Routes of Administration (RoA) #

These are the methods by which chemicals or botanicals are introduced to the body, and are thus able to take effect.

ORAL #

This is swallowing or drinking. Common methods of the former include bombing, which is wrapping the drug in cigarette paper and consuming by mouth (perhaps with water), or simply eating plant material or swallowing a pill.

QUIDDING #

This is chewing the substance (usually a botanical) over a prolonged period and then expelling.

BUCCAL & SUBBUCCAL #

This is holding the substance between lip and gum, or in the buccal area (in the cheek), such that it diffuses into the bloodstream through the tissues which line the mouth.

SUBLINGUAL #

This is holding the substance under the tongue, again until it diffuses into the bloodstream.

INSUFFLATION #

Also known as snorting or railing, insufflating is sniffing the substance hard up the nasal cavity, commonly using a straw or paper tube.

SMOKING #

This is inhaling and exhaling the smoke of the combusted substance. Often, the inhaled smoke is held in the lungs for a chosen period of time.

VAPING #

This is inhaling and exhaling the vapour produced by heating the substance in a suitable device (usually but not always electronic) or via another pre-determined method.

HOT-KNIFING #

This is inhaling the smoke produced when the substance is compressed between the heated ends of two knives, which are pushed through a hole made at the foot of a bottle (usually plastic). There are variations on this, but all involve hot knives and the inhaling of smoke through the mouth of a suitable vessel or container.

TRANSDERMAL #

This is absorbing the chemical through the skin, for example, via an adhesive patch.

RECTAL #

This is anally inserting the substance such that it is absorbed by the rectum’s blood vessels.

INJECTION / INTRAVENOUS (IV) #

This is injecting the substance into a blood vein using a needle. It is not recommended, at all.

All the above methods were employed at least once with respect to the sampling of the chemicals and botanicals in the following sections, with the exception of transdermal, rectal and intravenous.

AN IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTE: For most psychoactives, the applicable dose is almost invariably dependent upon the RoA being used. A safe dose via one method can sometimes be deadly via another method. It is imperative, therefore, that when choosing a particular RoA, the safe and appropriate dose for that specific RoA is researched extremely carefully.

This point cannot be over-emphasized, as it is a misstep that the unwary can easily fall foul of, with tragic consequences.

AN UNLIKELY SAFETY NOTE: I don’t believe that I have to write this one, but apparently it is necessary. The word eyeballing refers to the ill advised practice of measuring a dose based upon its visual appearance. An example would be splitting a gram of powder into ten 100mg doses by separating it into ten equal looking piles.

This is obviously a bad idea, but worse still is sticking the powder into your eye!

Incredibly, I once read a forum post in which the author thought that eyeballing was an RoA. In other words, having seen the word frequently in the context of drug use (e.g. “I eyeballed 10mg”), he almost blinded himself because he thought it was a method of taking his drug.

Don’t do this.