Whelp, seeing as I post nothing and I have this account, might as well make use of it.
If anybody reads this they may be surprised to learn that I like raves. *gasp!* Shocking, I know. Haven't been to one in a while, but that's due to finances, timing and location.
So, some background. If it weren't for a few factors, I wouldn't have gotten into raving in the first place. Getting into raves simply cemented my understanding and philosophy regarding safe drug practices.
Yes, there is such a thing. Such a thing comes about with understanding. I'll get into that soon.
Thing is, I was a late bloomer when it came to drug experimentation. I mean actual experimentation. When I was 16 I began to smoke cigarettes and weed (ganja, nug, skunk, chronic, sticky-icky-icky-icky, whacky weed, herb, greens, medicine...) which I do not count as experimenting. I started smoking cigs because it helped with my self-imposed anxiety and help me socialize, while weed I smoked because it felt good and it was fun. Not much experimentation, I smoked a lot and I knew what I liked.
At 18 I started to drink, though I didn't start to drink heavily until I was 23. This was partially due to access, but also partially due to my weening away from other drugs.
The list of drugs I've messed with is relatively short compared to the people I use to hang out with: Weed, Hashish, Ecstasy, Mushrooms, and acid once. I've been around people who used meth, hells bells, dxm, coke, and a variety of others that I cannot quite remember.
It was also around the age 21 that I fell into the rave scene. Yet before that, when I was 19 years old I was in an apartment with a bunch of stoners. We had parties practically 3-4 times a week, and subsequently we were evicted (I wasn't on the lease so that didn't affect my record, hehehe).
Through my experiences over a approximate six year timespan I had come to learn that drugs are unique but still have parallels with responsibility regarding firearms and sex.
Drugs are not living creatures that force their way into your body. Other unscrupulous gents can drop drugs into your drink without your knowledge, pressure you into taking a drug, or forcibly shove a needle into your arm.
In the first case, that's a combination of people being shady and you not being responsible and looking after your drink. This has happened to me before at a bar. Some ass slipped me a roofie while at a bar that I should have known better to have the tender keep safe while I was using the washroom. They didn't use enough, because I remember most everything that happened but there are still huge gaps in my memory of that night. Wound up in a random hotel, and while one person thought they'd get cute with me I turned around and scared the crap out of them by reciprocating their "affections" in a very aggressive and lewd way. The guy lost his boner pretty quick, lol. Note, I don't encourage anybody to try that under any circumstance. I was actually very drunk and being incredibly irresponsible. The guy very well could have killed me and may have been just as aggressive.
In the second case, if someone is attempting to pressure you into using a drug that you don't want or you are not sure you are ready for, then, as that really uninformed first lady said, "just say no". This is the one case in which I agree with that sentiment. You have the power to voice your feelings regarding the ingestion of an illicit substance. It is your responsibility to let others know that you do not wish to partake in the party favor. Failing to do so is dangerous. That's right, it is dangerous. Drugs affect your mood in any number of ways, and if you go into the experience not wanting to be intoxicated that runs a high probability of a bad trip. You can also overdosing because you may have an allergic reaction or you are fed way more than your body can tolerate. The things you say while intoxicated may reflect your feelings but doesn't define them, which may wind up hurting feelings or insulting people you don't want to insult. People have lost friends, lovers, family, and even their lives because they did not put down their foot to display firm resolve.
In the last case, almost every single time this happens (and it is extremely rare) it's because you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Yes, whoever would do something like this is scum, however it is also a sign in a slip of diligence or a series of poor decisions. It's one thing to be in a mom-n-pop pizza joint with friends. It's another to be walking down a dark alleyway in a seedy part of town with a known history of particularly violent and/or psychotic individuals. Just use better judgement to avoid increasing the probability of the unwanted from coming true.
So now that I am done with the finger wagging, onto some brighter subjects.
Drugs are relatively harmless and even fun! If you disagree and you drink coffee or eat anything with high amounts of sugar, then you need to reevaluate your definition of "drug". A drug is any foreign substance that is introduced to your body and causes a chemical reaction.
"a medicine or other substance which has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body." (google definitions).
With this in mind, you can classify almost everything you ingest as a drug. I know this is brushed off as semantics and that the term "illicit substance" is meant when using the word "drug". However, this does make a huge difference in the mindset of viewing legal and illegal drugs, which in turn affects the individuals response to such. Take alcohol for example. It's a drug that in large enough dosages can cause grievous harm to the body up to and including death. Yet, people don't consider it a drug. A drug to them is something like weed and coke. Beer is legal, so it's not referred to as a drug and therefore it's not treated with the respect it deserves. It's all in the mind, man!
Think of beer as a drug, and think about how many people enjoy it and are safe. Makes a huge difference in perspective. Yeah, most drunks are annoying as hell but they still go home, sober up a bit, go to sleep, and go to work the following day or call in sick if they have a really bad hangover. No harm, no foul, and it's a practice so common throughout history that certain countries actually have ritual for their drinking. Japan, for example, it's actually considered faux pas to pour your own alcoholic beverage when out with friends, and even at business meetings where they serve sake it's actually the task of the underlings to pour drinks for their bosses. Rather fascinating stuff.
Knowing drugs actually includes things like alcohol, caffeine and sugar, we can safely parallel these legal substances with illegal substances and see that there really is not much different in the approach to being responsible and having fun. So finally, onto the general rules one should follow while ingesting substances:
1) Be realistic. It's a drug. It's not a gun or a person or a simple idea. It's an object that you place into your body through various means with the sole purpose of altering your body chemistry. If that does not fly with you, then don't do it. You'll likely regret it.
2) Know your friends. While on drugs, unless you are absolutely certain beyond a doubt that you can hang solo then keep a trusted friend or a group of trusted friends within the same vicinity as you. With some drugs with is easy, like weed. You generally don't want to move anyway. With other drugs like Mushrooms you pretty much need someone to babysit you at all times... AT ALL TIMES. No excuse. I don't care how long you have been doing it, get someone to watch over you, even if it's someone that can call the police if they don't know what they are doing.
Especially in cases like Mushrooms, Hells Bells or PCP, if you are at a party you need to make sure you are okay with everybody there. If there is someone there that you do not like, that you know is going to cause you issues, or has a history of fucking with people who are tripping out then do no take any substances until said person goes away or you relocate somewhere that is only trusted friends.
3) Know your location. This doesn't just mean being somewhere safe. It also means being somewhere you are comfortable. Your location makes a huge difference, even while on weed. Being at home on a comfy couch or walking around in the woods with some friends are generally the best of places to be. If you know your body can handle it on whatever substance you plan on ingesting, then you can be at a party, a club, or a bar. The two places that you should avoid at all costs are unknown places that you are not familiar with and places that are very public like city parks.
4) Know your substance. Get extensive knowledge over the substance you plan to take. Know how it affects your body, what a normal dosage is, what variables factor into how much you are affected by a substance, the history of the drug, what to do in an emergency situation, what outside sources affect your psyche, what other foodstuffs react poorly with whatever you plan to ingest, etc.
Now, this may all seem common sense, but lets take Ecstasy for example of how much knowledge you need:
The main ingredient is either MDA or MDMA. MDA is not as stable but some people prefer. X usually comes in pill format with a design on it. Under normal circumstances it is cut with another item such as meth, Vicodin, caffeine, or another substance with an adhesive quality. The reason for this is because the main ingredients MDA and MDMA have issues clinging to itself plus it helps increase that volume of pills that can be sold. Currently in North America there is a form called a Red Ferrari that has been tested by a reliable source to contain only MDA, it's round, red and has a ferrari symbol on it.
Recommended dosage is 1-2 pills for males of average weight. The effects will last anywhere from 5-8 hours average. What users general perceive while on the substance is a sense of euphoria, light tracers or general sensitivity to light, heightened sense of texture, sensitive to cool air or a sense of coolness such as mentholated nasal sprays, social inhibitions will be very much reduced and has the potential to cause the individual to become very chatty. Physiologically speaking what will happen is that the body will be flooded with serotonin, pupils become dilated, and the bodies ability to regulate temperature is reduced significantly.
Before taking the pill it is recommended to be somewhere with music, low lighting, and good friends. While intoxicated it is recommended to keep a water bottle nearby and sip on the water. If you feel you are getting too cold, bundle up with a warm blanket. If you feel you are getting too hot, it's recommended to immediately go somewhere with cool air or to go into a lukewarm shower. There are times in which an individual may become overexcited and feel a sudden rush of energy, and it's recommended at that point to check the pulse to make sure it's not dangerously high; if the pulse it too high, might want to call a paramedic; if the pulse is within adequate range, then the individual may just need to siphon off the energy by going to a darker room without excessive distractions and soothing music. If in the event a paramedic needs to be called, do no hesitate and let them know everything that you had seen the individual do and take.
Post high, due to the body attempting to level itself out after the serotonin dump the individual may feel moody, dehydrated, depressed, headache, jitters. If these symptoms are mild, wait between 3-5 months to ensure that the serotonin glands in the brain are fully repaired before attempting. If the symptoms are heavy, recommend a change in diet to include plenty of potassium, electrolytes and water for a few days and if there is history of long-lasting symptoms then it's recommended to include a 5HTP supplement as directed. If the symptoms are severe or don't seem to be going away, see a doctor.
Not as simple as you thought, eh? Yes, that's how detailed you need to be thinking when taking any drugs... and I mean anything from asprin to pcp.
5) Contingencies. This one I think is important but I can see how others can argue with substances that are not too harsh. Fact is, you need to plan to prevent anything bad from happening but you also need to prepare for if something bad does happen. If you have to talk to a paramedic, don't lie. Tell them everything they ask for and anything, no matter how ridiculous is sounds, that you think might be affecting you or your charge. Keep an emergency medical kit in your location and know how to use it. If you are on good terms with a club/bar/party establishment, and you know that the security/host is cool with you being high, let them know (unlikely scenario with clubs and whatnot, but if you are in the peeps running the show it's better to ask for permission, per say).
Here's an example of a situation in which someone was completely unprepared and took all the wrong steps, being completely irresponsible in every way that I can imagine. This is based on a true story, although for privacy reasons a few things have been changed:
There was a high school football jock on the third string who was fairly small. Still, he was able to go with his team to an out of state game. The team was bunkered up on the fourth story of a building with small balconies. The jock, without telling anybody, thought it would be fun to take LSD. The kid had never taken the substance before, and had bought it on a whim from someone they didn't know. After the winning game, the player had ingested far more LSD than he could handle. For a while he had locked himself in a closet and pissed in the corner. When the other football jocks began to realize something wasn't right, the youth fell into an incredibly bad trip and trip to launch himself from the balcony.
Due to the incredible amount of adrenaline rushing through his body as well as being in an extreme panic mode and at that point likely clinically insane, it took two of the biggest jocks on the team to pull him away from the balcony, and they were struggling to do so. Finally, due to the commotion the police and paramedics were called where they strapped the kit to a gurney and wheeled him off to a padded room until he calmed down.
These situations happen, more often than I like to count and a lot of it has to do with people simply not knowing how to be responsible or not given the option to find out how to be responsible. Because the drug war has dug its heels in so deep, resources regarding the study of certain substances have severely inhibited studies of the chemical compounds on some drugs and the effects the drugs may have, short term and long term. It's not so much that the research isn't there as it is that the government are demonizing illicit substance use to such a degree that people are afraid to do any research. Then, when given the opportunity to finally have some fun, they wind up doing so much wrong that they have a bad experience at best, forfeit their life at worst.
It doesn't have to be this way. Some of the best times I've ever had were drug related. With mushrooms I have been able to reach back to a child like state of mind and remember what it was like to have uninhibited fun. Weed has helped me relax when extremely stressed. X has been amazing with helping me communicate with people have have a lot of fun playing games, dancing and overall socializing in a way I never had before. I did LSD once and was able to truly see the colors of the world come into the sharpest contrast I had ever known.
Drugs are fun, and are safe. You just have to be smart about it. And always remember:
P. eace
L. ove
U. nity
R. espect
R. esponsibility
