Changa: Smokeable Ayahuasca
Changa is a herbal smoke mix made by combining DMT with ayahuasca vine.
When most people think of ayahuasca, they think of the dark, sludgy, psychedelic brew served in the Amazon rainforest.
However, ayahuasca can also be smoked to produce powerful but short-lived psychedelic states.
Typical blends combine the ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) or Syrian rue (Peganum harmala) as MAO inhibitors — with DMT, offering a psychedelic experience that’s about 75% shorter and much gentler than traditional brewed ayahuasca.
Changa blends can be augmented with flavor-enhancing herbs like peppermint, smoke-ameliorating herbs like mullein, or other psychoactive herbs like blue lotus flower or passionflower for added effect.
While changa emerged officially in the early 2000s, the practice of smoking DMT-containing herbs dates back much further, with historical mentions in Indigenous traditions throughout South America (although not very common). It was more common for people to inhale the snuff of DMT-containing herbs like Yopo rather than smoking it.
The late Terence McKenna reported smoking ayahuasca vine at the peak of a mushroom trip in his 1993 Book True Hallucinations. His trip report for the experience mentioned: "a brightly lit, non-three-dimensional, self-contorting, linguistically intending modality that couldn’t be denied.”
There are many different herbs and additives that can be used to make changa, but the conventional formula uses ayahuasca vine as the core ingredient. Freebase DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine) is then dissolved and combined with ground vine bark. Other herbs are added to provide additional psychoactive effects, reduce the harshness of the smoke, or improve the flavor.
How Changa Works
Changa consists of two basic elements — a source of DMT (usually purified, freebase N,N-DMT — but recipes call for plants rich in DMT) and a monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor (usually the ayahuasca vine).
The basic principle is that the MAO inhibitor prevents the MAO enzyme from attacking and destroying the DMT before it has time to take effect. This is the same premise involved with traditional (drinkable) ayahuasca. Smoking the ayahuasca vine on its own would offer little, if any, psychoactive effects.
DMT is active when smoked but is incredibly short-lived. A changa preparation with about 40% DMT and an MAO inhibitory herb is considerably more potent than even 100% free-based DMT at the same dose.
A similar mixture involving a pharmaceutical MAO inhibitor and synthetic DMT uses the same base principles. This mixture is referred to as pharmahuasca.
Changa Ingredients
There’s an ongoing debate about what constitutes “true” changa. The original creator — an Australian by the name of Julian Palmer — used ayahuasca as a central ingredient in the formula. Purists would argue that only smoke mixes made with actual ayahuasca vine constitutes changa.
However, today, you can also find recipes that call for other plant-based MAO inhibitors, such as Syrian rue (Peganum harmala) or passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) as an alternative to ayahuasca vine.
On top of these core ingredients, a variety of other plants are often added to improve the flavor, reduce the harshness of the smoke, or add additional psychoactive effects to the blend.
The beauty of this mixture is that you can pick and choose between many different ingredients depending on what’s available to you. The overall effects are going to be similar but not the same, depending on what ingredients you decide to use.
Here are the core ingredients of the changa recipe:
MAO Inhibitors
Ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi)
Syrian rue (Peganum harmala)
Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata)
Synthetic harmala alkaloids (harmaline, tetrahydroharmine, & harmine) — not recommended
DMT Sources
Acacia Tree (Acacia obtusifolia, A. confusa or A. acuminata)
Chaliponga (Diplopterys cabrerana)
Chacruna (Psychotria viridis)
Mimosa (Mimosa hostilis)
Reed canary grass (Phalaris brachystachys)
Yopo (Anadenanthera peregrina)
Cebil (Anadenanthera colubrine)
Freebase N,N-DMT
Flavor Enhancers
Peppermint (Mentha piperita)
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
Blue Lotus (Nymphaea caerulea)
Chapantye (Justicia pectoralis)
Smoke Enhancers
Mullein (Verbascum thapsus)
Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum)
Raspberry leaf (Rubus idaeus)
Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara)
Herbs That Reduce Side Effects
American skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora)
Wild lettuce (Lactuca virosa)
Mullein (Verbascunm thapsus)
Psychoactive Additives
Calea (Calea zacatechichi) — Promotes more vivid dreams
Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) — Promotes more vivid dreams
Indian Warrior (Pedicularis densiflora) — Psychoactive and sedating
African Dreamroot (Synaptolepis kirkii) — Promotes more vivid dreams
African Dreamroot (Silene capensis) — Promotes more vivid dreams
Marijuana (Cannabis sativa) — Enhances the psychoactive effects
Damiana (Turnera diffusa) — Enhances the flavor and provides a euphoric sensation
Sun Opener (Heimia salicifolia) — Increases auditory hallucinations
Salvia (Salvia divinorum) — Provides additional psychedelic effects
I’ve seen mentions of people mixing datura or boracherro in with their changa — but I highly recommend you never do this.
These plants are powerfully psychoactive, but not in a good way. They’re classified as deliriants, which means they induce a temporary state of delirium (inability to interface with reality).
The experience is often described as terrifying and devilish. It isn’t a healing experience for anybody and can even lead to long-term physical or psychological harm. Some of the ingredients in these plants are lethal if you take too much.
Julian Palmer’s Changa Recipe:
Julian Palmer is the “inventor” of changa as we know it today. Here’s his original recipe:
Herb Portion:
Ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi)— 30%
Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) — 20%
Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) — 20%
Peppermint (Mentha piperita) — 20%
Calendula (Calendula officinalis) — 5%
Blue lotus (Nymphaea caerulea) — 5%
DMT Portion:
If using synthetic DMT, Palmer's recipe calls for about 25% of the total weight of the herb mix above. So, for 1 gram of herb mix, use about 250 mg of DMT.
Instructions:
Melt the DMT using a steam bath
Add the DMT to some vodka
Coat the herbs in the DMT-infused vodka and leave it out to dry
Dosage:
The suggested dose for this formula, as per Julian Palmer’s recipe, is vague. He suggests about 4 grams of changa prepared this way is enough for about 30 light doses, 20 “decent” doses, 10 strong doses, or 5 very strong doses.
In terms of weight, this works out to the following dosages:
Light dose — 133 mg (~30 mg DMT)
Moderate dose — 200 mg (~50 mg DMT)
Strong dose — 400 mg (~100 mg DMT)
Very strong dose — 800 mg (~200 mg DMT)
What Does Changa Feel Like?
Changa feels very much like ayahuasca, albeit somewhat milder. It produces the same fractal shapes and visions of interconnected patterns as the early stages of an ayahuasca trip.
I've tried changa twice and found the experience to be trippy and enjoyable but much more tame than with ayahuasca. There are plenty of reports online of people going much deeper with changa, though. Because of how diverse the potential recipes of changa are, the experience can vary dramatically.
Another major difference between the two is the duration of action. Breaking through while puking your guts out and then spending 2–4 hours in hyperspace with ayahuasca is a significantly more profound experience than just poking your head in to look around for a few minutes with changa before coming back to reality.
You might see the same sort of things on changa, but without any real time to process anything, the impact is fleeting.
The herbs you decide to add to your changa mix have an impact on the experience as well. Herbs like damiana or mugwort make the experience much more lucid than if you added nonpsychoactive herbs like mullein or peppermint, for example.
For me, the experience never lasted more than about 45 minutes, and while there were waves of increased trippiness and fractals, I remained fully within my own body the entire time.
Is Changa Safe?
The original changa recipe used the ayahuasca vine and synthetic DMT — neither of which are particularly dangerous on their own.
However, there’s an added level of risk when using changa because of how diverse the ingredients list can be. There's a whole market for changa products, and not all vendors have your best interests in mind.
I've seen a lot of chemically enriched changa on the market lately that’s been sprayed with harmful or potentially addictive substances for the sole purpose of boosting the psychoactive effect. Blackmarket manufacturers have been caught adding things like synthetic cannabinoids, opiates, cathinones, PCP-analogs, boracherro, or other potentially harmful or addictive substances.
Additionally, the dose can vary substantially from one sample to the next. Some changa samples can be more than 100 times stronger than others.
Unfortunately, there's no good way to test the contents of Changa to make sure it’s safe to use. You’d need to have access to precision lab equipment to know for sure.
Because of these issues with commercial changa, you should only use it if it comes from a truly trustworthy source or you’ve made it yourself.
Changa is a powerful psychoactive substance and should be treated with respect. Don’t go into it with the intention of “getting messed up.” Using substances like this irresponsibly can lead to serious side effects.
Ontological shock, for example, has physiological side effects that can remain for months or years if you're reckless with psychedelics like this.
Changa Side Effects
Even pure plant-based changa carries some risk of side effects — most of which come from the MAO inhibitor.
Common side effects of changa:
Nausea & vomiting
Dry mouth & throat
Coughing or chest congestion
Dizziness
Tingling sensation in the hands & feet
Headache
Summary: Changa
Today, changa is becoming increasingly popular as an alternative to other smokable forms of DMT, as well as ayahuasca itself. The ingredients are relatively easy to source and are legal in many parts of the world.
While typically considered a "milder" form of ayahuasca, changa can be a formidable psychedelic and should be treated with respect. The trip is very short-lived, lasting around 45 minutes or less, and offers a much more gentle transition into the DMT realm than things like 5-MeO-DMT (which is notoriously intense due to the exceptionally high celerity).
The downside of changa is that there's no official formula, and many black market changa manufacturers are mixing harsh designer drugs into their formula for added effect — at the cost of the user's health and trust in the safety of the product.
Further Reading:
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