Recreational Drugs? Really?

[A. Hofmann]

In Albert Hofmann's famous LSD: My Problem Child, he discusses his own puzzlement at discovering that LSD had become a widely used recreational drug. When I first read his book, I thought he was a bit naïve not to see the recreational appeal of psychedelics. Having had more varied and intense experienced since then, it took me very little time indeed to come to sympathise with Dr Hofmann. This is true for many friends and fellow psychonauts who have experienced these chemicals more than a few times. I hesitate to even call them drugs, for they don't get me stoned or inebriated: they simply seem to be prying the hinges from my consciousness.

This is simply a post intended to ask who else feels this way. I have more or less given up trying to 'have fun' on psychedelics; I have no idea who would want to party on acid; and so forth. The intense and revelatory experience of travelling through the diaphanous exhalations of my own brain are more important to me than partying with others, which frankly seems to be utterly masturbatory. I do indulge myself with marijuana, but I've given up any other kinds of inebriation, namely alcohol, in the wake of my psychonautics. The last of these is consistent with LSD-use, but my real question is whether others have experienced a similar phenomenon: introduction to psychedelics through drug-culture, followed by subsequent dissociation from the drug-culture through psychedelics. I'm curious, because, as I said, I can't bring myself to call them drugs any more.

 

[SnozzleBerry]

Perhaps this is "merely" semantic contortion...but I certainly "have fun" on psychedelics without using them recreationally. Ecstatic states are fun. Doesn't mean every trip is an ecstatic experience, but when they are, they're fun.

 

[Wax]

I started using psychedelics recreationally but it I quickly decided that this was the wrong way to go about these substances. On the other hand a few of my friends (the only ones that will really dose with me) seem to take them for fun even after heavy LSD doses and tripping with me on the same dose of mushrooms/LSD, even after experiencing salvia and DMT it hasn't seemed to affect them the way it did me.

For example the last time I did LSD I was with two friends and was talking about how I don't like to smoke while I'm on LSD because it makes my body feel bad like it's telling me it is bad or whatever. They responded "I don't feel that stuff, I just like having fun and feeling like a kid" they also drank a ton of beer that night while I had none.

In a way I feel like it is a fear that they have of the spiritual or unknown and they try to cover it up by ignoring it and partying on psychedelics.

 

[Muskogee Herbman]

They are fun, no doubt, but they can also be very intense. Liken it to a roller coaster.
I don't really hang out with my friends who got me into psychedelics anymore, primarily because I went into using it spiritually and as a healing tool. My friends kept abusing it and it has caused a lot of trauma. Its definitely key to use it safely.
LSD got me to totally quit drinking.

 

[Whatisreal]

I agree in the sense that I couldn't take psychedelics only for fun/recreation. My experiences have been spiritual/mystical and part of a journey to better myself and at the same time have been some of the most fun times in my life. For me, psychedelics and music shows/festivals are the number one example for me where the experience can be used as a self healing/spiritual experience, but at the same time have a beautiful fun time with friends and strangers.

 

[A. Hofmann]

Excellent response! Yes, I suppose 'fun' is a bit subjective. I do have fun, I guess, but it's not the same simplistic fun of a high or a drunk. Psychedelics are too personal, too complex, too alien, too silent, too introverted, and too spiritual to be enjoyed in a party-setting. And yes, Muskogee, I haven't had more than a sip of someone else's drink in about a year now, thanks to LSD.

 

[benzyme]

In Albert Hofmann's famous LSD: My Problem Child, he discusses his own puzzlement at discovering that LSD had become a widely used recreational drug. When I first read his book, I had only experienced a single acid-trip, and thought he was a bit naive not to see the recreational appeal of psychedelics. Having experienced more varied and intense since that time, it took me very little time indeed to come to sympathise with Dr Hofmann. This is true for many friends and fellow psychonauts who have experienced these chemicals more than a few times. I hesitate to even call them drugs, for they don't get me stoned or inebriated: they simply seem to be prying the hinges from my consciousness.

This is simply a post intended to ask who else feels this way. I have long since given up trying to 'have fun' on psychedelics; I have no idea who would want to party on acid; and so forth. The intense and revelatory experience of travelling through the diaphanous exhalations of my own brain are more important to me than partying with others, which frankly seems to be utterly masturbatory. I do indulge myself with marijuana, but I've given up any other kinds of inebriation, namely alcohol, in the wake of my psychonautics. The last of these is consistent with LSD-use, but my real question is whether others have experienced a similar phenomenon: introduction to psychedelics through drug-culture, followed by subsequent dissociation from the drug-culture through psychedelics. I'm curious, because, as I said, I can't bring myself to call them drugs any more.

any exogenous substance that elicits an altered state can be technically called a "drug"; a compound that alters the body's "stasis". this is an objective view, independent of your ideological view of what's considered a "drug", and what's considered an "experience".
one can argue that "recreational" involves hedonic pursuit in the equation, and with LSD being a dopamine agonist like so many others, this certainly fits the bill.

 

[A. Hofmann]

Thanks for the input, but the two words had more to do with facilitating discussion about attitudes and practices. These words carry connotations beyond their incontravertible denotations. I agree with you, but my question was intended to probe somewhat beyond the words I used.

 

[benzyme]

allow me to elaborate..
whereas the common drugs of abuse have one or two modes of action which primarily focus on
euphoria (and this has a lot to do with dopamine reuptake inhibition), psychedelics like LSD
have a much wider receptor binding profile. because of this, they elicit a much wider range of emotions and perceptions.

...but like life, what it comes down to for many users is hedonism.

 

[Sky Motion]

Whether you're using it for spiritual reasons or using it in high regard, you are still using it recreationally.

 

[Leon Trout]

as i discovered most of these compounds while following the Grateful Dead, i have a very hard time imagining them without recreation being involved... dancing off 10 pounds in an lsd frenzy, to actual vibrating strings, followed by a quiet molecule session at the tent, with maybe a balloon too... having a high time, living the good life...

as far as i know, there is no law natural or otherwise against spirituality & fun inhabiting the same headspace... i find them to be incredible partners, in fact...

 

[3rdI]

For me shrooms and acid are both recreational, I've never had anything even close to a spiritual experience from either of them, i normally spend my mushrooms trips wondering about in fields with my mates and acid just makes me think about stuff in strange ways. I do them both for shits and giggles.

I don't put either of them in the same league as DMT or Aya, i do neither of these for shits and giggles as they scare the begeezes out of me and they have both shown me ineffable things that I can't approach in a recreational manner.

However I haven't done shrooms in 7-8 years so that might change next month when the little fellas start to pop up.

 

[PrimaUrsus]

In Albert Hofmann's famous LSD: My Problem Child, he discusses his own puzzlement at discovering that LSD had become a widely used recreational drug. When I first read his book, I had only experienced a single acid-trip, and thought he was a bit naive not to see the recreational appeal of psychedelics. Having experienced more varied and intense since that time, it took me very little time indeed to come to sympathise with Dr Hofmann. This is true for many friends and fellow psychonauts who have experienced these chemicals more than a few times. I hesitate to even call them drugs, for they don't get me stoned or inebriated: they simply seem to be prying the hinges from my consciousness.

This is simply a post intended to ask who else feels this way. I have long since given up trying to 'have fun' on psychedelics; I have no idea who would want to party on acid; and so forth. The intense and revelatory experience of travelling through the diaphanous exhalations of my own brain are more important to me than partying with others, which frankly seems to be utterly masturbatory. I do indulge myself with marijuana, but I've given up any other kinds of inebriation, namely alcohol, in the wake of my psychonautics. The last of these is consistent with LSD-use, but my real question is whether others have experienced a similar phenomenon: introduction to psychedelics through drug-culture, followed by subsequent dissociation from the drug-culture through psychedelics. I'm curious, because, as I said, I can't bring myself to call them drugs any more.

I always loved fungus and acid as recreational drugs. Then I went through a period of about 5 years I didnt touch them. Before deciding to do them again on my 30th birthday I talked to a woman from my childhood who had since made the pilgrimage to Machu Pichu. She said " These plants are here to teach you things, dissolve illusions, but are very dangerous and shouldnt be used recreationally. Use these plants with intent." Well, I took her advice and within 2 times of use I had been to shangrila and back. Ill never be able to repay her for giving me that priceless bit of wisdom, but I know it has forever changed my life.

" Go with intent " these words build the road to self discovery.

 

[PrimaUrsus]

ok I realize I called acid a plant, sorry. If its any consolation to the people whom these little things matter of the types of asid, LSA is isloated from morning glory

 

[PrimaUrsus]

as i discovered most of these compounds while following the Grateful Dead, i have a very hard time imagining them without recreation being involved... dancing off 10 pounds in an lsd frenzy, to actual vibrating strings, followed by a quiet molecule session at the tent, with maybe a balloon too... having a high time, living the good life...

as far as i know, there is no law natural or otherwise against spirituality & fun inhabiting the same headspace... i find them to be incredible partners, in fact...

I think what the author of this thread is trying to illustrate is that: yes there is wonderful side effects to taking a mind altering drugs, but it is natures design to help us accomplish just that. And to use these drugs without some intent other than getting wildly inebriated is an abuse of their purpose, and in some cases is what is contributing to the overharvesting and thinning out of the species, such as peyote. In a way, the recreational users could very well be responsible for the loss of one or more of these precious plant teachers from history.

 

[benzyme]

For me shrooms and acid are both recreational, I've never had anything even close to a spiritual experience from either of them, i normally spend my mushrooms trips wondering about in fields with my mates and acid just makes me think about stuff in strange ways. I do them both for shits and giggles.

I don't put either of them in the same league as DMT or Aya, i do neither of these for shits and giggles as they scare the begeezes out of me and they have both shown me ineffable things that I can't approach in a recreational manner.

However I haven't done shrooms in 7-8 years so that might change next month when the little fellas start to pop up.

spirituality can mean a lot of different things to different people; but yeah, a psychedelic experience doesn't necessarily have to be a spiritual experience.

 

[PrimaUrsus]

I can only speculate how we are given such reportedly divine gifts as the fabled "Soma", and somehow, even though it became an integral part of ancient religion for thousands of years, dissapeared out of history without even so much as its main ingrediant still identifiable.

 

[3rdI]

spirituality can mean a lot of different things to different people; but yeah, a psychedelic experience doesn't necessarily have to be a spiritual experience.

Yes indeed. I suppose its all about intent, I always intended to see trippy things and have a laugh, i am looking forward to using shrooms with my new DMT/Aya mindset.

 

[benzyme]

I can only speculate how we are given such reportedly divine gifts as the fabled "Soma", and somehow, even though it became an integral part of ancient religion for thousands of years, dissapeared out of history without even so much as its main ingrediant still identifiable.

doesn't really matter

it's probably more relevant to a state of mind than an actual substance.
to some people, soma is mdma. to others, it's mescaline.
some had speculated it was amanita muscaria

 

[A. Hofmann]

Thank you, benzyme, for your clarification. I agree. And thanks all for the input. Keep it coming: I've already learnt a lot of the diverse responses to the psychedelic experience. With regard to the term 'recreational', it does tend to denote a use of a substance that is diversionary. I suppose this is the crux of my question. I do not feel like I could ever again use psychedelics for a diversionary experience, though, it seems, many do. Keep the discussion going!