> Which of the veeples who are reading this can/will tell us more about
> this material or 'channa'?

There's not much known about the pharmacology of mesembrine. Its effects
in humans are similar if not identical to those of kanna. Early
experiments [using 5g chewed plant, 15g decocted plant, and 150mg
mesembrine, separately] showed effects such as tingling in the mouth,
gagging reflex, congested feeling in the head, noises in the ears,
mydriasis, analgesia, and loss of appetite. It's been suggested by some
modern experimenters they may have serotonergic effects. In smaller doses
kanna is more pleasant; on occasion I've found it to produce [snuffed or
sublingually] mild mood enhancement and a state of relaxed alertness.
The plant [Sceletium sp. - often S. tortuosum] is usually prepared by
crushing the whole plant and leaving it to 'ferment' in a closed,
airtight bag for about 8 days. This serves to reduce oxalate levels, and
to modify the alkaloid profile. This preparation is also known as
kougoed. The plants are claimed to not be active if this preparation is
not followed. Recent research [Smith, M.T. et al. 1998. "The distribution
of mesembrine alkaloids in selected taxa of the Mesembryanthemaceae and
their modification in the Sceletium-derived 'kougoed'." Pharmaceutical
Biology 36(3):173-179] seems to suggest that in the final dried product,
mesembrenone is the major alkaloid, and mesembrine levels are much
reduced. This would suggest to me that mesembrenone has similar
properties to mesembrine. Perhaps people have also extracted alkaloids
from prepared Sceletium and assumed them to be mesembrine, leading to
some misleading bioassays. BTW, the above paper also found that simply
crushing and drying at 80 degrees C serves the same purpose as the
'fermentation' approach.

take care,
Chr.