Yarrow, a plant that makes alcohol not suck so bad

[significationof?!?]

Those of you who compulsively read everything on the Vaults of Erowid might have, like me, noticed a plant called yarrow (Achillea millefolium). From what little information there is to be found, a tincture of yarrow seemed to change considerably the character of alcohol inebriation. That got me interested immediately; I've started drinking alcohol occasionnaly last year, and I turned into a mess every time; I would only drink to oblivion. Since that time, I have learned to use alcohol responsibly, but just can't enjoy the inebrieation as much as I "should" (as much as other people would want me to believe I should?). So I decided I'd try yarrow, and if that didn't work, I'd only ever use alcohol again as a polar solvent for extractions.

Being a well-known medicinal plant, yarrow was easy to find; I found dried flowers at the first herborist I visited. I bought enough to fill a Mason jar (the kind of jar to can things at home; about 250 ml), which cost me less than 5 dollars. Then, I put it in said jar and covered it in vodka; I let it sit for four days in my closet before filtering and transferring the liquid to my hip flask, and went to a house party with a friend. I'm really not the house party kind of guy, but I was eager to try my special vodka and have what little fun I could have.

I'll spare you the events to concentrate on the effects; sadly, I do not have a real-time report on which to base myself, or even a timeline. What I can say is that the effects are consistent with the expectations I had from reading about yarrow on Erowid: it was like some parts of the alcohol inebriation were totally absent. There was a disinhibition and a decrease in motor control, but no sluggishness in thought or feeling of stupidity as I usually have with alcohol. It was quite eerie to feel "half-drunk"; I recall feeling a bit crazy at the beginning from being only disinhibited but nothing else, as I am usually a very reserved person. In addition to the tincture, I also drank 2-3 beers and smoked a bit of marijuana over the course of the night, but only after the effects of the yarrow were fully distinguishible.

All in all, yarrow tincture was quite fun for me. It was simple to prepare, the effects were easy to deal with for a first time, and I didn't make a total jackass of myself as when I drink as much total alcohol as I did. I'd recommend to anyone who's lost all faith in alcohol to at least try it once. The context in which I used it was totally unappropriate for introspection, but I feel the "disinhibition without sluggishness" combination shows some potential for psychonautics.

Comments, questions and personal experiences with yarrow would all be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading.

 

[Ahuaeynjxs]

It is indeed a very pleasant herb ! Contains tujones like absinthe so be careful not to overdose, seems also to be a little like opiates.

I harvest it in the wild to make teas and preparations, it's one of my favorite flowers even if it kinda stinks

 

[GOD]

There were threads about this , one is in the german section . Acording to the newest research i have found thujon has no effect . The storys about absinth arent true . It wasnt the thujon it was the alcohol .

 

[Ahuaeynjxs]

Hahaha... where did you get your information ?

Tujones not active ? Let me laugh ! try a steam distillation and sniff the essential oil, you'll see what I mean !

This is a very dangerous substance and should not be played with ; if you decide to do so, don't put your head in a bag with essential oil in it, just sniff a little and wait 10 min , then repeat until you feel it, you will.

This is strong stuff ! And it's habbit forming, don't use it everyday !

 

[tryptonaut]

Although I agree with god - there has never been enough thujone in absinthe to evoke any effect (if it had, it would have evoked nausea and convulsions, which it obviously didn't, because it was the most frequently consumed alcoholic drink in France right behind red wine between 18something and 1911).

BUT, I do think that absinthe, like some other herbal liquors (even good pastis), changes the effects of alcohol a little to the better. When I drink absinthe, I can drink a little more without feeling too drunk. I feel inebriated but not as disabled as with other alcoholic drinks. However after one or two glasses too much that effect is kicked in the butt by the alcohol and it is just the same as with any liquor: too much is too much!

Oh, and about the "it was just the alcohol". It might not have been in some cases, because there have been highly dangerous rip-off "absinthes" in the early twentieth century. To avoid the elaborate coloring process, and to produce a nice "louche" (the turning milky-white) cheap alcoholic fusels were mixed with extremely toxic substances such as copper sulfate, which is a nerve toxin. The artists drinking absinthe at the time were mostly poor like church mice, and they drank the cheapest stuff they could get their hands on. Go figure...

 

[druglessdouglas]

be extremely carefull not to confuse yarrow with ragwort (Senecio jacobaea). it has been done

 

[Pariah]

Ah! thanks for the photo drugless! It seems to be the same plant I see all over scotland, but couldn't figure out what it was (ragwort) it didn't appear in my herb book that I could see... now I'm off to wikipedia to find out what it does (if anything).

 

[druglessdouglas]

aah, didnt i say. Ragwort is extremely poisonous

 

[Pariah]

it certainly has quite a list of alkaloids, but its meant to not be particularly toxic to humans according to the wiki (not always the most reliable source, but hey).

 

[druglessdouglas]

its extremely toxic to humans. the flowers are the most toxic part. wiki sucks sometimes.

 

[Pariah]

Well thanks for the info then, it seems its one to avoid.

 

[Ahuaeynjxs]

Although I agree with god - there has never been enough thujone in absinthe to evoke any effect (if it had, it would have evoked nausea and convulsions, which it obviously didn't, because it was the most frequently consumed alcoholic drink in France right behind red wine between 18something and 1911).

BUT, I do think that absinthe, like some other herbal liquors (even good pastis), changes the effects of alcohol a little to the better. When I drink absinthe, I can drink a little more without feeling too drunk. I feel inebriated but not as disabled as with other alcoholic drinks. However after one or two glasses too much that effect is kicked in the butt by the alcohol and it is just the same as with any liquor: too much is too much!

Oh, and about the "it was just the alcohol". It might not have been in some cases, because there have been highly dangerous rip-off "absinthes" in the early twentieth century. To avoid the elaborate coloring process, and to produce a nice "louche" (the turning milky-white) cheap alcoholic fusels were mixed with extremely toxic substances such as copper sulfate, which is a nerve toxin. The artists drinking absinthe at the time were mostly poor like church mice, and they drank the cheapest stuff they could get their hands on. Go figure...

I'm not saying the contrary... but I've used tujone many times and beleive me it dosen't give you convulsions and nausea if you don't abuse it. It cannot get you as high like speed, because if you go over the stimulation that about two cofee would give, you start going mad. Thats why it has very low abuse potential, idiots that would drink alot of this stuff can say goodbye to their liver and thus their sex life !

"Other thujone-containing plants such as the tree Arbor vitae (Thuja occidentalis) are used in herbal medicine, mainly for their immune-system stimulating effects, however side effects from the essential oil of this plant include anxiety and sleeplessness, confirming the central nervous system effects of thujone."

- Naser B, Bodinet C, Tegtmeier M, Lindequist U. Thuja occidentalis (Arbor vitae): A Review of its Pharmaceutical, Pharmacological and Clinical Properties. Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2005 Mar;2(1):69–78.

Sage also contains thujone ; the essential oil if properly distilled contains up to 30%. I have seen grand wormwood essential oil (artemisia absinthium) contain up to 70% thujones...

It's a ketone, it will obviously react in the liver to make amines with ammonia and that gets you high. Of course if you inject thujone directly in the bloodstream you'll feel bad...

Sometimes when I read those wikipedia articles I feel like some of the people that write them are completely nuts... it's one thing to copy and paste research and reference, but it's another to write an article with a hint of comprehension.

This article is horrendous ; I give it a big thumb down... I made absinthe myself from grand wormwood and it's definately psychoactive. It first acts as a stimulant which explains why you can drink more and feel more artistic and talkative, but it soon shows tints of terpene effects and makes you go crazy and hallucinate wildly if you take too much, the latter is not a pleasant experience at all.

to conclude there wouldn't be such precise regulations on thujone content in liquors in the european union and canada if it was really like you say. It makes a stimulant in your liver just like safrole will make mda in your liver, thats why they say its toxic because the reaction by products are not good for your liver, thus you cannot abuse them !

insoluble (water)
soluble (ethanol)

I call bullshit at the incompetant scientists who made the research "recreating" the old recipe... I bet they freakin took a 20 year old batch of ordinary wormwood and forgot to cover the pot at the receiving end of the distillation setup, so all the thujone flew out before they could make their test... WHATEVER... next thing we'll learn is that its a company that sells stimulants to "cure" ADD that paid this research.

Of course they don't want you to find out that thujone is better for your kid if you know how to administer it than their shitty addictive synthetics.

Ok I must stop writting now because I'm PISSED and I'll start pointing fingers.

 

[Pariah]

damn those scientists, they'll be the death of us all

 

[significationof?!?]

Oh well. Glad to know my experience wasn't simply the result of my expecations (from reading the two yarrow reports on Erowid).

But are you sure that yarrow contains thujone(s), Ahuaeynjxs?

 

[GOD]

Ahuaeynjxs speaks so it must be fact . Hes done it , the reall chemists and real experts must be wrong . His subjective experiences weigh more than facts .

Clown .

 

[Ahuaeynjxs]

Well that was a little too sarcastic not to say hateful, but you got your point across.

God is right once again signifcationof?, you have to look, verify and think for yourself ! Do your own research, we are a community of truth sharers, I can post my sources however if nicely asked.

 

[GOD]

....... post them .

 

[Ahuaeynjxs]

There is even a law in teh US stating that all yarrow beverages must be Thujone free, under 10 ppm...

Just google it !

 

[Ahuaeynjxs]

Oh didn't see you had answered God...

well ok then here's ONE

http://www.kingdomplantae.net/yarrow.php

On a side note... didn't you all notice that in books practically all psylocibin containing mushrooms are listed as deadly toxics ?

I think the same way when I see all this fuss about Thujone being a deadly nerve toxin... it's just not meant to take too much at once, it overloads the liver like many things... Nature didn't intend us to be able to intake so much in alcoholic drinks, thats all !

 

[GOD]

Theres also laws about the strength of it over a lot of europe . In both cases the laws are older than the research . There are posts about it in the english and in the german sections .

I dont say its true . I dont know . I can only point to it as the latest reference that i have seen on the subject .

......... post therm .