Question about first time using psychedelics

[flapflip]

Aside from a high-dose DXM via extraction (dissociative but still) and a few subtle LSA trips, I haven't ventured too far into this category. I ordered two 12" cuttings of San Pedro cacti online, and I'm planning on just blending then straining via cheesecloth into a bowl and then drinking it the next day. Is this a good preparation method? I have roommates so I don't know how I'll handle my first time (I can handle myself even on copious amounts of alcohol and weed, I just don't know about psychedelics), so I'm gonna get a hotel room and maybe have a friend come along and try 6" of it and I'll take the 18". That's still up in the air due to our work schedules. I've heard mescaline is pretty forgiving, and I'm going into this with no expectations and treating it as an exploration and discovery aide, not to get fucked up. Anything else you guys recommend? Sound good?

Edit: I also live in Arizona, in the desert. I've considered going out but I'm worried about wandering off and getting lost, and planning to use my phone for music so I don't think that would work if it died, in the middle of nowhere. I think it would put me in a weird mindset, I'm afraid of scorpions and dying in the heat of the desert, I don't think I would do it sober without people haha. I figured a hotel room isn't too expensive, and I can control the environment. There's also a deck thing at this hotel that has lounge chairs to look up at the sky and I got a new pair of headphones!

 

[Thomas Davie]

Has your friend tried any psychs before? If not, maybe you could bribe him/her to be a sober sitter.

Bring along a small cooler with bottled water and/or fruit juices. Some light, healthy snacks perhaps. If your friend has a cell phone get them to bring it along with a charger and keep that puppy charged just in case. Couldn't hurt to bring something along to calm down with (benzo's or whatever others deem appropriate....no suggestions from me I've never used them yet).

Good luck and may the gods be with you.


Tom

 

[flapflip]

Has your friend tried any psychs before? If not, maybe you could bribe him/her to be a sober sitter.

Bring along a small cooler with bottled water and/or fruit juices. Some light, healthy snacks perhaps. If your friend has a cell phone get them to bring it along with a charger and keep that puppy charged just in case. Couldn't hurt to bring something along to calm down with (benzo's or whatever others deem appropriate....no suggestions from me I've never used them yet).

Good luck and may the gods be with you.


Tom

No she hasn't, just a little pot in high school. That's why I figured 6" would be fine for her, but a sober sitter would be nice if I could convince her haha. Maybe I could bribe her with a 6 pack or something just to keep an eye on me. If she can't make it, do you think it would be a problem doing it alone? I usually have more than a good amount of control on most substances, but then again I've never done any real psychedelics. In regards to snacks, just gonna bring a few cans of ginger ale for nausea and maybe some chips or something in case I get hungry later on. No benzos, but I'm pretty good about telling myself it's just a drug and realizing I'm under the influence of something, and I'll be good in a few hours. Any music recommendations?

 

[Thomas Davie]

flapflip; I've only ever tripped alone. At my house and surrounded by 3 supportive dogs and 2 cats I don't think it would be a problem, but if you could at least have your friend check on you a bit.

-ginger ale for nausea is good, I've used that.
-chips are probably one of my basic food groups (sigh), so no argument from me there. I do try for something light and non greasy in case my stomach feels funny. Apple slices, melon any bit of fruit works for me really. I also have come down food ready; my favourite is sushi (odd I know).
-can't help you with the music, but I listen to a wide range from psy-trance to death metal to baroque chamber music. At the moment when tripping I listen to a serialized radio dram called 'We're Alive' about the zombie apocalypse.

The only other thing I could think of is if you have a laptop or tablet you could take with you, some movies/videos might prove good on the come down, your choice here, but I'm prone to horror movies or comedies.

Sounds like you should be okay.

And let me know how bad the stuff tastes

Tom

 

[TruffulaTree]

mescaline/peyote may be one of the more forgiving tryptamines, but it's still a trip dude, so dont get too cocky

enjoy though! it's super fun

 

[pmoseman]

I can handle myself even on copious amounts of alcohol and weed

No you can't.

 

[flapflip]

Just got it today! Anyone recommend eating it fresh? If I did the method described in the OP, how long do you think it would keep bottled in a cool, dark place? Can't keep it in the fridge, and I figured 1-2 days in a dark 75 degree closet wouldn't hurt it. Would anyone agree?

Edit: Also, thanks for all the replies and suggestions!

 

[Gratuitous Grace]

Here are the classic preparation instructions: http://www.erowid.org/plants/cacti/cacti_preparation5.shtml

Just understand that San Pedro is unpredictable -- huge variances in samples. You simply can't know ahead of time how much mescaline you're squeezing out of a given piece of cactus. Inches don't mean much. I'd want to know weight. And even then it wouldn't mean much. You're basically flying blind. So, be ready.

Recommend eating it fresh? If you're that one in a million dude who can happily choke down quickly a few pounds of absolutely awful-tasting cactus, then go for it. Results will be better than boiling -- so I understand. Try chewing up a little sliver of that stuff, though -- sour and tannic almost beyond belief -- and I think you'll be looking for a very large soup pot immediately.

I can't really advise you on the possibilities of your getting lost in the desert, the prospects of finding a sober sitter, or the multitude of great things to have along for the ride. But, I can tell you that mescaline is truly the Rolls Royce of psychedelics; that unlike LSD, for example, it's pretty tough -- you can leave it at room temperature overnight, frozen for weeks or months, etc; that ginger ale -- the really strong stuff with lots of real ginger -- is very nice; and that cheap hotel rooms creep me out.

Good luck!

 

[flapflip]

Here are the classic preparation instructions: http://www.erowid.org/plants/cacti/cacti_preparation5.shtml

Just understand that San Pedro is unpredictable -- huge variances in samples. You simply can't know ahead of time how much mescaline you're squeezing out of a given piece of cactus. Inches don't mean much. I'd want to know weight. And even then it wouldn't mean much. You're basically flying blind. So, be ready.

Recommend eating it fresh? If you're that one in a million dude who can happily choke down quickly a few pounds of absolutely awful-tasting cactus, then go for it. Results will be better than boiling -- so I understand. Try chewing up a little sliver of that stuff, though -- sour and tannic almost beyond belief -- and I think you'll be looking for a very large soup pot immediately.

I can't really advise you on the possibilities of your getting lost in the desert, the prospects of finding a sober sitter, or the multitude of great things to have along for the ride. But, I can tell you that mescaline is truly the Rolls Royce of psychedelics; that unlike LSD, for example, it's pretty tough -- you can leave it at room temperature overnight, frozen for weeks or months, etc; that ginger ale -- the really strong stuff with lots of real ginger -- is very nice; and that cheap hotel rooms creep me out.

Good luck!

Haha thanks! Well I took your advice and sliced a peice and tasted it, it was literally like really bitter dish soap and even frothed up like that. So I despined and decored it (left skin on), blended it down with just a little water, threw it in the crock pot on high for 2 hours, pulled it out and filtered through a cheesecloth, then threw the juice back in the crock pot for another 2 hours. I used about 14" of 3.5" diameter cacti (sorry no scale but estimate ~ 2lbs?) and it's down to about a regular ziploc bag full of liquid. Labed it "(my name)'s tea, please don't discard" and threw it in the freezer.


Got the hotel booked for Thursday. Awwe yeeeah.

 

[Gratuitous Grace]

Haha thanks! Well I took your advice and sliced a peice and tasted it, it was literally like really bitter dish soap and even frothed up like that. So I despined and decored it (left skin on), blended it down with just a little water, threw it in the crock pot on high for 2 hours, pulled it out and filtered through a cheesecloth, then threw the juice back in the crock pot for another 2 hours. I used about 14" of 3.5" diameter cacti (sorry no scale but estimate ~ 2lbs?) and it's down to about a regular ziploc bag full of liquid. Labed it "(my name)'s tea, please don't discard" and threw it in the freezer.


Got the hotel booked for Thursday. Awwe yeeeah.

Cool. That sounds like a really well-considered way to go about this.

That might have been a little more than 2 lbs.? IDK ... the last time I did this I used an 18" cutting that was roughly that diameter, and it weighed in at ~3-1/2 lbs.

Anyway, report back and let us know how effective it was?

 

[.:Holy::Toast:.]

mescaline/peyote may be one of the more forgiving tryptamines, but it's still a trip dude, so dont get too cocky

enjoy though! it's super fun

Phenethylamines*
But yes, it should be just as forgiving as other psychedelics as long as you keep your doses reasonable

 

[Gratuitous Grace]

But yes, it should be just as forgiving as other psychedelics as long as you keep your doses reasonable

Of course ... but that begs the question of how to keep your doses reasonable when starting with raw material -- like San Pedro in this case -- that varies so much in mescaline content. I just don't know a way. I've taken to splitting up the intended intake (tea or whatever) in half and taking a wait and see approach. But, I don't know if that satisfies the reasonableness standard, and it's also sub-optimal from a dosing standpoint. Any suggestions?

 

[flapflip]

Cool. That sounds like a really well-considered way to go about this.

That might have been a little more than 2 lbs.? IDK ... the last time I did this I used an 18" cutting that was roughly that diameter, and it weighed in at ~3-1/2 lbs.

Anyway, report back and let us know how effective it was?

I used a rough estimate guide I found online, it was like so many ounces per inch, and included a diameter table haha.

I'll definitly let you guys know how it went!

 

[.:Holy::Toast:.]

Of course ... but that begs the question of how to keep your doses reasonable when starting with raw material -- like San Pedro in this case -- that varies so much in mescaline content. I just don't know a way. I've taken to splitting up the intended intake (tea or whatever) in half and taking a wait and see approach. But, I don't know if that satisfies the reasonableness standard, and it's also sub-optimal from a dosing standpoint. Any suggestions?

Hardly sub optimal, mescaline lasts long enough that you should be able to redose without any noticeable diminishing effects from tolerance imo
The only problem is you're gonna have to drink that shit twice haha

 

[flapflip]

Hardly sub optimal, mescaline lasts long enough that you should be able to redose without any noticeable diminishing effects from tolerance imo
The only problem is you're gonna have to drink that shit twice haha

That's also true. I was thinking of drinking 2/3rds of the tea, waiting an hour and a half to two hours, and drinking the rest as needed. But part of me wants to go balls-to-the-fucking-wall and just dose all at once haha.

 

[krylon don]

Why dont you just dropacid or eat some shrooms. What's the difference between tripping on lsd and pscylocibin then tripping on tbis cactus thing?

 

[.:Holy::Toast:.]

The same difference that there is between tripping on LSD and mushrooms.
They aren't the same drug, mescaline and LSD/mushrooms aren't even in the same family of chemicals.
LSD and mushrooms have quite a few differences between them and they are both tryptamines.
I've never done mescaline but I've heard its kind of like a mix between LSD and mushrooms with more empathogenic effects

 

[krylon don]

Ahhh Sorry
I live in New York so mescaline is literally almost non existent here so I'm more familiar with lsd and Shrooms and have experience with them mescaline is something doffrent.
Does it give flash backs

 

[Gratuitous Grace]

Hardly sub optimal, mescaline lasts long enough that you should be able to redose without any noticeable diminishing effects from tolerance imo

This may very well be true -- thanks for pointing that out. I guess the modern mad scientist in me is frustrated not to have good measurements (or at least *some* measurements), not to be able to make sober decisions going into the experience, and not to be able to stick with a plan. I know, that makes me sound pretty rigid -- more rigid than I generally am. (It probably has something to do with no longer being the ready-to-wing-it-with-psychadelics-20-something I once was.) Mescaline -- especially done this way -- is just a different experience, though. And I/we probably shouldn't be looking for laboratory-type results.

So...

To the OP: more than anything, I would suggest "managing your expectations." This is a really natural and organic way to go. Complete opposite of the RC approach I've been taking lately. It may lead to a wonderful experience, and it may lead to not much at all. (The last time I labored over 3 or 4 pounds of cactus in a pot for *hours* it led to a pleasant afternoon -- nothing more.) You might want to go into it with an attitude of more open-mindedness and acceptance, I guess? Ready to take whatever this particular sample of a pretty magical plant has to offer? IOW you might be setting yourself up for disappointment by expecting/demanding a "balls to the fucking wall" experience. It might be that -- definitely could. And it might not. (You do understand the huge variance in mescaline content among different specimens of San Pedro, right? I think I recall seeing research that pegs that variance at a factor of 20. So, my "drink half now ... wait and see" approach doesn't even begin to cover the possibilities.)

The only problem is you're gonna have to drink that shit twice haha

It's an acquired taste for sure! (And I'm still waiting to acquire it ... LOL!) As with many things from "south of the border," lime and salt can work wonders.

 

[flapflip]

This may very well be true -- thanks for pointing that out. I guess the modern scientific man in me is frustrated not to have good measurements (or at least *some* measurements), not to be able to make sober decisions going into the experience, and not to be able to stick with a plan. I know, that makes me sound pretty rigid -- more rigid than I generally am. (It probably has something to do with no longer being the ready-to-wing-it-with-psychadelics-20-something I once was.) Mescaline -- especially done this way -- is just a different experience, though. And I/we probably shouldn't be looking for laboratory-type results.

So...

To the OP: more than anything, I would suggest "managing your expectations." This is a really natural and organic way to go. Complete opposite of the RC approach I've been taking lately. It may lead to a wonderful experience, and it may lead to not much at all. (The last time I labored over 3 or 4 pounds of cactus in a pot for *hours* it led to a pleasant afternoon -- nothing more.) You might want to go into it with an attitude of more open-mindedness and acceptance, I guess? Ready to take whatever this particular sample of a pretty magical plant has to offer? IOW you might be setting yourself up for disappointment by expecting/demanding a "balls to the fucking wall" experience. It might be that -- definitely could. And it might not. (You do understand the huge variance in mescaline content among different specimens of San Pedro, right? I think I recall seeing research that pegs that variance at a factor of 20. So, my "drink half now ... wait and see" approach doesn't even begin to cover the possibilities.)


It's an acquired taste for sure! (And I'm still waiting to acquire it ... LOL!) As with many things from "south of the border," lime and salt can work wonders.

From what I've heard about this supplier is that his stuff is pretty potent, and all his cacti came from cuttings from one original cactus awhile back. I didn't mean "balls-to-the-wall" intensity-wise, just that if I'm gonna do it, maybe just do it all at once and let the universe decide what's best.