there are no weed alternatives, and i wouldnt pay good money to try the stuff in high times.... however there are some interesting herbal things to use out there that aren't marked the shit up like they are in High times. Try smoking a ciggie of damiana or scullcap or both, passionflower is cool too, lobelia as well..... all pretty mild... salvia is to them what a nuclear explosion is to a sparkler. Salvia isn't all that recreational. Yohimbe is pretty interesting too. I think the legal weed alternatives are wild dagga, a plant i haven't tried yet... again, all these herbs have their own signatures, and none are "weed alternatives" in that none feel like weed does. If you want something opiate-like, try blue lotus or wild lettuce(not any lettuce, but actual wild lettuce that contains the right chemicals-check the scientific name)