Myristicin
History
Nutmeg has historically been used in Egypt as a surrogate for hashish. It has also been used in India, either chewed, or snuffed with tobacco, or added to betel chew, but little information is available on these practices (Schultes & Hofmann 1992).
Nutmeg was introduced first as a spice into Europe, and later as a medicine. The Europeans remained ignorant of the inebriating properties of this most popular of spices for several centuries.
The first nutmeg inebriation on record was reported in 1576 when a pregnant English woman became delirious after eating between ten and twelve nutmegs (Stein et al. 2001). Had it not been for the rumors of nutmeg's efficaciousness as an abortifacient, the psychoactive properties of nutmeg may have remained unknown for a long time. Occasional case notes of nutmeg poisoning were published subsequently, but nutmeg's inebriating qualities remained largely obscure and unexplored.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, nutmeg again became popular as an abortifacient. The tales of nutmeg poisoning increased, and many more case studies were reported. This helped to paint a clearer picture of the actions and effects of nutmeg. It is not certain how nutmeg came to be a recreational drug, but it appears to have its origins in the early twentieth century when its use emerged in United States' prisons as an alternative to marijuana and other illicit substances. Some authors suggest that use of nutmeg as a narcotic didn't emerge until after World War II. However, the report by Malcolm X that there was a nutmeg culture at Charlestown State Prison in 1946 suggests that prisoners had already been keen to the properties of nutmeg for some time. Malcolm X described his experiences with nutmeg in his autobiography, published in 1965:
"I first got high in Charlestown on nutmeg. My cellmate was among at least a hundred nutmeg men who, for money or cigarettes, bought from kitchen worker inmates penny matchboxes full of stolen nutmeg. I grabbed a box as though it were a pound of heavy drugs. Stirred into a glass of cold water, a penny matchbox full of nutmeg had the kick of three or four reefers (Haley 1965)."
Malcolm X's autobiography sparked interest in nutmeg's narcotic properties within the counter-culture--interest that has carried through to the present day. The use of nutmeg in prisons eventually became so widespread that nutmeg was ultimately removed from prison kitchens.
The fact that nutmeg was cheap and legal made the narcotic popular among prisoners, seamen, soldiers, and struggling musicians. Jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker reportedly knew about the narcotic properties of nutmeg, and would take the ground spice in Coca-Cola or milk (Rudgley 199.
While many have experimented with nutmeg since the 1960s, it remains viewed as a second-class drug, deserving of little attention.
Effects
Postive:
- Mood lift/Euphoria
- Dream like state
- Closed eye visuals
- Mild open eye visuals
- Relaxation
- Psychedelia/Psychedelic mind state
- Feelings of intoxication
- Warm feeling through body/Pleasant body high
- Increased appreciation of music
- Some report empathogen qualities
- Some report feelings of creativity, philosophical/insightful thinking, feeling spiritual
- Abstract Thinking
- Increased sex drive
- Increased giggling and laughing
Neutral:
- Pupil dilation
- Unusual thought and speech patterns, shifts in consciousness
- Sedation
- Visual distortion
- Increased heart rate
- Impaired memory
- Impaired motor skills
- Dissociation
- Drowsiness
- Hallucinations
- High/intoxicated appearance
Negative:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Headache
- Dry mouth
- Bloodshot eyes
- Anxiety, paranoia, or panic attacks
- Confusion
- Racing heart beat at high doses
- Delirium at high doses/overdose
- Delusions and strong hallucinations at high doses
- Possible seizures/convulsions at high doses
Duration
Onset - Hours 1-4: The major effects of nutmeg generally do not take effect until the fourth hour after ingestion. However, nutmeg produces subtle effects within the first hour, and the effects rise in waves over the next three hours until inebriation takes hold. These effects are often written off as placebo due to their mild nature, but the changes are noticeably distinct. Generally these threshold effects are experienced as a combination of feeling energetic and yet markedly relaxed at the same time. One may perceive changes in pressure in the head, changes which are usually interpreted as either light-headedness or the beginnings of a headache. The effects experienced in this stage are otherwise similar to those caused by a pint or two of good beer, depending on dosage.
Coming Up - Hours 4-8: The truly inebriating properties of nutmeg generally take hold within the fourth or fifth hour following consumption. By this time cotton mouth has set in and the eyes have become bloodshot. The inebriation takes on a strong alcohol/marijuana-like buzz, which continues to rise in waves, and concentration becomes difficult. The senses become enhanced and hilarity tends to set in. This is followed by the onset of closed-eye visuals, time distortion, and the beginnings of slurred speech. Reality may take on a dream-like nature during this stage.
Peak - Hours 8-12: The peak generally sets in around the eighth or ninth hour following ingestion and usually continues for three or four hours. At this point the user may experience auditory hallucinations, closed-eye visuals and possibly mild open-eye visuals, including walls breathing and disturbances in the peripheral vision. The user's speech may become slurred and he or she may experience loss of coordination similar to drunkenness.
End of Peak - Hours 13-18: Around the thirteenth hour it usually becomes apparent that the peak is over and the user might feel a slight letting up in the effects. The effects decrease slowly, and usually do so in waves, much like the onset.
Comedown - Hours 19-25: By hour nineteen the main inebriating effects of nutmeg have generally worn off. The user will probably still feel moderately stoned for the next seven or eight hours. Some report feeling weak and tired by this point in the trip. Those who sleep during this stage may find their dreams to be exceptionally vivid and easy to recall upon waking. Hangover effects may set in for those who forget to remain hydrated.
Afterglow - Hours 26-32: By hour thirty-two most users will be more or less back to baseline. The user will likely continue to feel relaxed, perhaps slightly stoned, and may continue to experience difficulty concentrating for another day or two.
Dosage
Nutmeg (Whole nuts) Oral dose
Threshold: 5 grams
Light: 5-10 grams
Common: 10-20 grams
Strong: 20-25 grams
Heavy: 25+ grams
Never take more than 25 grams in my and a lot of people's experience 25 grams seems to be the peak dose for full effects so you don't get any higher. A good first time dose would be 15g or 10g if your a light weight or sensitive to drugs. Get the whole nuts not the powder that won't work.
Risks
- If the dose is high enough it can kill you but the LD50 is still very high though and there's only been 1 case of nutmeg poisoning but the women was over 60 and took rohypnols so more likely she died of respiratory depression since both work on the CNS.
- This might be bad for people who has heart problems soon it causes a faster heart beat
- Combining this with other drugs can be dangerous
Legal Status
Nutmeg is legal to buy, sell, and possess as general spice and food all around the world
My opinion on Myristicin
I personally enjoy it only if the dose is right. I always see people having a bad time on this reading the erowid trip reports and the reason why they had a bad time because they took a way too high dose and weren't prepared for the effects. A lot of them always mention how they thought it was "bullshit" (because nutmeg takes forever to kick in) and normally sleep it out and wake up terrified. The average dose I read on these bad trips are mainly over 25g which is very high. If you want to enjoy the experience take 15g it's the perfect dose if you want an enjoyable experience and it's also good for first time users
History
Nutmeg has historically been used in Egypt as a surrogate for hashish. It has also been used in India, either chewed, or snuffed with tobacco, or added to betel chew, but little information is available on these practices (Schultes & Hofmann 1992).
Nutmeg was introduced first as a spice into Europe, and later as a medicine. The Europeans remained ignorant of the inebriating properties of this most popular of spices for several centuries.
The first nutmeg inebriation on record was reported in 1576 when a pregnant English woman became delirious after eating between ten and twelve nutmegs (Stein et al. 2001). Had it not been for the rumors of nutmeg's efficaciousness as an abortifacient, the psychoactive properties of nutmeg may have remained unknown for a long time. Occasional case notes of nutmeg poisoning were published subsequently, but nutmeg's inebriating qualities remained largely obscure and unexplored.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, nutmeg again became popular as an abortifacient. The tales of nutmeg poisoning increased, and many more case studies were reported. This helped to paint a clearer picture of the actions and effects of nutmeg. It is not certain how nutmeg came to be a recreational drug, but it appears to have its origins in the early twentieth century when its use emerged in United States' prisons as an alternative to marijuana and other illicit substances. Some authors suggest that use of nutmeg as a narcotic didn't emerge until after World War II. However, the report by Malcolm X that there was a nutmeg culture at Charlestown State Prison in 1946 suggests that prisoners had already been keen to the properties of nutmeg for some time. Malcolm X described his experiences with nutmeg in his autobiography, published in 1965:
"I first got high in Charlestown on nutmeg. My cellmate was among at least a hundred nutmeg men who, for money or cigarettes, bought from kitchen worker inmates penny matchboxes full of stolen nutmeg. I grabbed a box as though it were a pound of heavy drugs. Stirred into a glass of cold water, a penny matchbox full of nutmeg had the kick of three or four reefers (Haley 1965)."
Malcolm X's autobiography sparked interest in nutmeg's narcotic properties within the counter-culture--interest that has carried through to the present day. The use of nutmeg in prisons eventually became so widespread that nutmeg was ultimately removed from prison kitchens.
The fact that nutmeg was cheap and legal made the narcotic popular among prisoners, seamen, soldiers, and struggling musicians. Jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker reportedly knew about the narcotic properties of nutmeg, and would take the ground spice in Coca-Cola or milk (Rudgley 199.
While many have experimented with nutmeg since the 1960s, it remains viewed as a second-class drug, deserving of little attention.
Effects
Postive:
- Mood lift/Euphoria
- Dream like state
- Closed eye visuals
- Mild open eye visuals
- Relaxation
- Psychedelia/Psychedelic mind state
- Feelings of intoxication
- Warm feeling through body/Pleasant body high
- Increased appreciation of music
- Some report empathogen qualities
- Some report feelings of creativity, philosophical/insightful thinking, feeling spiritual
- Abstract Thinking
- Increased sex drive
- Increased giggling and laughing
Neutral:
- Pupil dilation
- Unusual thought and speech patterns, shifts in consciousness
- Sedation
- Visual distortion
- Increased heart rate
- Impaired memory
- Impaired motor skills
- Dissociation
- Drowsiness
- Hallucinations
- High/intoxicated appearance
Negative:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Headache
- Dry mouth
- Bloodshot eyes
- Anxiety, paranoia, or panic attacks
- Confusion
- Racing heart beat at high doses
- Delirium at high doses/overdose
- Delusions and strong hallucinations at high doses
- Possible seizures/convulsions at high doses
Duration
Onset - Hours 1-4: The major effects of nutmeg generally do not take effect until the fourth hour after ingestion. However, nutmeg produces subtle effects within the first hour, and the effects rise in waves over the next three hours until inebriation takes hold. These effects are often written off as placebo due to their mild nature, but the changes are noticeably distinct. Generally these threshold effects are experienced as a combination of feeling energetic and yet markedly relaxed at the same time. One may perceive changes in pressure in the head, changes which are usually interpreted as either light-headedness or the beginnings of a headache. The effects experienced in this stage are otherwise similar to those caused by a pint or two of good beer, depending on dosage.
Coming Up - Hours 4-8: The truly inebriating properties of nutmeg generally take hold within the fourth or fifth hour following consumption. By this time cotton mouth has set in and the eyes have become bloodshot. The inebriation takes on a strong alcohol/marijuana-like buzz, which continues to rise in waves, and concentration becomes difficult. The senses become enhanced and hilarity tends to set in. This is followed by the onset of closed-eye visuals, time distortion, and the beginnings of slurred speech. Reality may take on a dream-like nature during this stage.
Peak - Hours 8-12: The peak generally sets in around the eighth or ninth hour following ingestion and usually continues for three or four hours. At this point the user may experience auditory hallucinations, closed-eye visuals and possibly mild open-eye visuals, including walls breathing and disturbances in the peripheral vision. The user's speech may become slurred and he or she may experience loss of coordination similar to drunkenness.
End of Peak - Hours 13-18: Around the thirteenth hour it usually becomes apparent that the peak is over and the user might feel a slight letting up in the effects. The effects decrease slowly, and usually do so in waves, much like the onset.
Comedown - Hours 19-25: By hour nineteen the main inebriating effects of nutmeg have generally worn off. The user will probably still feel moderately stoned for the next seven or eight hours. Some report feeling weak and tired by this point in the trip. Those who sleep during this stage may find their dreams to be exceptionally vivid and easy to recall upon waking. Hangover effects may set in for those who forget to remain hydrated.
Afterglow - Hours 26-32: By hour thirty-two most users will be more or less back to baseline. The user will likely continue to feel relaxed, perhaps slightly stoned, and may continue to experience difficulty concentrating for another day or two.
Dosage
Nutmeg (Whole nuts) Oral dose
Threshold: 5 grams
Light: 5-10 grams
Common: 10-20 grams
Strong: 20-25 grams
Heavy: 25+ grams
Never take more than 25 grams in my and a lot of people's experience 25 grams seems to be the peak dose for full effects so you don't get any higher. A good first time dose would be 15g or 10g if your a light weight or sensitive to drugs. Get the whole nuts not the powder that won't work.
Risks
- If the dose is high enough it can kill you but the LD50 is still very high though and there's only been 1 case of nutmeg poisoning but the women was over 60 and took rohypnols so more likely she died of respiratory depression since both work on the CNS.
- This might be bad for people who has heart problems soon it causes a faster heart beat
- Combining this with other drugs can be dangerous
Legal Status
Nutmeg is legal to buy, sell, and possess as general spice and food all around the world
My opinion on Myristicin
I personally enjoy it only if the dose is right. I always see people having a bad time on this reading the erowid trip reports and the reason why they had a bad time because they took a way too high dose and weren't prepared for the effects. A lot of them always mention how they thought it was "bullshit" (because nutmeg takes forever to kick in) and normally sleep it out and wake up terrified. The average dose I read on these bad trips are mainly over 25g which is very high. If you want to enjoy the experience take 15g it's the perfect dose if you want an enjoyable experience and it's also good for first time users
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