[Alex3917]

There are a lot of invasive species you can actually (theoretically) get high on. E.g. Phalaris, white mulberry, mugwort, non-native sweet flag, parsnips, etc.

Most (but not all) things growing in your lawn you can eat though, if the area is free from toxins. The reason we have invasive species is because they came from somewhere else, and usually the reason they came from somewhere else is because they were what people ate before we discovered/invented better crops. Or at least this is true in New England and the mid-Atlantic regions, I can't speak for everywhere else.

[justinator]

The juniper tree in the back yard is currently producing these very small blue berries, that, when infused with vodka produce a very delightful beverage that tastes quite similar to gin!

And like gin: seems to get you quite drunk.

[shezi]

Not sure if you're ironic, but what you have is literally Gin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gin

[mikekchar]

Mugwort? I love mugwort. In Japan they make sticky rice with it. The best description I can give is that it has a vaguely cinnamon flavour.

[mirimir]

I used to own a book on ayahuasca combinations (DMT plus an MAO inhibitor) using temperate-zone plants. I don't recall the name, and am not finding anything. Anyone know?

[Alex3917]

Phalaris is very high in DMT, but it also has a lot of toxic chemicals in it. I'm guessing you'd die if you actually tried to smoke an extraction of it, but as far as I know no one has ever actually done it. That's where the theoretically part comes in.

[SmellyGeekBoy]

> parsnips

... wait, what? To think I've been avoiding them my whole life!

[sorokod]

"The reason we have invasive species is because they came from somewhere else"

Everything came from " somewhere else" if you take the long view.

[lemonad]

Not an answer to parent comments, just wanted to emphasize that coming from "somewhere else" <=/=> invasive. Not an expert so there are likely edge cases but one example would be a meadow where many different plants grow, flowering from early spring to late autumn. Introducing a new plant could mean it finds its own niche in this system or could mean that it completely takes over the whole system, reducing the overall flowering period to a limited time and thus causing problems for pollinators. If the latter is the typical result, the plant would likely become classed as invasive.

[adrianN]

Typically when species migrated before humans invented quick transportation, their predators migrated with them. It didn't happen very often that a species becomes invasive without humans having something to do with it.

[YayamiOmate]

Hey you! Keep off, go away. You didn't evolve here!