Mapacho: A Mixed Experience

 In South America, the plant nicotiana rustica is often referred to by its more common name mapacho. The plant is traditionally used for spiritual purposes, as it is entheogenic, primarily by South American shamans. For this reason, the plant is often associated with brujeria (or witchcraft) and can sometimes carry a negative perception around it. Containing tobacco and nicotine, mapacho is similar to cigarettes and cigars, except that it includes up to nine times the amount of nicotine found in common tobacco. Due to its high nicotine percentage, it is also commonly used as a pesticide. 

I wish I had known this fact before my friend, Alex, decided to hand me my own fat mapacho cigar to smoke. I've smoked cigarettes in the States every now and then (although by no means am I a smoker). The mapacho flavor isn't exactly one to call home about, but the buzz you get off of it is nice. However, I would not advise anyone who is a stranger to nicotine and tobacco products to smoke one on their own, as afterward, I came down with an intense case of nicotine sickness that included (and perhaps I'm oversharing here) a vomiting session in a Peruvian McDonalds. The rest of the night, I was pale and felt nauseous. 

Lesson learned: don't smoke mapacho if you can't handle it. Perhaps leave it to the shamans.