Posted by Deus_Abscondis on September 8, 2007, at 2:16:35
In reply to LSD never tried it , have you?, posted by SatinDoll on October 21, 2006, at 9:06:05
Yes.
As a psych student I studied altered states of consciousness and have tried a lot of things.
I do not advocate or criticise informed responsible choice to use a substance.
I only wish our culture was advanced enough to provide the supportive environments where informed, screened experimenters can trial substances with the aim to minimise harm.
My advice is this - these are the cardinal rules of any 'recreational' drug use:
1. Learn about what you are proposing to do. The Vaults of Erowid and Alexander Shulgins' writings are a start - google them.
Only when you have read widely including academic journal articles, psych reports - including reports of what can go wrong can you justify taking any drug as far as I'm concerned. It is a cost-benefit analysis that only you can make.
2. You should be stable in yourself with no predominant psychopathologies - depression, anxiety, shizophrenia etc. If you are reasonably
content and happy with yourself then this is
the desired starting point.LSD can be a big roller coaster and it can precipitate latent moods which in healthy people pass after the drug wears off but in people with a predisposition or latent pathology can trigger an episode - you will have read about this and/or talked to people about it. LSD can create flashback experiences - I've only known these to be memory like rather than 'as if I'd taken it'.
LSD experiences can be terrifying and exhilarating within the same trip. You may feel like you are dying or you may feel an amazing oneness with things or both etc. Just be prepared.
In general LSD hallucinations (particularly at low doses) still allow you to know that you have taken something and that somehow you will get back to reality given time. Some other potent hallucinogens produce extreme hallucinations where you don't know the difference between your experience and reality - e.g., you can be talking to someone at one moment and the next walking in a desert alone and either not notice the switch or not care or not be able to have any control over the switch. You may come-to in an ambulance or hospital not knowing how you got there. Generally speaking LSD is not like this.
3. You should only take it with someone (preferably more than one person) you trust who is experienced in using it to act as your trip chaperon.
4. It is advised that you have on hand Valium or Chlorpromazine or similar anti-psychotic in case you freak out or simply want to end the experience faster than letting it run its course.
5. Unless you have access to pharmaceutical grade LSD beware. LSD is not commonly found (it is very hard to synthesise) and often hallucinogenic amphetamines are substituted. You don't know what you are taking if you use street drugs and only trusted experienced users will be able to tell you if it is LSD and how potent it is.
If you have access to pharmaceutical grade LSD I'd recommend you start with a 15-20 micro gram dose.
If you are using street sourced drugs I'd want to see someone else take it first and observe the entire trip and 24 follow-up period and I'd take a half dose.
6. You need to respect drugs - they are gifts.
In native cultures hallucinogens are often considered sacred. Some are not fun but they are still gifts. Fun shouldn't be the aim - a more neutral stance is advised - knowledge is perhaps a better goal.My personal values incline me to recommend that if you take it find a pleasant place in or around nature (but not isolated) where there aren't too many people around and where your trip partner can remove you to safer places. Access to a phone is adviseable.
I know people who have broken these rules and have nearly killed themselves.
If you have access to psilocybe mushrooms, with proven identification, (or pharmaceutical grade psilocin) I'd recommend you try them before LSD. They produce similar visual effects but the duration is shorter. My experience with ecstasy (MDMA) is that you can get similar bodily experiences to LSD but visuals are limited - if any. A significant difference is that MDMA can bring about a profound emotional attachment to people. While LSD can take you there it may not last before you swing off into another experience.
In knowledge there is safety and responsibility.
D
poster:Deus_Abscondis
thread:696491
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/subs/20070626/msgs/781554.html