I glanced over some of the pages and saw a lot of people listing benzos as over rated. The only benzo I have tried was Xanax, and I am pretty sure every time it was taken along with hydrocodone (I'm a non-regular opiate user) for synergistic purposes. In Burroughs'
Junkie, they call Valium "goofballs." Sure Valium and Xanax are different drugs, but I like the occasional "goofball" vibe.
On a recent experience with 50mg hydro and ~1mg alprazolam, I was having these ridiculous nonlinear conversations with a friend where I would think of something that seemed so clever at the time, mention it to him, then forget about it in a minute. I remember at one point saying "what day is it today...? Wait... what year are we on?" and we had to think about that one for a while. The reason I remember that is because I was writing a lot of this stuff down.
Underrated: propylhexedrine / Benzedrex. Thinking of Junkie again: Benzedrine / Bennies, haha
But I'm not into stims anyway. I try to avoid them since I'm already thin, full of energy and never sleep, that stuff is kinda damaging to me.
I believe alcohol is underrated and overrated in different aspects. Alcohol is a drug, and I consume it and treat it like one. I keep track of how much I take, how often I take it, keep hydrated, etc. and I often get desirable effects, have a hell of a time, and rarely have a hangover. I used to puke from drinking 50% of times I took it, but after educating myself more, I haven't gotten sick in over a year. I guess research and harm reduction goes for just about any drug.
Just a general thought on overrated / underrated drugs: maybe it has a lot to do with how often and how long a person has been doing it for. I used to get an awesome rush from smoking cigarettes but after daily smoking and addiction took over it was useless, so I quit (mostly for health reasons and cost, actually. But why smoke cigs just to "get right"?). Cannabis used to be a magical experience every time, but after becoming accustomed to its effects, the "magic" went away. Even if I took breaks to lower my tolerance, I knew what to expect every time. Perhaps I just enjoy the novelty aspect of drug use!
EDIT: Revisited the book and turns out "goof balls" are barbiturates, particularly phenobarbital.