NUTMEG

Those looking to add a bit of spice to their lives sometimes 'become curious about nutmeg.

This well-known commercial spice is made from ground ?dried seeds of the tropical evergreen tree, Myristka fragrans, first brought to Europe in the seventeenth century by the Dutch.

When ingested, nutmeg' powder acts as a mind-s1ttrng drug, sedative, and aphrodisiac. On the potency scale; it ranks somewhere below LSD and above -mescaline when taken in .. quantity, The substances in nutmeg believed to be responsible for its effects are myristicin, demecin, and safrole.

Popular for centuries in India, nutmeg's use in the Western World has been most common among drug-starved prisoners and teenagers when other pleasure-givers were unavailable.

The intensity of a nutmeg trip depends Upon the quantity taken. General dosage ranges from S to 20 grams (tfa ounce equals approximately 10 grams); a level teaspoon is usually enough. For some the trip can be fun, for others a bummer. A '10-gram' dose can produce effects similar to those from one marijuana cigarette, but not before forty-five minutes of severe nausea and diarrhea may be experienced. Once this has `-passed, a heavy, leaden feeling settles Into the limbs. The user falls out in a drunken, lethargic manner. If not too much: has been taken, after two hours the user may alternate between ;light-headed giggles and a dreamy, detached suite of mind. Time and space seem distorted. More than 10 grams can produce some unpleasant feelings: dizziness, flushes, parched mouth and throat, rapid heartbeat, bloodshot eyes, constipation, urinary difficulty, and a high level of panic and agitation.

Those aiming to hallucinate can be in for trouble. The dose of nutmeg required to reach that state is dangerously close to overdose level. Overdose deaths have been attributed to liver failure, as nutmeg oils can cause tumors and may be toxic to the liver. Anyone with a personal or family history of liver problems should avoid nutmeg. Even without a history to serve as a reason, excexsive use should be avoided.

The total nutmeg trip lasts from four to twelve hours, depending on how much you have managed to get down. It will be followed by a hangover and aching muscles. All in all, the user feels washed out for a day or so afterward.

Virola, another member of the nutmeg family, is used as a snuff by Amazon Indians. To prepare it; resin is scraped off fresh bark from the Virola colophylla or V. calophylloidea tree before daybreak. It is then boiled down to a gummy paste, mixed with the ashes of coca stems, dried, crushed into a fine powder, and snorted. To avoid overdose, amateurs are cautioned not to ingest more than, 1/3 teaspoon of this powder.

Another closely related drug is the common spice mace, which comes from the fibrous seed covering of the nutmeg plant, Myristica fragrans Mace can be brewed into a tea that will produce much the same kind. of trip as nutmeg when used in similar quantity.