7 Legal Highs That Actually Work — Honest Reviews

What Are Legal Highs? A Definition

Legal highs are psychoactive substances — typically derived from plants, herbs, or fungi — that produce noticeable mood-altering effects while remaining legally available for purchase in many jurisdictions. They work through various pharmacological mechanisms: some affect serotonin reuptake, others act on GABA receptors, and certain fungi-derived varieties bind to serotonin 5-HT2A receptors. This guide covers seven natural legal highs from the Azarius shelves, tested by staff and sold by the tens of thousands since 1999. Product descriptions tell you what's in the packet. They don't tell you what happens when you're sitting on your sofa at 9pm on a Tuesday wondering if kanna is doing anything yet (it is — give it another five minutes).

So we picked seven natural legal highs from our shelves — things we've personally tried, sold by the tens of thousands, and heard back about from customers for over two decades. This isn't a ranked list. It's an honest rundown: what each one actually does, how long it lasts, who it suits, and where it falls short. No marketing copy, no "life-changing experience" nonsense. Just the stuff we'd tell a mate.

The Seven — Staff Picks from 25 Years at Azarius

The seven natural legal highs below represent the products we recommend most often, based on customer feedback, repeat purchases, and our own experience. Each one fills a different niche — from gentle mood lifts to full psychedelic journeys — and all are available to buy from our smartshop.

1. Kanna (Sceletium tortuosum)

Kanna is the one we recommend most often to people who've never tried anything from a smartshop before. It's a succulent from South Africa that's been chewed by the San people for centuries, and in extract form it's become one of the most popular natural legal highs in Europe — for good reason.

What it actually feels like: a warm mood lift. Not euphoria in the "rolling at a festival" sense, but a noticeable upward shift. Colours look slightly better. Music sounds slightly better. You become slightly more talkative and slightly less bothered about whatever was stressing you out earlier. The keyword here is "slightly" — kanna is gentle, and that's exactly why it works so well as an introduction.

Onset is fast if you take it sublingually (under the tongue): 15-20 minutes. Swallowed in capsule form, more like 45 minutes. Duration sits around 2-3 hours for the peak, with a gradual fade that doesn't leave you feeling drained.

The downside: The taste. Sublingual kanna extract is genuinely one of the most bitter things you'll ever put in your mouth. The Euphoric Caps solve this entirely — same active alkaloids (mesembrine), no suffering.

Best for: Social situations, creative work, first-timers. Think "nice glass of wine" energy, not "three espressos" energy.

2. Blue Lotus (Nymphaea caerulea)

Blue lotus has been having a moment online, and for once the internet hype isn't completely wrong. The ancient Egyptians were drinking this in wine thousands of years ago — it shows up in tomb paintings constantly — and the experience is genuinely pleasant.

Brewed as a tea from dried flowers, blue lotus produces a dreamy, mildly sedating relaxation. It's not a knockout. Think of it as the botanical equivalent of sinking into a warm bath: your muscles loosen, your thoughts slow down gently, and everything feels a bit softer around the edges. Some people report mild visual enhancement — colours appearing richer, light looking warmer. Nothing hallucinatory. Just... nicer.

Onset from tea: 20-30 minutes. Duration: 2-4 hours. The 25x extract hits harder and faster if you want a more pronounced effect, but the flower tea is the classic experience.

The downside: The tea tastes like pond water that's been sitting in the sun. Honey helps. Mixing it with actual wine (the Egyptian method) works better but makes dosing harder to judge. Start with tea.

Best for: Evening wind-down, creative thinking, pairing with music. This is a headphones-on, lights-dimmed kind of substance.

3. Salvia Divinorum

Right. Salvia. If kanna is a gentle wave lapping at your ankles, salvia is being picked up by a current and deposited somewhere you didn't know existed. It's a member of the sage family from the cloud forests of Oaxaca, Mexico, and it's unlike anything else on this list — or arguably anything else, full stop.

Smoked or vaporised, salvia leaves produce an intense, short-lived dissociative experience. We're talking 5-15 minutes of peak effects. During those minutes, reality can genuinely rearrange itself. People report feeling pulled sideways, objects gaining personality, the concept of "self" becoming negotiable. The 5x extract amplifies everything — only for people who've already tried plain leaf and know what they're getting into.

The downside: Salvia is not recreational in the traditional sense. Nobody's doing salvia at a party. The experience can be profoundly strange, occasionally uncomfortable, and it demands a calm setting and a sober sitter. It's also over so fast that you spend longer preparing than you do experiencing it.

Best for: Experienced psychonauts, philosophical types, people who've read about it and are genuinely curious rather than looking for a good time. Keep a calming supplement nearby for peace of mind.

4. LSA (Morning Glory Seeds)

LSA — lysergic acid amide — is a close chemical cousin of LSD, found naturally in morning glory seeds and Hawaiian baby woodrose seeds. The experience is recognisably psychedelic: visual patterns, altered thinking, a sense of connectedness, mild time distortion. But where LSD is a sports car, LSA is more of a bicycle. You'll get there, just at a gentler pace and with more leg work.

A typical dose (150-200 morning glory seeds, chewed thoroughly) takes 1-2 hours to come on, which feels like an eternity when you're waiting. The peak lasts 4-6 hours, with a long, gradual comedown. Total experience: 8-10 hours. Plan your day accordingly.

The downside: Nausea. Nearly everyone gets it during the come-up, and for some people it's bad enough to overshadow the first hour. Ginger tea beforehand helps. Eating the seeds on an empty stomach helps more. But let's be honest — the come-up is the price of admission, and it's not a small price.

Best for: People curious about the psychedelic space who want a natural, long-lasting experience. Set aside a full day. Have ginger tea ready. Don't make evening plans.

5. Damiana (Turnera diffusa)

Damiana is the sleeper hit of the herbshop. It doesn't get the online hype of blue lotus or the "is this actually a thing?" curiosity of kanna. It just quietly does its job, and its job is making you feel relaxed and slightly amorous. The Maya used it as an aphrodisiac, and while we'd stop short of calling it herbal Viagra, there's a warmth and a looseness to the damiana experience that tends to steer conversations in interesting directions.

Smoked or brewed as tea from dried leaves, the effects are subtle but real: a gentle body relaxation, mild euphoria, and a noticeable increase in tactile sensitivity. Everything feels a bit more pleasant to touch. Make of that what you will.

Onset: 15-30 minutes smoked, 30-45 minutes as tea. Duration: 1-2 hours. It stacks well with other herbs — many of our herbal smoking blends use damiana as a base.

The downside: Subtlety is a double-edged sword. If you're expecting anything dramatic, damiana will disappoint. It's a background enhancer, not a foreground event. Also, the tea version requires quite a lot of leaf material — brew it strong.

Best for: Romantic evenings, social situations, blending with other herbs. Pairs well with blue lotus for a "warm evening in" combination.

6. Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)

Passionflower is the most underrated item in our

. It's been used in traditional medicine across the Americas for centuries, and modern research has caught up — the EMCDDA database references its traditional anxiolytic use, and clinical studies support its anxiety-reducing properties. The active compounds (chrysin, vitexin, and a handful of harmala alkaloids) work on GABA receptors, which is the same system that benzodiazepines target, just at a much gentler intensity.

Brewed as tea from dried leaves, passionflower produces a calm, clear-headed relaxation. Not drowsy, not fuzzy — just... calm. The mental chatter turns down a few notches. If you've ever had one of those rare moments where your brain just stops listing things you need to worry about, that's passionflower territory.

Onset: 20-30 minutes. Duration: 2-3 hours. Works well before bed — it doesn't knock you out, but it creates the conditions where sleep comes naturally.

The downside: It's boring. We mean that affectionately. There's no "wow" moment, no story to tell your friends. It just quietly makes you feel better. Some people find that unsatisfying. Those people should try the salvia.

Best for: Anxiety, sleep support, daily stress management. The one on this list most likely to become a regular habit rather than an occasional experience.

7. Mexicana Truffles

We saved the big one for last. Mexicana truffles contain psilocybin — the same compound found in magic mushrooms — and they are the mildest truffle variety we carry. For a first psychedelic experience, Mexicana is about as gentle an introduction as exists. These are grown under controlled conditions, so potency is consistent batch to batch.

A half portion (7.5g fresh) produces a light, giggly, creative state. Colours brighten, music gains new dimensions, and you'll find yourself laughing at things that aren't objectively funny. A full portion (15g) takes you into genuine psychedelic territory: visual patterns with closed eyes, emotional depth, altered perception of time, and the occasional profound thought that seems less profound the next morning.

Onset: 30-60 minutes (always longer than you expect). Peak: 2-3 hours. Total duration: 4-6 hours. Eat them on a mostly empty stomach, ideally with a bit of lemon juice or in a tea.

The downside: Even mild truffles are still psychedelics. Set and setting matter enormously. A bad environment or a bad headspace can make a Mexicana session uncomfortable. Do your homework: eat well beforehand, choose a comfortable space, have a sober friend around, and don't fight it if the experience goes somewhere unexpected. A calming supplement kit in the drawer provides genuine reassurance even if you never open the packet.

Best for: First-time psychedelic exploration, creative projects, connecting with friends, outdoor adventures on a good-weather day.

The Comparison Table

The table below gives a side-by-side breakdown of all seven legal highs, comparing vibe, intensity, duration, and ideal use case so you can find the right fit at a glance.

So Where Do You Start?

The best legal high for beginners is kanna — it's gentle, predictable, wears off in a few hours, and you'll know within 20 minutes whether the natural legal highs world is for you. You can order the Euphoric Caps as the easiest entry point — no weighing, no measuring, no tasting something that makes you question your life choices.

• If you want relaxation: Get blue lotus tea for the evening, passionflower for daily calm, damiana for... well, you know.
• If you want something psychedelic: Order Mexicana truffles at half dose, comfortable setting, trusted friend, whole afternoon free. Work your way up from there.
• If you want to stare into the void for 10 minutes and come back changed: Salvia. But read about it first. Seriously.
• Kanna is more energising and social; blue lotus is more dreamy and introspective. Neither is "better" — they're different tools for different moods.
• If you want to buy legal highs with guidance: Browse our

  smartshop

  Browse selection
  online, or visit us on Kerkstraat in Amsterdam where staff can walk you through every option on the shelf.

That's what we're here for.

with delivery across the Netherlands and most of Europe, or visit our physical shop on Kerkstraat in Amsterdam. All seven products in this guide are available in both places. Online orders typically ship the same business day.

How long do the effects of legal highs last?

Duration varies widely depending on the substance. Salvia is the shortest at 5-15 minutes. Kanna and passionflower sit in the 2-3 hour range. Blue lotus lasts 2-4 hours. Mexicana truffles run 4-6 hours total. LSA from morning glory seeds is the longest at 8-10 hours. Always check the specific duration for your chosen legal high and plan your schedule accordingly.

Last updated: April 2026