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[gregory nahas <lettherebemonkeys AT yahoo.com>]

Apes 'get high' on plants 

Scientists believe apes may use recreational drugs.

Research has been carried out by Professor Michael
Huffman from the Primate Research Institute at Kyoto
University, and Don Cousins, author of The Magnificent
Gorilla.

They found African apes eat the seeds of Kola trees
which contain caffeine and theobromine and help
prevent fatigue.

They also found gorillas in Equatorial Guinea and
chimpanzees in the Republic of Guinea eat two
hallucinogenic plants.

According to The Daily Telegraph, one of the
hallucinogenic plants, A. Floribunda, is used by cults
because the root is believed to be an aphrodisiac.

It's said to provide a state of intense excitement
followed by a deep, sometimes fatal depression.

Professor Huffman says people have watched the animals
go into 'a frenzy of fear' after eating the roots, as
if they are being chased by invisible objects.

It's reported the apes even go through detox, using
the root of the Tabernanthe iboga plant.

The findings are reported in the forthcoming issue of
the journal, African Study Monographs.



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