From: mjbrown@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Mike J. Brown) Newsgroups: alt.drugs Subject: RESULTS: LSD Survey Date: 2 Aug 1993 23:23:46 GMT Message-ID: <23k7m2$4ea@charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> Here are the results of an informal survey to get an idea of why people decide to stop using LSD. All I did was post four questions to alt.drugs in July 1993. The questions are quoted in most of the responses below. Mike Brown (mjbrown@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu) 1 Aug 1993. [RESPONDENT 1] Mike, thinking of using LSD in a controlled, serious fashion. Its been 20 some years since i last took it. Not a bad time, but I am trying to have a fairly religious experience in the pagan/nature is alive sense. Everything is alive. Read Learys "Politics of Ecstacy" Good overview of his experinces. Also Burroughs "Naked Lunch" has a great listing of all drugs and what their effect is. IF I can find the time and find the drug fram a reputable source It could be interesting experience. [RESPONDENT 2] > 1. If you have used LSD before, but don't plan on using it again, > why? What led up to this decision? I suppose I plan on using it again, sometime, but these days it's hard to find the time. You really need a good two days with no obligations to enjoy, and recover from, a major trip. 2. How many times did you use LSD before this decision, and what was the dosage (# of hits)? I'm a proud member of the 100+ club, thank you. There was one year that I tripped at least every weekend. > 3. If you didn't already say this in your answer to the first question, > what else can you tell me about yourself that may have affected your > decision? (line of work, interests, family, responsibilities, > allergies, etc) I have a full-time job (at a major state-funded supercomputer center, as they say on TV), which I will be leaving shortly to go back to school to finish my Ph.D. in physical chemistry. I'm also rehabbing a 90 year old house (that can be a full-time job in itself), and I'm very slowly doing the ground-work to set-up a software company. Then, of course, I'm also active in the Libertarian Party. And I spend some extra time getting my right margins to line up. [RESPONDENT 3] >1. If you have used LSD before, but don't plan on using it again, > why? What led up to this decision? I'm not done yet, but I'm close. Reason- lsd works mainly because of the subjectivist in you. I am very 'Objectivist' and in order to see hallucinations, you must believe in the lsd created non-reality, which I could never do. >2. How many times did you use LSD before this decision, and what was > the dosage (# of hits)? Perhaps a dozen, mainly 3 and 4 hit trips, a few 1's and 2's. >3. If you didn't already say this in your answer to the first question, > what else can you tell me about yourself that may have affected your > decision? (line of work, interests, family, responsibilities, > allergies, etc) Work- Lazy ass arcade attendant, and college student. Interests- Programming and philosohy, i.e. Objectivism. Family- 18 years old, only family is 'above' me in the tree and I dont give much of a fuck about them. Responsibilities- Not a whole hell of a lot. The fall semester will add to my reasons to cut down on or quit lsd. Allergies- none. [RESPONDENT 4] >1. If you have used LSD before, but don't plan on using it again, > why? What led up to this decision? Normal LSD usage will be *very* infrequent in my future. Perhaps once every five years or so? On the other hand, LSD and heroin taken together is currently my drug of choice. LSD gets annoying after a while, and heroin gets mundane, even a bit boring. But together.... it's even better than peanut butter and chocolate! (Imagine smoking opium with sentient Fungi on the planet Yuggoth. That's the effect I'm talking about!) >2. How many times did you use LSD before this decision, and what was > the dosage (# of hits)? I tripped around 150 times before getting sick of it. Mostly in high school. >3. If you didn't already say this in your answer to the first question, > what else can you tell me about yourself that may have affected your > decision? (line of work, interests, family, responsibilities, > allergies, etc) My favourite trips were actually what would generally be considered "bad" trips - monsters and paranoia, flirting with insanity, etc. I enjoyed that greatly, after being experienced enough to control a serious trip. Later a more subtle "bad trip"ness appeared, much more mundane (worldly - social/intellectual delusions of pathos instead of otherworldly horrors) and which I couldn't deal with. Plus the feel of the LSD high just annoys me now. One last point - after playing with reasonably high dosages (5-10 hits) it becomes too scary to trip that hard, but milder trips seem like a boring tease. [RESPONDENT 5] Used it 50-60 times over about 10 years. 2-4 tabs normally. Bad setting and feeling like shit the next day have turned me off. My body freaks when I taste blotter. It says 'oh no, not again'. Will probably use it about once a year. [RESPONDENT 6] >1. If you have used LSD before, but don't plan on using it again, > why? What led up to this decision? I will use it again. I loved it and still does. The problem is that it is hard to get here in Sweden at a descent price and quality. >2. How many times did you use LSD before this decision, and what was > the dosage (# of hits)? One, a half trip. Best trip ever. >3. If you didn't already say this in your answer to the first question, > what else can you tell me about yourself that may have affected your > decision? (line of work, interests, family, responsibilities, > allergies, etc) i use lsd to help me grow as an individual. if you take small doses for a long period i think you can learn more about yourself and the world than taking a single big hit. [RESPONDENT 7] >1. If you have used LSD before, but don't plan on using it again, > why? What led up to this decision? Well I have previously taken LSD on 4 occasions. The first occasion I had a 'bad trip' and on the 3rd and 4th occasions I got 'flashbacks' from the previous trip, experiencing the same effects. My 1st bad trip was probably caused by excessive amounts of LSD. I had taken 3*1/2 trips spaced at roughly 1 hours interval. The acid sheet was unmarked since it was straight from source and was considered by the others I was tripping with to be quite strong. Added to this I had finished with my girlfriend recently and I had been looking at art-work by the person who designed the alien in ALIEN (the movie) (this art work is VERY disturbing even while straight). Initially the trip was really good however I had a very rough ride when I was coming down. The only reason I don't really plan on taking it again is that I simply do not enjoy the trip since I always get the same effects i.e. increased insecurity, everything feels wet!(weird huh?), attempt to fight against the drugs effects and a general feeling of fear. However I might be interested in doing very low dosages just to receive the enhanced colours and the wierdness. These are the effects I received on my 2nd trip after taking just 1/2 a 'tab'. [RESPONDENT 8] > 1. If you have used LSD before, but don't plan on using it again, > why? What led up to this decision? 1. I might never use it again or not for a long time if ever. The reason is that I am a nervous person to begin with and it was aggravated. I wish I could enjoy lsd and I understand its potential but I think I have to deal with my own psychological problems before I can even think about trying it again. > 2. How many times did you use LSD before this decision, and what was > the dosage (# of hits)? 2. I used it only once, one hit, but god knows how much a dosage it was. A friend who tripped with me said it was the strongest stuff he ever had. > 3. If you didn't already say this in your answer to the first question, > what else can you tell me about yourself that may have affected your > decision? (line of work, interests, family, responsibilities, > allergies, etc) 3. same as 1. [RESPONDENT 9] >1. If you have used LSD before, but don't plan on using it again, > why? What led up to this decision? I used LSD in an uncomfortable situation, with people I didn't feel safe with, and decided there was really no such thing as a predictable situation. I found the effects of the drug itself unpleasant in several respects, quite aside from having had a 'bad' trip (which did, however, prove useful in some things it forced me to look at about my life at the time). LSD is a powerful stimulant, and I don't even do caffiene; I felt really out of it and depressed the next day; the "trip" lasted much too long and I couldn't lucidly control it (unlike some minor hallucinations I used to have when I was younger, without drugs) and the hallucinations themselves weren't very interesting. The *way* we used it - carelessly, recreationally, with a number of other drugs being passed around - also concerned me that the context of my life might be inappropriate for hallucinogenics. In any case I plan to try psilocybin and DMT in the future (have done mushrooms once; dose was too low cause I was hesitant) since they are less harsh in nature and/or much briefer in their effects (DMT= about five minutes) as well as being botanical in origin, thus having been field-tested on humans for thousands of years whereas LSD was made in a lab relatively recently. (altered form of another botanical compound, i know) >2. How many times did you use LSD before this decision, and what was > the dosage (# of hits)? once; one hit. also several tokes of good hashish and a fair amount of vodka, not to mention all those B vitamins oscar was passing out. >3. If you didn't already say this in your answer to the first question, > what else can you tell me about yourself that may have affected your > decision? (line of work, interests, family, responsibilities, > allergies, etc) I have peculiar reactions to several drugs, and do not take/drink any caffiene or alcohol because of their profound negative effects on me physically and emotionally. I weigh less than 100 pounds and have a few metabolic peculiarities of an indeterminate nature. I don't enjoy pot, either; that disjointed feeling just seems unpleasant to me and I don't like being unable to alter or affect - control - my mental state. A lot of my friends used to take drugs like candy, numbing themselves or freeing themselves up to do other self-destructive things or just for 'fun' and I have fun in other ways. I have, or used to, rather violent mood swings (unrelated to my menstrual cycle, fyi) which were exacerbated by any substance I might casually ingest. MSG makes me grumpy. I like being able to think clearly. (reasons and trivia not sorted out particularly here.) I am not interested in a regular use of a substance so much as experimenting with several once or twice each, barring cocaine heroin crack etc which don't appeal to me. (ahem.) and, last night I heard a young woman say that she'd ACCIDENTALLY smoked some crack when she took and toked what some guy passed to her at our local cafe. I don't trust drugs that I can't verify the quality and` purity of absolutely, and it's at least possible to predict some uniformity (of content, if not strength) of a botanical drug. I don't enjoy strychnine hangovers. et cetera. ---------- end of survey -- Mike Brown _ _ __ ______________________________________Approach and Identify