Doing shrooms at 15.

[Solipsis]

Solipsis, not to be a pain here, but that's just as anecdotal as everyone else. I'm not aware of any actual science behind mushrooms causing determintal damage to CNS or brain development, or even hormone levels after the half-life (depends on species, no?). That said, it's also not my area of expertise (the neuro chem behind psychedelics and it's effects on development), so feel free to correct me if there are any good studies out there.

You do realize that I admitted to that and that my point was not that with waiting until you are 18, you're in the clear and there is nothing to worry about whatsoever? I said that there are no guarantees either way but that does not mean my entire argument can be thrown out the window and any arbitrary line drawn is all the same and it doesn't matter. That reminds me of nihilism. The fact that I cannot prove that 18 is where the line should be drawn does not mean that the only thing to go on is if you feel you are ready.
What if an 11-year old comes to ask you if he can take mushrooms because he feels it is his time. What do you tell him? Do you say: not a single person can tell you this, decide for yourself... so if you feel ready just do it? I'd call you a fool if you do. So then, if you reply: no... what then is the right time? Then you have to draw the line somewhere. And if I have to draw the line based on what my whole life tells me about people of all ages up to about 20, I say 18 based on the logic I have explained already and will not explain again.

Obviously the most cautionary advice would be to not do it until you are 18. That being the case, I started my first ventures into psychedelic space at 15 (acid) and shrooms at 16. I never do them often or take a trip lightly. What others are saying about your setting is right, you don't want your first experience to be one where you are worried about making noises etc. If you aren't in the right mindset to be tripping, then don't. If you feel you are, ultimately you are the one to make that choice - just be as safe and responsible about those choices as you can.

Yes, most cautionary advice is to say 18. That is: most cautionary but in my opinion entirely within reasonable limits. I believe this was the question so it seems we agree.
If the question is formulated a little differently, like the second one in the OP: I am 15 and have already decided (hypothetically or not), whether you condone this or not - what do you say about this?... Well then there is only the setting to discuss which I have done only briefly.

But still it lashes back: a bad setting which is related to the mindset of being of young age and having your parents' restriction... that means you cannot escape the fact that you are not an adult yet. I am not saying this because I care so much about the fact that the responsibility of minors still lie with their parents. I do acknowledge that people under 18 can make decisions for themselves (whether they are always right is another question but that also goes for adults of course). Still you are likely to be treated as such, fair or unfair it doesn't make a bit of difference.
So still, it is IMO best to wait until you are 18 and/or move out and can be free in what you do. I think this is significant for the meaning of your trip, it wil allow you to make the best of a psychedelic trip's aspect of freeing yourself. If you decide to do it before 18 and have not moved out, then dry your mushrooms if they are not dried already... research how to store them properly, then arrange for some opportunity when your parents are away and will not be back for 1-2 days and preferably get yourself a proper setting, a place where no one will care if you want to act the way the trip makes you act.

For every element that does not correspond with what I suggest I would lower the dose partially. Like if your parents are away for the weekend but you still only have your own house at your disposal then limit your dose to like 1.5 grams. Actually for your first trip at a young age and even at 18 or above, I would not go past 2 to 2.25 grams either way. I think 2.25 grams (well in my case 22.5 grams fresh which translates to 2.25 grams dry) was definitely potent enough for my first trip. It was an absolutely intense fairy-tale with difficult phases but for the most part it was marvelous.

 

[LSDMDMA&AMP]

for what its wroth, my first shroom trip (which was at age 16 and was my first psych trip ever) i did 2g, and it was strong but not THAT strong after i had come up...i was disappointed at the end of it (and when i tried acid 1-3 months later, it was a lot more intense than shrooms), only other time i did shrooms i ate an eighth and i only bought em the 2nd time cause they were cheap and i was offered and i didn't wanna go through the hassle of acquiring LSD.

 

[Jesusgreen]

I first gained an interesting in psychedelics when I was 16. I studied mushrooms, mescaline, LSD, and a couple of the 2C-*s in some depth before I ever considered trying them - this research was actually my introduction to drugs as a whole aside from alcohol, as previously I'd taken the typical "All drugs are bad, except legal ones" approach that they love to preach to us in schools. I'm not sure what originally sparked my interest, but sure enough I spent months reading about peoples trips, the safety or dangers of various different psychedelics, bad trips, dosage, etc.

I had an advantage that not many younger trippers have - my dad has had plenty of experience with psychedelics and Cannabis, so when I mentioned to him that I was interested, rather than the typical "You want to do drugs!?!?!" reply that many parents would respond with, he actually gave me a bit of info about his own experiences, the types of thing to expect, and he suggested I wait until I turned 18 to try acid. Interestingly he didn't give the same advice for mushrooms, he wasn't as worried about them - but I suspect that was due to him only having really ever taken quite low doses, and never having explored them to their full potential, while doing the opposite with acid.

Me and him decided to go out and try find some Liberty caps (most common Psilocybe strain in the UK), so we hunted around, I found a few similar looking strains but never any libs - he helped me by showing me the kind of places to look, pointing out why each mushroom I picked wasn't actually a Liberty cap etc. Eventually sometime during this time I had my first experiences with Cannabis, and began smoking fairly regularly.

My interest in psychedelics continued, but it wasn't until a year and a half later, 17, about to turn 18, that I ordered myself a 100mg sample of 4-AcO-DMT with the plan to make it my first trip. Back then I did not have access to a set of scales so I divided the 100mg into 5 roughly even piles (do not ever do this, prior to getting some scales I had my ass kicked several times by the drug when trying to do this), took roughly 20mg and had my first trip. It was a wonderful pleasant experience, felt really deep, I had a great time - and I'm sure I'll remember that trip for the rest of my life.

So I recommend it, right? Wrong. While I had fun, and had a good time, I never really picked up anything useful from that trip because I simply couldn't understand enough of the information from it - in fact I couldn't really understand any of it at all, other than the fact I felt good, and I was seeing pretty things, and my head felt weird. That led to me treating psychedelics just like any other drug and using them quite frequently for a long time, which led to them royally kicking my ass when I neglected some problems in my life and refused to deal with them. I think had I tried them a year or two later I'd have likely taken it way slower, gained more insight from earlier experiences and made some positive changes a lot quicker.

Will taking shrooms at 15 be a bad thing? That really depends on you, your setting, and what you're looking to achieve. If you're just looking for a recreational drug - shrooms are not really what you're looking for in the first place, as they can get quite deep and messy, you might be better off with another psychedelic if you're looking for recreation, and ideally something other than psychedelics in the first place. If you're looking for something deeper, shrooms are a good way to go, but don't expect any enlightenment at your age, you need to give the brain some more time to develop - I know at 15 if I had the chance I'd have probably munched a bunch down, not learnt anything, and maybe even never touched psychedelics again - thinking they had nothing useful to offer. I'm glad I at least waited until I was 17, but I think another year or two would have been even better.

At the end of the day we can't tell you whether to trip or not, it's up to you. Just remember, losing your tripping virginity is like losing your virginity - do you want to have lost it just to have lost it, or do you want it to be a night to remember?

 

[THC2LSD]

i dun tripped at sixteen and i iz fine
eat an eighth or gtfo.

QFT, I tripped at sixteen too, it was fucking great. I took acid on halloween with my friends. This was before the Pickard bust. And I never saw it again for years.

 

[Jesusgreen]

^ It's not about tripping at 15/16 doing any damage or being bad for you necessarily, it's just you stand quite a bit to gain by waiting, and it'll definitely lead to a more memorable first experience :D

 

[Solipsis]

Good post there JG! Another valuable way of looking at it to consider and take into account.

Funny you should mention your father, I had my first trip on acid at around 19 and my father who has tried a lot of common drugs in the past, was my tripsitter. It was amazing! Not super intense but still really wondrous. He was making fun of me a little bit every time I said the most curious things that didn't make sense yet in an LSD-kind of way they did. He is not an enthousiast of it like me though, he thinks they can be interesting experiences but apparently not a lot more. I fed him MDMA once and he reacted really strangely to it. At first it didn't work... then BAM it hit him and he started acting very erratic and weird and then had to vomit all of a sudden, then the effects were as good as gone.
Another time we split 30g of fresh mushrooms between us in a soup but apart from some giggly fun not that much happened. I remember looking at him though and thinking the proportions of his body were all wrong but I could not figure out how. Either his head was way too big for the length of his legs or the other way around, it was just all fucked up and looked weird and hilarious at the same time.
We tried other things together as well, nitrous apparently had no effect on him. He's a strange fella. At some point he lost interest in trying more, not sure why. And then all of a sudden he ordered kratom of the internet for us to share. And on a later occasion he very politely asked for some pre-weighed doses of 2C-B then never got around to try them with the person he wanted to share it with.

 

[DexterMeth]

Your frontal cortex isn't even fully developed until your later 20's.

 

[Jesusgreen]

I tripped alone my first time, but he certainly knew, as I didn't think it was really kicking in, went downstairs to ask him something, and then proceeded to just gape in awe looking around at all the walls - by which time he knew I was tripping haha :D

He doesn't indulge any more, he mostly saw psychedelics as a fun interesting thing to do, but quickly grew out of them, same for other drugs - though he still has a beer or two every now and then, and smokes cigarettes pretty heavily. It'd be nice to trip with him some day but I'm not sure if and when that'll happen.

Back on topic though, one thing to keep in mind if you do decide to trip now, if you do have fun and like it - try not to do what many of us (myself included!) did and go through a period of tripping very regularly out of the excitement of such a new and profound experience - it doesn't accomplish much, wastes a lot of time and leaves you quite burned out until you take a break.

If you treat psychedelics with respect right from the start, making your trips well prepared, with a good setting, a good dosage, and a good state of mind - if you make sure not to trip too often, you'll find them a very valuable tool and experience imo. YMMV of course

On a semi related note, I just found the receipt for that first ever 100mg of 4-AcO-DMT I ordered, funny coincidence :D

 

[OTGee]

Ever since my first, or maybe second psy experiance I saw the world through new eyes. If you are ready for nothing to EVER be quite the exact same again, go for it. It is not a question of age but my advice is, if you know, not think you can handle what all the fuss is about then go ahead. If you only think you can, wait a little bit, even a few months/weeks. Parents being around, pfft no problem.

 

[Bone14]

i dun tripped at sixteen and i iz fine
eat an eighth or gtfo.

You sound like a very intelligent person.

OT:
Doing shrooms at 15 years old? Hell no, wait.

 

[Dimitri K.]

I'd also like to know his scientifical and not-anecdotal reasons for saying 18 and not 17 and a half.

I"m pretty he is saying this as a general principle as he does not know this person IRL. Some might not be ready at 30 while some definitely aren't ready at 15. I feel like in general it's better to be safe than sorry (I never even smoked cannabis until I was 18) but if the mushroom is calling you, get a better setting, make sure you have some benzos, and jump in with a smaller amount than an 8th.

 

[iROLL22]

No, you are too young. Wait until you are at about 20 where your brain is fully developed.

I am not saying anything bad will happen. Just that the chances are bigger.

ha shrooms are not like mdma and neurotoxic. i feel if you want to explore the psychedelic space do so. You might mature alot from the experience. i did an 1/8th my first shroom trip. i also learned that shrooms arent really meant for my biology but i still learned alot of good things from the experience. my body preferes other substances besides fungi. think im allergic or something cuz i cant even eat mushrooms on a pizza without being sick

 

[Solipsis]

Physical damage to your body is not the other thing to worry about! Taking psychedelics for the first time can definitely have significant psychological impact. Yes you can gain insight, mature from it, but it can also open a can of worms prematurely or exacerbate latent conditions. I don't necessarily mean being sick in the head but IMO psychedelics bring out your character and blow it up a bit more out of proportion. This can be great and make you more you in a good way, bring out your potential and your qualities, but also the bad.
I think it's best to wait first until such developments settle a bit before you go and tweak with it yourself too soon. And the whole point is that it is so hard to say when it is too soon. We don't know the TS so we cannot know even remotely, which is indeed why I generalize. But even the TS is bound not to be able to judge that very well.

 

[Super.Nova]

Solipsis and Jesusgreen practically took my entire point of view altogether in every aspect.

From experience, listen to what these people are saying, I took mushrooms the first time when I was 13 and continued to do LSD and MDMA the next year despite all the bad trips I had in between. I just simply loved tripping so much I lost my sense of control and ignored the possibility of bad consequences. I was ignorant to say the least, but it is in no way an experience I regret. However, like many have said before me already, if I could go back, I would have waited for sure. And because I simply wanted to "trip" I recieved little to no enlightening experiences, except the ones I recieved from learning my mistakes. It can have serious effects on you that will not become apparent until the future if you abuse it.

Dont feel pressured into taking any exact amount either, if you end up thinking 2 grams looks like alot just dont eat it all, save the rest for a much more mellow experience later. Just please try to have some respect for the ritual of psychedelics, its not about getting fucked up and trippin balls.

Ultimately what I say doesnt matter, just be safe if you do it and be prepared for all types of possibilities.

 

[SpecialK_]

I took many, many chemicals at the age of 15. Albeit there wasn't as many as the likes of the RCs available - which could potentially increase the risk of damage as they are research chemicals. However, I've suffered no ill effects and psychedelics were my type of choice. You'll be fine and I recommend it, I think at that age it can really help shape someone and stop all this narrow-minded headsets that everyone carries these days and thankfully mushrooms are also proven to do this with no bad effects.

From experience, listen to what these people are saying, I took mushrooms the first time when I was 13 and continued to do LSD and MDMA the next year despite all the bad trips I had in between. I just simply loved tripping so much I lost my sense of control and ignored the possibility of bad consequences. I was ignorant to say the least, but it is in no way an experience I regret. However, like many have said before me already, if I could go back, I would have waited for sure. And because I simply wanted to "trip" I recieved little to no enlightening experiences, except the ones I recieved from learning my mistakes. It can have serious effects on you that will not become apparent until the future if you abuse it.

I think this is down to the person. I took plenty of trips during those days and had amazing insightful experiences. I always found tripping much harder to make recreational than other drugs like MDMA or weed. But keep this in mind, as obviously tripping every week will start to build up a tolerance and that's when things become recreational.

 

[Te0X2t]

JUST MAKE SURE THEY AREN"T BLUE MEANIES!!! I had half an 8th of them and cried my self to ego-death! =/ actually more along the lines of an entire 8th... =__(

 

[huolesoh]

well anne shulgin has tripped and lived a long time and she reckons 18 i think it was, the adult kind of age. she reckoned not many young people are ready ?

im glad i did acid when i did, at 17, but i had no idea what i was getting myself in for, which kind of threw me off. i'd had a bit of experience with mind altering, mainly cannabis, but i think i got alot out of it, too. the insight is precious, but of course some realities can be harsh to learn. it's funny i actually get a little jealous reading about people who took acid earlier than i did !

 

[gannetsarewe]

I was 14 or 15 when I first took shrooms, they grew in a field beside my house and so were the first drug I ever took and I have never looked back.