IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please copy and paste the survey found on line 306 of
this Issue and return it promptly. There are only 3 questions and you'll
be put in a drawing for 5 grams of DXM to be given away on November 20.
This month's contest winners are announced in this Issue and last month's
survey results are also posted. Thank you for your participation!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"DXM is simply the key to unlocking a world that is as dark and mysterious
as the drug itself."
- Anonymous
THE DXM ZINE.
Issue 7. October 1998.
A Symposium of Articles Pertaining to DXM Use
(c)1998 UAF/Gravol Publications
Email at [email protected]
Please visit our IRC channels on EFnet at #High, #Dxm, and #Uaf.
Official Zine Web Site at http://www.alaska.net/~zorak/dxm/.
Official Zine Web Site Mirror at http://www2.1starnet.com/dominion/.
Official #High Web Site at http://www.amvalue.com/~ben/.
Official #Uaf Web Site at http://uaf.lycaeum.org/.
Edited by Gravol, with article contributions by fellow DXMers.
Now over 220 subscribers strong, in 10 countries.
DISCLAIMER: The authors of this zine do not condone the use of
Dextromethorphan in any way. This text is simply used as an informative
guide to issues relating to Dextromethorphan use and should be used
for entertainment purposes only. We are not responsible for any
actions taken by anyone reading this text.
ADVERTISEMENTS: You may now advertise your products or your services
in this section of the zine. Advertising is free for all who are
interested, I just ask that you provide a link on your Web site to
the Zine Web Site at http://www.alaska.net/~zorak/dxm/. The editor
has the sole discretion to edit or remove any advertisements he deems
inappropriate. Send your advertisements to [email protected] with the
word "Advertisement" in the Subject line. Thanks!
---
Hi!
Dxm.net offers shell accounts and complete virtual hosting
solutions through e-systems.net. We are just cool!
Apply today by contacting [email protected] Thank you!
---
Greetz!
The UAF is looking for a few good men and women that can help out
on the zine with artwork, articles, and other related activities.
If you are familiar with the UAF, and have any experience with
ascii art, jpg/gif artwork, coding, or drug-related chemistry, you
are strongly persuaded to email the founder, RESiST0R, for further
information on how you can help out. If you're not familiar with
the UAF, please check out their website at http://uaf.lycaeum.org
or email at [email protected]
The UAF Chemicals & Crime is again back up after a short leave of
absence, and it is released each month along with the DXM Zine. The
zine is presented as an alternative to all those small zines out there
about H/P, drugs and other "taboo" topics. We believe in free speech and
mean no harm by material published.
We hope you will take a part in this exciting organization!
---
Hello!
To subscribe to the DXM Zine, email [email protected] To get back
issues, go to www.alaska.net/~zorak/dxm/ or www2.1starnet.com/dominion/.
Subscribing is safe and easy, and only the editor has access to
the subscriber list. It will never be sold or shared with anyone else,
so subscribe today!
Please note that we no longer take subscriptions from juno.com
because Juno does not allow attached files exceeding 100k to be sent
to its users, so please provide an alternate email address if you fall
into that category.
---
Just in!
Specialized DXM caps and shirts... get your own shirt or cap
with the letters DXM embroidered in it. Any color/size you want.
Shirts also available that say Dextromethorphan, #DXM, or any other
DXM-related logos. You choose what you want!
Very low prices! Act today and trip away with your new apparell.
Email [email protected] for more information!
---
CONTENTS
1 From the Editor - by Gravol
2 Letters to the Editor
3 DXM News - from Internet reports
4 DXM Survey
5 *DXM Breakthrough...Grapefruit Juice and DXM - by Gravol, BlkFury, DexdBob
6 *The New DXM - by various authors
7 *The Living Dead - by Satva
8 *I Should be Dead - by Gravol
9 Hallucinogenic Drugs for Inner Space Exploration - by Donald DeGracia
10*Tripping in Tampa - by Gravol
11*The Time I Ate 60 Coricidins - by Thorazine
12*Life and Death - by Gravol
13*Across the Universe with DXM - by Cliff Alexander
14 Another Moron, Another Moment - by William White
15*Mixing DXM with Hallucinogenic Mushrooms - by Gravol
16*Why Recreational Drugs Have Made the World a Better Place - by Optima
17 The Time I Saw God - by Okey
18*Serotonin Syndrome and Other Conditions - by William White, Gravol
19*DXM and Antidepressants...the Bottom Line - by William White, Gravol
20 Coricidin May Be Deadly - by Robert Golaszewski, Bill the Cat
21*Sigma...A Not-So-Fun Trip - by _Sc0tt_
22 DXM Poetry - by KoFt
23 DXM Site Review - by Gravol
24 Info on Ordering Pure DXM Powder - from compiled information
25 DXM Music and Movie Reviews - by various authors
26 Various DXM Sources (from the PDR for Non-Prescription Drugs)
27 Various DXM Internet Sites
28 Various Trip Reports - from Internet reports
29 Complete Listing of DXM Zine Past Issues
30 Credits/Zine Information
* DXM Zine exclusives
FROM THE EDITOR
by Gravol
Hello and welcome to the October issue of the DXM Zine. I'm not
sure how many of you actually read this section but if you got
this far then congratulations for maintaining an interest in
this publication and promoting the secrecy of DXM and this
zine. We need you for article contributions as well.
As you can see from the Table of Contents, there aren't
as many people as I'd like to see contributing, so I have
to make up for the missing space and write my own articles,
which I do enjoy very much. But we need some fresh ideas
and viewpoints to be published and that can only be done
by you, the subscriber. If I didn't think your ideas would
be interesting then I would never be giving out free powder
DXM in a contest to whoever submits an article and returns
their survey. The odds of winning are much better than
your local lottery, too. And I doubt if you can win DXM
any other way. :)
But I'm not here to bribe you with free DXM (if I gave
it out any other way I'd be breaking the law). The simple
fact is that DXM is growing faster than anyone ever expected
it would. A recent example of this is the fact that just 1 year
ago the #Dxm channel on EFnet IRC had only 4 or 5 people in
it chatting. Now you can't log on without seeing at least 25-35
people in it at all hours of the night. And for people who
have DXM-related questions, it's the best place to go since
you can talk to other users just like yourself. But it's only
a matter of time until you turn on the TV or open up the
newspaper somewhere down the road and start seeing reports
of a large number of cases regarding DXM abuse. It really
is just a matter of time until the whole secret of DXM gets
into the hands of someone who really can publicize it on
a national level, and the Internet is the best source to
read about DXM. Which means thousands of people could one
day read your contribution to the DXM frenzy and you could
be apart of something so big and growing so fast that we
really don't know where it's headed, or what's going to happen
when it gets there.
But one thing is for certain, DXM isn't going away any-
time soon, and neither is this zine. It is growing bigger
each month and there are also more people subscribing to
it as well. All the time. So step out from the crowd and
don't become just another faceless subscriber or enthusiast
and actually submit something that other people can perhaps
learn from. You have total freedom of speech and endless
knowledge at your fingertips, so you should take advantage
of it. Or at the very least submit ideas for articles.
With DXM, the possibilities of article topics are endless,
since DXM is still an enigma to everyone who uses it or finds
out about it to their disbelief that it's been in the drug
store for the past 30 years. But nothing will stay secret
for long with the Internet and we must become responsible
users if we expect it to stay out of the spotlight for now.
With the abuse that's running rampant right now, it is
becoming more and more apparent every day there is a new
drug problem in certain areas. And stores are fed up with
having their stock stolen and in some cases have put the
OTC brands of DXM behind the counter and require proof
of age before purchase. I've seen this done firsthand
in cities of a half-million residents.
To me, this symbolizes everything a Nazi civilization
would do to suppress freedom of experiencing life in every
way, shape, or form possible without infringing on the rights
of others. But it would be a shame for everyone to know
about DXM since the government would take immediate action
to make it almost impossible to find in its pure form,
along with making sale of the powder to unlicensed individuals
or companies a federal crime.
On a different note, you'll find a lot of philosophy in this issue,
not necessarily my own nor ideas that I agree with. I hope you
will not get offended by these viewpoints. They have all
been shaped by DXM and I'm sure you'll agree with some of
them. But keep in mind that you can't prove them or disprove
them... they are simply theories and peoples' opinions.
We've also returned to many more trip stories, and I've
published the most interesting and unique experiences. The
idea is to keep fresh information and ideas flowing at all
time, so I hope you will enjoy this issue and every upcoming
issue.
One final note is the addition of a new website. The old
one, http://www.alaska.net/~zorak/dxm/, is still up and running,
and its mirror site is at http://www2.1starnet.com/dominion/;
you can find Issues 1 thru 6, with this issue appearing there
later. Please access these sites from now on, as these are the
official zine website. Thank you and enjoy!
Gravol
St Augustine, FL
October 4, 1998
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
From [email protected]:
Excellent job on the 'zine; it's the best thing to come along since DXM-
only preparations.
- Art
From [email protected]:
Nice greetings from Germany, and please continue the great zine!
- Christoph
From [email protected]:
Hi Jeff!, Good work on zine 6!
- Steel
From [email protected]:
Thanks for providing me with copies of the recent issues of the DXM Zine.
That's very kind of you! Best regards, God bless!!!
- Adriano
From [email protected]:
I wanna subscribe to the DXM zine. Thanks dude. It kicks ass.
Visit third-plateau.lycaeum.org, they have a cool BBS for us DXMers.
- Rens Dusseldorf
From [email protected]:
Love the DXM Zine - please add me to the subscriber list. Keep up the good
work!
- Rich
DXM NEWS
from Internet reports
"Grapefruit Juice adds important discovery to DXM"
It has been proven that by drinking grapefruit juice, which contains
naringin, the active ingredient which also inhibits the P450 enzyme group
(the same one that is responsible for the metabolism of DXM), you will
increase the effects of the DXM dramatically and keep it in your system
longer, making it amazingly more potent.
While this new breakthrough is remarkable in itself, DXM is not
the only drug grapefruit juice has been known to potentiate. But
until now, no other substance has been known to increase the effects
of DXM by so much, and now with this new discovery, we can again
see how powerful DXM really can be.
Please read the article regarding this breaking story in the
first part of the zine.
"DXM Zine may not appear next month"
The Editor is taking a month off, due to helping his parents in
getting their business off the ground at the local mall, and will
be putting in full-time work there.
If the Zine is released, it will not be anything of comparison
to the size of this issue, but if enough articles are received
by fellow subscribers, Issue 8 may appear at the end of November.
Likewise, the DXM Zine Contest will still take place on November 20,
so I encourage you to send in your surveys and article contributions.
Regardless of whether the Zine is released next month or not,
regular issues are still going to be published again beginning in
December.
"DXM Zine announces contest winners"
Congratulations to JFlock and Jim Rutley, last month's winners
in the new DXM Zine contest. JFlock sent in his survey and was
picked on October 20 to win 5 free grams of DXM HBr powder.
Mr. Rutley contributed an article for Issue 7 and was also
picked on October 20 to win 10 free grams of DXM HBr powder.
The next drawing will be on November 20. Information on contest
rules follows:
The DXM Zine has announced a new drawing in which anyone who sends
in survey results from each the current issue will be put in a drawing
for a 5 gram giveaway of DXM. People who contribute articles or trip
stories will be put in a drawing for a 10 gram giveaway of DXM.
Each month, 15 grams total of DXM HBr will be given away to 2
different subscribers. Hopefully, this will get more people involved
with contributing to the DXM culture and this zine.
"Website changes"
The official website for the DXM Zine is still www.alaska.net/~zorak/dxm/,
and this site has now been updated and includes issues 1 thru 6. However,
there is also a mirror site set up, thanks to BlkFury, and this is at
www2.1starnet.com/dominion/, and this site contains the exact same
contents as the other site, and in addition it has the original three
issues in HTML format which was written by Greendrag.
Last Updated: November 3, 1998
DXM SURVEY
A Survey on DXM Use
Hello and welcome to this month's survey. Please take the time to fill
out the following form and return it to [email protected] with "Survey"
in the subject line. Results will be posted in Issue 8 for this survey.
Also, when you return your survey you are automatically put in a drawing
for a 5 gram giveaway of DXM powder to be drawn in November. Last month's
results are posted at the end of this section.
1. Y/N Have you ever mixed DXM with another hallucinogen in approximately
equal proportions?
2. Y/N Have you ever had adverse physical reactions or other uncommon
side effects after Coricidin Cough & Cold?
3. Y/N Have you ever experienced withdrawal symptoms after abruptly
stopping DXM use? (i.e. nightmares, headaches, depression,
mood swings, etc.)
As you can see, this survey is related to a wide variety of topics...
We are trying to get a general picture of how many people have mixed
DXM with another major hallucinogen such as LSD or psilocybin. By
answering these questions you are in no way stating that you ever
participated in any illegal action, and all responses are immediately
tallied and deleted, with no trace of the sender on my hard drive
or online file cabinets. All confidentiality is guaranteed.
Also, we are trying to get a picture as to how many people have
tried Coricidin and got adverse reactions from the antihistamine
found in it, along with how many users have been physically addicted
to DXM to prove once and for all if DXM is physically addictive
or not. Many of you already know that answer.
Please do your best to answer and return promptly. It would be
appreciated if you could return the survey before reading the actual
Zine so the results can be recorded immediately. The cut-off date
for receiving entries is November 19. Thank you.
Last month's survey results are posted below:
There were 19 participants, or 9% of the total number of subscribers.
68% of those who participated reported unexplainable phenomenon on DXM.
58% of those who participated say they like DXM better than LSD.
58% of those who participated state their principle DXM source as being OTC.
9% of those who said OTC most frequently use Generic store brands.
27% of those who said OTC most frequently use Robitussin.
27% of those who said OTC most frequently use Coricidin.
9% of those who said OTC most frequently use Delsym.
28% of those who said OTC stated another brand of choice.
(Other brands named: Actifed Cough & Cold Dry, Vicks 44,
Boots Tusana Cough Linctus)
37% of those who participated state their principle DXM source as pure powder.
43% of those who said powder say they order from Biotech.
29% of those who said powder say they order from JLF.
29% of those who said powder say they order from another company.
(Other companies named: Wanman, and another undisclosed company)
42% of those who participated say that have tried DXM politirex (Delsym).
5% of those who participated were undecided on a particular question.
These results show that 2/3 of the participants thought a paranormal
experience had occurred. Since this can really only be left up to the
actual person who experienced it to decide if it was truly paranormal,
not much can be said of these results. However, just over half of the
participants claimed to like DXM better than LSD. And the same number
also said they buy DXM in the OTC form, rather than pure. Robitussin
and Coricidin Cough & Cold tied for the two major store brands, but
a lot of other brands were being used as well.
Of those who buy pure powder, Biotech was the clear choice to
buy from. And under half of the participants claim to have tried
time-release DXM in the form of Delsym.
Thank you to all who participated in this survey, and I hope more
of you will participate in this month's survey.
DXM BREAKTHROUGH...GRAPEFRUIT JUICE AND DXM
by Gravol, BlkFury, DexdBob
A new breakthrough has been discovered regarding the potency of
DXM and grapefruit juice. If you read on, you will soon learn how
amazing this discovery works and why it works the way it does. The
first part of this article is taken from the Web:
"If you start out the day with a glass of grapefruit juice, you may
inadvertently be magnifying the effects of certain drugs. According to
reports that have trickled in over the past few years, a combination of
compounds in grapefruit can keep certain drugs in circulation longer by
preventing them from being fully metabolized.
Grapefruit juice is thought to work by inhibiting an enzyme called
cytochrome P4503A4 (the same enzyme responsible for the metabolism of
DXM hydrobromide), one of a family of enzymes that break down
drugs as they pass through the liver. CYP3A4 is instrumental in the
metabolism of the calcium-channel blockers nifedipine, felodipine,
nitrendipine, and nisoldipine, as well as cyclosporine, an antirejection
drug taken by people who have had organ transplants. It also appears to
interfere with CYP1A2, the enzyme that breaks down caffeine. As a
result, the morning cup of coffee may pack a greater wallop.
Although the compounds responsible for this effect haven't been firmly
identified, some scientists have speculated that it might be the
bioflavonoid naringin, which gives grapefruit its characteristic bitter
taste. Other suspects include quercetin and kaempferol. This triple
combination appears to be unique to grapefruits, although tangerines,
lemons, beans, and peas contain one or two of the compounds.
Pharmacologists are exploring the use of grapefruit juice in combination
with the drugs it potentiates. In a few physiologic studies, it has
increased the levels of calcium-channel blockers in patients' blood, but
in an unpredictable fashion. Someday, doctors may prescribe lower doses
of drugs to be taken with grapefruit juice. Today, however, if you're a
grapefruit juice drinker and taking a calcium-channel blocker, you might
want to discuss the matter with your doctor."
Now, below, is a trip report from BlkFury, who drank grapefruit juice
along with 900mg of DXM:
"After hearing about grapefruit juice and DXM, I decided to do it. Last
time I tripped, I decided I was going to drink mass quantities of grapefruit
juice just to see if/how it affected the DXM trip. Here is the report of how
it went.
That morning, I woke up and had a bowl of cereal and a glass of grapefruit
juice. Typical breakfast, only this time with grapefruit juice.
My day went pretty much as it usually does... Didn't have grapefruit juice
available for lunch, so I had a medium cola. The meal, all-in-all, was also
fairly small.
Got home around 4:00 that day. Instantly started drinking more of that
juice with a kick. I drank probably around 1 - 2 glasses an hour until about
8:00. Had a small meal for supper at around 6:00, too, by the way. Then, I
started drinking a bit of water, because I was running low on the juice. At
around 10:00 - 10:30, I started taking the dex in coricidin form, 32 in
total. To get technical, they were taken in pairs of two at the rate of
about 2 / 30 seconds. The pills were also drank with milk, as I find milk
the best way to take the pills because of its thickness. Also had 1/2 glass
of juice about 10 minutes before taking the pills.
Every 10 - 15 minutes afterward, I drank 1/2 glass of grapefruit juice,
leading to a total of about 4 glasses an hour. At around 11:30, I started to
feel the effects of the DXM kicking in. Basically, it was a hyper type of
mood; really talkative, just wanting to do something. This is typical of
most of my DXM trips.
Two hours or so into the trip, things started getting really weird. I
started talking about just plain stupid things on IRC. The trip was slowly
getting stronger and stronger. Closed eye visuals were becoming more and
more common, soon open eye visuals started occuring. Soon, as time slowly
ticked away, I found it very hard to read my monitor. It wasn't really the
fact of not being able to read, it was more or less forgetting I was even
on IRC.
I started talking less and less on IRC. I just couldn't understand what
people were saying, and what I did understand, I didn't feel like giving
much thought to. The effects of the DXM were hitting me like a freight
train. I constantly found my room flipping around. I was never sitting in
my chair on the floor, anymore. I was either on a wall or on the ceiling,
always looking a distance into my seemingly far-away monitor. I always
had this feeling of certain objects being near me, either people, trees,
chairs, books, or whatever, which never really were there. I was slowly
moved into this other world where nothing really matters. I found myself
also always talking mentally to this 'entity' which was in my room, which
I have done on previous DXM trips.
I went to bed, eventually, although not able to sleep. I just laid there,
simply getting lost in dreams. I would come back to the real world every
so often, usually the need to go to the bathroom. Every time I got up to
go, the room was FILLED with colors, shapes, and designs. It was all in
perfect geometrical shape, always moving, always twisting. While walking
through the dark kitchen, I saw several things that weren't really there,
and I usually stepped past them, trying not to touch it, because I wasn't
sure if it was actually real or not.
The trip ended sometime that night, but the afterglow continued on
through the next day. The grapefruit juice definately did a number on me.
This trip felt much like it did when I did 1.3g. The trip had this new
'quality' to it that I can't come near explaining. It was this really
odd feeling that I've never felt before. Grapefruit juice is a must now
every time I take DXM. Although not sure chemically how it does it, I
know it does it."
Now, with all that in mind, we can begin to see how greatly DXM is
affected by grapefruit juice. The following information was released
on the #DXM EFnet channel during a special DXM Conference regarding
grapefruit juice:
It has been known to scientists for a while now that the chemical in
grapefruit juice, naringin, potentiates the effects of certain drugs.
In fact, it was just recently discovered that the same enzyme group that
metabolizes DXM is also inhibited by grapefruit juice, thus altering the
metabolism of DXM and making it stay in your system longer...
What effects occur if you drink a half gallon of GFJ with about
500-600mg of DXM? It has been noted in TRIAL reports that tolerance
goes away, there is an increase in CEVs and OEVs (an extreme increase),
and there is a different mentality that occurs which makes it seem like
you're tripping for the first time again...
This is no joke. Everyone who has tried GFJ with DXM will swear by it.
I was skeptical at first, too, until I actually tried it. And all I can
say is WOW. But be warned, large doses of DXM and GFJ can lead to toxic
levels of DXM in the bloodstream (it is already proven that large amounts
of GFJ and Seldane can be fatal).
If you need further proof, go out and buy a gallon of grapefruit juice
and drink a quarter of it with about 500mg and you will SEE and FEEL a
dramatic change! I assure you!
Direct evidence taken from the Australia Pharmaceutical Society
(http://www.psa.org.au/qld/grapefruit.htm):
"Grapefruit (juice or fruit) may increase the blood concentrations of
some drugs several fold, causing clinically significant interactions.
Drugs affected include those which are extensively metabolised and have
low availability due to first pass metabolism. Grapefruit should be
avoided in patients taking the following medicines: calcium channel
antagonists, cyclosporin, midazolam, terfenadine, triazolam, etc.
"The duration of the effect of grapefruit is thought to be about
10 hours, therefore grapefruit taken in the morning may interact
with medicines taken at midday or in the evening. It appears that
components of grapefruit juice, called flavinoids, inhibit the
pre-systemic metabolism of some drugs. Grapefruit juice has been
shown to inhibit the activity of cytochrome enzymes (3A and 1A) and
the interaction is thought to occur within the gut wall at the time of
absorption."
DexdBob's Grapefruit Juice Experience (750mg + GFJ):
It started one Friday night when I got home with a big can of grapefruit
juice from the store. I pilled my dosage levels (pure) and got ready to
trip (750mg). Around 10:30pm I decided to break out the grapefruit juice
and have a glass of it. Then, 20 minutes later I swallowed the pills using
grapefruit juice as a chaser. After that I had another large glass of
grapefruit juice and set a glass on my desk that swigged at it every
10 minutes or so.
I began to feel the effects in about an hour. About 30 minutes after
that I began to realize that this was hitting me head on. Typing on the
computer seemed like a chore, so I loaded up my flasher program on the
computer, and laid down on my bed with headphones n' trippy music.
I laid there and closed my eyes. I was amazed of the amount of CEVs I
was getting. I would constantly start out in my room, and begin to spin
around the room, get going faster and faster and break out my room
(like crashing through a wall) and float out into space. My surroundings
were GONE.
During the peak I was on some sort of craft (probably a very soft and
spongy craft, ie my bed) that sped through dimensions or something,
passing by lots of stuff that happened in my life that when I think
about its way too complicated to put into words. Also, the feeling you
get while seeing this stuff is more "out of body" vs. DXM with no
grapefruit juice.
When that ended, I laid there, feeling something totally different than
my earlier DXM trips, I felt more enriched, excited, like I had discovered
a whole new door to DXM. Everything was different about this trip.
the messed-up intoxicated feeling of DXM, the visuals, even the ringing
in my ears was different.
I got up to my computer and stared at IRC, and got conversations going.
While I stared at the screen typing,
I noticed that the screen kept getting more and more "messed up"
visually. It got blurrier and more delayed
and slanted until I refocused my eyes, and it all went away. I checked
the time on the computer clock, It was
only 1:30 am, it felt like at least 5 hours have passed.
I continued typing on IRC, and noticed how bright the monitor was,
almost burning my eyes and I didn�t even realize it. I dimmed it way
down to a comfortable level, and continued typing. Now suddenly it felt
like my computer and I were floating together, and flying sideways at
the same speed, I was still seeing the chattering on IRC. And suddenly
the computer and I shifted forward and I saw OEVs going around me, they
looked similar to Quake II-type computer games, textured walls, red sky,
hills, pits of lava, ect. Sort of like I was playing Quake-II on my computer
at the time but the game was all around me except on the monitor.
Then the computer and I started going down into some green tunnel
and it ended from there, I was back in my room, still typing on IRC.
The time came around 3am by now and I decided I should goto sleep. I
laid in my bed and tried to keep my mind clear, so I could fall asleep.
This was indeed very very difficult, but I eventually fell asleep and
woke up 6 hours later, still tripping on the DXM as if I took some just
a few hours before. The day was pretty laid back.
It is now Sunday afternoon I am typing this, and I am still feeling the
effects of DXM in my mind and body. This trip was defiantly an experience
I will remember, and I will defiantly do again. Grapefruit juice really
opened another door to DXM for me, it was like discovering it all over
again. Its crazy to think that grapefruit juice can actually do something
like this.
Finally, I would like to add my own experience with grapefruit juice for
you all to read:
I began taking Coricidin, 3 at first, then 2 more every fifteen
minutes until I had 21 inside me, each time downing them with gulps
of grapefruit juice. Pretty soon, things started to get really strange.
I'm talking about fullblown OEVs (Open Eye Visuals)... the walls were
making funny patterns and everything looked as if I was on acid. And
when I closed my eyes, I saw more CEVs than I ever have before. So
basically what I'm saying is grapefruit juice is also the way to
induce CEVs! It's guaranteed!
Going on with my experience, things became so intense that I really
have no memory of what even occurred next, only that I was more high
than I had ever been, and a lot of the old effects of the DXM (from the
early days of use) were brought back and I was again that little child
experimenting with something so strong and overwhelming that all I
could do was lay there and absorb all the information.
It literally floored me.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, I am again emphasizing this important discovery, thanking
BlkFury in pointing it out to me, and I am glad I finally had the opportunity
to test it out for myself, because now I am too a believer of grapefruit
juice. There is NO doubt in my mind that grapefruit juice is the BONAFIDE
way to induce CEVs and make your trip twice as potent. This discovery,
is by all means as amazing as the discovery of DXM itself. I, personally,
also noticed a complete obliteration of all DXM tolerance and even the
afterglow was more intense. It was like tripping on DXM for the first time
again, and everyone I told that tried it themselves agreed. I hope you will
try it and see what I'm talking about, as most people don't know yet
how groundbreaking this is.
[Editor's note: NaCl, or table salt, has also been shown to increase
CEVs slightly, but nothing to the magnitude of grapefruit juice. I encourage
everyone to try it and send in trip reports concerning the results of your
experimentation.]
THE NEW DXM
by various authors
Suddenly, out of the darkness, a new DXM emerges. What is this
new DXM? It is Dextromethorphan hydrobromide. Yep... the same stuff
as before. But why is it suddenly crystalized? That, and more
questions, will be answered in a future issue by the man behind
Biotech itself, Adriano.
But in the meantime, we can only speculate as to the difference
between the crystalline DXM HBr and the baking-soda-like-powder
that WANMAN once sold.
One user, Diamond, said "Biotech's DXM gives more of a body buzz...
more intense body feelings, and you can take shitloads of it and not
get the kind of dumb confused feeling I always got on Wanman's.
For instance, I can take like 1.2 grams of Biotech's DXM, and be
able to go to other places in my mind, but when I snap myself out
of the "trance" I still have a clear mind. I can talk better and
walk better. I took 1.2g last night and I coulda ran a marathon.
It's not the loss of body movement as much as other DXMs because of the
form of the DXM, one type is converted more into DXO than DXM, thus the
difference in highs. I'm not sure which would be the more DXO:DXM and
the one that would be the more DXM:DXM but thats the only thing I can
think of."
Psyclobe also reported this difference. And as we can see, many
other people have come to me stating this subtle change in the
DXM they've been ordering.
I guess we'll just have to wait for an answer.
THE LIVING DEAD
by Satva
I recently interviewed a fellow psychonaut by the name of Satva, who
reported to me what appeared to be the occurrence of the "living dead"
while he was on DXM. If you think this is startling, read on... (it
should be noted that my computer started acting funny while I was
editing this file):
Gravol: Describe the people that you see when you are under the influence
of DXM.
Satva: I don't really know how to explain them. Usually it is people I have
never seen before. Ocassionally though, it has been people I have
known. Alot of the time, it is just a feeling I get too. As if
somoene was in the room with me. When in reality, I am all alone.
Gravol: How do you know if the people are living, or if they are dead? Do
they appear to be real people or are they imaginary people?
Satva: At the time I see them they appear to be real. It is later when
I am talking with someone and find out that no one else was around.
Also, I really sometimes believed that they were "the walking dead"
but then, I dont know how I would explain the people I knew and
hallucinated.
Gravol: When did this first occur, and does it occur everytime you trip on
DXM?
Satva: It first occured a few months ago.. I guess... and it has been
happeneing ever since. Lately though, the last few times i did DXM..
I just got that feeling. I didnt actually see anyone.
Gravol: Does this phenomenon ever occur while you're not under the influence
of DXM, or during afterglow?
Satva: No, It has never happened while I was sober. Although, it has
happened a few times while coming down from DXM. Not sure if this
was totally "afterglow" or not.
Gravol: Have you ever tried to communicate with these "people," or have
they tried to communicate with you?
Satva: I have had full conversations with them. I cannot remember any of
them though. I know that I have thought I was at work a few times,
and had conversations with what I thought to be co-workers and
customers. Which is really weird, because I have only had these
experiences after I had quit the job I was currently working at.
Gravol: Do these people occur as CEVs or OEVs?
Satva: I am not sure. I think both, because I remember looking around
the room at my friends house a few times. I also remember being
in a weird place that I had never been to before.
Gravol: What other CEVs/OEVs do you get and are they as common as the people?
Satva: I dont really get CEVs anymore, and I have never really had much for
an OEV. The most common ones though are patterns moving, etc. Also..
I tend to get alot of audio distortion when Im on DXM. Which I can't
control.. Its like noises inside my head.. as if I had headphones on.
Gravol: What emotions do you get when you witness these apparitions? What do
they appear to be doing when you see them? How old do they appear to
be?
Satva: They appear to be of all ages. I can't firmly remember any of them
doing much. Although.. one time I was tripping at a friends house,
and I saw a Chinese family sleeping in his bed. I asked him about
it in the morning and he said "what are you talking about?"
Gravol: Have you witnessed this phenonemon on any other drug, or just on DXM?
Satva: I have only had this type of experience on DXM. I have saw shit on
LSD though.. such as cop cars, helicoptors, etc.. but I have a
theory for that. I think it is just what I was thinking about at
the time.. and it became more and more intense, which made me think
about it more.. and eventually it appeared to be real.
Gravol: Does this happen every time you trip or just once in a while? Please
state how often this occurs.
Satva: It has happened quite often lately. Although, im not doing DXM as
much. When I was though, it happened about every trip. Usually, it
was just a feeling, but sometimes I actually saw people.
Gravol: Are you currently taking any other medication, or have you been
diagnosed with any kind of mental condition?
Satva: NO. I think DXM has made me a little bit paranoid, delusional,
and obsessive compulsive. All these disorders seem to go away
after not doing DXM for a couple weeks. Who knows? Maybe I'm just
insane.
Once again, we have gotten a glimpse into the madness of DXM. And I thank
Satva for cooperating with me for this interview.
I SHOULD BE DEAD
by Gravol
It was one of the most intense experiences of my life. To make a
long story short, I should be dead. From a near-fatal drug interaction
involving DXM. Plain and simple. And to really understand what
happened, you'd have to look back at the events that led up to that
fateful Monday night.
Sunny Sunday
It started out as any other Sunday morning would, only this was
to be the day I first tried Dexedrine, also known as dextroamphetamine
(no relation to dextromethorphan). I crushed up the time release
capsules and started doing lines about 11am, and then went to work
for my parents.
The initial effects weren't that strong, so I kept doing line
after line, considering that most anything you'd snort would take
effect immediately. Each line got me slightly higher, but somehow
that wasn't enough. So I started popping the regular 5mg tablets
that I had... these made me feel a little more disoriented when
they kicked in, and combined quite nicely with the effects of
the crushed Dexedrine that I snorted.
Morning turned into afternoon, and after that time just flew.
And I found myself going back for line after line, not caring about
the consequences because it just felt so good to get that rush
after inhaling a line. However, by 6pm or so, I was starting to
feel like I was coming down and no longer had that full burst
of energy that I had all afternoon. So I stopped doing lines and
got on the computer, and with no appetite and a throat infection
(bronchitis I later found out) I started noticing that the speedy
effects were getting stronger and stronger. Before I knew it
there was no turning back... I was speeding so hard that my
fingers could barely keep up with my flow of thoughts. And when
I wasn't typing, my mind constantly rambled off thoughts of
everything from existance to philosophy to life itself.
Not realizing that the high would last 12 hours and that I
took more than I should have (especially for the first time)
I stayed surprisingly calm (Dexedrine doesn't make you paranoid
like methamphetamine can) but speeded my ass off to the point that
before I knew it, the clock read 6am and my heart was still beating
just as fast as before. I remembered the lyrics to a song...
"My heart was beating fast, and I was dreaming of the past,"
and instantly thought of what DXM must be like combined with
this weird drug. And why I call it weird is because everytime
I looked at the screen it would set off a constant barrage of
colorful hallucinations of shapes and lights... nothing full
blown, more like flashes. And everytime I'd close my eyes or
blink I'd see a flash of bright green. Something I had never
experienced with meth before, or any other stimulant. But
those hallucinations would later come back to haunt me.
Monday Mourning
But as the night turned into day I soon forgot about DXM
altogether until I was getting out of the shower around 10am.
At this point I realized I had gotten absolutely no sleep the
night before and I was beginning to experience DXM withdrawal
symptoms... especially a massive headache that plagued me
all morning, so I went back to my Dexedrine supply and snorted
3 more lines, this time playing it safe, and just as quick
as the powder from the first line went up my nose the
headache mysteriously vanished. And I'm convinced it was
a headache due to DXM withdrawal.
So now I had yet another reason to forget about DXM...
and I did, for awhile. You see, I didn't mean to take the
3 lines because I didn't find out until afterwards how long
dextroamphetamine can last... and I realized that I was fucked
for yet another day. And to make matters worse, my throat infection
was getting more annoying by the minute. So I hopped online and
asked someone on IRC about what would happen if I mixed DXM with
Dexedrine, because I desperately wanted to get some relief for
my throat, and if I was going to fork out the money for a bottle
of Robitussin, I was probably going to do the entire thing. The
individual told me he had mixed DXM with amphetamines in the past
but suggested I check out the FAQ by William White. I did, and to
my disappointment I found the following regarding their mixture:
"This is probably asking for high blood pressure problems, strokes,
brain hemorrhages, and the like. While a few people enjoy this
combination, most find it unpleasantly speedy anyway. Most who've
tried it reported that DXM will potentiate other stimulants. Since
DXM inhibits dopamine reuptake, combining it with a dopamine releasing
agent (amphetamine or methamphetamine) will naturally produce a
combined, synergistic effect. I'd suggesting avoiding this at all
costs."
So I went back to IRC and pasted the excerpt to the individual
and I was told that William White was just covering his ass by
saying this, and again he reassured me that he had mixed the
two before with no ill effects. So I decided to say fuck it...
the effects from the Dexedrine were seeming to become less and
less anyway. So I drove down to the local Publix and bought a 4oz
bottle of Robitussin Maximum Strength Cough.
Once back, I guzzled about a third of it and put it away
for a while. I got back on the computer and was soon greeted
by a nice, mellow buzz. It put a weird twist on the speed buzz
and the hallucinations were wild. Almost like hallucinations
experienced on diphenhydramine (the "jelly mold layer" over
everything). Now my parents wanted me back to work, so feeling
pretty safe and confident I downed the middle third of the
bottle. I never had such ease downing the syrup... the taste
didn't seem to bother me. I went out in the garage and worked
a little while longer, sitting in a daze most of the time
I was in there...
The effects were growing stronger, and my mom inadvertently
offered me a glass of wine. I took it. I also noticed just
as quickly that time went from real fast to real slow... but
I was still feeling speedy. But for some reason this didn't
seem to bother me as I went back in and sat down to a tiny
bit of spaghetti and an icecold beer. But before I ate the
spaghetti I decided to be a man and down the last third
of the Robitussin bottle... This was truly the point of no
return.
I came back to the table but had already lost my appetite
so I put the beer back in the fridge, rinsed off the plate
and headed back to my room. My parents had company in the
garage (our workroom) at this time, so I decided I'd be
perfectly snug in there chatting on the computer.
Then, suddenly, it happened. As I was sitting in my chair
typing, I realized that my consciousness seemed to shift im-
mediately backwards and I was seeing the computer from the
viewpoint of the back of my head... not from my eyes. I could
also view what was on my other side at seemingly the same
time and as I suddenly began to try to shift around in my chair
I noticed that the room looked oddly distorted... like
how it would look on a high dose of LSD or in a funhouse.
But this was anything but fun. It was sheer terror as
I realized something was about to happen... something
big... possibly heart attack, stroke, some kind of adverse
reaction... and the only words that came to mind were
simply "Ohhh SHIT!"
Suddenly I was back at my original viewpoint of sight,
my eyes, but the room still looked distorted, my chest
was hurting and nearly every part of my body began aching
simulteaneously. I found breathing to be something of
a struggle and likewise my head seemed to be somewhat
detached with the exception of pressure around my eyeballs,
and by this time I was trying to hang on for dear life...
I scrambled on the keyboard, cold and clammy hands,
trying to get peoples' attention in the chatroom I was
at... which happened to be #DXM on EFnet.
Several people came to my aide and tried calming
me down, but in my eyes the world was anything but calm...
it was coming apart, and I was about to die.
Then instantly, just as I was noticing how the letters
on the monitor turned into what looked like stitches on a
piece of white fabric, my left hand went numb and lifeless.
I grabbed it with what feeling I still had with my right
hand and rubbed it. I seemed to be going in and out of
a state which would no doubt involve the shut down of
my organs and the loss of my life.
And the DXM made all my fears come to light. Paranoia
was no longer something that could be brushed aside and
blamed on DXM. I KNEW I was about to go into some sort
of cardiac arrest or coma so I started breathing as heavily
as possible and hugged my knees to my chest... time was
growing shorter, and now my legs were becoming numb.
Then just as there was a momentary lapse of pain,
it all hit me again... what seemed like a million pin
pricks all over my chest and stomach and I remember
throwing the headphones off of my head (my head was very
sensitive to anything that touched it) and glancing
down at the floor, it seemed to slither back into a
nightmarish display of frightening distortions, so
I looked away and kept blinking my eyes and just
held myself between typing on the keyboard and asking
for help. I knew if this got any worse I would surely
be calling 911. And furthermore I wasn't even sure if
all the DXM had fully absorbed yet so I panicked even
worse and fell back into the chair and it hit me again,
this time causing a large purple dot to flash across
my plane of vision and I became more frightened and
more frightened as the sensation of my hand kept going
in and out, along with coughing up mouthfuls of phlegm
and mucuous from my irritated lungs and experiencing
needle-sharp pains hitting me all over. I knew I was
totally in the hands of the DXM, and if any more was going
to kick in, I was surely doomed.
A Living Example
I knew the only thing I had on my side was Time. And time
went very slowly, but steadily. And after what seemed like
hours writhing around in my chair and trying to remain
conscious I made it to the bathroom (after I felt that I
could stand) and stuck my mouth under the faucet and drank
as much water as I could swallow. I must have stayed there
for about 10 minutes, then splashed water on my face and
made it back to my room.
Once there, I collapsed back into the chair and started
freaking out online with paranoid rants and delusions brought
on by the DXM and as I switched windows on the monitor I
couldn't even look up because the bright white of the
screen turned into the texture of a blanket, and I could
actually see individual fibers protruding from the screen.
And then the other hallucinations would start bombarding me
from all sides and I prayed and prayed to be taken out of this
living hell and to survive...
And survive I did. But barely. After what seemed like
an hour or two the DXM's effects started to subside (if
I wouldn't have drank the bottle in thirds, it would have
hit me all at once, twice as intense as it did) and
slowly but surely I regained control of my body and most
sensation, but slight hallucinations remained of colors
and lights and I could still feel sharp pains inside my
stomach which felt like pure agony.
But I was lucky... because eventually, by 4am, I had
come down enough to try to sleep. And this whole nightmare
happened somewhere between 9 and 11 o'clock.
To this day I still can't believe how close I came to
actual permanent brain damage or cardiac arrest, if not
death itself. By sheer coincidence I had just wrote a
paper that very same morning on how good drugs can be
if they are used responsibly. But I didn't heed the warnings
and I almost lost my life because of it. It was so painful
and scary that I don't even want to remember it anymore,
nor did I tell anyone close to me about it. I just thanked
a higher power, and prayed I didn't get any permanent
damage out of this episode of pure stupidity and ignorance.
I was certain that I was about to become the third DXM
fatality.
Like I said, I should really be dead.
Background Information
Amphetamine was first synthesized in 1887. However, it was almost 30
years later that it was first used for medical purposes. Due to its
ability to dilate small 'air sacs' in the lungs it was sold as inhaler
for asthmatics, but was widely abused. During the '30s and '40s
recreational amphetamine use took off. Some people finding it the ideal
drug to make their lives easier to manage during times of depression and
war.
During the Second World War large amounts of amphetamines (72 million
tablets) were given to soldiers to keep them alert and awake. Even
Hitler took daily amphetamine injections.
Until 1956 many amphetamine-based substances were easily and legally
available over-the-counter. After 1956 it was available only as a
prescription drug. This continued until 1964 when the Drugs Act made
possession of amphetamine without a presecription illegal.
Due to its energy boosting and active nature it has been used by many
(mainly youth) subcultures. The '60s Mods used it partly in reaction to
the passive dope smoking hippy movement. Recently it has had somewhat of
a revival due to its use in raves and clubs.
[Editor's note: In no way do I recommend stimulant abuse to anyone,
and I hope most subscribers will heed the warnings as to how dangerous
these substances can be.]
HALLUCINOGENIC DRUGS FOR INNER SPACE EXPLORATION, PART TWO
by Donald DeGracia
The following is Part Two of an article that appeared in Issue 6.
It covers many theories and viewpoints concerning the astral dimensions
as related to hallucinogenic drug use. Since DXM is tied to the
paranormal, I felt it was important to include this article.
Occult Explanations Of Hallucinogenic Effects
Now occultists have a much different world-view than scientists, but as
a world-view it is no less complex. For our purposes here what we must
realize is that occultism teaches the opposite of science and that is
that our consciousness is independent from our body. According to
occultists, our body (and therefore our brain as well) is but a
temporary vehicle that houses our consciousness in the span of our life
in the physical world. Occultism also teaches that there are worlds
other than the physical and these worlds are called "planes". Only four
of these planes are significant to humans. These are the physical,
astral, mental and buddhic planes. According to occultists we also have
vehicles or bodies for each of these planes. Thus each of us has an
astral body and mental body and a buddhic body.
It is by this theory that occultism explains the plain facts of our
lives. Occultism teaches that our emotions are our astral body, that our
mind is our mental body, and that our soul or conscience is our buddhic
body. Thus, right from the start, occultism does not bother with the
idea that our physical body creates our mind, emotions or soul (and this
idea of "soul" incidentally, is something science likes to deny).
Instead, occultism claims that all of these vehicles overlap and
interact and create our life and experience as we know and understand
it.
Now it is not my intention here to judge occult theory, or the validity
of these ideas. To an explorer of inner space (especially one who
frequently experiences out-of-body states) this theory is perfectly
obvious. For someone with no comprehension of inner realities or
experiences with altered states of consciousness, all I can say is, this
article is not for you. Go read Carl Sagan or something.
To return to the point, occult theories detail very carefully the manner
in which all the vehicles interact. The interaction of the vehicles is
explained by the theory of the chakras. The chakras are seven (or a
couple more depending on the scope of the occult theory) vortex like
depressions in the astral, mental and buddhic bodies that serve as
energy channels between the bodies. The chakras are energy processing
centers that hold the bodies together and unify mind, body, emotion and
soul into the one framework of our direct experience. Any meditators out
there probably have had direct experiences with their chakras. As it
turns out, the location of the chakras in our other bodies, line up in a
line with the spine of our physical body and they are located wherever
there is a nerve plexus in our physical body.
Furthermore, occultism teaches that there is an intimate feedback and
interplay between all of the bodies, and this feedback is effected
through the chakras. Our physical body also has chakras, but these are
invisible to our physical senses of sight, sound, taste, touch and
hearing. Our physical chakras are made of a type of radiation that is
invisible to our sense (this radiation is called "etheric matter" by
occultists), but they exist nonetheless, and serve as the bridge between
our nervous system and our astral, mental and buddhic bodies.
Chakra theory is very complex. Each chakra serves a variety of specific
functions. These I will only briefly outline here to the extent that it
is relevent to our discussion of hallucinogenic drugs. Here is a list of
the chakras by their common name (the Hindu names can be found in any
worthwhile yoga book). These will be listed from the bottom of the spine
up to the top of the spine, along with the corresponding body locations:
o Root chakra - between the legs;
o Navel chakra - at the waste;
o Spleen chakra - over the navel;
o Heart chakra - over the heart;
o Throat chakra - over the throat;
o Third eye chakra - over the forehead;
o Crown chakra - top of head;
So as not to keep the reader in suspense, the reason I am going into
some detail about chakra theory is that we shall see that it explains
much clearer than science does what happens when under the influence of
hallucinogenic drugs. Now to go into this we need some understanding of
the functions of the chakras. These are listed briefly as:
o Root - sex energy, libido;
o Navel - excretion (kidneys, liver), sensation in general;
o Spleen - digestion, energy input, ability to dream;
o Heart - circulation, empathy;
o Throat - communication, speech, hearing, clairaudience;
o Third-eye - sight, cognition, clairvoyance;
o Crown - brain, thought, spirituality;
What the reader will notice about this list is that each chakra has not
only physical functions or organs associated with it, but as well
subjective and psychological functions associated with it. It is by
means of this theory that occultism explains the relationship between
mind and body and soul. All of these factors are interconnected through
the operation of the chakras. Even though it may seem that we are
getting unnecessarily complex here, we are actually building a very
powerful theoretical framework of how a human is built and operates.
Already at this point we have related biological and psychological
functions in one coherent theory. Science, with its reductionistic
mentality can offer us no equivalent counterpart. Science, as mentioned
above, cannot offer any detailed understanding of how the subjective and
objective facets of our life interrelate. Chakra theory, and occultism
in general, does indeed offer this understanding. And what I shall now
illustrate is that occultism does not contradict or clash with science
in any way. Instead, it offers us an expanded viewpoint that integrates
the facts known to modern science into a larger view of our total
experience as human beings.
So with this minimal picture of occult theory in mind, let us return to
the issue of hallucinogenic drugs. Using occult theory, what we can say
is that hallucinogenic drugs severely affect the behavior of the
chakras. All of the subjective effects listed earlier in this article
can be accounted for as effects of hyperactivity in definite chakras:
o Thus, visual hallucinations are in actuality the stimulation of the
third eye chakra, leading to some degree of clairvoyance, which is the
perception of the adjacent planes.
o Audio hallucinations are the stimulating of the throat chakra to
hyper activity. In this case, one begins to hear on, for example, the
astral plane.
o The mixing of sensory modalities is an effect of the crown chakra,
which is the site of integration, not only of sensory perception, but
astral perception (emotions), and mental perception (thinking). Thus, at
the point of integration (crown chakra) all separate modalities are
blended into a unified consciousness. This effect is enhanced under
hallucinogenics. And the hallucinogenic effect is even more pronounced
because of the fact that we rarely recognize this integration to begin
with. It is there all along but we don't see, and when the drug
stimulates the crown chakra and we are forced to look at this
integration of the modalities of our consciousness, it seems surprising
to us.
o The weakening of ego boundaries is again an effect of increasing the
activity of the crown chakra. In this case, it is not so much that the
ego is loosened but that the ego is seen in its proper perspective in
the totality of our organization as a human being. Again, this is an
effect of the integration function of the crown chakra. The ego (which
effectively is our personal identity) is but one facet of our being. In
our day to day life however, we tend to over emphasize our ego at the
expense of other facets of our being. Again, of the crown chakra. In
this case, it is not so much that the ego is loosened but that the ego
is seen in.
o Enhanced ability to think abstractly. What is happening here is that
the hallucinogen triggers off such an enormous increase in libido energy
(which will be discussed below) that our mind is capable of perceiving a
much vaster range of the mental plane. This effectively translates into
broader, more sweeping and more abstract thoughts.
o The uncontrollable urge to laugh is a classic phenomena indicating
enhanced chakra activity. Laughter is a release of tension. Increasing
the activity of chakras is also a release of tension. The increased
chakra motion effectively burns up the extra energy. An experienced LSD
user is unlikely to have this laughter effect, only a novice who is not
used to the sensations of enhanced chakras would express these
sensations by uncontrollable laughter. This is very similar to how
people laugh when they are nervous or cry when they are very happy.
However, on the hallucinogen, the effect is greatly increased.
o The enhanced empathic ability is mainly a function of the hyper
stimulation of the heart chakra. Our whole ability to be sensitive to
the emotions displayed by others resides in the heart chakra. The
hallucinogenic stimulates the heart chakra, so it is no surprises that a
typical hallucinogenic user is more sensitive to the feelings and
attitudes of others.
o Inability to maintain focus or concentration for long periods. Here
we run into a situation that is probably more a function of the brain
than of the chakra system. It should be pointed out that experienced
hallucinogenic users will report that this effect only lasts for a small
percentage of the time that the drug effects are occurring. Probably
what we are seeing here is the maximum effect of the actual chemical in
the physical body in which there is a maximum disruption of the normal
function of the neurons in the brain. Again, this effect is short lived
(usually about 30-60 minute). And often it seems that this effect is a
prelude to the effect of thinking abstractly. It appears that we are
dealing with distinct phases of the drug experience here and with effect
number 5, again, with number 8 here preceding number 5.
o Feelings of extreme joy. This effect is literally the opposite of
effect 10: feelings of extreme terror and/or depression. What he have
here is an amplification of ones normal state of mind by the enhanced
libido of the drug. Whatever the user is feeling becomes greatly
magnified, so reports of extreme emotional states are common. Also,
since emotion is generally a function of the concerted (simultaneous)
operation of the four lower chakras, we find here evidence that the
hallucinogen is affecting not only the higher chakras (throat, third-eye
and crown) but the lower ones as well. Again, this will be generalized
below.
o Finally, the direct apprehension of God. It is in studying this
hallucinogenic effect that we can begin to tie together many elements of
this article. We have seen that intellectuals such as Huxley, Watts, and
Leary identified the LSD experience with religious experience. It is
also a common, though reasonably accurate picture that the guy in the
nut house thinks he's Jesus. Furthermore, all yoga texts worth reading
explain that the function of yoga is ultimately to transfer all of the
libido energy to the crown chakra at which point the yogi achieves
nirvana, or mystical insight, which, practically speaking, is *the*
total, integrative psychological event. One directly perceives the unity
of the cosmos, and ones place in this unity. For all practical purposes,
this is indeed seeing God. That Western intellectuals have perceived
this in a religious context, and Western physicians have perceived this
in the context of psychosis, really tells us something about Western
intellectuals and Western doctors. All I can ask is: "Who would you
invite over for dinner, or have watch your kids?"
At this point, I would like to attempt to generalize this picture of the
action of hallucinogenic drugs on the chakras system. One important
facet of occult teaching I have not explicitly stated yet, though I have
been using it, is the idea of "kundalini". Yogis and occultists teach
that housed in the root chakra is a fundamental energy called kundalini.
This energy is depicted as a coiled snake and it is the goal of the yogi
and occultist to, slowly and in a controlled manner, release this
energy. The purpose for releasing this energy is to bring it
progressively through the chakras, which in turn confers the particular
psychic abilities associated with that chakra. This process is known as
"awakening" or "vivifying" a chakra. This energy is brought up the spine
(or the etheric counterpart thereof) and its final destination is the
crown chakra, which, upon successfully reaching, confers enlightenment,
which is the true goal of both yoga and occultism, as well as mysticism.
Bringing the kundalini to the crown chakra is exactly the method by
which enlightenment is conferred. This is a well known and well accepted
fact in Eastern cultures in which the yoga tradition is kept alive.
Above I used the word "libido", a word derived from Freud that loosely
translates as "sex energy". Libido is kundalini. However, the idea of
kundalini is much broader and clearer than Freud's concept of libido, so
I will now use the word kundalini from here on out.
So with this backgound, let us attempt to give a general explanation, in
occult terms, of the effect of hallucinogenic drugs on a human being.
What seems to be happening during the hallucinogenic experience is that
the kundalini is spontaneously activated by the drug. How this occurs I
do not know. I can speculate that probably what happens is that the
hallucinogenic somehow affects the gland system of the body (which is
called the endocrine system and includes the adrenal glands, thyroid,
parathyroid, pituitary and pineal glands, among others), not simply the
brain. I make this statement about the endocrine system because
occultist often point out the crucial role played by the pineal and
pituitary glands in meditative practices. In a fashion that is very ill
defined both scientifically and occultly, these glands play an intimate
role in relation to the kundalini. Unfortunately, not much more than
this can be said.
Somehow, the drug confers changes in the endocrine system of the body
that result in the stimulation of the kundalini. The kundalini becomes
active in an uncontrolled fashion, which is literally the opposite of
yoga in which kundalini is slowly and painstakingly controlled over
years of meditative practices. The onset of alterations in the LSD
user's perception corresponds with the onset of the kundalini release.
As this energy is released in a spontaneous and uncontrolled fashion,
any number of psychological and subjective events are possible that
would be completely dependent on the circumstances under which the drug
was taken. This then is the explanation of Timothy Leary's notion of
"set and setting".
Hallucinogenic Drugs And Inner Exploration
At this point we have completed our overview of hallucinogenic
substances. We've briefly mentioned the history, discussed the
subjective effects of these drugs, and gone into some detail of
scientific and occult explanations of why these drugs do what they do to
human beings. In this last section, I would like to try to tie all of
this together in terms of how these drugs provide a tool for the
individual interested in exploring his or her own subjectivity, the
inner spaces of ones being.
Going off on all the occult chakra theory as I did above has one
overridingly important lesson to it, and that is the realization that
hallucinogenics do in one hour what yogis spend their lives trying to
accomplish. The release of the kundalini energy is no small or trivial
matter. My friend that I mentioned earlier likes to compare LSD and
related substances to nuclear bombs. Both are immediate, almost
uncomprehensively powerful, and can kill a lot more readily than they
can heal. LSD is something to be respected, if not revered, because it
is indeed a doorway to many divine things. I would not discourage one
from taking the drug. However, I do not advocate the careless use of the
drug either. If one is interested in using it as a tool for experiencing
realities that current dogma tells us do not exist, well, I recommend
that the explorer exercise respect for this particular tool. And then,
as an explorer, you can see that current dogma is simply wrong.
Another purpose for going off on both scientific and occult theory is to
show that there is way more going on here than meets they eye. In this
regard, I have a favorite quote by Leadbeater that says it all: "We must
beware of falling into the fatally common error of supposing that what
we see is all there is to see." LSD, and hallucinogenic drugs in
general, can be used as a tool to give concrete substance to
Leadbeater's statement. The watchful and attentive hallucinogenic user
will learn many things about the hidden worlds that we cannot perceive
with our physical senses, ranging from things as unbelievable as seeing
the cells inside your brain, to seeing atoms and molecules, to readily
perceiving abstractions so glorious as to defy your very being, all the
way to -dare I say it -seeing God first hand, and allowing God to talk
through your mouth. On this note, I'd like to end this article with a
quote by Aleister Crowley, (taken from "The Book Of Wisdom Or Folly)
that absolutely captures the spirit of this article:
"Concerning the Use of Chymical Agents, and be mindful that thou abuse
them not, learn that the Sacrament itself relateth to Spirit, and the
Four Elements balanced thereunder, in its Perfection."
TRIPPING IN TAMPA
by Gravol
It turned out that I had to go to Tampa, Fl. for 3 days for a business
seminar with my parents. Something I was very much not looking forward
to, since I had to stay indoors for most of the 3 days. So on the
way down I chugged a bottle of robo and tripped peacefully
in the minivan. That was all fun, but Sunday soon turned into Monday,
and Monday into Tuesday. The classes I was attending were very boring,
going from 9am to 4pm each day until Wednesday, and after several
unsuccessful attempts at having my dad buy me some beer (I'll be
21 in 3 months... go figure), I decided it was time to buy another
bottle of Robitussin Max Strength.
So during our lunch break on Wednesday I had my parents bring
me by the Publix on Gandy Road (Publix is always the cheapest
source for DXM... a 4oz bottle of Robitussin costs only $3.69)
and bought a bottle. Before going out the door I opened up the
box and stuffed the bottle in my pocket. I then hid it in the
van and by the time the classes were over for that day, the
bottle was about 90 degrees. Ick.
Now, back at the hotel room at the Ramada I went into the
bathroom and locked the door and downed half of it, waited 15
more minutes, and downed the other half. With it being so warm
it tasted like chocolate syrup with a twist of cherry. Don't
think I enjoyed it though!
I exited the bathroom and told my parents I was ready to go...
we were going to go tour the area tonight and see what was around,
so I hopped back in the van, had them play some of my tapes, and
we started out towards Route 699 and Clearwater.
At 5:15pm, we hit the wonderful city of Clearwater. I also
started feeling the initial effects. I hadn't eaten all day and
now that the DXM was kicking in, I didn't plan to eat at all
until after the trip. We kept passing so many hot girls in hot
cars, like one chick that was cruising down the highway in a
'69 Camaro. Throughout all this, however, I had a terrible
stomach ache (I'm glad I took the bottle a half at a time
though... or else my stomach would've really been aching).
We were cruising down Route 60 towards 699 (Gulf To Bay) and
soon we hit Clearwater Beach. We went into the beach parking
lot (there were SO many hot women) and I argued with my parents
for a bit about something I don't even remember, then we left
to go further south. I remember telling them I didn't want to
eat so they could hurry up and find a restaurant and I'd just
stay in the van and listen to my music since they wouldn't play
it above Volume 2... which really pissed me off. Trust me...
when you're tripping you need music. I just wish I had a portable
CD player with me and headphones... headphones blow your mind
on DXM.
Anyway, at 6pm my parents stopped to eat in Indian Shores,
so I stayed in the van to smoke cigarettes and listen to music.
I also wrote a letter to my ex-girlfriend, Mandi. By this time
I was tripping pretty hard, but keep in mind it was only 350mg
of DXM... still enough to get me off quite nicely though.
At 6:50pm I smoked a cigarette and by 7 we were on the road
again. Out West there was a beautiful sunset over the Gulf
of Mexico... it really captivated me at the time.
Pretty soon we were at Treasure Island near the beach, so
we parked and me and my dad got out and walked to the beach.
It was a huge beach. Kind of reminded me of the beaches in
California. Lots of volleyball courts and the beach seemed
to stretch all the way to the horizon and took quite a while
to reach the shore. There were occasional couples walking
along the shoreline, and as I looked down I saw seashells
everywhere washed up, so I reached down and grabbed a handful
to take back to my mom. Walking was difficult and talking
was even more so... but the water and the sky were so beautiful.
Truly the highlight of the evening.
Around 7:30pm my stomach ache returned about the time we
reached St. Pete Beach. Nothing to see there... we didn't get
out or anything, instead we headed back to the mainland (on
the way back I remember passing a souvenir shop and looking
at the word souvenir and actually thinking it was spelled
wrong... and I'm a wonderful speller... then I remembered
the DXM and figured I must have really been fucked up) and
I remember stopping at Kmart. This was around 8:30pm, after dark,
and I was the only one who went in. I was looking for a computer
game that my instructor said was dirt cheap because Kmart was
selling all their computer stuff and getting rid of the electronics
department. Somewhere off in the distance someone had the stereo
systems jamming rap, and I spent what seemed like hours looking
thru the assortment of games, but finding nothing that really
interested me.
We then set out to find the infamous Ybor City. My instructor
said there was a strip with a ton of clubs for every musical
taste you might have. He also said movie stars go there all the
time. But since my dad was driving (he refused to let me drive
the entire trip) I was without much luck in finding it. We
drove around for about a half hour to an hour and my dad went
to where he thought Ybor City was, but it turned out to be
a run-down, crack-infested neighborhood and my mom started
freaking out and locking the doors, telling my dad to get back
to the hotel room, so I never did get to see Ybor. Oh well.
By that time I was beginning to come down and Hendrix's Electric
Ladyland was playing on the radio. Pure bliss.
We finally got back to the hotel but I couldn't sleep. I just
laid awake for a while, becoming very talkative and thinking
about the future. DXM has always made the future look brighter
when you're laying in bed coming down, and a million thoughts
seem to penetrate the silence... eventually sleep overtook me
and I got to enjoy one pleasant evening after-all.
THE TIME I ATE 60 CORICIDINS
by Thorazine
Last year I decided I wanted to go on an intense DXM trip. I went to
Walgreens, got 2 boxes of coricidin, then went to Rite Aid and got a
few more boxes.
I was hungry, so I went to Applebee's Bar and grill to eat some lunch.
While waiting on my food I popped 20 coricidins, then after eating I
ordered a nonalcoholic frozen fruit drink that was soo damn good I
thought I was in heaven, so I ate 40 more coricidins...after my trip
starts kicking in, I leave the restaurant after paying and I start puking.
I puke in the parking lot of the restaurant, drove home, which is less
than 2 minutes away, laid on my bed and put in my DJ Insect mixtape
(very hard beautiful melodic trance).
I feel like I'm floating in the mountains of Utah, I start to leave
my body, but I end up having to go answer the phone because there was a
phone call for me (huge mistake! If you're going to eat more than 1000mg
of DXM do not get up for ANYTHING!)... I answer the phone and unknowingly
I say "I'm in trouble" (I found out the next day it was my psychiatrist),
put the phone down, go to the bathroom, and I start having seizures,
and start throwing up and convulsing. I wake up in the emergency room,
still tripping balls but I thought I was being abducted by aliens.
My mom's in the emergency room and says "your left eye is bleeding,"
and I was like Huh??? She found out I was under the influence of cough
medicine again and she like bitches at me and says, "what were you thinking?"
I didn't say anything because I didn't give a fuck.
My eye was healed after 3 weeks and it was back to normal.
This was a fucked up few weeks. [Editor's note: The damage to his eye
was most likely caused by the large amount of the antihistamine ingested
from the Coricidin; large amounts of Coricidin almost always end up
a very bad trip.]
The next week I call up my girlfriend in Michigan and she says,
"You've lost complete control of yourself and you need to get your
life back together, I can't talk to you and I don't want to talk to
you." I've not heard from her since. And I've been going through DEEP
depression because of this shit.
Somehow I think what happened was that I accidentally projected my
energy and I called her unknowingly a thousand times without knowing it.
She told me that I was calling her a thousand times in one night and it
was making her crazy. And before that trip I haven't talked with her in
WEEKS! Now this girl has NOTHING to do with me and I'm bummed out about
this still, and it happened in late March/early April of 1997. I also
lost a few friends during that time (during the time I was doing DXM
every other week, and sometimes every other day). Friends started to say
that I've lost touch with reality and I wasn't the same person they knew.
I ended up in a rehab center too but they kicked me out after two weeks
and said "cough syrup isn't a real drug. Maybe if you do heroin or cocaine
or crack then you'll be able to call yourself a real addict," same thing
when I went to Narcotics Anonymous.
After this I started drinking liquor & beer and getting drunk and
coming home but my parents didnt give a fuck about that. They thought
it was great that I was doing a "safe" wonderful drug called alcohol.
And so that was what happened the time I ate 60 Coricidin pills. Feel
free to contact me at [email protected] if you'd like to talk
about DXM sometime. I'm very lonely. :)
LIFE AND DEATH
by Gravol
Life and Death. They are as different as night and day, and
while simple laws of physics and astronomy can explain how
this occurs, it can't explain why. And that also applies
equally to the drugs LSD and DXM. Two totally separate
drugs, as different as night and day, but somehow you
can't abuse one without trying the other. Everyone likes
either the daytime or the nighttime better. We all have
our reasons. Now I'm going to tell you why...
LSD stands for Life. DXM stands for Death. LSD can
open up places of your unconscious mind that you never
knew existed, and can make you think thoughts that you
never knew could come from you. It can be a scary road
into the depths of your own insanity or it can be an
enlightening transcendental experience. It's often both
at different points. But it's still the same drug...
a speedy, teeth-grinding display of Open-eye visuals
that can be as frighteningly startling or magnificently
clear as the daytime itself.
DXM is in perfect contrast to LSD though. DXM lets
you explore not only your mind but what lies beyond your
mind... the rest of the universe. And I don't mean
physical universe. You can't tell me there is nothing
beyond matter and physics and the 3rd dimension because
everytime you "think," you are creating stuff that isn't
matter. Stuff that can affect your decisions and your
life down the road. And DXM can make you see there is
more to life than just inner exploration of your own
mind... there is an outside world of a billion minds
laced all across the spans of Time (if time even applies
to certain places) and if you've ever had a TRUE out-of-body
experience... one where you actually see the deceased
or other peoples' thoughts, then you KNOW without a doubt
that what I speak of is true.
DXM is the Dark and LSD is Light. DXM is often more
abused at night and LSD is abused a lot during the day...
hence "frying" in the sun for LSD and going into a motionless
state sleep-like state to the onlooker for DXM at high enough
doses. LSD makes you speedy and DXM makes you mellow. LSD gives
you open-eye hallucinations and DXM gives you closed-eye halluc-
inations. One is known to all and hard to come by if you don't know
people who sell it or manufacture it, and the other is easy to
come by but nobody knows about it. DXM is truly as secretive as the
night that surrounds it.
Problems or depression can be strongly intensified
by LSD but problems are easier to forget on DXM... until
they arise in the middle of a trip. LSD's comedown is
rough but DXM's comedown is smooth. LSD can cause an
uneasy jittery feeling that almost makes it impossible
to close your eyes at times. DXM can make you so calm
and relaxed that you find it difficult to WANT to open
your eyes during a trip sometimes. They both can take
you to different realities and open up new ideas and
imaginative thought and talent inside you, but they
don't open up the same type of thought nor the same
areas of the brain, so each is just as important
experiencing as the other.
There are many odd similarities, too. They were both
legal at one time (in the sixties), with DXM still being
legal today. They both make you trip, which can be said for
more than any other two drugs out there that make you trip but
are so contrasted both in effects and chemical structure.
They both last the same amount of time approximately, 6-8
hours. They both can cause paranoia, depression, and
psychological dependence, but the lethal dose is
far from reachable and there is no proof of permanent
damage (only to people who have had major underlying
mental problems brought to light by their use). Nobody
understands them totally or can fully master their
power... and not every experience you have with them
will be a pleasurable one.
But they are more important drugs than most every
other drug like morphine or heroin in a subjective
since, because they make you perceive life differently...
they open up new schools of thought and ideas and can
and have shaped our culture and made us who we are today.
They have made people who use them look deeper into
their lives and even review what's wrong and find problems
easier. They've even made people decide to quit using
drugs altogether because they no longer needed them. Do you
think we would ever take such a serious look at our lives
until a major problem arose? This lets you change your path
before a problem may arise, and lets you see more clearly
your fears and worries, goals and anxieties, and sometimes
change peoples' entire belief systems from one extreme to
the other. But why would you change your beliefs unless you
found new compelling evidence to rebase your opinion? And any
drug that is based solely on a religion is not to be taken
lightly, such as mescaline, which produces very similar
effects as LSD.
To never experience these drugs or similar hallucinogens
means you'll never have the key to unlock that part of your
mind, and you will never experience life in the beauty it
can be experienced in. Learning and life is all about
experience... I highly doubt that something so common
would be so easily accessible if it wasn't put on the
Earth for a reason... or how anybody could have an argu-
ment against others doing LSD when they have never tried
it themselves nor know anything about it...but enough of my
philosophy. :)
Simple fact is that the contrast between these two
drugs AND the similarities are fascinating if nothing
more than sheer coincidence. But it is weird how these
two substances are in a class of their own, and are
always compared to one another in discussions about
psychedelics. The answer is simple... you can't see
what's in the night without the light of day... and
you can never dream without the darkness of night.
One final note... combining these two drugs is
perfectly safe and can cause a life-changing reality
to take hold that extends beyond the trip itself, but
eventually subsides back into normal thought. However,
when using this combo a lot of people have reported
seeing God or understanding concepts they've never
been able to comprehend before... and at the same time
experience these thoughts in a way DXM alone can't
create. (LSD can make you feel colors or see sounds,
and when combined with DXM you can actually feel your
thoughts turn into their own reality and open up
avenues of total understanding and perfect harmony
in ways you've never before experience from a single
drug.) It simply puts you at inner peace and your mind is
surprisingly quiet but you don't need thoughts to
guide your happiness... you're not experiencing it in
any way you have ever felt before. It's definitely
worth trying at least once, but you won't be able
to do it very often, because depression may result
immediately afterwards when you return to reality and
this can lead to psychological dependence very quickly.
But there is always a price for total peace and bliss.
In the long run you must give up your life on earth to
experience it, and all the drugs... so learn life as best
you can now with what you have to make due with. And
don't let anyone else make the decision on what you can
put into your body. That is not freedom.
Drugs are simply the key to unlocked doors within
yourself and LSD can open up thoughts like the light
of day, and DXM can be as dark and magical as the
night itself. So go and explore...
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE WITH DXM
by Cliff Alexander
Well, when I first started I was using Drixoral Cough. Once it was
vanquished, I gagged down syrup until Sucrets Cough Drops with DXM came
out, so I began melting them in water and drinking the powder at the
bottom. Got me going, but nothing like Drixoral. Now I've been turned on
to Coricidin Cough and Cold, thank God. I've been tripping like I haven't
tripped in a long while.
Last weekend my girlfriend and I decided to hit the Coricidin and spend
a night adrift in the universe -- so we each took 40 pills -- 1200 mg of
DXM (since I've reached this range, I find it a waste of a night to take
any less, and will work up to 50 pills soon).
We took the pills at approximately 9:30 pm and at around 10:15 I felt
them begin to work with their trademark effects. I had spent about ten
minutes wondering if I was feeling anything, and soon my veins lit up and
I felt warm all over. I sat there in the living room for about ten minutes
trying to fight the nausea that I always get at the onset but to no avail.
I went to the bathroom, heaved about five times (I washed out a few small
chunks of undigested pills but not too much) and then felt fucking great.
Back to the couch I went. The majority of the first hour was spent in
darkness with my eyes closed. Every five minutes or so my girlfriend would
ask in a choppy speech "You awake?" ... "Yes," I'd respond.
I sat and watched pattern after pattern over beautiful colors errupt
before my eyes. It wasn't long that I stood slowly, feeling as though my
body was made of a very heavy steel, and clambered to the stereo. I put
in Mozart and stumbled back. As soon as the first song started (not sure
which CD it was, nor what the piece was called) I was off. I flew over
distances and distances of dark night, floating very high above a blurry,
gray city. It seemed like the city was a very, very busy and fast-paced
place, although I can't be sure how I know that. At some point I approached
a wall thinking that if there was some way to bust through it that I would
appear in whatever vision my girlfriend was experiencing. This was very
similar to a trip I had once before with a buddy of mine.
Anyway, the scenes changed off and on. At one point I was watching a
starry sky, and trailing the lines and meteors across the scape.
By the way, later in the trip we tried something you'll have to check
out. Take a camera -- doesn't matter if you have film -- and trigger the
flash very close to your eyes. The very split second after the flash,
close your eyes. It's phenomenal. The world is a bright, bright purple,
and as it dims down, a small bright light appears that you can follow. It
will seem to crawl all over space and time, tracing paths and creating
designs within itself. It seems to last for minutes at a time.
As the night wore on, and our visions were becoming fewer and further
between, we pulled out the nitrous tanks and the cracker. Oh, shit. After
the first hit of gas, I became very sure I was losing my mind. Everything
went black for a moment, and there was a very loud and constant screeching,
like millions and millions of crickets were chirping. I kept thinking of
ideas and things in sets of three -- like the holy trinity (I'm not being
Christian here, just happened that way), or Mother, father, child. Every
time I thought of something that didn't perfectly fit into a mold of three,
my mind raced trying to tie it in to another set of three somehow. I was
sure that if I became aware of an idea that couldn't be put into a three
category that I would lose some aspect of my logic forever.
Eventually we ran out of gas so I stopped calculating -- but the rest of
the trip was affected, altering the general mood just slightly from my
typical trips at that dose.
As we came down, we began chatting about our place in the universe,
and why time travel and astral travel really is a probability if there
were only some way to open the door and figure out the controls. I know
it sounds insane to those who have never used drugs, but to those who have,
you'll realize that not only is this a very serious type of rationale during
the trip, but long after you've come down, you've taken a piece of knowledge
to constantly think about. A challenge to always turn over in your mind.
DXM is my favorite chemical tool out of all that I have tried. I have
other favorites as far as recreational use -- but if I'm going to spend an
entire night of exploration and reflection, acid has its place, but DXM
seems to really get down into the meat of the gray noodle.
ANOTHER MORON, ANOTHER MOMENT
by William White
Well, it's time for another deconstruction, thirteen months after the
first one (come *on* people, where are all the criticisms from the
hellfire-and-brimstone crowd??). This makes ten negative comments, some
940 positive ones, as of right now. Mind you, some of the latter are of
the "H3Y D00D 1'M R3ALLY FUCK3D UP AND 1TS K00L" variety, but what the
heck, at least they had the courtesy to write. ;)
Once again, the original comments, and my "my ego's bigger than yours,
so nyaah" response.
Here is the original feedback:
Date: Mon Oct 5 15:43:22 1998
Host: 204.169.235.171
Alias: the drug counselor
Age: 43
dear william, I think that we are products of our environment, and
possibly you have not seen the damage that chemicals do to people's
brains-out here in the real world. 1. Abbie Hoffman committed suicide.
He was a very brave and heroic man, and he was also a very sad and
delusional man. All mood altering chemicals have side effects, and not
very many aren't DANGEROUS. He used lots of drugs. 2. You repeatedly
say, this can be dangerous if you are not careful. These things ARE
dangerous, EVEN WHEN YOU ARE CAREFUL. 3. I work with young people who
take drugs. They are by nature, not careful. I have witnessed many a
suicide attempt. I agree with your moron of the week. We have seen that
drugs basically cripple our minds and our bodies. There are far more
beneficial pursuits in life than self-medicating our neuroses. Thanks
for the forum. At least you gave the other side a chance to speak.
And here is my response:
> dear william,
> I think that we are products of our environment,
Yes, I think by now it's well established that environment contributes
to personality, just as genetics does. Thus far I agree with you.
> and possibly you have not
> seen the damage that chemicals do to people's brains-out here in the real
> world.
Out here in the real world? Oh yeah, I'm off in an ivory tower somewhere,
that explains why I have to get up at oh-dark-thirty in the morning and
go to work for a living. And I hate to break it to you, but you aren't
the only one who's gotten calls in the middle of the night. More than
once I've had to convince people to go to the hospital after they drank
some Nyquil and *then* found the FAQ, and I can't count the number of
bad trips I've had to talk people down off of. And frankly I have
neither the desire nor training to do this sort of thing, and I'd rather
not. But don't say I ain't seen the casualties because I have.
I am, however, pragmatic about harm reduction, and I've drawn different
conclusions than you have.
> 1. Abbie Hoffman committed suicide. He was a very brave and heroic man, and
> he was also a very sad and delusional man.
As are most brave and heroic men. It is, unfortunately, in the nature of
heroes to fall from grace. Taking a considerably less philisophical
bent, though, had Hoffman never had to fight against an oppressive
political system (part of which being its drug policies), do you think
he would have committed suicide?
Even if he *did* commit suicide, that still doesn't invalidate anything
he said. The messenger is *not* the message.
(And speaking of Hoffmans, Albert is still going strong at 90-something.
Makes one think that LSD must be a preservative. And Shulgin's still
got his faculties too, of course).
> All mood altering chemicals have side effects, and not very many
> aren't DANGEROUS.
Well of course they're dangerous, *everything* in life is dangerous.
If you want to start arguing relative risks, however, I'm going to
start throwing in many sanctioned (often respected) activities such
as mountain climbing, which, like psychoactive drugs, offer entirely
subjective benefits with considerable risk. If you want to live
without risk, move to Disneyland.
Now, I'll grant you that young people are, in general, very poor at
assessing risk. Do you think withholding information is going to
improve their abilities? If easy access to psychoactive drugs (which
don't substantially stimulate the VTA -- I'm excluding hard drugs
like heroin, cocaine, and alcohol) were so dangerous to the young,
why aren't kids in the Netherlands dropping like flies? Why do they
instead show substantially higher standardized test scores than kids
in the US?
> He used lots of drugs.
No, really. Hmm, he used lots of drugs, drugs are dangerous, therefore
drugs caused his suicide. I commend you on your solid grasp of causality.
It's just as likely that the drug use was an effect, not a cause, of
the conditions that ultimately resulted in his suicide. Might as well
argue that "Socrates was mortal, dogs were mortal, therefore Socrates
was a dog".
Furthermore, what you *don't* see in your occupation are the people --
and I know plenty -- who have used drugs (typically cannabis and
psychedelics) throughout their lives and haven't shown any signs of being
hurt (barring moral concerns, which are entirely subjective). For the
average citizen, the knowledge he or she has about drug use comes from
those who enter the public view, and it is those people who are precisely
the ones who cannot handle it. To use an analogy, had I beamed down from
Mars during Prohibition, I would have concluded that alcohol made everyone
into a boozer, because the only alcohol use I would have seen would have
been among those who couldn't keep quiet about it.
Given that you work with the casualties, I'm not surprised that you have
reached the conclusions you have. On the other hand your conclusions are
by no means shared by all drug abuse counselors; you are the first one
I've heard from who has been substantially critical of the FAQ.
> 2. You repeatedly say, this can be dangerous if you are not careful. These
> things ARE dangerous, EVEN WHEN YOU ARE CAREFUL.
Pardon my bluntness, but *duh*. Anything dangerous is still dangerous
EVEN WHEN YOU ARE CAREFUL, due to the risk of error. Handling poisonous
snakes is still dangerous even if you know what you're doing. The relevant
questions, as far as I'm concerned, are: what are the risks when used
safely, what are the risks when used carefully, what is the likelihood
of safe use vs. careless use, and how do we minimize the latter? In
the case of many psychedelics, e.g., the serotonergics, the risks
when used carefully are minimal, based on long-term (longitudinal)
studies of users (recently published), and some ground-breaking
stuff comparing Ayahuasca users vs. non-users among South American
native populations (the users were more emotionally and psychologically
stable). This is from peer-reviewed sources, by the way, so if you
don't believe me, look `em up.
> 3. I work with young people who take drugs. They are by nature, not
> careful.
No, you work with young people *who have problems with drugs*, either
because they themselves suffer, or because their use becomes noticed
by the authorities. This is a skewed sample of the population.
Even were it representative of the drug-taking sample of young people
as a whole, do you really think that the best way to improve the
situation is to withhold information that they'll get elsewhere
(and of dubious accuracy) anyway? I, at least, listen to and try
to accommodate my critics if they have specific suggestions, and I
have spent much time and effort verifying what information I have
presented. I believe it presents a balanced view of DXM use, the
good, the bad, and the ugly, and I think the only way people (young
or old) can ever make good decisions if if they are fully informed.
> I have witnessed many a suicide attempt.
Congratulations, anyone who works with young people has witnessed many
a suicide attempt. I'm sorry, but I still think your causality is
screwed. It's one thing to say that many troubled children use drugs
and try to suicide, it's quite another to say that drugs *caused* the
trouble, or the suicide. It's still another to say that this has
anything to do with the use of drugs by psychologically healthy
individuals. And please, no statements that psychedelic drug use
automatically disqualifies one from psychological health, since even
a cursory glance at other cultures will disprove this -- providing
you are defining psychological health in a meaningful way and not
"what I happen to think is a good idea".
> I agree with your moron of the week.
That's "moron of the moment". Notice the alliterative euphemy. And
did you stop to wonder *why* I put that up in the first place? No, it
ain't to stroke my John Holmes sized ego and whip it out in front of
everyone like Jim Morrison. Now, admittedly, I *do* have an ego, and
I *am* arrogant; it's the consequence of having watched so much utter
stupidity in people who should know better. Remember the 1950's?
Communist witch hunts? If you think this sort of public-sanctioned
stupidity has ended, go check out FAMM (http://www.famm.org/), or
compare the crime, drug use, and school test score stats of the US vs.
the Netherlands.
The reason, however, that I called the person a moron wasn't because he
had an opinion different from mine. It was because he couldn't (or
didn't) support his points logically, and didn't offer an email address
so the issue could be debated and logical fallacies taken care of.
But since you've offered me no email address either, well, it looks like
we've got ourselves a replacement (good enough, the damn "moment" had
lasted over a year).
> We have seen that drugs basically cripple our minds and our bodies.
How do they do so? Which drugs are you talking about? Certainly
abuse (and I'm sure you know of the medical distinction between use,
abuse, and misuse) of alcohol can cripple the mind and body. But
many drugs, e.g., the serotonergics and cannabis, have been studied
exhaustively and the question of neurotoxicity has been answered in
the negative. I've seen plenty of people (who are careful and
respect both themselves and the psychedelics they use) whose bodies
and minds are just fine, thankyouverymuch.
> There are far more beneficial pursuits in life than self-medicating our
> neuroses.
Oh, so I take it all use of mind-altering drugs is "self-medicating our
neuroses". Does this include people who drink alcohol socially? How
about social cannabis smoking? Ritual use of peyote, or ayahuasca?
Self-exploration with LSD? Ecstatic dance with psychedelics? Using
2CB as a sexual enhancer?
How do you separate the context of drug use (i.e., its illegality,
and the effect of this on adolescent deviance) from the effects of
the drugs themselves? Have you done cross-cultural study of any kind?
No? Well, maybe you should. Schaeffer's Drug Library has some good
starting points, and various countries' health ministries offer lots
of statistics you might find interesting.
And how exactly do you assess benefit? What objective standards do you
apply to determine whether something is beneficial to someone or not?
There are a *lot* of casualties from mountain climbing and skiing, does
this mean that these activities are not in some way beneficial? How
about sitting on the couch watching TV and letting your health
deteriorate?
How do you know that everyone who takes drugs has neuroses to medicate?
Is it because you are assuming that drug-taking is evidence of such
neurosis? Certainly, there *are* a lot of neurotics out there, and
a lot of them *do* take drugs, but there are also a lot of people out
there who are answering a very deep, human drive to achieve altered
states of consciousness -- a drive which has been with us since before
recorded history, based on archaeological evidence, and which I have
no doubt will continue long after you and I are dead. Personally, I
believe we have much to learn from societies which maintain a
healthy relationship with psychedelic drugs, used in ritual contexts,
typically in nature-centered religions.
In any case, a lot of neurotics take drugs. A lot of neurotics also
masturbate, and up until fairly recently, the medical community tried
to argue that masturbation made you crazy (or at best, was good evidence
that you already were). See where I'm going with this? You're putting
the Horse before Descartes. Not to mention which, your sample is
non-representative to begin with. If you wish to construct an argument
in favor of your position, you're going to have to work a bit harder than
that, sorry. You do, of course, have a right to your opinion, and I
*will* listen to you if and when you have some actual suggestions to make
(and no, I can't get rid of the FAQ, even if I wanted to, since it's
already in circulation).
> Thanks for the forum. At least you gave the other side a chance to speak.
Hell, I'll even put your comments up. That makes an even ten negative
responses I've received so far, which, though clearly in the minority
(compared to 937 positive responses as of now), is still food for
thought.
Conclusion
People, please, if you're going to offer criticism, try to do one of two
things, and preferrably both: make it logically rigorous, and give me
some suggestions for what to change. I probably won't change it, mind
you, but I can (and have) change my mind.
And DXM is still dangerous. Welcome to the Real World, full of things
which can kill, maim, or otherwise hurt you. If you have a problem with
risk, I'm sure Michael Eisner would be happy to take your money at the
Magic Kingdom. Or maybe, just maybe, we can accept that there are risks
in life, and some people actually like to take risks (gosh, no!), and
they obtain subjective benefit from doing so. So long as you're an
adult, I have no problem with that; go out and ski down Mt. Everest,
road-luge amidst semi trucks, bungee jump out of an SR71 blackbird, or
whatever else floats your boat. There's a hell of a lot of risky things
people do that make taking DXM look like doodling with crayons in the
rubber room in comparison, and I have yet to hear people gritching about
those.
And you're still more than welcome to put up your own webpage about how
evil and nasty DXM really is, and I'll still link to it if you want.