# Can a person get high off catnip? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 30, 2005, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479 "2005-06-30T05:11:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nowayman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f1d935/32.png) [@nowayman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nowayman)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/1 "2005-06-30T05:11:30Z")
I’ve heard rumors that people actually smoke catnip to get high. There are also websites that say it acts like a sedative. I would never plan to try something like this myself because this is just crazy. I mean, catnip grows everywhere. Is it true? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/2 "2005-06-30T06:00:56Z")
Well, no. And yes. Intoxication from smoked substances depends on the mindset. For example, when I was 22, we tried out this get-high-on-catnip thing. We found that (a) catnip did not get us high, and (b) its taste resembled pot. We went across town to rope in an unsuspecting friend. We had him share a catnip cigarette (we didn’t tell him it was catnip,) and he perceived getting high. He wanted to buy some of that stuff. By that time, I was laughing so hard, he began to suspect he’d been fooled. My cat gets mighty loopy on catnip, but he’s a cat. We are not cats; well, most of us aren’t. On the internet, nobody knows you’re a cat. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/3 "2005-06-30T13:30:16Z")
My cats get silly on catnip, but they don’t smoke it. Or if they do, I’ve never caught them at it. They roll around in it, and some of them will eat a little, but that’s it. Wish I could get silly just rolling around in some…never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/4 "2005-06-30T13:58:46Z")
Catnip is in the mint family. Some people find catnip tea to be “relaxing” but in the same way that pappermint tea is “relaxing,” not in the way quaaludes are “relaxing.” It tastes a lot like regular mint tea, maybe a little sweeter. It’s nice. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/5 "2005-06-30T20:36:56Z")
Just wanted to point out that your user name seems to answer your question. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/6 "2005-07-01T12:00:26Z")
A medicinal strength cup of catnip tea (1 Tablespoon of catnip to 8 ounces steaming water, cover and let steep 10 minutes. Strain and drink) is indeed quite a potent sedative, but no, not on par with Quaaludes. It’s also good for fighting off colds and flus, and for upset stomachs, like all mints. It’s gentle enough for children, and I know of no contraindications for it. The essentail oil repells cockroaches and other bugs more effectively than DEET, but it’s really hard to find. (Insert standard herbal disclaimers here. IANAD.) The tea also tastes like ass, so I hardly ever use it in practice. But I still have it in my medicine chest, which confuses the hell out of the cat. I also have it in alcohol tincture form, as it’s part of the base of my bug spray (since I can’t get the essential oil). The cat has been known to knock over the sealed glass bottle and push it off the edge of the counter so it falls to the floor and breaks, spilling it’s catnip hooch all over the floor. I came home to find her snockered out of her mind, rolling in the catnip liquid and gathering dust bunnies on her wet kitty nose. The tincture now lives in a locked cabinet. But no, it won’t get you high. ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/7 "2005-07-01T12:45:18Z")
So I could take the catnip I get at my local pet store and make tea out of it? Or is that type of catnip not fit for human consumption? Would I have to go to a healthfood store to get the appropriate catnip for tea? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/8 "2005-07-01T13:30:55Z")
\*\*Organic \*\*catnip from the pet store should be fine, but it’s actually cheaper in bulk at an herb store, generally speaking. People will pay more for Fluffy than for themselves. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/9 "2005-07-01T14:03:21Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > But no, it won’t get you high. I suppose I shouldn’t admit this, but I have smoked catnip. I cannot accurately report on the effects, however, because I was actually drunk enough to smoke catnip and thus unable to tell what effects, if any, actually obtained. Nevertheless, if getting it into your bloodstream via digestion will affect you, then why would smoking it not do so as well? ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/10 "2005-07-01T14:23:35Z")
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=246362&highlight=catnip](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=246362&highlight=catnip) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/11 "2005-07-01T14:31:46Z")
> [@js\_africanus](#): > > Nevertheless, if getting it into your bloodstream via digestion will affect you, then why would smoking it not do so as well? Well, why don’t you smoke your asprin? Because some things (like the active ingredient in catnip) are water soluble and come out in water and other things (like THC and nicotine) are released by heat in smoke. Marijuana tea is useless, because THC is not water soluble- it’s fat soluble. Which is why soaked in butter and baked in brownies it is psychoactive. But simple EATING a bud of marijuana won’t be very effective, because there’s no heat or fat to release the THC. Perhaps the active ingredient could also be released by heat (I’ve no reason to believe it does) and smoking catnip would be slightly sedating, just like the tea is, but I wouldn’t call it “high” either way. One of the thing you have to learn as an herbalist is what method of preparation to use for what plant. Different plants require different percents of alcohol or fats or waters to extract their constituents. There’s an herb, for example, which needs to be processed with _heated alcohol under pressure_, which is obviously way too dangerous for home extraction. The only other opion for its use is to use it fresh, which is only practical in the area where it grows. ---
**Author:** ![darianba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@darianba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/darianba)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/12 "2012-09-01T16:21:16Z")
[quote=“WhyNot, post:11, topic:310479”] Marijuana tea is useless, because THC is not water soluble- it’s fat soluble. Which is why soaked in butter and baked in brownies it is psychoactive. But simple EATING a bud of marijuana won’t be very effective, because there’s no heat or fat to release the THC. When you make marijuana tea you dont use water you use either milk or alcohol because like you said its fat soluble but dont say its useless ive got just as high off the tea as when i smoke ---
**Author:** ![Uncertain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Uncertain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncertain)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/13 "2012-09-02T00:13:28Z")
How about lions and tigers? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/14 "2012-09-02T00:18:10Z")
> [@darianba](#): > > When you make marijuana tea you dont use water you use either milk or alcohol because like you said its fat soluble but dont say its useless ive got just as high off the tea as when i smoke The mind is the most powerful drug of all. And…huh. I’ve completely forgotten what plant I was referring to with that whole heated alcohol under pressure thing. Damn. I really have forgotten a lot of my herbal training now that I don’t use it every day… ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/15 "2012-09-02T00:27:44Z")
For a change of pace, I put a couple teaspoons of catnip in some veggie soup. Pretty good, like a mild mint. What led me to try is that I had noticed that my cat was incredibly interested in a bag or oregano. I gave him some and he went all catnip over it. I googled, and decided It was edible. I dont think oregano has the same effect on cats, but mine was convinced it did. He rolled around in it, and then stared dazed off into space, upside down. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/16 "2012-09-02T04:55:38Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > The mind is the most powerful drug of all. > > And…huh. I’ve completely forgotten what plant I was referring to with that whole heated alcohol under pressure thing. Damn. I really have forgotten a lot of my herbal training now that I don’t use it every day… Yeah, they say that “herbal training” has that effect… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![datcatgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dfb087/32.png) [@datcatgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/datcatgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/17 "2013-03-23T03:42:32Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Catnip is in the mint family. Some people find catnip tea to be “relaxing” but in the same way that pappermint tea is “relaxing,” not in the way quaaludes are “relaxing.” It tastes a lot like regular mint tea, maybe a little sweeter. It’s nice. Catnip isn’t part of the mint family, which is Lamiaceae or Labiatae. Catnip’s scientific name is Nepeta Cataria. Catnip gets me drunk (hence my name datcatgirl) but not high. :DDDDDD ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/18 "2013-03-23T03:58:57Z")
> [@datcatgirl](#): > > Catnip isn’t part of the mint family, which is Lamiaceae or Labiatae. Catnip’s scientific name is Nepeta Cataria. > > Catnip gets me drunk (hence my name datcatgirl) but not high. :DDDDDD _Napeta_s are _Lamiaceae_. Catnip is a mint. One of the other names for it is catmint, in fact. [Catnip - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepeta_cataria) ---
**Author:** ![NotBob13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e19b73/32.png) [@NotBob13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotBob13)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/19 "2013-03-23T04:09:23Z")
I tried smoking catnip, years ago. No “high” feeling, but i felt mildly forgetful, and found it a little hard to concentrate, similar to how I get when I need a nap, but no sleepiness. It wore off quickly, lasted an hour, tops. ---
**Author:** ![NotBob13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e19b73/32.png) [@NotBob13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotBob13)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479/20 "2013-03-23T04:31:09Z")
Oh, I got the idea from The _Illuminatus Trilogy_. The Big Idea was to: 1. Spread the rumor catnip got you high. 2. Let kids try it. 3. Opals to the Opal. 4. Have parents and assorted dogooders march to ban catnip. 5. Have everybody laugh at the absurdity of banning a plant. 6. Have pot unbanned, or a good laugh, whichever. I thought it might be a metajoke, and that catnip might really get one high. That is the kind of double-bluff mindscrew that would appeal to Discordians. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-get-high-off-catnip/310479.md?page=2)