The truth is I have a billion things I want to write about on here, but I am having extreme difficulty as of late turning thoughts into paragraphs. I continue to post on here, if only to exercise my creative writing capabilities. As of late, I feel like I’m losing my intelligence, one of the few things I actually like about myself. Fortunately, intelligence is not directly linked to my ability to be a logical person, albeit in a smartass way. Drama and stress push all my emotions the limit at times, but so far I have managed to emerge relatively unscathed from the ride we call life.
Shifting gears entirely, in the not so distant future, I will be the proud owner of a vaporizer. For those not in the know, a vaporizer is a device for enjoying plants and herbs which are commonly smoked. However, a vaporizer provides the effects of these herbs more efficiently and without the nasty by-products of combustion. The top candidate for my vaporizer purchase is the Vapir One 5.0, a inexpensive but generally well reviewed product. Earlier revisions reportedly had issues with vapor leakage and fan failure, however it has since been corrected in the fifth revision. My main motivation to purchase a vaporizer is to make smaller amounts of my essential herb go farther, and reach a higher plateau of inner peace, calm and happiness.
Speaking of “plateaus” brings me to another related subject. While I love my essential herb to no end, there are times I am tempted to foray into something new. The subject of my attention is a lesser known dissociative/psychoactive drug, yet legal and readily available. Of course, I speak of dextromethorphan, commonly abbreviated as DXM. A common ingredient in many over-the-counter cough medications, such as Robitussin, Benylin and Buckley’s. While at recommended dosages DXM produces next to no psychoactive effects, taking it in quantities well above the recommended dose can produce a very powerful high, sometimes compared to that of PCP or LSD. The effects of DXM high are often classified in the form of plateaus, as described below.
A document entitled “The DXM FAQ,” by William E. White, classifies dextromethorphan’s high-dose effects into four or five plateaus, each defined by a dosing range. The dosages are specified in ratios of milligrams (of the drug) per kilogram (of one’s body mass). According to the FAQ, the plateaus occur as follows:
* First plateau: At a dosage of 1.5 to 2.5 mg/kg, effects include a sensation of alertness, stimulant effects such as restlessness, increased heartbeat, and increased body temperature, intensification of emotions, general euphoria, euphoria linked to music, alteration of sensations of gravity, loss of balance, and slight intoxication.
* Second plateau: At 2.5 to 7.5 mg/kg, effects include the same effects of the first plateau, with added choppy sensory input, entering a dreamlike state of consciousness, increasing detachment from outside world, a heavier “stoned” feeling than with first plateau, and/or closed-eye hallucinations.
* Third plateau: At 7.5 to 15.0 mg/kg, effects include flanging of visual effects, difficulty recognizing people or objects, chaotic blindness, dreamlike vision, inability to comprehend language, abstract hallucinations, delayed reaction time, decision making impairment, feelings of peace and quiet, near complete loss of motor coordination, short-term memory impairment, and/or feelings of rebirth.
* Fourth plateau: At 15.0 mg/kg or more, an individual may experience a perceived loss of contact and control with their own body, changes in visual perception, out-of-body experiences, perceptions of contact with “superior,” supernatural, or other archetypal beings (ie. gods, aliens, vampires, etc.), other miscellaneous delusions, lack of movement or desire to move, rapid heart rate, complete blindness, increased hearing, and intensification of third plateau effects.
* Plateau Sigma: 2.5-7.5 mg/kg every three hours for 9-12 hours; There are some reports that suggest this fifth plateau occurs by prolonging dosage, rather than increasing it, ingesting small to moderate doses over time. White characterizes Plateau Sigma as bona-fide psychosis, a complete disconnection from reality, with prevalent, realistic, vivid open-eye visual and auditory hallucinations. For example, users have reported entirely realistic and vividly-recalled encounters with aliens and gods. Users have also reported a disconnection from emotion, such that inclinations and urges become auditory hallucinations of vocal commands to which the user is entirely obedient — as in, rather than simply feeling tired and sitting down, a user would hear a voice saying, “sit down now, you’re tired,” and feel inclined to obey. White says that of all the reports of Plateau Sigma experiences he received, over half were described as unpleasant, and users said they were unwilling to repeat the experience.
If ever do overcome my reluctance and try DXM, I want to make it as pleasurable an experience as possible, somewhere in between the second and third plateaus. To do this, I need to ingest around 350-450mg of DXM. I have no desire to push myself beyond this. Since my foray into drugs began, the concept of using powerful psychoactive drugs like LSD or psilocybin mushrooms has always scared me a little. I strongly believe I have deep-rooted emotional issues hidden within the confines of my subconscious mind, issues which I don’t need brought to the attention of the conscious mind. Naturally, reading about the life-changing (both postiive and negative) experiences people have had on psychedelics hasn’t eased this fear. Nonetheless, I don’t believe a moderate recreational dose of DXM will cause me to go psychotic. The worst part about recreational DXM use is probably the taste of cough syrup, ick.
In my experiences with drugs, anytime I become anxious about the drug’s effects (think along the lines of “oh shit I’m going to die”) I am able to use science and logic to calm myself down. I able to do this because before I take any drug, psychoactive or not, I familiarize myself with all the known effects of the drug, both positive and negative. I’ve long since decided I will never use any drug which can be unpredictably lethal (heroin, cocaine, methamphetmine and other narcotics) no matter what the situation. No drug or high is worth dying for. The drugs I choose to experiment with and use are always low risk, even when used recreationally. Marijuana is the best example of drug that has almost no negative side effects. While it has been claimed marijuana (and its psychoactive component THC) can lead to everything from memory loss to schizophrenia, many of these claims have been shown to be false. Marijuana is a powerful herb, both medically and recreationally. While my usage would likely be classified as recreational, marijuana has allowed me to conquer my depression and anxiety, and finally enjoy my life the way I want.
Locally a provincial election will soon be upon us. I can only hope those who vote make the smart choice and boot the failure that is the Progressive-Conservative government out and finally allow the NDP to begin bringing Nova Scotia in the 21st century. As I said, I can only hope. Regardless, I’ll be much happier when Harper isn’t running this country, regardless of who is “leading” this backwards-assed province.
*paragraph removed – 05/08/09*
Anyways I think I’m about done writing for tonight. WordPress says this post is over 1300 words long. Night folks. I’ll try to make another post soon.
