Thoughts on encouraging friends to take psychedelics?

[lovepsychadelics]

^ Yeah I almost always have a few benzo's around for emergency trip/stimulant abortions when you feel you may have done just a tad to much and the toll on your body feels just a little too uncomfortable.

 

[my3rdeye]

I almost never give other people LSD. Some people do if the person is going to take with them. But what if that person wants to leave? What if they insist? What if they run? You can't ethically tackle and hold them. So now someone has a head full of LSD you gave them and they are out in the world. So what if they meet the police? That is very possible if they are behaving weird. It never fails to amaze me how many people just tell the cops they are on LSD. Cops are also good at exploiting situation and talking those people into giving up source. What if they get into a car and hit a busload of kids? Giving someone acid can come back to haunt you in more ways than you can fathom. I am responsible for me on LSD and thats it I know i won't freak out. IMO the more friends you turn on the greater the risk of something going wrong and coming back to bite you on the ass. This is why for decades LSD dealers have been a guy at a concert selling it to strangers. Supplying people you know is dangerous. Being the neighbourhood acid dealer would be insane IMO.

 

[Black Rabbit of Inle]

I would never encourage anyone to try anything, but if they showed interest I'd make them read up on it before I offered to watch over them while they tried it (I'd always stay sober)

 

[Psychonautical]

what do you think music festivals are.
If anything they are the most unideal setting in the world to do drugs.
Yet hundreds of thousands of people go there simply to do drugs and listen to music.
A: you are out doors in a crowded location.
B: you are being assaulted to the teeth with light noise and visualizations.
C: You are taking drugs which lower you bodies ability to process all of these inputs in a traditional way and still finding a way to have fun.
D: you are probably taking the drugs from strangers. THEN GIVING those drugs to your friends.

Now if you could crush all of that into some kind of mathematical equation. You still for the most part Get Fun. out of it.
In the end. I don't really see too much of an issue. Just as long as you know yourself and your friends.
Most people can handle pretty much any drug in any situation as long as they are with a group of people who care about their well being
and they can get all of the amenities they need within a reach of a billfold for comfort.

If you don't look after someone and they end up having a bad trip. Well then they needed to learn more about themselves.
or perhaps the situation was being taken care of.

 

[Toz]

When it comes to drugs I have a rule: Always inform but never encourage.

Encouraging friends and/or family to take drugs may lead to resentment in the future if said friend/family member gets addicted or experience other problems from their use. I know this from experience.

 

[《Plasticity》]

I never encourage anyone, just lay the positives and negatives on the table and if they don't want to take the substance than I leave them be but the majority of people I've introduced see me tripping or talking about psychedelics and come to me in which case I won't deny them a beautiful experience. People keep saying that there's a possibility of people becoming psychotic but that's easily avoidable. Co-admister half a mg of alprazolam and give them a small dose of a friendly substance, don't give people LSD or mushrooms for their first time. It can be done but the risk of having a negative trip are higher so give them a low end dose of a 2c or a light tryptamine like metocin or aMT. I have given psychedelics to at least 5 newbies and all had a blast and thanked me for introducing them to the world of psychedelics. Like I said would you rather them have their first trip at a festival or random setting with possibly inexperienced trippers or do you want to provide them with benzos and a comfortable setting with an experienced trip sitter? Never encourage but there's nothing wrong with giving honest non biased information and letting the person in question make a decision whether they want to trip or not. Also never offer psychedelics to anyone who has a family of mental health issues or has alot of life problems on their hand, be smart about it and it cqn be done succesfully with no problems.

 

[louie8dog]

CapnKrat, I had tripped with him before on a two hit trip and he reacted fine enough when he told me he wanted to take five. I thought he was entirely capable and understood the power behind it. It wasn't until he took 5 hits and told me he didn't feel anything when I knew something went wrong. I had no way to predict this, his father wasn't identified as a schizo until after the trip. He never met his schizophrenic father before he went schizo himself. I tripped with him both times.

I wasn't doubting your personal responsibility, you seem educated enough and prepared. I am advocating that the populace, whether you can guess it or not, isn't ready for psychedelics because if they were, we'd all be trippin together. Please be careful

 

[bunnyhentman]

OP: Some things to consider:

-- Your position as a person responsible for providing the drugs and being the experienced one in a group of inexperienced people. The times this has been me I found taking any drugs myself to be unpleasant because the stress I felt about the responsibility I was taking on (and if you are at your mom's house she would be liable as well).

-- Not that it would happen, but if someone were to have a difficult experience and acted out, do you know what to do? More importantly, have you been in that position before? There are videos to watch but it's something you can only really learn from experience. If you've never handled a few psychedelic emergencies then you might not be prepared.

-- A group of people is harder to handle than individuals. It seems riskier to introduce a group of people together, I would want a few more experienced people on hand. One on one, with you taking on a very small dose and, seems safer and more productive. (I hate the term trip sitter, I guess more like "trip big brother" -- keeping their boats going in the right direction)

-- The whole dynamic of someone being given something over finding it him/herself. People value what's handed to them less than if they had earned it.

-- The candyman complex. What happens when they love tripping, and you are their main source? What will that do to your relationship with them?

I'm not saying anything bad would necessarily happen, people have been turning on their friends since the dawn of time. In my experience (and when I was younger I did exactly what you are thinking of doing many times), those are the issues I had to deal with.

 

[pmoseman]

How do you know you won't be killed in a tornado or earthquake out of the blue? Life is full of unknowns and it's a silly arguement to say that if you don't know the result of everything than it shouldn't be done at all. Marijuana can cause nasty reactions in some but it's not frowned upon to introduce people to weed now is it? So your telling me I shouldn't leave my house because I don't have control of the possible outcomes? If someone is going to take interest in psychedelics why not provide them with a comfortable setting, modest dose, a sober experienced trip sitter, and benzos or antipsychotics in case of a negative outcome?

You don't know if the outcome would have been, but in the case of a tornado I could share with you some knowledge and give you a relatively reasonable probability of the event based on typical weather patterns.
The same question, you said the outcome would be different, how do you know that?
Who frowns upon introducing weed to people? Me. The government. Over 47% of Colorado.

what a load of assumptive crap

Sometimes all people need is a new way to look at the framework and they find they already know the answer. It is not assumptive, it is based on what was in the original post.

 

[《Plasticity》]

You don't know if the outcome would have been, but in the case of a tornado I could share with you some knowledge and give you a relatively reasonable probability of the event based on typical weather patterns.
The same question, you said the outcome would be different, how do you know that?
Who frowns upon introducing weed to people? Me. The government. Over 47% of Colorado.

What if the tornado comes at night? What if your car battery dies and you cant escape? What about an earthquake? There's no accurate way to predict earthquakes or or else I would sleep tight at night knowing california is due for a massive earthquake. As you say you never know the possible outcomes. What if you get booty raped on the way to the supermarket? Are you supposed to never leave the house? Even then, what if there's an electrical fire while your sleeping? What a joke of an arguement. And I think it's safe to assume I was reffering to MJ users introducing others to pot as we are talking about psychedelic users introducing other people to psychedelics.

What a load of assumptive crap

Couldn't agree more, as are 99% of this persons posts. Some might even call them "illogical" (insider)...

You assume that because you had a bad experience that everyone else will therefor nobody should take psychedelics yet you decide to kick it in PD, why? Out of all your bitter negative posts I have never heard you say something positive about psychedelics. We get it, you have had negative experiences, so get the fuck over it and move on and stop posting nonsense like " A good dose of LSD is to drink a gallon, it's harmless remember?".

 

[pmoseman]

I was hoping to find some answers to my questions.

 

[《Plasticity》]

,

I was hoping to find some answers to my questions.

You my friend, are an idiot. What questions? I've admitted that life is full of unknowns, NOBODY knows every outcome...very simple. Now why don't you answer my questions.

What if the tornado comes at night? What if your car battery dies and you cant escape? What about an earthquake? There's no accurate way to predict earthquakes or or else I would sleep tight at night knowing california is due for a massive earthquake. As you say you never know the possible outcomes. What if you get booty raped on the way to the supermarket? Are you supposed to never leave the house? Even then, what if there's an electrical fire while your sleeping?

Your not good at avoiding questions, so tell me how do you live life by your motto. 'If you don't know the outcome then its a bad idea'? If you don't answer my question you will be ignored. Obvious troll is a troll...

 

[Ganj]

Yeah I am aware of all the dangers involved in giving people psychedelics. I am starting to regret using the word "encouraging" in the title of this thread as I don't think it is presenting the message I was attempting to transfer. People have come to me saying they are interested in trying psychedelics i have told them about, its not like I am actively pestering people to take drugs, that's just unfathomably stupid.

 

[pmoseman]

There is something intriguing about unfathomably stupid things though, isn't there?

 

[Phaxius]

Overall, it is indeed much easier to deal with introducing one person to psychedelics than multiple people at once. One aspect of psychedelics in groups is that one person's bad experience can easily affect the experience of others in the group, particularly other members of the group that have little or no experience with psychedelics. If such a chain reaction was to occur, you would certainly have your work cut out for you. If insistent on such a scenario it is wise to dose everyone very low to start. This reduces the risk of a bad trips and chain reactions to some extent anyways, but still is not incredibly advisable. Introducing people to psychedelics is a tough one, as can be tripping in groups. Combine those with being the only experienced person in the group...overall it comes down to choice. IMO, it is not a good idea to initiate more than one or two people at once without help from someone else that is experienced with psychedelics, and one at a time is optimal.

 

[Ganj]

Your probably right, going to do this rather than in a group.

 

[DragonFly31]

In my experience, encouraging people to take a substance, any substance, is never wise.

Yes, it could turn out well, but pressuring people (even nicely and with the best intentions) to do take something as powerful as a mind-altering drug can turn out very sour. I have unfortunatly placed friends in this position, and I have sworn never to do it again.

Please don't do anything more than suggesting the idea.

 

[Solipsis]

Agreed, if it comes up it should be the curiosity of the other person that drives and fuels the process of introduction to, informing on and trying psychedelics.

Encouraging already sounds like too much, that suggests actively pursuading another person. It's okay to express how wonderful and beneficial you might think psychedelics are, but that is just putting it out there even if it is suggestive. It is more passive and you stick to your own relationship you have with the drugs. Offering is where I would draw the line. Exactly there because offering can be too pushy but it can also just be hospitable.

Let another person build his own relationship with the drugs from the ground up, don't meddle with that. Otherwise it is called pushing.

If someone doesn't express that much interest on their own it is very selfish to impose your own motivations on that person. Yes I am generally disappointed that not more friends and acquaintances have inquired about my collection over quite a long time. Not because I wanna show off but I'd be happy to share the fascination and share in practice. But I won't offer any drugs whatsoever to people that I know cannot use the offer - even if they want to try stuff a little bit. For example people with mental or emotional issues strong enough to contraindicate psychedelics or people recovering from habits or addictions (since some psychedelics are also recreational or can be abused complicating things, esp. dissociatives).

Put the needs of the other person first, even before their own desires! ; and don't assume everyone is the same as you.

 

[Morninggloryseed]

I've certainly found myself in this role, though I tend to do tripping one on one. I just skimmed your post so I am sure I missed some vital points but I would not encourage anyone. Be yourself, live the psychedelic mindset, and those seeking will be drawn to you...no need to encourage anyone.

If you are going to help others turn on, I'd advise making them do some homework/legwork and when you are satisfied that the seeker knows what they are seeking, it is time to make a mutual decision to proceed. If you need to encourage someone to want to take a psychedelic trip, they are not ready. If you know they are not ready and feel the need to educate them further...refer them to Erowid.

That is not to say you can't get the instinct for someone who 'needs' a trip and you shouldn't *nudge* them but there is a fine line between a nudge, nudge and 'encouraging' someone who didn't ask in the first place.

 

[SWIM Had A Dream]

Wish I had more psychedelic psychedelic friends...a lot of the time I feel like I'm on an island nobody is allowed to come visit