I tried “Mad Honey” but was actually pretty happy

After testing the psychedelic substance, I found that it’s nothing to fret about.

It simply can no longer be ignored or denied: psychedelics are having a moment, and as the stigmas fade, the world increasingly explores and enjoys their effects.

In 2022, Colorado followed Oregon in decriminalizing substances like psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, DMT, and ayahuasca, as did local communities like San Francisco, followed by Oakland, Santa Cruz, Ann Arbor, DC, and Denver. There are now churches dedicated to guided psychedelic practice, cozy retreats, and therapy clinics that use ketamine. A barrier to psychedelics now is access to them, as for the most part they cannot yet be legally distributed or purchased.

However, there is one pseudo-psychedelic substance that can be legally sold and bought almost everywhere except in a few nations. You saw the bear video, right? A young bear in Turkey stuffed herself with some special honey and got stuck on her rump as she experienced what I can only imagine is a Winnie the Pooh nightmare. I’m talking crazy honey.

Wild honey is natural and has been harvested for at least hundreds of years by communities in Nepal and Turkey who use it for medicinal purposes, religious ceremonies and fun. I bought a few in the fall to see if I could replace my relatively tame mushroom experience with something else. It’s legal to buy online but you’ll have to wait a few weeks for arrival if you live in the US like me.

I consider myself a psychedelic newbie. I also don’t particularly like “stumbling balls” when using shrooms, which are my preferred form of psychedelic consumption. But crazy honey hits a comfortable medium between macro and micro doses that I’m still processing. This is how my first attempt at crazy honey went.

What is crazy honey?

Mad Honey is an acronym for honey made by Apis laboriosa, the Himalayan honey bee and largest honey bee in the world, which takes nectar from certain species of Himalayan rhododendron plants. This combination of flower and honeybee produces honey rich in grayanotoxins, the substance responsible for honey’s insane effects.

A 2016 Vice documentary directed by Abdullah Saeed put it on the millennial map as a new way to trip and attain higher power, but mad honey has been around for thousands of years. The Gurung people of Nepal have been harvesting it for centuries, if not millennia, and ancient Greek and Roman military leaders used it as a bioweapon to subdue their opponents. It’s hard to fight a war when you see colors and you’re throwing up.

Historically, mad honey only occurs naturally in two parts of the world: Nepal and Turkey, although some reports suggest that Brazil, Japan and even the southern US have started harvesting it on a small scale. I ordered both types hoping to see what the different climates and environments might do, just like different types of mushrooms produce different effects. Unfortunately only the Nepalese honey has arrived for this piece.

@cliff_mad_honey

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♬ Jungle Sounds – Christophe PETREL

How does the crazy honey trip feel?

Like all other psychedelics, Mad Honey does not have a universal experience. Different batches of honey vary in potency (which isn’t tested, mind you) and it can’t be harvested year-round. Nick, the founder of Amsterdam-based Real Mad Honey, says it feels more like an edible high to him than a shroom trip.

A word of warning, it doesn’t taste good. It’s darker than the honey you put in your morning tea, more dark amber than gold, and more bitter and earthy than sweet. I chose to add a teaspoon, the recommended dose for a first-time user, to peppermint tea.

I’ve taken crazy honey on three separate occasions, and more than anything, your circumstances will affect how “angry” you get.

The first time was at a friend’s apartment during a party for decorating cookies, and it was by far my favorite trip. I was amongst trusted friends and had easy access to water, snacks and a toilet should things go wrong.

A teaspoon in the tea led to a long, snickering discussion about Shawshank Redemption and my bravest attempt at making a pineapple-shaped cookie. When I told my friend, another psychedelic amateur, what I was doing, she microdosed mushrooms for comparison. We both ended up on the couch laughing at the first Harry Potter film (the Quidditch scenes were particularly vivid).

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Next time I took a little more on a rainy solo day. I can’t really recommend this – I felt good just chilling in my apartment, and I wrote a journal that, looking back, felt extraordinarily introspective and poignant. But if you’re looking for swirling shapes on the walls, that’s not what happened.

Again, I didn’t dare to take a tablespoon like the psychonauts recommend. As with mushrooms, ingesting too much crazy honey has had adverse effects. You will get really sick, vomit, have diarrhea and possibly lose consciousness. With short days and cold temperatures, winter might not be the best time for an outdoor trip, but a nice, bundled stroll or friendly get-together makes for a cozy, sparkling scene.

Benefits of Crazy Honey

Yes, it’s fun (and delicious) to put a dollop of honey in your mouth and wait for the world to vibrate around you. Honey, psychedelic or not, has antimicrobial properties, a plethora of antioxidants, and has been shown to heal gastrointestinal issues as well as topical wounds, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Mad Honey induces mild hallucinations and that introspective quest that characterizes most psychedelic substances. Many report euphoria, relaxation and a better attitude towards life. These are emotional benefits that are rich in anecdotal evidence but are still lacking on a clinical level.

From a scientific point of view, research on crazy honey has grown along with public interest in recent years. A 2018 article published in RSC Advances states that crazy honey is used for “hypertension, diabetes (hyperglycemia and its complications), influenza, gastrointestinal disorders (ulcers, gastritis, dyspepsia, indigestion, intestinal disorders, etc.), among others became other ailments), abdominal/stomach pain, arthritis, stimulating sex (dysfunction, impotence, improvement and performance), various viral infections, skin diseases, pain and common cold.”

There is a lot going on! But despite these documented uses, for now, we cannot guarantee that crazy honey will actually benefit any of these conditions.

Preserving insane honey in a changing climate

While Real Mad Honey’s Nick says human innovation has made harvesting mad honey easier, it remains a dangerous and wild endeavor for honey harvesters. Humans can’t grow crazy honey themselves, nor can they tell bees exactly how strong to make it.

As the number of honey vendors slows the competition, some vendors have started offering extractive tourist trips that bring foreigners into the mountains to hunt honey themselves. This affects local flora and fauna and further endangers local honey hunters, who often do not use protective gear to scale cliffs.

Bee populations in the US and worldwide remain vulnerable as climate change destabilizes their environment, and they are worth far more than the trippy honey they produce. So if you’re looking to buy crazy honey, make sure your seller has a reputable, ethical source. Stay as close to honey as possible, stay safe, know your limits and enjoy!

Amelie Williams

New York-based freelance cannabis journalist Amelia Williams is a graduate of San Francisco State University’s journalism program and a former budtender. Williams has contributed to GreenState, MG Magazine, Culture Magazine and Cannabis Now, Kirkus Reviews and The Bold Italic of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Check out Amelia Williams’ articles

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