aerosol sprays, cleaning fluids, gas from whipped cream cans, and even mothballs for a high that makes them feel drunk. It can be addictive, but inhaling even once can cause brain damage or death. The fumes can cause heart failure or clog your lungs so you can’t breathe.
Nitrites
3/10
A special type of inhalants called nitrites, sometimes called “poppers” or “snappers,” provide a different kind of high. They can boost sexual pleasure because of how they dilate blood vessels. Like all inhalants, they can cause death or brain damage, even for first-time users. They’re also linked to the spread of sexual diseases like HIV and hepatitis, because people who focus on getting high may not practice safe sex.
Nutmeg
4/10
Yup, a chemical in the spice nutmeg may give you a feel-good high if you get enough of it. But it can also send you to the ER. Nutmeg poisoning can give you heart palpitations and make you feel dizzy, nauseous, tired, or anxious. Some people have died from eating too much nutmeg. Don’t worry, it’s way more than you’d ever put in a pie.
Alcohol Tampons
5/10
Some curious teens (female and male) may try to get drunk without drinking alcohol. They may soak tampons in vodka, then put them in their vaginas or rectums. There’s no proof that this works. What’s more, the vodka may burn sensitive vaginal or rectal tissue. In rare cases, it has caused colitis.
If teens get alcohol poisoning this way, without alcohol on their breath, ER doctors may not know what’s causing the problem, so treatment may be delayed — and alcohol poisoning can cause death.
‘Bath Salts’
6/10
This powder that comes in small packets, also called synthetic cathinones, isn’t really for putting in the bath. Teens swallow, snort, or inject it. It can cause a feeling of joy or boost sex drive. But it could also make you feel drunk, get violent, or lose touch with reality. It’s addictive and can cause strong symptoms of withdrawal. Thousands visit the ER each year for things like chest pain, a racing heart, panic attacks, and hallucinations after using bath salts. Some die.
Motion Sickness Pills
7/10
Teens take large doses of motion sickness pills for a high that may make them hallucinate. But too much of this OTC drug can make you violent or out of touch with reality, cause memory loss, or make you unable to speak or control your bladder. It’s not clear how many pills will produce a high or how many will kill you.
Hand Sanitizer
8/10
People have been known to drink hand sanitizer or use salt to pull out the liquid from the gel. Drinking this can lead to alcohol poisoning, seizures, coma, or death. Teens may drink more than they can handle, not knowing there’s much more alcohol by volume in hand sanitizer (60% to 95%) than vodka (40%) or beer (4%-6%). Some teens may drink aftershave for a buzz, but it can cause the same symptoms or death.
Anti-Diarrheal Pills
9/10
Taking too much anti-diarrheal medicine sounds like a bad joke, not a way to get a buzz. Still, teens may pop several pills to get a feel-good high. It’s risky. High doses of them can send you to the ER or even kill you.
Krokodil
10/10
There aren’t any confirmed cases in the U.S., but krokodil has generated a lot of talk in recent years. It’s a homemade drug invented in Russia. People inject it to get a high that’s like using heroin. The drug is very dangerous. It can destroy skin, muscle, bone, and organs it comes in contact with. Some users have needed to have body parts amputated. Many have died from using this drug.
Show Sources
IMAGES PROVIDED BY:
10) Getty Images
National Institute on Drug Abuse: “Cough and cold medicine (DXM and codeine syrup).”
National Institute on Drug Abuse: “Research report series: Inhalants.”
Demetriades, A. Emergency Medicine Journal, March 2005.
Mentoring in Medicine and Science: “Are teenagers really using vodka-soaked tampons?”
Herrerias, J. Endoscopy, May 1983.
Mian, S. Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, June 2005.
Gardner, D. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, March 1993.
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Darracq, M. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, May 2013.
National Capital Poison Center: “Hand sanitizer: What’s the real story?”
Wilson, M. Indian Journal of Nephrology, January/February 2015.
Egbert, A. Alcohol and Alcoholism, January 1986.
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