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Salient: Victoria University of Wellington Students' Newspaper. Vol. 32, No. 3. 1969.

If cats do it . .

If cats do it . . .

"If You like banana peels, you'll love catnip."

This is the opinion of an increasing number of people throughout Britain and America who claim the smoking of the leaves of this commonly-grown mint can produce a psychedelic high.

The plant has been for centuries a favourite food and successful health aid for cats, but according to reports from many housewives their cats reacted very strangely after being fed catnip and they had to cease giving it to them.

The euphoric effects of smoking catnip were discovered by a youth who had a similar problem with his cat and observed that it "really turned on" so he decided to smoke a little.

The Journal of the American Medical Association seem to be aware of the growing population of catnip smokers and have printed a serious study of the plant, its possible effects on its users, other htan felines.

This quotes an experimenter who said after smoking the leaves of the plant he experienced a feeling of being outside his body in a pleasant sort of way.

"I went outside at night and looked at a street lamp and I actually saw the light from the lamp move down the pole and creep back again," he said.

The obvious advantages of smoking catnip is that it is completely within the law. One may indulge wherever he pleases without fear of being arrested for possession of a few leaves of weed, as with marijuana.

Cost is another favourable factor. Compare the cost of 1oz. of catnip with 1oz. of pot. In fact the only disadvantage seems to have been the predictable blitz on pet stores in the cities where people are blissfully smoking their catnip, which will eventually result in a police investigation and possible banning of the plant.

Of course there have been many substitutes for marijuana and L.S.D. offered with claims of similar effects (such as morning glory, hydrangea leaves and banana peels) some of which have been vindicated and others which have only resulted in diarrhoea or other discomforts.

The authenticity of the effects of catnip smoking can be tested by only one means . . . Experiment.