While at a psychadelic trance festival on a greek island off the coast of turkey, I bumped into a bunch of Italian people selling herbs of different varieties: ephedra, passion flower, and a few others. I hadn't heard of passion flower or it's uses, and hadn't tried ephedra - they described ephedra as a natural energy booster, and passion flower as a potentiator (they said it was an MAOI, and would make an acid or mushroom trip longer and stronger, and even make weed stronger!) Well, being more than a little sick of X/MDMA from the last few years, me and a few friends thought a herbal high might be just the ticket for our first morning - so I asked for a cup of ephedra/passion flower tea. They boiled up dried plant material, added some sugar and passed the cups. We skinned up a few joints (some pollen, or charras) as we drunk the elixir - it was pleasant tasting and went down well. Not more than 20 minutes later I felt a light buzz - a sense of well-being. So I sparked a joint and we smoked with the Italians. To my surprise, the effect was actually noticeable; whether it was the ephedra, or the passion flower, the joint produced a mild euphoria that I have not experienced at other times from weed. If you're looking for a cheap and cheerful start to a party, can't think of a better/healthier way to go...
