Recreational drug use. New highs

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edgarshade

Bluelighter
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Aug 31, 2010
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UK
Economist

May 24th 2014

With reader comments

As traditional drugs lose their lure, novel ones are filling the gap in the market.

“WHEN he first sees her, Raf is sitting on a washing machine about to swallow an eighth of a gram of what is apparently a mixture of speed, monosodium glutamate and an experimental social anxiety disorder medication for dogs.” So begins “Glow”, the latest novel by Ned Beauman, a British author. The scene captures a global reality: in much of the world, traditional mood-altering substances such as cocaine and heroin are in decline. But a pharmacopoeia of synthetic drugs is rapidly taking their place.
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Government attempts to crack down on one new drug after another bring to mind a game of whack-a-mole, says one expert. Each new drug brings new harms to users, too. Ketamine has proven far more addictive and physically damaging than ecstasy, and some synthetic cannabinoids have worse side-effects than real cannabis. And though their use still seems to be fairly limited, 52 people in England and Wales died in 2012 after taking new psychoactive substances, up from a handful a few years earlier. That is more than died after taking amphetamines or ecstasy.
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In New Zealand, where synthetic drugs are particularly popular, the government has committed itself to testing and regulating new drugs, rather than banning them. So far the practical effect has been to ban all of them, as no testing regime is yet in place, which may be helping the illegal market. But the long-term aspiration is wise. Not all drug-taking is harmful, but trying to stop it has proved extremely so.
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More...
http://www.economist.com/news/inter...ir-lure-novel-ones-are-filling-gap-market-new
 
^i find dissociatives to be THE most addictive drugs (i'm a fuck-up i guess) but overindulgence in empathogens over 2-3 days leaves me way worse off (suicidal.)

and k fucks up your kidneys long term, i don't think MDMA does anything "physical" just fucks up your serotonin (which is also physical just in your brain.)
 
The thing is ketamine has been used recreational since 1965 and MDMA 1970 though lol
 
Interesting. Granted I've never had K nor have I desired it very much, but I was under the impression is was far less toxic than MDMA. Shows how much research I've done into K.
 
If you look around, there are documentaries about people who had to have kidney transplants because of their K use, then kept using K. It seems to "appeal" to a smaller group than what are traditionally considered addictive drugs (coke, meth, opiates, etc), but those who do end up addicted often end up just as bad as alcoholics or meth addicts. And even for those who don't have a long term addiction, it can be incredibly compulsive in binge use.

Although interestingly, there have been trials (and personal accounts, for what they're worth) suggesting it might have the potential to play a role in treating depression and ending addiction too.
 
Virtually all the studies on the damage of ecstasy were either completely faked or misrepresent their conclusions. The original study still dominates people's view even though they used overdoses of meth and fabricated impossible brain scan results. The fact that actual MDMA ( everyone claiming to be an X addict is actually getting speed pills unknowingly) stops working so fast while ketamine can be dosed repeatedly indefinitely has a huge impact.
 
This argument is pointless. Both MDMA & Ketamine can be used safely, both can be used dangerously. It may well be that many people have been made quite seriously ill & killed through long-term serious addictive use of Ketamine. Some even die from the acute effects of combining it with alcohol or other drugs, or from simply overdosing. People also suffer long-term mental & physical health issues after using MDMA compulsively. Sometimes, ravers drop dead from taking pure MDMA in a low dose. The problems differ, but so do the drugs. The only thing these two drugs have in common is that they are both used recreationally. Apart from that they're completely different.

Both these drugs are pretty safe when used responsibly, both are dangerous when not.
 
_DankOpiAmp_ said:
Virtually all the studies on the damage of ecstasy were either completely faked or misrepresent their conclusions. The original study still dominates people's view even though they used overdoses of meth and fabricated impossible brain scan results. The fact that actual MDMA ( everyone claiming to be an X addict is actually getting speed pills unknowingly) stops working so fast while ketamine can be dosed repeatedly indefinitely has a huge impact.
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Ecstasy can definitely be damaging. On the occasions that I used MDMA a bit too frequently I started to get serious memory problems - this was before I had read anything about MDMA associated memory problems.

After one particular period of overly frequent use I also began to get some kind of body zaps. I was wanting to describe them as brain zaps but I wasn't entirely sure it was, as it was like a jolt going through my entire body or limbs - which I now still get occasionally (but it's not too bothersome).

I believe it can definitely cause damage. Now of course, the damage was through my fault - I used too much to often - but that's not to say ecstasy isn't dangerous. I could smoke smoke weed far more than I would take ecstasy and not get any adverse effects - I would consider weed safer than ecstasy.

I could also use mephedrone more often than MDMA, and I would still have less noticeable side effects.

It's a great drug and may be used safely and responsibly, but it can still definitely cause damage - I'm sure of it.
 
The damage you speak of may just be neurotransmitter depletion and occurring while they replenish themselves. It may not literally be damage unless it is taken to an extreme. I am not sure what to think of the brain zaps though, do you jolt your body when it happens? Something similar is described in SSRI withdrawal but the drugs have very distinct effects despite being associated with serotonin.

Did you test the pills you took?

Of course weed is safer than MDMA, it is safer than almost any other drug when abused.
 
Yup, tested.

See, I'm unsure whether it's actually brain zaps or something different. It's similar, but the "storm in the brain" part doesn't seem as extreme as peoples' descriptions. It was much milder, with the main noticeable effect being feelings of energy surging linearly through parts of the body. For example, an hour or so ago I felt like energy was jumping quickly in a straight line from my stomach towards the top left (my top left) of my chest. It seems to be random where it happens though, just changes whenever it happens. My body doesn't actually jolt during this, it's only a feeling.

The only time it's been a problem is one time when I was at a friends house, got into bed and lay down. Within about 2 minutes I started getting feelings of a massive electrical discharge in my brain and then it shot through my body. This kept repeating a couple times.

That was the only time that I can remember where it was strong enough to make me physically jump up from the shock of it happening.
 
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