7 ms·

I'd be a pretty happy camper if I could pick up a decent dose of MDMA, Ket or LSD at a store when I occasionally feel like it. It's been years since I've had an

I'd be a pretty happy camper if I could pick up a decent dose of MDMA, Ket or LSD at a store when I occasionally feel like it. It's been years since I've had any and after moving to a new city, starting a family and "growing out of it", I feel like like I could use a good trip.

LAC-Tech 4y ago
On the one hand, that sounds reasonable. On the other hand - I'm not exactly thrilled with the way people use the current that's already easily available at stores.
- digdugdirk 4y ago
  I'd far prefer people overusing psychedelics than the current trend of overusing alcohol, painkillers, sleeping pills, etc.
  - kkielhofner 4y ago
    It’s still a little fresh but I called 911 on my Lyft driver last night. He had a woman (who I later learned was homeless) in the passenger seat slumped over, struggling to breathe, and very clearly in some kind of opioid overdose. A sargeant from the police department eventually called me back from his cellphone to tell me they caught up with the driver and reversed her. It was traumatic and all things being equal I’m with you - alcohol, opioids, benzodiazepines, etc do a lot of damage.
    - teaearlgraycold 4y ago
      What the fuck was happening there? Why pick you up with an OD'ing homeless person? Did the driver give them drugs? Just... ???
      - kkielhofner 4y ago
        Exactly. I’ve “seen some things” but this was a new one. He arrived to pick me up. She was in the front passenger seat and maybe a little out of it but that’s not exactly unusual… A few minutes later, she was completely slumped over and taking gasping breaths. When I asked the driver if she was ok he said “She’s homeless and needs to get in to recovery but I’m taking care of her”. I can only assume (given the fairly rapid onset) he/she/them consumed drugs shortly before picking me up. Needless to say, he wasn’t. After calling 911 I messaged the Lyft support team and provided pictures, etc of what (unfortunately) looks like a dead person. They followed the script and may or may not have done anything. Meanwhile, the authorities took it very seriously (as I described) and likely saved her life.
    - sterlind 4y ago
      Benzos are actually quite safe if you don't take them with anything else, and they're not very addictive. I've been taking them off and on for 15 years for panic disorder and never became dependent.
      - machinawhite 4y ago
        Benzos not being addictive is the most false thing I've ever read. You can get addicted in 3 days and then die from withdrawals but ok.
        sirsinsalot 4y ago
        Can confirm they're moreish
        sterlind 4y ago
        I've taken them daily for a week, stopped taking them and didn't die from withdrawals.
      - liamwire 4y ago
        Your anecdote doesn’t equate to the truth, and the truth is, benzodiazepines are astoundingly addictive when abused, and dependency-forming even when following moderate treatment plans.
  - LAC-Tech 4y ago
    you think people would substitute alcohol, opiates etc for psychedelics, and this would result in a net good? I think what would it actually happen is more and more unprepared members of the general public would have really bad trips.
    - Ingaz 4y ago
      It's very possible. It worked for me. I had a period in my life of sliding slowly to alcoholism.
    - naasking 4y ago
      Bad trips aren't as bad as they're portrayed. Many people improvements in well being even after bad trips: https://www.psypost.org/2016/08/study-bad-trips-from-magic-mushrooms-often-result-in-an-improved-sense-of-personal-well-being-44684 https://www.psypost.org/2016/08/study-bad-trips-from-magic-m... Can't say I ever experienced that after a hangover.
    - scns 4y ago
      There are reports of alcohilics ditching booze after one trip.
    - epistemer 4y ago
      You must have not thought this through very hard to believe it wouldn't be a net good. I mean we are in a crisis of opiates with fentanyl. It would be a massive net good.
- kkielhofner 4y ago
  This. I have no judgement and plenty of my own demons (alcohol). That said, the swing in my lifetime on marijuana legalization (as one example) is telling. From “smoke the devil’s lettuce and put your baby in the microwave” to “it’s natural, there are no negatives whatsoever” is very troubling. There is no free lunch and there absolutely are negative effects with all of these substances. Of course alcohol is the reigning champ for damage to society but marijuana, etc is creeping in with much less dramatic fashion.
  - tayo42 4y ago
    In what way is that happening?
    - kkielhofner 4y ago
      Cannabis and other popular psychoactive drugs (including alcohol, of course) have impact on everything from the dopamine reward system to fundamental perception. If you take a few shots at 9 AM everyday few people will debate whether you have an alcohol misuse disorder and how problematic it is. Alcohol does it’s job - pumps your reward system and alters your perception of reality. More and more, if you wake up at 9 AM and take a gummy, hit an incredibly high THC vape, etc it’s called medicine. While it won’t kill you and destroy your life as efficiently and ruthlessly as alcohol will I think there are fundamental issues and lasting effects from hacking dopamine rewards and using psychoactive substances to alter your reality. The biggest difference here is how directly toxic alcohol is to the body (liver, brain, heart). Marijuana and others are substantially better from a “your body will physically give out from this” standpoint but that’s a low bar. At one point in my life I was prescribed what I later learned to understand was an incredibly high dose of Klonopin. Drugs that bang on dopamine, GABA, etc are a sledge hammer for “life is suffering” the Buddha talked about. By the way, I‘ve met a lot of people with poly drug addiction issues and they respond to my klonopin experience with shock and amazement. FWIW it’s worth I fairly quickly realized the impact this sledge hammer hack was having on my life and quit it cold turkey. Now I know I could have died from it but I’m happy to be back to reality and process the struggle that is life with a scalpel instead of a sledge hammer.
  - 4y ago
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- likeabbas 4y ago
  Why do people feel the need to control other people’s substance intake? It’s not your life. If there’s no direct harm to you then it should be none of your business.
  - tsimionescu 4y ago
    There's a difference between seeking to control and trying to recommend against. Same as people recommend you eat apples more than you eat chips, and are against portraying chips as healthy, without meaning that they'd want to ban them.
    - likeabbas 4y ago
      I agree there is a difference but the parent above specifically mentioned what is available in stores today as if to say they would be against allowing people to buy whatever drugs they want. Prohibition does not stop usage. It just makes the drugs cut with more harmful substances. I wish people would understand that
sph 4y ago
When I grow older, I would like to follow Ann Shulgin's directions, and have a nice MDMA trip with a loved one, not more often than once a season. Once every couple years maybe. And a yearly shroom tea with friends while camping. Nature and trees are the most beautiful thing I've ever experienced while on mushrooms. It really makes you feel you're part of the ecosystem, and anything artificial sours the experience. Honestly, legal or not, that is my plan. It is sad that I would have to give money to shady people rather than buying it in a store. It's been a decade since my last hallucinogen, and I long for that place outside of myself, outside of the bounds of my senses where you can gaze to the whole of reality, in its entire magnificence.
- aqme28 4y ago
  Why wait til your older for those experiences? Those are wonderful ways to experience these drugs.
  - sph 4y ago
    My life is not in order right now to make the best of those experiences. I'm working on it.
    - dopidopHN 4y ago
      I feel you. More on the tea while camping… I found that a lovely afternoon in the park works too. It’s not the same as being in the woods, but it’s not like I feel like hiking while under the influence either. It’s fun to see other human in the distance, and when it winds down you can just go home walking. Nobody is the wiser, logistically easy.

LAC-Tech 4y ago

On the one hand, that sounds reasonable. On the other hand - I'm not exactly thrilled with the way people use the current that's already easily available at stores.

digdugdirk 4y ago
I'd far prefer people overusing psychedelics than the current trend of overusing alcohol, painkillers, sleeping pills, etc.
- kkielhofner 4y ago
  It’s still a little fresh but I called 911 on my Lyft driver last night. He had a woman (who I later learned was homeless) in the passenger seat slumped over, struggling to breathe, and very clearly in some kind of opioid overdose. A sargeant from the police department eventually called me back from his cellphone to tell me they caught up with the driver and reversed her. It was traumatic and all things being equal I’m with you - alcohol, opioids, benzodiazepines, etc do a lot of damage.
  - teaearlgraycold 4y ago
    What the fuck was happening there? Why pick you up with an OD'ing homeless person? Did the driver give them drugs? Just... ???
    - kkielhofner 4y ago
      Exactly. I’ve “seen some things” but this was a new one. He arrived to pick me up. She was in the front passenger seat and maybe a little out of it but that’s not exactly unusual… A few minutes later, she was completely slumped over and taking gasping breaths. When I asked the driver if she was ok he said “She’s homeless and needs to get in to recovery but I’m taking care of her”. I can only assume (given the fairly rapid onset) he/she/them consumed drugs shortly before picking me up. Needless to say, he wasn’t. After calling 911 I messaged the Lyft support team and provided pictures, etc of what (unfortunately) looks like a dead person. They followed the script and may or may not have done anything. Meanwhile, the authorities took it very seriously (as I described) and likely saved her life.
  - sterlind 4y ago
    Benzos are actually quite safe if you don't take them with anything else, and they're not very addictive. I've been taking them off and on for 15 years for panic disorder and never became dependent.
    - machinawhite 4y ago
      Benzos not being addictive is the most false thing I've ever read. You can get addicted in 3 days and then die from withdrawals but ok.
      - sirsinsalot 4y ago
        Can confirm they're moreish
      - sterlind 4y ago
        I've taken them daily for a week, stopped taking them and didn't die from withdrawals.
    - liamwire 4y ago
      Your anecdote doesn’t equate to the truth, and the truth is, benzodiazepines are astoundingly addictive when abused, and dependency-forming even when following moderate treatment plans.
- LAC-Tech 4y ago
  you think people would substitute alcohol, opiates etc for psychedelics, and this would result in a net good? I think what would it actually happen is more and more unprepared members of the general public would have really bad trips.
  - Ingaz 4y ago
    It's very possible. It worked for me. I had a period in my life of sliding slowly to alcoholism.
  - naasking 4y ago
    Bad trips aren't as bad as they're portrayed. Many people improvements in well being even after bad trips: https://www.psypost.org/2016/08/study-bad-trips-from-magic-mushrooms-often-result-in-an-improved-sense-of-personal-well-being-44684 https://www.psypost.org/2016/08/study-bad-trips-from-magic-m... Can't say I ever experienced that after a hangover.
  - scns 4y ago
    There are reports of alcohilics ditching booze after one trip.
  - epistemer 4y ago
    You must have not thought this through very hard to believe it wouldn't be a net good. I mean we are in a crisis of opiates with fentanyl. It would be a massive net good.
kkielhofner 4y ago
This. I have no judgement and plenty of my own demons (alcohol). That said, the swing in my lifetime on marijuana legalization (as one example) is telling. From “smoke the devil’s lettuce and put your baby in the microwave” to “it’s natural, there are no negatives whatsoever” is very troubling. There is no free lunch and there absolutely are negative effects with all of these substances. Of course alcohol is the reigning champ for damage to society but marijuana, etc is creeping in with much less dramatic fashion.
- tayo42 4y ago
  In what way is that happening?
  - kkielhofner 4y ago
    Cannabis and other popular psychoactive drugs (including alcohol, of course) have impact on everything from the dopamine reward system to fundamental perception. If you take a few shots at 9 AM everyday few people will debate whether you have an alcohol misuse disorder and how problematic it is. Alcohol does it’s job - pumps your reward system and alters your perception of reality. More and more, if you wake up at 9 AM and take a gummy, hit an incredibly high THC vape, etc it’s called medicine. While it won’t kill you and destroy your life as efficiently and ruthlessly as alcohol will I think there are fundamental issues and lasting effects from hacking dopamine rewards and using psychoactive substances to alter your reality. The biggest difference here is how directly toxic alcohol is to the body (liver, brain, heart). Marijuana and others are substantially better from a “your body will physically give out from this” standpoint but that’s a low bar. At one point in my life I was prescribed what I later learned to understand was an incredibly high dose of Klonopin. Drugs that bang on dopamine, GABA, etc are a sledge hammer for “life is suffering” the Buddha talked about. By the way, I‘ve met a lot of people with poly drug addiction issues and they respond to my klonopin experience with shock and amazement. FWIW it’s worth I fairly quickly realized the impact this sledge hammer hack was having on my life and quit it cold turkey. Now I know I could have died from it but I’m happy to be back to reality and process the struggle that is life with a scalpel instead of a sledge hammer.
- 4y ago
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
likeabbas 4y ago
Why do people feel the need to control other people’s substance intake? It’s not your life. If there’s no direct harm to you then it should be none of your business.
- tsimionescu 4y ago
  There's a difference between seeking to control and trying to recommend against. Same as people recommend you eat apples more than you eat chips, and are against portraying chips as healthy, without meaning that they'd want to ban them.
  - likeabbas 4y ago
    I agree there is a difference but the parent above specifically mentioned what is available in stores today as if to say they would be against allowing people to buy whatever drugs they want. Prohibition does not stop usage. It just makes the drugs cut with more harmful substances. I wish people would understand that

sph 4y ago

When I grow older, I would like to follow Ann Shulgin's directions, and have a nice MDMA trip with a loved one, not more often than once a season. Once every couple years maybe. And a yearly shroom tea with friends while camping. Nature and trees are the most beautiful thing I've ever experienced while on mushrooms. It really makes you feel you're part of the ecosystem, and anything artificial sours the experience. Honestly, legal or not, that is my plan. It is sad that I would have to give money to shady people rather than buying it in a store. It's been a decade since my last hallucinogen, and I long for that place outside of myself, outside of the bounds of my senses where you can gaze to the whole of reality, in its entire magnificence.

aqme28 4y ago
Why wait til your older for those experiences? Those are wonderful ways to experience these drugs.
- sph 4y ago
  My life is not in order right now to make the best of those experiences. I'm working on it.
  - dopidopHN 4y ago
    I feel you. More on the tea while camping… I found that a lovely afternoon in the park works too. It’s not the same as being in the woods, but it’s not like I feel like hiking while under the influence either. It’s fun to see other human in the distance, and when it winds down you can just go home walking. Nobody is the wiser, logistically easy.