DOSE:	repeated	smoked	Products - Spice-Like Smoking Blends	(plant material)
	repeated		Various

BODY WEIGHT:

150 lb

My first experience with Spice products was Spike99. I packed my bong with approximately 1/3 of a gram, and smoked it as if it were marijuana; this was at around midnight. The smoke was harsh and unpleasant. As I started smoking, I was initially disappointed -- marijuana usually affects me fairly quickly while I am smoking it, and I expected Spice to be the same. After a few minutes of smoking, as I was getting ready to give up, I began to feel some familiar effects, only it was missing something. It was like the difference between a rainbow and a line spectrum -- the principle effects were there, but they seemed narrow and concentrated, and not as all-encompassing as marijuana. The effects lasted until I fell asleep.

I woke up the next day feeling a strange sort of effect, as if I was still high but the high was far off and difficult to grasp. After about two hours, this effect dissipated, but I felt tired and out of focus the rest of the day. The next day, there were no after-effects to speak of. The harsh smoke took its toll, however; I felt like I was congested for several days afterward, as if I had smoked a lot of marijuana every morning.

Overall, the experience was enjoyable, and I continued to use Spice over the next few months. I did notice a tolerance building up; although the effects were still present, they seemed diminished and less relevant as time wore on. Smoking more than the usual 1/3g did nothing to change that. The next day effects began to stretch over several days. Additionally, I found that I wanted to use Spice when I woke up, to make the strange feeling more tangible; I did so many times, and thus discovered that the effects last roughly 2 hours, but with very long after effects.

Eventually I ran out of Spike99, but when I went back on Amazon to order more I discovered that it was no longer sold. I found another Spice product, Pulse, and order that. Again, I smoked 1/3g, but the effects were very different. The high was not as narrow as it was with Spike99, and it was much more intense. These effects had a shorter duration, only about 90 minutes, and the after effects are more manageable; however, after several weeks of use, I found that I was getting increasingly foggy-headed and having a lot of difficulty focusing on my work. As with Spike99, I found that a tolerance to Pulse was developing; however, using more than the 1/3g dose generally counteracted this tolerance. As the dose increased, however, the side-effects also increased; in particular, I found that there are very unpleasant cardiac effects. The smoke from Pulse is also very harsh, and again I felt congested after using it.

Several times with both Spike99 and Pulse, I quit for a week or two to try to get less distracted from my work. Quitting is actually a difficult thing to do with these products, particularly for the first day or two, when the 'far off high' after effects are strongest. I found myself craving Spice even a week or more after quitting; only after a month could I say that I really had no cravings. Several times I would use Spice even when I had planned not to, which completely reset the withdrawal cycle.

As with marijuana, I found that the high from Spice leads to more enjoyable sex, although not to the same extent as marijuana. Both solo and with a partner, sex under the influence of Spice felt more intense, both before and after orgasm. Unlike marijuana, however, I did not find myself becoming aroused more easily, I just found myself enjoying sexual activity more. However, the after-effects of Spice diminished the satisfaction I would normally feel the morning after sex, which marijuana seemed to increase. Waking up next to my partner after a night of Spice-enhanced sex, I found that instead of being content to see her lying there and to put an arm around her, I just wanted to have more sex, and use more Spice.

On a few occasions, I mixed Spice with alcohol -- and the results were very unpleasant. The first time, I was just experimenting, and I got one of the worst headaches and hangovers I can remember. Subsequent occasions were unintentional, such as being given wine with dinner a few hours after using Spice, but the results were the same. I would have to wait at least 24 hours before I could safely have a drink. Alcohol and Spice do not mix; I do not know what caused the headache, but it was unpleasant enough that I never want to repeat the experience.

A few times, I smoked some tobacco after Spice. While the effects were not as horrible as with mixing alcohol, they were not enhancing effects either. Tobacco seemed to just clear the after effects of Spice -- this came in handy on occasions where I wanted to have a clear head after using Spice in the morning. I did not smoke tobacco while high on Spice; I generally lacked enough motivation/coordination to cut a cigar or pack my pipe (I do not like cigarettes).

I often mixed Spice with caffeine (in the form of tea). This was fairly ineffective -- the Spice high completely overrode the caffeine effects. The tea was fine for soothing my throat after the harsh smoke.

In all, Spice products make a passable substitute for marijuana, but they are not quite identical. The main effects of the high are about the same, but there are important nuances that Spice just does not seem to provide. Quitting Spice was much more difficult than quitting marijuana, especially with the immediate after effects. The different products seem to have different effects, which I would guess is an artifact of their use of different synthetic cannibinoids (the plant base seems to be damiana, at least from the smell, which does not differ between products).

Exp Year: 2010	ExpID: 86387
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 22
Published: Aug 13, 2010	Views: 13,439
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
Products - Spice-Like Smoking Blends (472) : Combinations (3), Retrospective / Summary (11), Not Applicable (38)