Sceletium tortuosum - also known as Kougoed, Kaugoed, Channa, and Kanna - is a small ground-cover plant growing native in Southern Africa. For hundreds of years the native people of Southern Africa have used Sceletium tortuosum to enhance mood and to relax.

Historically Sceletium tortuosum was eaten/chewed, smoked or used as snuff to produce euphoria and alertness which gently turned into relaxation. If chewed in sufficient quantity Sceletium has a mild anesthetic effect in the mouth, much like Kava. The main active chemical in Kanna is mesembrine,

Kanna is believed to act as a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI). People taking any psychiatric drug (including all anxiety drugs, sedatives, hypnotics, anti-depressants and anti-psychotics and so-called designer or recreation drugs) or any cardiac medications, are advised not to take any Sceletium-containing products.

Charles Thunberg wrote about Kanna in 1773: “The Hottentots come far and near to fetch this shrub with the root, leaves and all, which they beat together, and afterwards twist them up like pig-tail tobacco; after which they let the mass ferment and keep it by them for chewing, especially when they are thirsty. If chewed after fermentation, it intoxicates.”