It's one of my favorite native plants here in the pacific northwest. I even make salve from the root bark with it. Bought a pack of it because of the name lol and because it's one of the first strains besides NL that AKBB started collecting back in the day. I grew up in Alaska so those old Alaskan strains are kind of nostalgic for me.
That is cool.
I haven't partook in either, but I was once told by a Tlingit friend that the raw root was too powerful a medicine and could drive you mad unless you were a shaman.
That kind of shied me from it, especially coming from a Tlingit who are some bad ass Indians, if you know their reputation and former cultural practices.
Devils Club grows everywhere where I live in the Susitna Valley, but it stays fairly short, unlike along the coast where it grows as tall as a man.
I did see some Devils Club at Stevens Pass in Washington state one time and it reminded me a bit of Alaska.