A long time ago I would get grass from someone who grew their own and a little bit extra that they supplied to friends. There was no wider supply ring or chain of people involved. I think that way there's little harm if any. Any harm that did come to me was probably from the tobacco that I mixed it with. On the other hand another friend of mine became addicted to heroin and died from an overdose of prescription drugs that he stole when he could'nt get any heroin. Watching him go from fit as a butcher's dog Royal Marine to a shuffling skeleton was painful. Overall I think legalisation is the best route to go down but it is becoming more difficult with the almost constant creation of new drugs,synthetic opioids etc. I mostly enjoyed those times but knowing what I know now I am glad I stopped
Sorry but if you think that the illegal drug trade is built on anything other than violence, intimidation, and exploitation then you are either naive or deluded.
I think it depends...I'm sure there are plenty of guys growing and supplying small amounts of weed that are not linked to criminal gangs.
But coke..completely different story. My dealer was so atypical of the type you'd think was driving round selling coke it was funny. Very intelligent guy, from a good family etc. His entire clientele was middle class folks
But where was he getting all the product from? In Edinburgh, where tj is from, if you tried to get in on the cocaine selling racket independently of a couple of key individuals, you'd need some serious muscle behind you and not be remotely wary of the threat of extreme violence.
So yeah..most class A drugs are undoubtedly linked to dangerous criminal gangs in the background
Anyone seen any of the Hamiltons Pharmacopeia series
https://www.vicetv.com/en_us/show/hamiltons-pharmacopeia
lots of them on youtube
I was really into E / MDMA for a few years in my late teens / early 00s. Used to do it once a month for for probably around 5 years. Always in the context of going to clubs and raves with mates. I did a bit of DJing and it was all part and parcel of the scene.
I got into clubbing again in my early 30s and had a fantastic three years living in Leeds with a great group of mates, all around the same age. Used to put on our own parties and actually got to DJ in a couple of big clubs. Met my wife during this that time.
Now 42 with responsibilities, married with kids etc. Decks and vinyl sold long ago. The most I can manage nowadays is a couple of Belgian or German ales in a quiet hipster pub. 🤣 I still absolutely adore the music though. Best time of my life. My only regret is that I didn't party harder.
I think this is similar to me. My party life/youth is over and I'm pretty sad about it. Everyone has young kids and everyone at clubs etc looks like they're still at school. I was a little high when I met the OH. Never told her.
Had some fantastic experiences, chats etc. MDMA could solve all wars but would probably destroy it on the come down while physically wrecking us (streets).
I can be fairly reserved but a small amount could open me up to talking to people properly. It kind of lifts a filter. So it is a less worried version of me rather than someone else.
I was just fortunate that bikes were my priority so I wasn't too exposed (I think that's key -moderation).
Very aware of the drug trade and it needs sorting. Legalising and education would be a start.
Some strange attitudes in this thread about never doing anything, stereotypical views on people being arseholes, why even comment other than to show your own ignorance? Take some MDMA and cheer up!
Sorry but if you think that the illegal drug trade is built on anything other than violence, intimidation, and exploitation then you are either naive or deluded.
The Acid Dream podcast I linked to above deals with this in a very interesting way.
It starts out all 'peace, free love, we're changing the world and sticking it to the man' then part way through it changes tone dramatically to reveal the wider criminal links and impacts the acid makers hadn't even considered. It's powerful stuff.
AS above....
for those with no experience....
being up on MDMA, Acid, 2CB etc with some of your closest people can be some of the best moments in life, no exaggeration... the conversations, the laughs...Being with mates is one experience, being one on one with your other half another experience.. deep and meaningful conversations.. In fact, a lot of the MDMA experience is the conversations, they can be totally rational conversations, not really like beered up drunk convos, occasionally they take a turn were you find enlightenment and realisation... Some of the conversations i have had i could never have had in any other way, they conversations can be challenging, but when they come out it's nothing but honesty and understanding..
Ive been sat in a circle of 4 on a holiday with like 20 of us in a big house, we were the only ones on acid.. for half an hour easily we were trading spoonful's of jelly as we had the perception that the other's were wobbling better than our own.....
Likewise, MDMA while out partying and the music rushes over and through you, can turn audio into visual...totally enhances an amazing experience.. however.. it is easy to get too mashed and end up a stumbling gurning fool for a while...
Weed on the other hand.. giggles and laughs when it's good, i would say more like the drunken experience when with friends..but to me it turned to isolation and paranoia, and wouldn't want to be near anyone...
I'm interested to hear more about people's mushroom experiences. They're in season now are they not?
Yes mushroom season is now in full swing. Experiences vary wildly depending on how many mushrooms you take, how strong they are and what the setting is. Round here in west yorkshire the mushrooms seem to be very strong and I go by the following rule of thumb:
2-3 mushroosms: Microdose, can be taken alternate days over a period of time to alleviate mental health issues. Effectiveness is still the subject of wild debate but I tried it and it seemed to help a lot. Took them for a month and all my work stresses and other worries/anxieties just seemed to disappear.
5-10: Provides a nice euphoric buzz not dissimilar to the inital rush you get with MDMA. Only lasts around an hour and you feel fine afterwards with no come down. (this is my favourite amount to take)
10-20: As above but you'll start to get mild visuals (everything suddenly looks very sparkly!) and your perception of things around you will change, like you're hyperaware. You'll also probably feel quite giddy/giggly. Conversely everything could also feel a bit weird and some anxiety/paranoia might creep in if not in the right environment. (Avoid busy and noisy pubs!)
20-50: Now you're tripping. Geometric visuals, everything will appear very different and it'll be very euphoric. Also lots of potential for a bad trip if things go wrong. Best done outdoors on a nice day (trees/forests are amazing!)
50-100: As above just a lot more intense. Make sure you're in a safe space!
>100: 'hero dose' territory. Never been brave enough to go this high but I'm told it's a full-on 'seeing into your soul' mystical experience. Either that or a crazy 'I think I'm going mad' bad trip. I got close to this once and it went very bad, got very lost in a very dodgy bit of Manchester, blacked out and woke up with my face in a puddle. Never again!
Cheers Daz.
Never been brave enough to go this high but I'm told it's a full-on 'seeing into your soul' mystical experience. Either that or a crazy 'I think I'm going mad' bad trip.
I could only describe this as you 'forget' you have a body and you reside completely in your own mind.
My big trip involved space travel(obviously not 😆 ) but its that kind of out of body experience that the big doses give you. I suppose this is what they call it a trip, because you basically do just that.
I dont want to say why i found it scary, as ive been told not to tell people who might be tripping at some point and start them on a similar train of thought.
2 points
1. You will never look at the world the same again and 2. You understand the importance of the natural world and the environment.
I’ve never needed to go on a “trip” to understand the importance of the natural world and the environment!!
I could only describe this as you 'forget' you have a body and you reside completely in your own mind.
I read some accounts talking about 'ego death' on big trips. I found it hard to work out if they felt it was a good thing or a bad thing!
^ That’s something the big hitters on here could do with 😈
Very good!
.I'm sure there are plenty of guys growing and supplying small amounts of weed that are not linked to criminal gangs.
Apart from being, y'know, an actual criminal gang themselves.
We had a growing house in our street, cops busted it a few months ago. We, like all the rest of the neighbours knew nowt, it was quiet. But here's the thing; the late night effing and jeffing, fisticuffs and shouting and general titting about - that we all thought was spill over from the pub at the top of the road has stopped. The near constant stream of badly parked or cars blocking the road - that we all thought was rat-run from a near-by junction redesign last year, has stopped. The street was just suddenly back to being a regular boring residential street in South Manchester. It was all low level stuff fo'shure, its not like it was downtown LA, but now they aren't there any more, it's weird to realise just how much impact they had.
As above I was a serial 90's raver, loved it, it was our Woodstock IMO.. Tried everything apart from heroin. Acid and mushrooms were particular favourites, my only regret is coke, horrible stuff, turns you into a dick. 61 now and I don't even drink.
.I'm sure there are plenty of guys growing and supplying small amounts of weed that are not linked to criminal gangs.
Apart from being, y'know, an actual criminal gang themselves.
I pretty sure they meant one person with a couple of plants producing enough for themselves and maybe a mate or two. That is a world apart from somebody setting up a miniature factory in a residential building and supplying a network of dealers.
Apart from being, y'know, an actual criminal gang themselves.
Sorry to hear it was an issue for yourself with antisocial behaviour nick but not all small grows can be described as such, some of us used to get on extremely well with our neighbours, albeit the nearest is 100ft away......one of the benefits of living very rural I guess
I've never been described as an actual criminal gang before......might get that as a t-shirt print.....
I'm sure there are plenty of guys growing and supplying small amounts of weed that are not linked to criminal gangs.
It's a lot more commonplace than people think. Here in West Yorkshire I have it on good authority that many farmers round here have grows going on. It's a lucrative use of empty outbuildings and barns apparently.
When I lived in converted barn in West Yorkshire with a public track accross the back of it we were shopped by a member of the public for growing weed (we weren't).
Plod were totally clueless as you would expect and the mere fact we invited them in without hesitation made them stop their search.
Always liked this poem by Edinburgh poet Paul Reekie
WHEN CEASAR’S MUSHROOM IS IN SEASON
When Caesar’s mushroom is in season
It is the reversal of the mushroom season
As Caesar’s mushroom comes in march
The mushroom season is in September
Six months earlier
One half year
Equinoctal
Autumnal to vernal
Do you hope for more
Than a better balance
Between fear and desire
It’ll only be the straying
That finds the path direct
Neither in the woods nor in the field
No robes, like Caesar’s, trimmed with purple
Rather an entire street trimmed with purple
And every door in it
Wrapped in a different sort of Christmas paper
The September mushrooms of midnight
Show the rhythms of vision
Can’t move for tripping over them
Wipe your tapes
Wipe your tapes with lightning
did the whole 90s thing but was a bit of a late starter, late 90s early 2000s - was glad when it all stopped tbh, wasn't really my scene just got swept along in it. I always preferred a bit of smoke, mushrooms and LSD.
Spent months in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest drinking ayahuasca if that counts? Sat through 40+ ceremonies guided by different shamans and had some pretty (third) eye opening experiences. Telepathic communication with visions/spirits, communion with the divine, saw my own soul, traversing through wormholes to other worlds, talking snakes, lots of snakes, snakes going into my body. Outer body experiences, soaring like an eagle over ancient meso American cities, visions of pyramids and ancient gods, meso American, Egyptian, Hindu, and temples in jungles. Time not existing, feeling like all there ever has been is this ceremony that I'm in - existence having no beginning and no end. Drowning in vision sometimes, trying to open my eyes to make it stop but it doesn't!! Had the ego death once too, that was scary until I was suddenly back in my body.
Did a few peyote ceremonies with Mexican shaman too. They were good, much more gentle than ayahuasca but at 12hrs a stretch it's no easy ride.
That sort of experience has a bit of a pull for me, but I fear I wouldn't come out the other side of it, plus the whole culture barrier, I've very little experience in foreign lands, plus mortgage, and family responsibilities! I recently watched a documentary about an American on the verge of suicide who went out to find an authentic shaman, but found charlatans. Eventually finds a genuine shaman who put him in isolation where he spent his time on DMT for 100 days straight.
No drugs, career ending and never felt the pull. Never smoked, which is odd because my parents did and then surrounded by it for many years.
Too much alcohol in my younger days as was the drinking culture in the army in Germany, had rapid onset spicy nostalgia in 2008 and for some odd and not conscious decision avoided alcohol for quite some time.
Occasionally drink now, mostly at gigs, events or out for meals.
Early to mid 20s I had a bit too much of everything tbh. Mostly weed and MDMA, with a lot of alcohol. Coming up just as QOTSA started their headline set with Millionaire at Reading festival was incredible. And sharing a joint with strangers on the Whistler chairlift was a nice time, the next few laps were extra slow though.
Haven't had anything since I knew I was going to be a dad (except weed when I've been to Amsterdam just for the novelty of it) and I don't miss it. Just feels wrong to be doing any of that when you've got kids who depend on you. I don't really drink any more either, especially not when it's just me and them in the house. Again I don't really like the idea of being intoxicated when they're around. And I especially don't miss the hangovers, comedowns and wheezy smokers cough either.
(except weed when I've been to Amsterdam just for the novelty of it)
Im considering a trip there myself around about July/August, again just for the novelty of it.
Admittedly this will be my ninth novelty trip there.
I can get stoned to the bejeezus-belt and then go for a bike ride. Three beers and a bike ride and i'd end up under a tram.
The two drugs cant really be compared.
Never actively tried any drugs. I've always worked in trades where testing is likely and a sackable thing.
However... I was once given some strong painkillers for a cranked back (codeine phosphate I think). I must have take a few too many/too soon.
It made me understand why people can become addicted. A very euphoric high for a few hours. Luckily, I was off watch and the ship was alongside, so a long sleep to let it wear off.
Never for recreation. Morphine and tramadol for post accident pain is as strong as I had. Can’t tolerate morphine, and 50mg of tramadol gave me the weirdest dreams. Finding new ones is my day job.
Late teens/early 20's in the 1980's, smoked a lot of Afghan and Lebanese hash. Also tried some LSD tabs a couple of times. Stopped for a few years, then started to grow my own weed in a cupboard for a couple of years. It was never really the same as when I was younger. Though TBF, I was suffering from depression, and I was growing a really strong Indica, might have been different if it was a Sativa strain.
Anyway, this brings me to early 2000's, and I just stopped, never bothered again. I think I'd be tempted if I knew it would feel like my earlier years, but for me it's not worth the depression raising it's ugly head again.
Footnote: Having tried LSD (and loving it), I'd like to have a go at Ayahuasca/DMT 😵💫
I can get stoned to the bejeezus-belt and then go for a bike ride.
last time I was over there, I watched an incredibly stoned geezer stand alongside his bike (Both feet on the ground, hands on the bars) looking very bewildered and quizzically around himself obviously confused as to why he wan't cycling along his merry way as he expected. It was pretty funny TBH.
I can get stoned to the bejeezus-belt and then go for a bike ride. Three beers and a bike ride and i'd end up under a tram.
The two drugs cant really be compared.
This is subjective though, what you're describing here is tolerance. I could have three beers and it would barely touch the sides unless I dropped them back-to-back in 15 minutes; someone smoking a joint whilst sitting next to me in the room would likely be sufficient to render me unsafe to operate vehicles.
when I was 10 my mate David Watson gave me a fag and it was disgusting, I never smoked after that!
booze on the other hand...
Did the booze, cigs and hash thing in the late 90s for a handful of years, these days I might have three glasses of booze a year. Need my daily hayfever tablets Mar-Sept. I've been a heavy coffee drinker since my teens, only a few years ago I was regularly drinking 8-10 cups a day until around 1700ish, but just recently I've reduced from 5-3 a day.
I dabbled in my youth. Tried most things a couple of times. I had a couple of mates who were heavy marijuana users, but i couldn't really get past the smoking bit, which I absolutely hated.
In all honesty I've got myself in to far worst states because of booze than I ever did with any other drugs
Never done any - as a country bumpkin the 90s rave culture completely passed me by! 😀
Most weekends were spent in a field building showjumping courses with my girlfriend.
Not much in the UK no - but cause huge issues in source countries from subsistance farmers getting kicked off their land or the water stolen so they can no longer feed their families to enslaved child labour in chinese factories to the damaging effects of the pollution. Be very sure that your cheap fashion, electronics and out of season veg comes at a huge human cost as well
And this is my issue with the "legalise it" argument.
There's a group of people, often but not exclusively young men from poor backgrounds, who see crime as their only path to be "successful" in life. Nice clothes, respect/fear in their neighbourhood, a black mercedes to drive round in...
Right now in the UK, that probably involves selling drugs or the accompanying criminal acts.
Legalise drugs and they will just move on to a different income stream. Something will always be profitable to sell for someone willing to steal, extort, skip regulation, or just not pay taxes on.
Although I guess their customer base arent nicking your bike to feed their winter cherry tomato habit.
Never done any - as a country bumpkin the 90s rave culture completely passed me by!
I lived in the metropolis of Elton and I managed to get heavily involved in the rave scene 🤣
Drugs - never dabbled. A few reasons but 30 odd years in the RAF who have a zero tolerance approach and a frequent random testing regime, kept me on the straight and narrow. One of the few things I have in common with Tadej Pogocar is we both know what it feels like to pee into a bottle with someone watching you like a hawk.
Booze - bit of a p*sshead in my youth, but actively encouraged by the same organisation. Now in my dotage, a decent bottle of Sauvignon Blanc in front of the TV on a Saturday night is as wild as it gets.
Caffeine - rode my bike to 103 different cafes last year for a flat white - maybe that's where my addiction problem is now?
As for legalisation etc, I have no particularly profound views. It's an archetype of a wicked problem.
Had to give up the booze for a bit last year cos of amitriptyline but I'm off it again now, but I find even with just a couple of small whiskies at night I have unpleasant dreams, lots of angst and confrontation, nightmares really, weird.
Go to any pub or bar in the UK and you can guarantee the toilets are being used to take coke.
Not in the pub I’ve been drinking in for the past few years. The two brothers who took it on I got to know from their previous pub, it had a terrible reputation, but from the day it re-opened they had security on the door, I knew both of them from where I was working at the time, and one lived in the town and knew all the wrong-uns, and word soon got around, plus they had cameras all around the place, so there wasn’t any trouble at all thereafter.
I heard/read recently (possibly here?) of a funny way of dealing with toilet cokeheads. A light wipe of Prit stick on the cistern lid.
But then the old adage does apply…. if you can remember the 90’s then you weren’t there (man)
I can, apart from the effect of advancing years have on my memory. I can remember much of the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s…
Basically because I didn’t grow up in a culture of heavy drinking, nor did I hang out with friends who drank like fish, or regularly got completely off their faces, although one acquaintance did spend some time at Her Magesty’s Pleasure having been busted for possession. He’s a town councillor now…
I’ve smoked , or rather taken a couple of drags on a fag up the woods with a mate who lived a few houses from me, who’d nicked them from his dad. I immediately thought it was disgusting, and never touched cigarettes again.
I don’t enjoy getting drunk, I have done a couple of times on my birthday, but I really don’t enjoy the feeling, especially when the room starts to spin!
I never tried joints, although I worked with someone who would put together joints in the studio we both worked in, everyone else smoked cigarettes but for me, and once when I was round his place in Bath, prior to going to see Johnny Thunders at the Pavilion, everyone else there were smoking joints, I refused just because of the tobacco, so Rich offered me a small piece of resin to chew on, saying I might get a bit of a hit.
I was completely off my face for hours! I saw some amazing stuff in a book about the architecture of Gaudi, but I have virtually no recollection of the gig, or seeing a friend who was at the same gig.
I’ve never touched it since, like alcohol, I don’t enjoy the loss of control; that doesn’t mean I don’t like a couple of beers, or a glass of wine, or a couple of shots of whiskey, but I get no pleasure from getting shitfaced.
I’d be interested in microdosing ketamine or psilocybin, under proper supervision, but otherwise I don’t even have any alcohol in the house at the moment. Actually, not true, I do have a presentation bottle of Penderyn whiskey I bought when I visited the distillery, but it’s something I drink sparingly, it was rather expensive…
My folks never drank either, apart from whatever was stashed away ready for Christmas - bottles of horrible sweet stuff that got taken out once a year! 😖
From a work perspective, we need more legalised drugs availability like we collectively need a hole in the head. There's already a mental health crisis going pretty much unnoticed in this country and a not inconsiderable minority of folks who're barely managing with the environment that we've created already - constant availability of processed/engineered edible product, sufficient alcohol to drown a small village etc etc.
From a personal perspective I find the whole drugs 'culture' weird, cannabis users are the single dullest group of people, and the hard-core culture that surrounds it - printing a cannabis leaf symbol and the Jamaican flag colours on absolutely anything and everything weirdly capitalistic and counter to pretty much everything they supposedly stand for. Cocaine users are generally idiots, I've recently had the 'pleasure' of working closely with one, and the only positive thing you could say about him was that the day after a massive coke and booze bender he wasn't a complete asshole because he was too knackered and would just sleep or not turn in for work despite the fact that he 'ran' a business.
the whole 'out of body' experience thing is just too dull to talk about. You took a substance that changed your brain chemistry - you haven't seen the inner workings of the universe, you bell end.
Not in the pub I’ve been drinking in for the past few years.
I was out in Manchester on Friday and was at a popular city centre bar and food hall type place. The toilets had two cubicles and there was a queue of young blokes waiting for them. I refuse to believe they were waiting to use them for toileting purposes.
From a work perspective, we need more legalised drugs availability like we collectively need a hole in the head.
There's currently an epidemic - especially among young people - of ketamine use round our way. Half the price of coke, with pretty much the same effect. Not sure what the answer is, but it blows my mind that relatively safe drugs in the form of MDMA and mushrooms are class A and Ketamine - a very dangerous drug - is class B. Strangely MDMA is very unpopular with the young, I asked my daughter and she said she and most of her mates had never done it but had done pretty much everything else. Must be a generational 'uncool' thing?
A light wipe of Prit stick on the cistern lid.
They don't use the cistern lids, far too unhygienic and disgusting. It's common practice to put lines out on your phone. The toilet cubicle is just for privacy as you can't really get away with it in the pub/club.
