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"I TAKE ILLEGAL DRUGS FOR INSPIRATION" - Susan Blackmore

susanblackmore.co.uk — The famous British psychologist and scientist Susan Blackmore is speaking about her experiments with illegal substances and promoting the stance that calls for legalization of all drugs.

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  • russellnation, on 10/12/2007, -11/+156So do I, Susan. So do I.
    • HoosbinPharteen, on 10/12/2007, -47/+10If only we could control it for the idiots of the world who abuse and misuse such things.............and those who cause harm to others while under the influence.


      And another thing....just because you're famous doesn't mean you're bright.
    • zybch, on 10/12/2007, -36/+5So do I. They're called alcohol and tobacco!
    • TiMMY8765, on 10/12/2007, -10/+103don't feel bad, I shoot up Heroin so I can paint the future
    • broomett, on 10/12/2007, -7/+12mc...he may be sneaky, but it is not working. Since I told Google about why he was violating multiple sites TOS, inclding their own, which was to trick people to clicking on the link, thereby causing Goolge to record a "view" for each of hte four videos, and that he admitted that he did that to move those videos up in rankings, they said they were going to freeze those videos ranks. So, even if those videos legitimately get a million hits tomorrow, it will not move up in ranks. He screwed his cause more than he ever could have imagined. And wasted his entire life doing so.
    • LVsFINEST, on 10/12/2007, -25/+47Digg down please.
    • cptn_cardboard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+78as much as I hate penn and teller, I agree with them on drugs. Ive never done them and probably never will, but they should be legalized.

      besides, whens the last time you heard on the news that a bank was robbed by hippies...
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -38/+12yes indeed this article is written by a true addict. weed help thoughts when taken in extreme moderation. btw before I get into this I've been around the block and then some and have done my body weight in more than a couple of drugs. bottom line saying drugs inspire you is a cop out. you don't want to have accountability for you ideas.
      Also http://www.discover.com/issues/dec-06/features/god-experiments/?page=3
      so that out of the way if drugs bring real insight how come they bring so many people closer to god. All the pot smoking atheists on digg will have a lot of trouble combining these two ideas. I do feel that SOME drugs bring me closer to God.
      also if you try to give up booze for a month and its hell you are an addict.
      destructive vices should not be taken lightly just because a prof. says they are all good.
      she describes smoking a small amount of weed similarly to a DMT trip:
      The sound of the music .(lots of text).. Where are you, Sue?". She seems to be describing a DMT trip. Fully "tripping" on weed takes a huge quantity of weed or a very very very lucky body to process THC like that.
      Bottom line after chasing the "ultimate high" during my STUPIDER years is saying that the drugs gave you the idea or as Huxley put it in a FICTIONAL book "open the doors of perception" is a crock of *****.
      Drugs are a crutch. Take it from a user. Weed should be legal because its not that dangerous. HARD hallucinogens - not so much. And you can get hooked on mushrooms or LSD or MDMA. I've know a few people that have and until they cleaned up they were as bad as a meth addict. No where in this article does she mention the oldest of drug muses Opium. Thats because no one can say with a straight face that Opium and its by products have ever done anything aside from be a blight on society... even if it did give us alice in wonder land and other great works of fiction.
    • johnthedebs, on 10/12/2007, -23/+6Drugs are bad, mmk?
    • itistoday, on 10/12/2007, -4/+38Have you ever felt like digging a story up and burying it at the same time because you know that it will inspire such inane comments that you'll want to shoot yourself upon reading them?
    • spartan777, on 10/12/2007, -21/+16to those who are going to jump on this (after an in-depth reading of the headline) and claim that drugs have helped Blackmore, consider this quote from her;

      "I decided to become a parapsychologist and devote my life to proving all those closed-minded scientists wrong.
      But I was the one who was wrong. I did become a parapsychologist, but decades of difficult research taught me that ESP almost certainly doesn't exist and that nothing leaves the body during an out-of-body experience."

      Decades of research wasted. Not months, not years, decades. Gone. She was busy doing drugs while a bright Oxford graduate like her could have been doing something.
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -35/+6thats right digg me down for pointing out ***** you don't want to deal with.
      here's one you probably don't want to deal with either. she claims that these drugs open the doors of perception. how come for some many those trip experiences are bringing them closer to god? how about responding to that instead of digging me down. or do both.
      and claiming that drugs create your creativity is a cop out!
    • salsaman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17mikebaker, your experiences have led you down a different path, and it is unfortunate that intoxicants have negative effects for some people, but it is unwise to project those negative effects onto other peoples' celebrations of positive effects.

      Your conclusion-- that no good can come of opium (except great works of finction?!?!?!) defeats your argument completely.

      Your "kill kill kill" bs story is just that-- *****. wtf sort of ass hole friends do you have to whisper "kill kill kill" to a tripping person to begin with? and what kind of idiot tripping friend of yours didn't turn around and slap those whispering jerks?! i don't believe a word of it.

      Clearly, there is inspiration to be found in mind altering drugs. "Doors of Perception" (http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/lsd/doors.htm) was not a work of fiction-- it is an essay, and it is a good read.
    • WiseWeasel, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12@spartan: Yeah, but what a wild couple decades it was... Besides, discovering that ESP and out-of-body experiences are bogus is still a worthy discovery...
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -24/+3@salsaman
      i'm not even going to respond to your "Your "kill kill kill" bs story is just that-- *****." its pure trolling so ***** off you weren't there and it sucked. It was funny until my friend flipped out.
      here is how I'm going to take the high road (where you felt that a personal attack was the right way to go)
      you are a fool for thinking that my point was "Your conclusion-- that no good can come of opium (except great works of finction?!?!?!) defeats your argument completely."
      but hey maybe the 6 beers I drank before posting this will let you own me in a verbal battle now. My main points were (and forgive my drunk ass for not getting it across in the first place):
      Her story about the really cool weed trip was total ***** bull *****. And if you are going to try and use this to enhance creativity you must use it in moderation as seemed to be her point by saying she does acid 2 - 3 times a year. Any author will tell you that their craft must be done ever day and its a lot of work. Not 2 - 3 times a year. This is a propaganda piece. Most people take illegal drugs to escape reality not enhance it. I agree that weed should be legal. And I will concede a little: Maybe some people can enhance their creativity with well chosen trips. But guess what; most people don't fall into that category.
      and great works of fiction were not the product of opium. please refer to the above statements about how drugs are a cop out for creativity.
      and I've read "doors" and I don't agree
      my biggest point .... people like euphoria... and for most people that euphoria leads to painful addiction. not creativity as she would claim. and to further emphasis my point any creativity that you can attribute to drug usage is some thing that you could have come up with sans drugs!
    • returnofmalv, on 10/12/2007, -19/+3Drugs are for people that can't deal with reality. The truth of the matter is that no normal individual could stand to be in a club or your average party unless drunk or high. All the decadence, ignorance, and animalistic mannerisms are enough to make anyone that consciously thinks regret ever having the capacity to in the first place.

      The problem with drugs is not the getting high part -- it's the part where you crash back down to the reality you left unattended.
    • cloudsoup, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2spartan777 - so right about her. Parapsychologist at an old polytechnic (low tier of tertiary education, not highly regarded academically, often offering vocational courses) which was turned into a University only a few years ago, seems never to waste an opportunity to tell you she went to Oxford. I have a video of her repeating a task performed better by a chimp and she turns to camera and feigns suprise that she, an OXFORD GRADUATE, could have been bested by a chimp.

      My missus is a psychologist, she went to Oxford too, and she uses videos of Blackmore in her classes to demonstrate to her students what a mess you get in if your thinking is up the spout.

      You know, she took some drugs when an undergraduate, had what she calls an 'out-of-body' experience and decided it demonstrated the existence of a soul / spirit / non-material world.

      What a silly person.
    • stetic, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20@Spartan "Decades of research wasted. Not months, not years, decades. Gone. She was busy doing drugs while a bright Oxford graduate like her could have been doing something."

      So it must of been a waste when LSD influenced Francis Crick in his discovery of DNA (one of the most important biological discoveries - ever). Also, it must of been a waste for Steve Jobs, scientists, artists, and other bright programmers around Silicon Valley. Read more here: http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70015-0.html

      Drugs are only bad if you have an addictive personality. Otherwise, I think they can inspire creativity.
    • phraud, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7@mikesbaker

      "i'm not even going to respond to your "Your "kill kill kill" bs story is just that-- *****." its pure trolling so ***** off you weren't there and it sucked. It was funny until my friend flipped out."
      ---------

      Unless this was your first experience, you should realize that its evil to do this to anyone, especially a friend. It's not funny.

      ---------
      "here is how I'm going to take the high road (where you felt that a personal attack was the right way to go)
      you are a fool for thinking that my point was "Your conclusion-- that no good can come of opium (except great works of finction?!?!?!) defeats your argument completely."
      but hey maybe the 6 beers I drank before posting this will let you own me in a verbal battle now. My main points were (and forgive my drunk ass for not getting it across in the first place):"
      --------

      It's not the "high road" if you attack him the next sentence.

      --------
      Her story about the really cool weed trip was total ***** bull *****. And if you are going to try and use this to enhance creativity you must use it in moderation as seemed to be her point by saying she does acid 2 - 3 times a year. Any author will tell you that their craft must be done ever day and its a lot of work. Not 2 - 3 times a year.
      -------

      Different strokes for different folks.

      --------
      "This is a propaganda piece. Most people take illegal drugs to escape reality not enhance it. I agree that weed should be legal. And I will concede a little: Maybe some people can enhance their creativity with well chosen trips. But guess what; most people don't fall into that category."
      --------

      I'm willing to bet that you don't know most people. According to your definition, your also spreading propaganda, but your spinning the other side of the argument. Surely you must be able to see this - even in your drunk-ass state.



      It's fine that you had bad experiences with drugs. I suppose you couldn't control the addiction, or your addictive personality. Perhaps you didn't get what you wanted out of the situation. All of that is just fine. What's not fine is when you attempt to make gross generalizations as if you actually know something. You know about your experience, and yourself. You don't know about me, and about my experiences with drugs. You don't know about most people, or most experiences with drugs. All you can do is relate your own experience, and let others take what they will from your story. Explain how you felt and why.


      (all of this is my opinion only)
    • yukevster, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11Do not click this link...

      http://www.mayanmajix.com/art1699.html
    • scuzzman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8@spartan777
      "Decades of research wasted. Not months, not years, decades. Gone. She was busy doing drugs while a bright Oxford graduate like her could have been doing something."

      Nowhere does it say wasted research. Albeit, your quantitative analysis is that the research yielded no results, hers however may be very different. All it says what that she was incorrect, this happens all the time. It doesn't say the reasearch was wasted, or that she learned nothing.
    • lyphstylz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4I think y'all are missing the whole point of this piece. You are all talking "reality", "people take drugs to escape reality", yada yada yada. My personal view, which is really what this piece is about, is that, and yes i have used, i don't use to escape reality so much as to find a basis of society's perceived reality with an altered perspective. PERSPECTIVE, PERSPECTIVE, PERSPECTIVE. A different perspective can lend an entirely different conclusion, right or wrong, it's investigative. Furthermore, I truly believe that she, and many other people that have used hallucinogens, is onto something. In my experiences, a bad trip is a result of a realization that your whole foundation is faulty. To laugh uncontrollably while crying in utter horror that we are kidding our selves that our lives are so important and precious. We are chemical arrangements floating through an enormous vastness that need a view, or a cause. We need a reality, for comfort and stability. We (mankind) have built this elaborate reality in our minds and then molded our physical world in our image. I'm not arguing against this, like i said, we need this, but when you read this essay and all you can conclude is that it is just the ramblings of an addict, all i can see in you is fear. Our minds are as vast as this universe, and i applaud her efforts and courage to look into herself in this way, for potentially bettering all people. Seriously, if she is wrong, who has she hurt? Herself? We already live in such an overly medicated world as it is. At least she is using constructively.
    • happyMac, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3Wow, drugs for inspiration. How about just trying to use your imagination for inspiration? That's what it's there for and it's free. ...although I have to admit I did try a drug, recommended by Steve Martin, called placebo. It rocked my world!

    • emjaymj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6LSD has given me some of the most beautiful experiences of my life and has taught me a lot about myself. If you honestly think people take psychedelics like LSD or mushrooms to ESCAPE reality, I have a hard time believing you've ever done it, because any stress and worry in your life that you're looking to avoid is just going to be the focus of your existence for the duration of the trip and it's almost like begging for a bad trip
    • asdfasdf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6There are very few drugs that help you "escape reality." Off the top of my head, the only ones I can think of that people have actually heard of are heroin, alcohol and maybe Ecstasy. Ecstasy has VERY significant therapeutic effects however. I've recommended it to friends for their marriage/relationship problems and it has worked wonders. Problem? Find a comfortable place, sit with your partner alone and (of course you've done the research beforehand) ingest a pill each.

      Anyway, psychedelic drugs CAN NOT let you escape your problems. If you're suffering from any problems and you aren't comfortable, you should NOT be tripping, meaning using a drug like LSD, magic mushrooms, mescaline, ayahuasca, DMT, etc. These will only bring your problems to the surface and this will probably just scare the living ***** out of you. These drugs are GREAT TOOLS, but they aren't *****-me-up drugs like heroin and coke.

      Keep in mind that most of these drugs don't help you escape reality. Well, they might, but they definitely WON'T take you anywhere comfortable unless you're prepared. They're sacred and should be treated with respect.

      Should all drugs be legalize? Of course. Prohibition causes a hell of a lot more problems than regulating the drugs. Almost all drug deaths can be eliminated if drugs were legal. ODs? We would be able to regulate the doses, and the stuff won't be adulterated like it is on the streets. Gang wars? Drug cartels and gangs will go bankrupt overnight if drugs are legalized. Addicts committing crime to support their habit? Heroin will be free for addicts in specialized rehab/detox/injection spots. Australia and Canada already have many of these locations around, and they're showing very good progress.
    • rishqo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2some additional links on the issue from Susan Blackmore:
      on LSD: http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/journalism/THESLSD06.htm
      on Salvia Divinorum: http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/Articles/salvia2005.htm
      on "Intoxication Instinct": http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/journalism/NSintox.htm
      her advice to US President (edge quest 03): http://www.edge.org/q2003/question03_print.html#blackmore
  • arsenal72, on 10/12/2007, -44/+17Drugs are cool, until they ruin your life and the lives of everyone you care about.
    • hackwrench, on 10/12/2007, -13/+2http://youtube.com/results?search_query=robot+chicken+drugs
    • ninephoenixes, on 10/12/2007, -29/+8Or until they make you become irresponsible and run over a little girl on a bike.
    • altjeringa, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20Wow. I don't think I've ever heard anybody quote that propaganda so directly. Either you're retarded or I'm high. ( hint I've not been high in many years. )
    • MiDri, on 10/12/2007, -1/+25@ninephoenixe -- Man, you want to go do some leechs with me? They're totally the cool thing to do right now...

      Any one else find that commercial retarded? I mean seriously, you do drugs to get high -- what would putting leeches on you do, other then make you light headed if you put enough on you to lower your blood pressure...
    • arsenal72, on 10/12/2007, -13/+4Look what she did to her hair. Think what that does to her family.
      Let me guess your drug of choice.... glue? metallic paint? I'm guessing your a huffer.
    • 3dom, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18Some drugs are good, some drugs are bad, some are neither and some are both. The whole "drugs are bad" argument refuses to accept this.
    • Slog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3For those of you who had no clue what MiDri was referring to (like myself 3 minutes ago)...
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZY7fFuY4Uo
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -20/+3@ninephoenixes
      she wasn't just talking about weed. she was talking about trip drugs. and yea they could make you accidentally kill some one. Don't believe me... next time you are tripping with a friend and your friend is going hard whisper in his ear over and over "kill kill kill now now now" jason style and see what happens. I tried that once and we were unwrapping his hand from some ones throat trying to get him down. There is a reason that LSD is used to study sever mind disorders.
    • compressedaudio, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11"Drugs are cool, until they ruin your life and the lives of everyone you care about."
      Don't blame it on the drugs. The drugs are not at fault.
  • techsiddhu, on 10/12/2007, -23/+2Drugs are alwasy harmfull ... they make u plead for more .... once used to it u cant resist to leave it .. just like girls!!!
  • kwood, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19I would be interested to hear if any engineers like myself have sought or found inspiration in legal or illegal drugs. I would like to believe that art and engineering aren't as seperated as most people think, but there is still a fundamental distiction.
    • altjeringa, on 10/12/2007, -4/+26I know several computer scientists ( Ph.D.'s ) working in high level positions at major institutions who use both pot and very potent hallucinogens. So ya engineers and science geeks also get inspiration from things that are supposed to destroy your mind.
    • daeken, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6http://www.amazon.com/What-Dormouse-Said-Counterculture-Personal/dp/B000IOEU90/sr=8-1/qid=1169536067/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-7395852-5023946?ie=UTF8&s=books
      Entire book on the subject.
    • kwood, on 10/12/2007, -7/+0Thanks daeken, that looks REALLY cool!
    • ZiGz, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9I personally know 2 engineers (one is a paramedic also) who I do drugs with, and they are easily among the most level-headed and intelligent people I know. I am also an engineer. I know every one of us has been inspired as a result of using drugs, perhaps not while high, but after you're straight and realize you have a new way to think of things.
    • bysse, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7To quote what Terence McKenna said in the story from yesterday: "Who would want to do machine architecture or write software without taking psychedelics at some point in the design process?"
    • LFAB, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I don't know about engineers, but I know some managers for whom illegal substances can be the only explanation for their "inspiration"...
    • jonesin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Steve Jobs used to do LSD..
    • cypherspace, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yeah, I do. I've been smoking since I started university and I'm currently studying for a PhD in electrical engineering - I wrote my master's thesis while smoking plenty. I wouldn't say it gave me inspiration, but I might be pushed to say it relaxed me more so that I could write better. I have a smoke almost every evening, but like Susan Blackmore I take a break every few months to test myself. It's never a problem. I've also taken ecstasy and magic mushrooms, and agree with her thoughts on those, especially mushrooms - hallucinogens can give you insights into the world that would normally take years. I've gone through seemingly profound logical thought processes in seconds and come to conclusions for things I've never contemplated before - the only danger is that you forget them, because there's so many of them!

      I don't see drugs as an escape, ever. Someone else mentioned earlier that it's a different perspective - and I agree completely. Drugs change the way you think, and I believe that experience gives you a far more intimate understanding of other people. If you have never thought any differently to the way you do now, then how can you be expected to understand other people's thought processes? How can you contemplate a difference in their logic compared to yours? Having your own thought processes change gives you first-hand experience of the way another person might think. It allows you to come to conclusions that you could never have arrived at sober. It allows you to be more empathic and understanding of other people.

      On top of all this, I think the fact that humans have used drugs since time immemorial is telling. There will always be a search for different feelings, different thoughts, expansion of experiences in all corners of reality, including your own body, and especially your own mind - someone who does not seek to expand their sphere of knowledge is exhibiting wilful ignorance. There is no question that drugs can be damaging. In my mind there is also no question that they can be a powerful force for inspiration. How the person uses them and thinks about them is the most important part.
  • wildfire, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Could she be any LOUDER about it?
  • Freshjive787, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9did she really say that in all caps?
  • kukumaka, on 10/12/2007, -25/+2Drugs are evil.
    • altjeringa, on 10/12/2007, -1/+28No. Evil is Evil. Drugs just make it more colorful. ;P
    • xoxuxox, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2High Hitler indeed.
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -16/+4yes hitler was a meth addict... the drug that for a long time supposedly opened you mind
    • PoptartKing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Hitler also painted landscapes. What an abberant form of art, right?
    • Longstreets, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The War On Drugs is evil !
      The war on people is evil !

      Another tragic side effect of illegal drugs is a well documented
      medical syndrome known as Opiophobia.

      Opiophobia- an irrational fear of narcotics fostered by the "War On Drugs"

      Pain sufferers unable to obtain the necessary medication to relieve their pain
      have committed suicide.Cancer patients have died in agony because the
      attending physician feared federal prosecution for over-prescribing narcotic drugs.

      See this :
      No Relief In Sight
      Torture, despair, agony, and death are the symptoms of "opiophobia," a
      well-documented medical syndrome fed by fear, superstition, and the war on drugs.
      Doctors suffer the syndrome. Patients suffer the consequences.

      http://reason.com/9701/fe.jacob.shtml
  • Dested, on 10/12/2007, -11/+9I pretty much followed the same path as her, just over a shorter amount of time. I found the bud, then the ecstasy, then the LCD, then the shrooms. Never tried K or DMT, but I would like to some day maybe. The rave culture is amazing in the states and it revolves around these things. Anyone else go?
    • wildfire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+41Good thing you found your LCD, those things are expensive.
    • Dested, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19I finally understand why there is no delete button. I think its so when people ***** up everyone can make em feel like a dick about it.
    • computergod, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3Good luck finding N,N-DMT or even 5-MeO-DMT at a rave. If you want full dissociative effects from ketamine then you have to IV it, not something that you should with the stuff that you find on the street.

      If you want to try something very similar to k, then you might want to look at trying ether or N2O. They are both perfectly legal. N2O you can get on the net as "whippets," ether is in "starting fluid" for cars. The ether is much cheeper, but also has lighter fluid in it. You can do it out of the can just fine, but it is better to distill it a few times first.
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -13/+1nnmeo dmt would put you candy kid ass on well you ***** ass wanting nothing more to come down. want to try it... its not hard to make and the ingredients are perfectly legal and plant based. so if you want a 3 hour cool trip then free base it. but if you are really hard like you claim to be ingest the two plants that make it happen for a few days. and if you want to take K then you deserve to OD on it. X will destroy you perception of reality.
    • Yetimon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9The rave scene here in New Zealand is pretty amazing - there's nothing quite like dancing to psytrance under the stars in some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. Psychedelics certainly add to the experience, but the music and the energy of the crowd is certainly capable of putting you into some pretty intense higher states of conciousness even without the drugs. (Although a good cup of chai certainly helps) :)

      There's a very good doco on rave culture, psychedelics, art, and music called Liquid Crystal Vision. Excellent music and visual mixing, plus the whole film is on their website (http://www.liquidcrystalvision.com/3_onlinecinema.htm).

    • Frost9999, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@yetimon - Please define "higher states of conciousness". Is that the state I get into after taking lots of the drug 'alcohol'?
    • spyrochaete, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Don't digg him down for suggesting alcohol as a drug. It's a perfectly valid question.

      Alcohol is a depressant, not a stimulant, so it suppresses your senses. Alcohol folds your perception inward whereas psychedelics expand your perception. Think of alcohol as filling a balloon with water, and LSD as filling a balloon with helium.
  • monergism, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Don't the people who enter into medicine secretly want to cure themselves?
  • wsriley, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Susan Blackmore is pretty impressive all around. She's written a book on memes and associates with Richard Dawkins if I remember correctly. It's interesting to see so many scientists calling ***** on things that are... *****.
    • altjeringa, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Oh a friend of Dawkins? She must be attempting to herd people into the fold of Satan! BBWWWAAHH HHA HAA.

      ;)
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2a friend of Dawkins... hahaha... you shouldn't have brought that up
      http://www.discover.com/issues/dec-06/features/god-experiments/?page=3
      so if drugs bring a large number of people closer to God while "opening the doors of preception" WTF does that do to your whole God is dead; and no one cares; and if there is a hell... theory?
    • computergod, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6@mike

      Depends on your idea of what god is. Anyone who has gotten into the "rabbit hole" type drugs (DMT, salvia) knows that there is no god in the traditional sense.
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2you are talking out of your ***** ass. salvia doesn't put you in a hole. salvia D is like compressing an 8 hour LSD trip into 15 minutes. Talk about the true "trip". for me on that ***** for some reason people faces turn into birds heads. thats if i'm not having a "split reality" trip where half the room is reality and the other half is space or something. and the types of trips on salvia D are as varied as there are types of drugs. and you obviously didn't read that article. if never smoked anything that comes near that and thank god that it lasts only 15 minutes. and free basing DMT is a happy flying through stuff experience. ingesting the two plants that make its work is a horrible 3 - 4 day ordeal. so get some life experience and then try and talk to me about doing drugs. and no its doesn't matter what your conception of god is. if you have a conception of god you are an agnostic not an atheist. do you understand the difference because I think that you don't.
    • computergod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9@mike (again)

      I'm not sure if I should even be replying as I honestly don't know if you are trolling or not, every post you have made has had some serious misinformation. Swearing at me for my legitimate reply does not help much either.

      I want to clarify on some points you made in the post I am replying to:
      Salvia is nothing at all like LSD, those looking for something like it should avoid salvia. The people marketing it as a marijuana alternative are scum. To put it in simple terms: Salvia shows you how you work internally, LSD shows you how society works and how you interact with it. The trips are all nearly exactly same for everyone. A "split reality" trip or seeing 'bird heads' means that you didn't do enough and only partially broke through. Once you do there will be no people and only one reality.

      Dawkins is a "tea pot atheist" which is technically an agnostic.

      The "rabbit hole" term is a common way of describing any drug that takes you to a completely different reality.


    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1the reason I said out of you ***** ass was because I've never felt lost in a hole on salvia D. I said compress and acid trip into 15 minutes because of the extreme time distortions. I (used to I've sworn all that ***** off... well not smoke and booze) prefered LSD far my to salvia. also there is a common classification of salvia D trips. 1 - 7. my first was a 7. totally nucking futs, everything was not there and it blew my mind after I came down I could not for the life of me beilve that it had only been 15 min. thats why I said compressing an LSD trip into 15 minutes.
      I guess I'm just feeling a little attacked on this forum as my main point is hard trip drugs shouldn't be legal because most people will tend to habituate.
      And the head shops were I live don't sell salvia as a weed alt. and you are right anyone who does is a sick *****.
      However for a good laugh mix some with some bud and give to some one who is rolling. and yea I'm probably pretty fing evil for having done that.
      but the main reason I didn't agree with your point is b/c salvia piqued my creative juices more than anything else. but I really feel that DMT isn't a "hole drug" any more that shrooms are.
    • randomm, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1You're all full of ***** about salvia. It's effects are best explained as super-weed. Its like being stoned out of your mind for about 3 minutes then when thats over you just feel tired and everything looks vivid and super "in focus" for about 12 minutes. It really isn't that great by itself, but in addition to marijuana it can make your trip a real journey. Just remember, you have to get salvia really hot for it to release the salvinorin (no cherries, you have to hold the flame on it the whole time).
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3@randomm
      oh your are an idiot I guess that you bought your salvia from some hippie douche bag in a head shop of whom knew damn well that his ***** @ $30+ a gram garbage was just that - garbage. stop buying plants out of a head shop you noob. 10 x extract in a head shop = .005 extract in real life.
    • spyrochaete, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Anyone who has gotten into the "rabbit hole" type drugs (DMT, salvia) knows that there is no god in the traditional sense."

      Many, many people have self-affirming religious experiences on psychedelics. Many others don't.

      Your statement is absolutely true of my own experience - drugs helped me see that there is no bearded man in the sky - but it's not true of everyone. Timothy Leary wrote about many LSD test subjects having conversations with Jesus and stuff like that.

      -edit-

      and, to anyone curious about Salvia Divinorum, heed the words of computergod! It is one INCREDIBLY powerful substance. I've been doing psychedelics for 6 years and I'm working up the courage to try salvia for a second time. Beware, but be very intrigued.
  • altjeringa, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11Drugs. Hmmm that's so funny. I think people really need to get over their fear of many drugs. Pot, hallucinogens, and the like are pretty harmless. Almost none of the propaganda is true. I think people tend to mistake the fact that they use drugs during difficult times in their lives as proof that drugs make life difficult. Anyway... I've not touch anything in many years but that's more to do with having other things I'd rather be doing. Maybe again someday... Somebody needs to give Nancy Regan a swift kick in the butt.
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -12/+2hallucinogens are harmless! are you ***** mental?... what about the major damage they do to you body (kidneys ever hurt you after a trip) and obviously you have never had a friend that was addicted to mushrooms?
    • returnofmalv, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Drugs present a temporary escape for many people. The problem with that of course is that when people have the ability to temporarily escape reality, they never take the time to address the real problems in their life. End result -- life turns to ***** and the bottle becomes a dependence. Not only that but they also end up screwing over people that rely upon them.

      I suppose the same could be said for TV, videogames, and movies. The point is that any addiction which detaches you from reality for prolonged periods of time is dangerous.
    • Azurensis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2>what about the major damage they do to you body (kidneys ever hurt you after a trip)

      Painfully dumb. If your kidneys hurt after tripping, you certainly haven't eaten lsd - probably the wrong kind of mushrooms!
    • spyrochaete, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Drugs are not harmless. They are very powerful and have the potential to do great good, great harm, or a great waste of time. Be educated and sensible if and when experimenting.
  • aMMgYrP, on 10/12/2007, -13/+5As someone who has lost (or nearly lost) several close family members, friends, and myself to drugs. I have to say that I fail to understand why people want to legalize. A lot of my friends turned to various drugs for inspiration, and while in the short term it may pay dividends, in the long run, they first began to depend on the drugs for their creativity rather than it being a spark for it, then the drugs just took over. Every single person I know who has gone down this road has at one point believed that they "had it under control". Artists, thinkers, philosophers, I mean really they are all pretty unbalanced to start with.

    Honestly the only benefits to legalization that i can see is that it first takes away the rebellious mystique of it being illegal, second the substances can be quality controlled and regulated, and third that it would make it easier for people who lose control of it, to get the help they need. But truly creative people know that drugs are just a false path to inspiration.
    • nukem996, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19I personally don't do drugs and don't ever plan to but I am for the legalization of it. Why? Because I believe in a free society people should have the choice to do drugs or not. A freedom loving person does not restrict others to what he or she thinks is right or wrong based on morals.
    • mulling, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5The tendency to abuse drugs is often a symptom of other problems. Almost everyone I know who has or has had a drug problem has been abused or has mental health problem independent of their drug habit. Drugs are a way of self-medicating. Cigarettes are a great example--they're a natural anti-psychotic. Schizophrenics are generally heavy smokers, they use the nicotine to self-medicate. In my experience I've found that my friends who smoke are varying degrees of crazy (arent we all?). The heaviest smokers are usually the craziest ones.
    • computergod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The first half of that is pure troll, with the second half trying to keep people from digging down. Nice try.

      How would psychedelic drugs 'just take over?' If you are using stimulants for 'artistic inspiration' then you are just plain dumb.
    • johnthedebs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"A freedom loving person does not restrict others to what he or she thinks is right or wrong based on morals."

      The problem isn't restricting based on what's right or wrong for a person, it's restricting based on what a few people think is best for the society. Some drugs can be extremely addictive while others could potentially cause a person to put others at risk by distorting (suppressing, enhancing, or otherwise) their senses, which is why driving drunk is illegal. I don't do drugs myself either, nor am I against those who do but these types of laws were put in place for a reason. The truth is, it's extremely difficult if not impossible to properly regulate this type of stuff to prevent abuse, so the only easy option in many cases is to make it illegal. Besides, anyone who really wants drugs can pretty easily obtain them. Freedom doesn't mean you've got a free reign - it just means you can make your own decisions about things so long as you don't interfere with the freedom of others.
    • spyrochaete, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@johnthedebs

      The most addictive drugs are legal and widely available - caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine. These drugs are addictive, portrayed positively in media, cause health problems with extended use, and cause death in excess.

      If the government cared about these issues such substances would be illegal to possess. The war on drugs is a war on freedom, not a motherly caress.
  • mulling, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12Alexander Shulgin's books PIHKAL and TIHKAL are worth a read. Bill Hicks also had some interesting things to say about drugs.
    • Ryan83, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7RIP Bill

      "And I'm glad [mushrooms] are illegal. Because you know what happened when I took 'em? I laid in a field of green grass for four hours going, 'My God, I love everything.' The heavens parted, and God rained gifts of forgiveness onto my being, healing my psychically, physically, and emotionally. I realized that our true nature was spirit not body; that it is only an illusion that we are separate from God or that we are alone. The reality is that we are at one with God and he loves us. Now if that's not a danger to society...I mean, how are we gonna keep building nuclear weapons, you know what I mean? What's gonna happen to the arms industry once we realize that we're all one? It's gonna ***** up the economy! The economy that's FAKE anyway!"
  • computergod, on 10/12/2007, -5/+22I smoked a marijuana "joint" once and I became addicted, then once I OD'd on acid and died, but I'm alive again. It is very bad, the doctors told me I was lucky to be alive.

    /sarcasm
    • javip, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Lucky you added the sarcasm tag.. I was about to propose starting your own religion
    • zombiedepot, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Well he is the computer god.
    • dlbear, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3We're not worthy, we're not worthy.....
  • coldfirenj, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12@Wildfire LSD isn't expensive. Most of the "acid" you get anymore isn't LSD at all. Eitherway, both are cheap. Also, I do alot of drugs and my opinion is that everyone should just do whatever the hell they want with their own lives. Period. And mind your own goddamn businesses.
    • LVsFINEST, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4He said LCD. That's the whole point of his post.
    • wildfire, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I wasn't talking about LC...what we're we talking about again?
    • computergod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If it isn't LSD then it will almost certainly be DOx or x-FLY, and they all last twice as long so they are easy to spot. There are a bunch of LSD analogues out there, but they never show up on the street.
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4LSD is still far cheaper and far more powerful than X where if come from... if you can find it.
    • Azurensis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3>Most of the "acid" you get anymore isn't LSD at all.

      Umm, then what is it? What other psychedelic drug is active in the microgram range that would have a significantly different effect than lsd?

      If you mention strychnine, you've just proven yourself an idiot...
  • bigdt87, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14The government has criminalized the mind, and free thought by making hallucinogens illegal. It ***** sickening. How dare they limit where we can take our mind, what doors we can open. They can't control our ***** minds, they can lock us into a prison, strip us of our freedoms, but the ultimate injustice that one can do is punish someone for thinking, for wandering into a mystery. People who take L.S.D, they are curious, seekers of a vast abyss, the unknown, something that no government official can explain, or regulate. Yet we let them. My ***** god America, wake the ***** up.
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -15/+5you wake the ***** up. what about people who habitually take LSD? have you never met someone who does? are you that naive to the drug scene? do you think that coke meth and heroin are the only drugs that can be addictive? grow up. or keep chasing that ultimate high like I once did and see if it make you any wiser for it.
    • mark101, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4If you as an adult, think and behave incorrectly enough, you can be commited to a "hospital"(really a jail) by your loved ones and a psychiatrist. Don't wander too far off the path of reality.
    • Azurensis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1>what about people who habitually take LSD?

      How habitually can you take it? The tolerance builds up almost instantly, and you have to take twice the dose for the same effect. You'd have to eat a whole sheet in a little over a week to trip at all.
    • nairanvac, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2You know, what you fail to realize here is the same thing many people fail to realize when speaking of the evils of government: The government, your parents, no one, can ever "take away your freedom". Ever. Regardless of your situation, you always have freedom of thought. Even in prison, you're free to think.

      It's kind of ironic that all you druggies and what not, always speak of transcending the physical world, and becoming one with the spiritual world, and yet, you refer to going prison as losing your freedom, when, really referring to not being in prison as "freedom" is a nothing but a superficial misconception. If you were really thinking about getting to a higher place in your mind, you'd realize that you're always free, free to think, and free to do what you want. The things that happen because of your actions are nothing but consequences. Everything has consequence. If the government weren't "restricting your freedom" and imposing consequences, then something else would bring those consequences.
    • spyrochaete, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You are put in jail because someone has deemed you unfit for society and similar to murderers and thieves - people who are dangerous because they allow their antisocial mental manifestations to unfurl in the real world. Everybody has naughty thoughts but people who cannot control them should be rehabilitated until they can exist symbiotically with their peers. Many drug users are responsible about their experimentations. Those people will not be helped by societal rehabilitation. Quite the contrary - they've sufficiently figured out that aspect of living that they are interested in expanding their perceptions.

      Addicts who commit crimes to feed their addictions, on the other hand, need rehabilitation to help them find balance.
  • Kemo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Dr. Hunter S. Thompson: In my case, you know, I hate to advocate drugs or liquor, violence, insanity to anyone. But in my case it's worked.
  • beeerad, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7I have read a lot of Susan Blackmore's work, researching for a paper i wrote last year, and have to say she had some of the easiest to understand views on consciousness i came across. Finding out she is a regular drug user really doesn't change a thing but it does go to show that in some fields of study it helps to be high to try and wrap your head around things
  • hiPpymIck, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3psychedelic links
    http://www.shroomery.org/
    http://www.secondattention.org/main/media.aspx
  • ThinkBox, on 10/12/2007, -11/+2It's my 22nd birthday - mod me up :D
  • kenwestin, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Well it's Psychology. A pseudo-science anyway, that deals with the abstract concept of consciousness, so really it makes sense. But, I don' t think I would want to be on a plane designed by engineers on LSD, or go to a doctor that gets high before surgery (OK maybe for general practice…but only if it is also part of his “treatment”). In a way this could actually not just discredit Blackmore, but her field of study. Yes, I agree that drugs can enhance creative thinking, but there is a time and place for such “research”. This could put the field of Psychology into the same realm as other creative disciplines such as literature and music…again don’t get me wrong I love Huxley, Thompson and the like as well as the majority of music created past 50 years ( OK I admit it, I don’t get the Beatles)…but if you want to sell Psychology as a Science…lay off the drugs, or keep that ***** private, as most of us don’t care and those that do will use it against you to discredit your ideas. It is better to wait until you die, they have named schools after you and you admit this stuff :-)
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2don't forget that LSD's primary legitimate psychological usage is for the study of disorders such as schizophrenia
    • mark101, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3people are made schizophrenic by psychiatry and the drugs forced on their "patients".
      in 1900 the incidence of serious mental illness was 1 in 500 people. today its 1 in 50 . psychiatry has really been helping.
  • digid, on 10/12/2007, -9/+5The Ambulance in the Valley

    ‘Twas a dangerous cliff, as they freely confessed,
    Though to walk near its crest was so pleasant;
    But over its terrible edge there had slipped
    A duke, and full many a peasant.
    The people said something would have to be done,
    But their projects did not at all tally.
    Some said ‘Put a fence ‘round the edge of the cliff,’
    Some, ‘An ambulance down in the valley.’

    The lament of the crowd was profound and was loud,
    As their tears overflowed with their pity;
    But the cry for the ambulance carried the day
    As it spread through the neighbouring city.
    A collection was made, to accumulate aid
    And the dwellers in highway and alley
    Gave dollars or cents – not to furnish a fence –
    But an ambulance down in the valley.

    ‘For the cliff is all right if you’re careful,’ they said;
    ‘And if folks ever slip and are dropping,
    It isn’t the slipping that hurts them so much
    As the shock down below – when they’re stopping.’
    So for years (we have heard), as these mishaps occurred
    Quick forth would the rescuers sally,
    To pick up the victims who fell from the cliff,
    With the ambulance down in the valley.

    Said one, to his pleas, ‘It’s marvel to me
    That you’d give so much greater attention
    To repairing results than to curing the cause;
    You had much better aim at prevention.
    For the mischief, of course, should be stopped at its source;
    Come, neighbours and friends, let us rally.
    It is far better sense to rely on a fence
    Than an ambulance down in the valley.’

    ‘He is wrong in his head,’ the majority said;
    ‘He would end all our earnest endeavour.
    He’s a man who would shirk this responsible work,
    But we will support it forever.
    Aren’t we picking up all, just as fast as they fall,
    And giving them care liberally?
    A superfluous fence is of no consequence,
    If the ambulance works in the valley.’

    The story looks queer as we’ve written it here,
    But things oft occur that are stranger
    More humane, we assert, than to succour the hurt
    Is the plan of removing the danger.
    The best possible course is to safeguard the source
    By attending to things rationally.
    Yes, build up the fence and let us dispense
    With the ambulance down in the valley.

    Joseph Malins 1895
  • GenericJoshman, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Good Read.
  • MrTea, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Keep in mind, I'm not saying that I am against drugs nor do I support the so-called "war against drugs" (although I do despise cartels and violent individuals of the like that take advantage of the prohibition), but I've always wondered one thing.

    Have any supporters ever judged which drugs are good and which drugs are bad? For ex, has a poet ever written about their wonderful experience with crack and how it unleashed a seemingly infinite array of creative thoughts...until it wore off and they had to buy more? Did they then declare that marijuana only unleashes a minimal amount of creative thoughts in comparison?

    No, I'm not high and I've never been high (but I've been drunk). I'm just wondering what's good and what's bad.
    • bigdt87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Like anything and everything, an excess of something is bad. An excess of Snickers bars is bad. An excess of marijuana is bad. Some are just worse than others. Marijuana, being not physically addictive certainly is not on the level of drugs like meth, heroin, and crack. Meth heroin and crack are terrible drugs. They are highly addictive, and yes, will suck somebody in, and more than likely destroy their lives. Stay away from those. hallucinogens like lsd, mescaline, and mushrooms, they arent neccessarily bad, but they are dangerous in the hands of someone inexperianced/stupid/mentally unstable. Hallucinogens need to be handled by responsible people that know what their doing. One of the problems of the drug situation today is that irresponsible criminals are in control of who is getting drugs, unlike the past generations where the wise shamans handled and adminstered drugs.
    • bigdt87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I want to add as well, there are vast parrelels when it comes drugs and why people take them. On one side, you have people who take amphetamines, and they are mainly doing them to escape. On the other side, you have people who are taking LSD, and they are doing them to dive into life, and to explore what the ***** is going on here on Earth, and this whole 'being alive" thing. It is a very bad thing to group all these people and substances together, and then try to deal with them in the same way. Really the only thing they have in common is their both victims of a unjust ***** thing we call the war on drugs.
    • spyrochaete, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1The Sea - by me

      bailing twine aspindled round a twirling starry sea
      a spasming whirling funnel into singularity
      with twisting, twirling, twine unfurling yearning to be free
      to travel through forevermore is where I want to be

      a plunge into the vertex of the vortex of the sea
      I fetch and stretch and rend my mind into eternity
      to join miasmic forces churning time incessantly
      and watch the twine unravel from the cosmic tapestry

      my body discombobulates and washes through the sea
      my toes elbows my temples and my hands and feet and knees
      the parts and cells and atoms drifting far away from me
      the thing I was was smaller than the thing I’m going to be

      I stretch into infinity
      contiguous affinity
      I submit to the trinity
      of ever all and free
  • pwallroth, on 10/12/2007, -1/+27Steve Jobs says that taking LSD was "one of the two or three most important things he has done in his life" and he just invented the iPhone. Anyone not getting this yet? Drugs = iPhones.
  • SuckMyDigg, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1I have a bad enough time with the current legal drugs to know that even if all drugs were legalized I would not be able to partake in them. I understand the want for them to be legal, but I also understand how unsuspecting people could become horribly addicted as well. It's hard to know your limits when the drugs you're on blind you to the fact that you can't control yourself... until it's too late.
    • lnf69, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8There have been many posts here on Digg and numerous other places that attest to the fact that keeping drugs illegal does not solve any of the problems you are worried about.
      Here's an example from the experts:
      http://digg.com/politics/Former_Narcs_Say_Drug_War_is_Futile

      PS; not my post, just one that talks more to your point as to why prohibition is more harmful then your fears.

  • jabberwock1977, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3She was my lecturer in Bristol about ten years ago, so this is quite an intrigueing read. She used to turn up with different coloured hair every week.
    • jabberwock1977, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Woah, I've just seen her hair on the front page of the site. That really is quite something. She's obviously got a bit more experimental in the last 10 years.
  • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1i find it funny that I keep getting dugg down for point out the "grim meat hooks of reality". and how many of you are going to get that reference?
    • bigdt87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Your getting dugg down because you dont understand that its your friends who abuse hallucinogens who have a problem, not the hallucinogen itself.
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1yes but her point was it help creativity. my point is that total ***** *****. I am sorry that I'm not a good enough word smith to turn my experiences into something that could show you how its total BS. I will try one last time before I leave as the guy that everyone hates on this forum:
      Weed doesn't make you creative any more than a good cup of coffee and the author of this story is a liar. So now as so many of you have been hoping I will now ***** off and not challenge you in this forum anymore.
    • Azurensis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4>Weed doesn't make you creative any more than a good cup of coffee and the author of this story is a liar.

      No, weed doesn't make *you* any more creative than a good cup of coffee. Anything can be someone's inspiration for art, and it's not up to you to decide for them.
  • firepig, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14SuckMyDigg what you describe is what now exists, "...unsuspecting people could become horribly addicted...." Decriminalizing drugs would not change that situation, it would only make honest citizens out of people we now term criminals.

    There really is little difference in the scare tactics used to engender support for the Iraq war and to maintain the prohibition against certain drugs. All hell is breaking loose now; get out and see what's going on. If we ended the war on drugs, we could definitely and significantly reduce the prison population. That, plus a reduction in drug-related criminal activity would probably far outweigh whatever spike there would be in drug use. Note, I say spike, as there is no evidence to say anything else is likely to occur; although, most experts would probably say usage would remain higher, but certainly not in the epidemic proportions the masters of the scare tactic would like us to believe.

    By the way, I don't use illegal drugs and never have. I just happen to believe in freedom.
  • HarryHastur, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@mikesbaker: "The Doors of Perception" is a *non*-fiction book in which Huxley describes his experience with mescaline.

    Fact checking: it's a wonderful thing.
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1I don't agree with doors of preception. I think that if you are going to try and open that doors ayahuasca is a lot better. and he was talking about a pipe dream (ayahuasca or not). it doesn't open doors to *****.
      and thanks for the fact checking cliche. here's one of my own.
      in other news many of us are inexperienced children who will believe any thing.
    • Lounger540, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1And you are inexperienced in formatting and grammar. I feel high just trying to read your comments.
  • benijuana, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"I'm on the ceiling, " I said, as I watched the mouth down below open and close and say the words in unison. It was a most peculiar sensation.

    i smoke some top notch nor*cal bud pretty regularly, and i have never gotten this high. that goes for this and most of her other comments.

    Also, I'm a very good writer sober, and i get most of my ideas when I'm stoned, but I cannot write for ***** when I'm high. I have to make bullet points so I remember my thoughts and then write the real stuff later.
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1thats because this is a work of fiction. college kids eat this ***** for breakfast. there are two ways you get this high:
      1)you always get this high and you are luck ***** that weed makes you trip
      2)or you ingest a large quantity of weed
      thanks for being one of the few "stoners" who keyed on to that
    • jabberwock1977, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13) Or it's about the 5th time you've done it.

      (I remember the first few times didn't do much, then from about 5th go to 10th it coulld be pretty intense. Then it's never so intense again.)
    • benijuana, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3no, i've been smoking frequently for about 6 years now, definitely over a thousand times, I still can get some very intense highs, and i continue smoking because it remains very pleasurable.

      Don't get me wrong, i'm the last person to knock on weed (my tag is "benijuana" for chrissakes). But THC wont do to you what it does to this woman (99% of the time). The parts of your brain that would have to be affected to produce those results is almost completely unaffected by THC. When stuff like that happens, my guess is that the THC and your own emotions probably release some chemicals or hormones that produce that effect. a high like that off of pot happening even a few times in your lifetime would be pretty damn rare.
    • dlbear, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"i have never gotten this high. that goes for this and most of her other comments" I remember thinking the same thing as I read it. It is however possible to achieve that effect through long-term meditation producing what is (I think) called kundalini. Maybe a combination of the drug & a personality that naturally takes to a meditative state produced this highly unusual effect.

      I took trip quite a few times back in the early '70s when there was still pure stuff. I liked acid but my favorite was peyote. The only thing I had a bad time on was shrooms. I don't even toke now but I don't even a little bit regret my experiences.
  • benijuana, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I also have much different psychedelic experiences than her. Mushroom trips have been some of the most enjoyable and happiest, and the feeling of clarity after the trip is phenomenal. I figured acid would be similar, but that was a very bad night indeed... only did it once and probably won't mess with it again unless I have VERY good reason
  • vstmonger, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1I used to believe all of that Doors Of Perception ***** way back when. However now that I am older and wiser, I know for sure, that is what it is, *****. I have seen friends end up in the loony bin from taking lsd and or magic mushrooms. I have been addicted to pot for some thirty five years and have only recently quit for the last four months. This is about the fifth time, and I have been cold turkey. I hope I can continue. Once I took some acid, and was feeling like superman as I walked on a railing on the Seawall in Vancouver. I slipped and the only thing that saved my life was my friend's quick reflexes. Thousands of people have been killed in accidents while under the influence of so called harmless hallucinogens. I do agree that pot should be legalized, but take it from someone who has done them all. DRUGS SCREW YOU UP!
    • aliguana, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1you've been smoking pot for 35 YEARS? holy *****.... do you smoke it raw, or with tobacco? see cos I have this theory... all the people i've know who were "addicted" to pot smoked it mixed with tobacco. the people who just smoked it raw in a pipe or whatever could take it or leave it, and did it on weekends etc to relax and for recreation.

      anyhow, those mixers were actually addicted to the nicotine, addicted to smoking "cigarettes". they just kid themselves and say "i am addicted to pot! i have to smoke 20 a day!". *****. their addiction to pot is all in the mind. what they actually have is a physical addiction to nicotine. give them a placebo pot, one without THC or whatever, and I bet they wouldn't notice the much difference in their addiction. give them a nicotine-free tobacco, and they sure as hell would....

      i'm not anti-(soft)drugs. do what you will as long as you're an adult. can't remember the last time I saw a bloody punchup outside a nightclub between two stoners... erm, come to think of it, I've NEVER seen a punch-up outside a nightclub between two stoners. just drunk people. ban alcohol, that it one NASTY as hell drug...
    • spyrochaete, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've been smoking pot every day for 8 years. At Xmas time my girlfriend and I stayed at her mom's place out of town, rendering smoking impossible for a week. I didn't miss it. Pot is not physically addictive. Your body cannot become dependant on THC.
  • BearSuit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Alright lets get a few things straight.

    1.THC the psycho reactant in cannabis is less addictive than caffeine.
    2.you can NOT overdose on marijuana unless you smoke multiple times your body weight.(which is physically imposable)
    3.most hallucinogens such as LSD and mushrooms are not addictive.

    the drugs that destroy peoples lives are drugs like opiates, cocaine, and amphetamines.
    weed is mostly harmless, and actually better for you that drinking.
    • dblondon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4spot on mate
    • spyrochaete, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3The one and only death indisputably contributed to marijuana consumption was of a cow that ate a 20-pound brick of it. Its heart slowed and it died of insufficient oxygen to the brain.
    • exegesisClique, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@spyrochaete

      Do you have a link to that story... I'm truely curious...
  • cakesale, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@mikesbaker
    why the ***** would you do that... jesus.
    • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1why b/c I was young and dumb... much like many of the people who will now go out and try and try and try trip drugs hoping to enhance their reality (and hopefully not as a result of this article).
      Guess what? They don't really help your creativity. And if it did half of the people on this forum disagreeing with me would be world famous authors by now.
  • rmad1949, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6The last thing our government wants to see is enlightened people. It is a long known fact of the use of certain 'drugs' among shaman, Native American tribes and just about every spiritual leader in every tribe worldwide since time began... and before (an animal will eat a mushroom for the high - and maybe has became a better hunter over time because of it). The wisdom of these men, and possibly women in some cases, was extraordinarily important for the survival of the society. Also among a few evolutionist's is the theory... e.g., a frog eating a passed out fly that has been feeding on Amanita muscaria mushroom finds enlightenment and evolution over many millennium and in the end became us... the point really is the government, as you can see by the posts, has tossed 'drugs' into one big vat of illegal, bad, harmful... prison if your caught... they cannot hold their breath a minute too blurt out how DRUGS KILL! DARE! TURN IN YOUR PARENTS AND FRIENDS! And instead of treating God given marijuana or mushrooms for what they are when used... enlightenment... a thought or vision that comes from... out there in nowhere land... purpose vs. just the usual bozo that sits and laughs his ass off at a party like 99% of the unenlightened do or the ones taking heroin, meth, crack, cocaine, nicotine, alcohol and killing themselves or others... mere monkey's sitting in a cage staring into self-loathing. Enlightenment = Evolution

    Everybody that is posting in here knows somebody taking a pill of some kind for a psychological problems. Puts a different meaning to the word insanity one would think.

    Something from the trash can -- Want some government enlightenment? Watch the first movie of Alex Jones addressing an audience that includes C-SPAN in HAPPYFACE's posts... although his posting of this is getting tiresome. Most people can only cope with the lies they are fed. Truth and enlightenment are something most cannot deal with.
    • mark101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6The government wants consumers , if eveyone was sitting around happily baked, who would be working and consuming for the economy?
    • bigdt87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2greatest post ever.
    • lnf69, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@mark101. "... The government wants consumers , if eveyone was sitting around happily baked, who would be working and consuming for the economy?... "
      Pretty stupid remark I'd say.
      Why isn't everyone home drunk instead of going to work.
    • mark101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Alcohol is kind of expensive and it is a poison. They did try to ban it in USA remember prohibition?
    • runeasgar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1And they rightfully failed in that effort.
  • dojonz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Theres something you don't know about me Joe Rogan, I smoke rocks.
  • 5hop4orce, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You could never tell by looking at her.
    • AlexApetrei, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Well, all stereotypes aside, ... maybe she had german parents ?

      Just because she has tie dye hair it dosent make her a ...

      Who am I kidding, she's a stoner .
  • mikesbaker, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1oh and my last thought before I piss off as I've been angering so many of you...
    you guys are feeling defensive because you don't want to deal with your addictions.
    • mark101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Lots of people have addictions, why pick on functioning drug users? People over-eat(fat) and over-work/workaholic etc
      People say if he/she wasn't using drugs they could have done so much more. More like what?more work for the man? We all end up as dirt in the ground. You envious of others being happy/ creative, finding happyness through some plants?
  • Erakleitos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I always thought that psychologists are the firsts who need a psychologist...
  • kicken18, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2One thing that always comes to mind with Drugs is peoples perceptions. I give you, here in England, we of course had the mass rave culture back in about...85ish is was around the mid 80's, this ended in about 1990 but still the mass consumption of drugs, namly Extasy or a veriety of, continues right up to today. 1990 was 17 years ago now and in the last 20 years, I think the number stands at around 500 deaths from Extasy. Now, 500 deaths, some of them would be OD's, there are some case's of peolpes younger bro's n sisters finding and taking them (E jsut overloads a 7 year olds body) and some, well I think alot, would be bad dehydration since you need to really replenish your self on E.

    So E is a bad drug is it? kills lots of peolpe does it? I am sure alchole kills more people a month then E has in the last 20 years (thats not a stat im just making a point) ciggie's kill a hell of alot of peolpe, yet, wait...THESE ARE LEGAL.

    I think you see my point. Oh btw, the most ive ever done is a few J's here and there, I never use any other drugs, well get smashed on a Friday night, but alchole's legal, right!
    • lnf69, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Oh, but alcohol is a GOOD drug.
      /sarc. off
  • 4ntigravity, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This woman tries to explain life itself by one word, "memes."
    Yeah good luck with that.
  • Mworthin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Far out, man...
  • pyrotix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4This is hardly news. Apple, Microsoft, and nearly every great band that ever played. I am glad this made the front page, though, because geeks in general find drugs hard to accept these days.

    I wish more people would get over their fears and experiment!
  • brindon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"Psychologist" is just a fancy word for "General Arts Degree".
  • tduermeier, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I like how all these people are "calling BS" about other peoples' experiences with various drugs. Each individual's biochemistry is unique, and its no wonder that each person's experience in altering that chemistry with various drugs is unique as well. Drugs are experienced subjectively more often than not. If I have a beer and it makes me feel good and happy, but my friend has a beer and becomes somewhat down, he is not wrong but merely experiencing the same drug in a different manner. The case is no different for pot, salvia, LSD, what have you.
  • oojamaflip2006, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I just wanted to hand out some cakes and chocolate for the half time munchies
  • teaBagger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Fascinating read....
    Thoroughly enjoyed it...
  • haskel29, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Come on, people! We've been through this. 1960-ies - does it ring a bell, anyone?
    • rmad1949, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4If you can remember the 60's, you weren't there.
  • dwhitbeck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Science on drugs! What a concept.
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