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To all of the older members here at Bluelight:

TinyPinkMermaid

TinyPinkMermaid

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Hi!

I've had a couple conversations about this before in passing, once in treatment with an elderly gentleman maybe in his 60s or 70s, and once today with a friend who was wondering the same thing.

It started off today talking about the discontinuation of quaaludes and about the reaction it had on Kate Hudson in "Almost Famous," and then about how they no longer make them.

I'm just wondering what kind of drugs were available to you older folks in your era. (I'm 23.) Names, classifications, effects?
The gentleman in Tx had a lot to say about them, but that was too long ago for me to remember haha.

Just out of curiosity!
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Hey I remember those days! As far as Quaaludes go, apparently I must have been one of those unfortunate people that never got the real deal. There were a lot of fakes going around. I did get the chance to enjoy barbiturates like tuinal and placidlyl. There were loads of barbs that you just don't see anymore. Also did drugs like pcp, acid and mescaline.

Back then, we didn't have all the research chemicals that's out there now. When you bought acid, you didn't have to worry if it was legit. But the weed back then was not always great. Colombian gold was the big so-called strain but compared with today's weed, probably like mids. You're taking me on a trip down memory lane so I'm going to move this to Drug Culture.
 
T. Calderone said:
Hey I remember those days! As far as Quaaludes go, apparently I must have been one of those unfortunate people that never got the real deal. There were a lot of fakes going around. I did get the chance to enjoy barbiturates like tuinal and placidlyl. There were loads of barbs that you just don't see anymore. Also did drugs like pcp, acid and mescaline.

Back then, we didn't have all the research chemicals that's out there now. When you bought acid, you didn't have to worry if it was legit. But the weed back then was not always great. Colombian gold was the big so-called strain but compared with today's weed, probably like mids. You're taking me on a trip down memory lane so I'm going to move this to Drug Culture.
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I lovee your Avatar! Haha :) What exactly do barbituates do/feel like? Do they still make them? I've never tried them. Are they similar to benzos or maybe tranquillizers?
 
Butalbital is a barb that's still prescribed in the U.S., but I've heard it doesn't really compare to the old school barbituates. I got a bottle once, it was pretty awesome. Kind of like a benzo and opiate feeling mixed with the warm giddiness of alcohol. Problem was once I got really loaded on it, I would get super dizzy, so I could only enjoy a medium level of highness without getting side effects.
 
I remember meprobamate, and phenothiazine combos with meprobamate were great sleep aids. About barbs I did the 'ole phenobarbital, and it's a decent if a bit dangerous drug.

Nothing fancy, but alimemazine is still a great sleep aid in my book.
 
Black beauties are apparently Biphetamine. I am not at all familiar with what exactly biphetamine is, but I assume it's just a different moniker for racemic amphetamines. Obetrol was just straight methamphetamine if my memory serves me.
 
Not an older member, but I'm an amateur historian...

Methaqualone (quaalude,mandrax) Quinazolinone sedative. Similar in action to barbiturates, but technically of a different class of drugs. Overdoses very possible. Coordination is said to be severely impaired and sensations of pins/needles/numbness are experienced. Although, I have no empirical knowledge of this stuff. They still use this stuff in South Africa, where it's made illicitly and sold in tablets resembling "ecstasy". In fact, they even smoke it; it's called "white pipe" or something like that.

Secobarbital/Pentobarbital/Amobarbital etc. (Seconal, Nembutal,Amytal,Tuinal) Powerful barbiturate sedatives of relatively short action. Stronger/more dangerous cousins of benzodiazepines. Overdose being a very real possibility. Barbs today include phenobarbitol and butalbital - other barbs are technically still available, but in practice are almost never prescribed - both of which are long-acting and nothing to write home about. Even these are beginning to be phased out it seems. The advent of chlordiazepoxide (Librium) and especially of diazepam (Valium) was the death sentence for barbiturates ;sedative hypnotics with a more solid safety profile; overdose unlikely unless combined with other CNS depressants.

Heroin (morphine diacetate) We all know this one. W. Burroughs stated in junkie that the heroin caps he sold were of about 16% purity. This was considered unusually strong stuff according to him and the police in the novel. Also, he lived in NYC, which has historically been the heroin capitol of this country. A conservative guess would say even garbage dope is twice as potent in the present day and carries a much cheaper price tag. Burroughs sold his caps for $2.00 (~26.00 present day) when a bag today costs roughly XXX. Not to mention, hitting up doctors for prescriptions of morphine/opioids was much more easy/common.

Cannabis. A couple older guys I've worked with claim that weed was better back in their day. I don't understand how they can comment if they don't even smoke? The quality seems to have steadily improved over the years. When I used to cook, an older line cook told me when he would buy pot he'd buy a kilogram and he said this was not uncommon. So you can only assume the stuff was of poor/mediocre quality.

Amphetamines (Benzedrine, Black Beauties other names) Benzedrine inhalers were sold over the counter and contained a whopping 325mgof racemic amphetamine (50/50 d,l). I've read that consuming the contents of an entire inhaler was not uncommon. It should be noted that benzedrine was also available in the form of tablets. I believe the OTC sale of benzedrine and like amphetamine preparations ended sometime before 1970, but was being phased out years before then.

Paregoric (Camphorated Tincure of Opium, Odorized tincture of Opium) This weaker, more dilute cousin of Laudanum (Tincture of Opium, typically 10% raw opium by volume in ethanol) could be bought at certain drug-stores on a "case by case" basis. Those addicted to stronger opiates/oids could use paregoric to ease their symptoms of withdrawal. I understand codeine preparations are still sold OTC in some areas, but I'd say the relatively low strength renders the stuff useless to those with a habit.

If you go far enough back in history, say, before the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914, all drugs/psychoactive substances were essentially legal and were bought and sold just like any other commodity. I've always said, I would like to have lived around the turn of the century. It would be an opiate run for the history books I'm sure...
 
Oh man, I forgot some of the really good ones. I deserve to be crucified.

Ethchlorvynol (Placidyl) Sleeping pill/sedative/hypnotic a powerful drug used to treat severe insomnia. Originally synthesized around the 1930's. Allegedly a favorite of Supreme Court Justice Renhquist. Ethchlorvynol is supposed to be a pretty good ride, but it's been off the market for a while now.

Meprobamate (Miltown, others) Used mostly as an anxiolytic. It made Wallace Laboratories a pretty penny and was at one time the most prescribed drug in the country, allegedly. Meprobamate is an active metabolite of the drug Soma (Carisoprodol). Meprobamate was considered to be considerably safer than other similar sedatives (barbiturates, quinazolinones etc.), but nonetheless was highly addictive and not overtly safe when abused.

Chlormethiazole (Heminevrin) Yet another powerful sedative. Found it's place in treatment of alcohol withdrawal but was also used as a general purpose anxiolytic. Like all of the aforementioned sedatives, it's therapeutic "window" was relatively small and death from overdose was possible. Keith Moon died of, among other things, a massive overdose of chlormethiazole prescribed to him to treat his own alcohol abstinence syndrome.

Phenmetrazine (Preludin) A stimulant drug similar in effect to amphetamines, but with much less unwanted side-effects. Users have described it as a "cleaner", "smoother" experience than amphetamine, with all of the mental stimulation and much less body stimulation. Was highly popular decades ago, but was phased out in most places in favor of meth/amphetamine. As we all know by now, the Beatles were known users of the stuff while they were building their reputation playing clubs in Hamburg, West Germany, which itself was a "sin city" of sorts. Most former cities of the Hanseatic League seem to know how to party.
 
Keif' Richards said:
Black beauties are apparently Biphetamine. I am not at all familiar with what exactly biphetamine is, but I assume it's just a different moniker for racemic amphetamines. Obetrol was just straight methamphetamine if my memory serves me.
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The people I knew who took black beauties said how they were racemic amphetamines, like Adderall.

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They also said how they took them in the late 60s and early 70s and that you could easily get a prescription for them if you wanted them, easily get them via the black market or from someone who was prescribed them.

In the mid 70s they used meth but it was called crank, and people would snort it or eat it. Smokable meth or ice did not come around until the mid or late 80s.

There were also other amphetamine pills around but not all of them were in the black capsules. There were some that were a round pill with an X in the middle that were called white-crosses, and those were methedrine or pharmaceutical meth.

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Yea, back in the late 70's and early 80's I had a pharmacist friend who took a bottle of "Christmas Trees" (they looked like #7 above). They were a really smooth amphetimine and I totally enjoyed taking one on a Saturday morning. Had a great buzzed out day, without it being jittery. Loads of fun. Also had a source of Tuinals. I really grew to like them a whole lot. Probably too much but...

And the pot, not that I've smoked in that last 30 years but I'm sure the stuff we got back then was total shit. Mexican was everywhere and was cheap but you could smoke a quarter ounce and just be flat stoned (not gonzo high by any stretch). The Columbia (Gold) was better but clearly not like what's available today. The closest thing I ever had was some Sensimilia (sp?). It was supposedly grown in CA or HI. Now that stuff smelled fantastic and the high was soooo enjoyable.

Well, that's my walk through memory lane. Enjoyed reading the posts!
 
BeachBum4u said:
Yea, back in the late 70's and early 80's I had a pharmacist friend who took a bottle of "Christmas Trees" (they looked like #7 above). They were a really smooth amphetimine and I totally enjoyed taking one on a Saturday morning. Had a great buzzed out day, without it being jittery. Loads of fun. Also had a source of Tuinals. I really grew to like them a whole lot. Probably too much but...

And the pot, not that I've smoked in that last 30 years but I'm sure the stuff we got back then was total shit. Mexican was everywhere and was cheap but you could smoke a quarter ounce and just be flat stoned (not gonzo high by any stretch). The Columbia (Gold) was better but clearly not like what's available today. The closest thing I ever had was some Sensimilia (sp?). It was supposedly grown in CA or HI. Now that stuff smelled fantastic and the high was soooo enjoyable.

Well, that's my walk through memory lane. Enjoyed reading the posts!
Click to expand...
Did you ever take methedrine pills? What sort of high did Quaaludes give you?

Someone I know told me how they had a pharmacist friend in the early 70s, and they had access to med grade cocaine in that the pharmacist would steal and sell in small amounts.
 
I am not as old as the people who post here who were teenagers or adults using drugs in the 60s, 70s, or 80s, but I have noticed how a lot of stuff has changed.

I remember when most states did not have strict DUI laws, or people would drive drunk or buzzed when now that would get you put into jail, a DUI, and your lisence taken away.

I also remember before there were vaporizers, and everyone would just smoke pot out of metal, stone, or wood pipes, acrylic plastic bongs, or roll joints as blunts were not popular, and hand-blown glass pipes were not around.

I also remember before there were research chemicals being sold as acid and the only thing you had to worry about was getting very low doses of LSD or liquid, blotter, or gel that the was fake and had no LSD or any other drug in it. That never happened to me but I know people who had this happen to them when getting acid.

When I was a teenager and first starting to smoke pot you only would find schwag or mid-grade, and it all had some seeds in it. Strain names or brand names were unknown, and high quality herb did not come around until I was a late teen, or young adult, and by that time it was literally impossible to find schwag or mid-grade since most people did not want to smoke it anymore.

I also remember when oxycodone first came out and how in my school lots of people who did not even smoke pot or drink would take it from their parents or take moderate or high doses of it.

I also remember when Adderall first came out, and before that people who have ADD, ADHD, or who wanted to get high on a stimulant pill would use Dexedrine or Ritalin.

I also remember when research chemo first became available to pretty much anyone who wanted them. I never used them since LSD, mushrooms, pot, alcohol, and low doses of pharmaceutical opiates and stimulants with nitrous at rare times were enough. I also remember when spice and the cannabinoid research chemicals came out and were completely legal. I never used any of those as I thought it was fake pot like they would advertise in High Times magazine.

PCP, or wet/dust was very popular in the city I grew up in, and it has been this way since the late 60s and early 70s, and it is still popular today. I never used it but I know a lot of people who have nobody went violent or crazy on it like you sometimes hear about.
 
Yeah, pressed MDMA pills--lots of them, though they were often bunk even then, and we didn't have testing kits. And LSD--lots of LSD. I'm 38.
 
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