The effects of psychedelics when you're young?

[IAmJacksUserName]

I've often thought of the ways psychedelic drug use effects teenagers who are just coming of age and into the world. Myself, I first tried LSD and ketamine when I was 17, right after leaving home and at the beginning of my gap year that I spent in Cambodia. It came right as I was making that transition into adulthood, and it armed me with a way of thinking that, in a way, defined that moment of my life. I'm now 19 and back in the States going to college, and I can't imagine the person I would be had I never used psychedelics. I try to see my psychedelic experiences as a gift, but I sometimes wonder if I should have experienced more adult life before trying those drugs. I'll now never know what it's like to be a fully-grown adult who has never had a psychedelic experience, and I can't help but wonder if that makes it harder for me to understand other people.

Granted, I've always been weird. It could be, of course, that those drugs only complemented what was already a life-changing experience. Given the fantastic and chaotic nature of that time (even without drugs), I can't pinpoint any part of my development on just one thing. And frankly, I can't bring myself to regret my decisions, because I don't regret being the person I am today. Still, I can't help but wonder.

 

[Ghettochrist]

I'm 18 myself but i first got into tripping towards the end of being 16 and i do not regret it at all! infact i wouldn't have it any other way i wish i encountered it sooner!

 

[tranceformers]

yea, i did the acid the first time when i was 14 same with mushrooms, also salvia when i was 13 and DMT when i was 14

since i was like 5 i have been fascinated with the dreaming state and hallucinations and all that jazz so i dono if i would say its a bad thing.. anyways

first bluelight post :D

 

[MistaJeff]

I recently turned 18 and graduated high school, I couldn't imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't spent the past 6 months experimenting with drugs. My second shroom trip changed my life, it put everything in perspective. I wouldn't say that I wish I got into psychedelics sooner but I'm glad I fell in love with them at 17.

 

[burn out]

i am the same way. i wish i hadn't even heard of psychedelics until i was full adult, so i could have experienced adult life without all the crazy questions psychedelics open up about reality. i want my innocence back.

 

[Roger&Me]

i wish i hadn't even heard of psychedelics until i was full adult, so i could have experienced adult life without all the crazy questions psychedelics open up about reality. i want my innocence back.

It sounds like you don't want your innocence back, you want your ignorance back. Which I think is something we ought to try to get rid of.

 

[burn out]

It sounds like you don't want your innocence back, you want your ignorance back. Which I think is something we ought to try to get rid of.

i believe psychedelics possess as much power to delude as they do to enlighten. who says i am any closer to the "truth" now as per before? i am just living in a different illusion.

 

[vortex30]

i believe psychedelics possess as much power to delude as they do to enlighten. who says i am any closer to the "truth" now as per before? i am just living in a different illusion.

QFT. Psychedelics reveal to us answers that are within us already and just need to be shown under a different light. These answers are not always correct and sometimes one is left with puzzling/troubling questions instead of answers.

 

[NextLineIsMine]

i believe psychedelics possess as much power to delude as they do to enlighten. who says i am any closer to the "truth" now as per before? i am just living in a different illusion.

You possess a very healthy manner of thinking my friend. Ive seen far too many friends assume that any and all realizations they make on psychedelics are facts and answers about life. They percieve it as knowledge in a pill.

 

[Xorkoth]

I first tried psychedelics when I was 18 (mushrooms), although I started using marijuana at 17 and at the time it was very psychedelic to me... in fact it had a very large effect on my development (though not as large as mushrooms). I can't say I regret my experiences at all because they helped to make me who I am. However, I do wonder if I had found drugs when I was 20 or 21 or something, perhaps I wouldn't have such a hard time resisting them now. I feel like since I got really into them before I was fully developed, being high on something has become a part of my identity and it's very difficult to just be sober for a long period of time, even though I enjoy sobriety. It feels like a chemical pull.

I have friends who didn't get into drugs until they were 20 or 21 and they seem to have no problems just using them occasionally, when appropriate. But nearly all of my friends who got into them at 17 or younger (especially younger) are now either drug-free due to getting in a lot of trouble and going to rehab, or they're like me and drugs are usually on the mind to some extent.

 

[SKL]

I first smoked pot at 12, like Xorkoth, it was very psychedelic for me, LSD first at 14, mushrooms first at 19, with a smattering of other chemicals in between and a few things afterwards. My first few psychedelic experiences were earth-shattering, cosmic, and seemingly very profound, but I think I was too immature to integrate the lessons, and eventually, they fucked me up in the head in a very insidious sort of way, which I've only lately been able to deal with (partially by the use of psychedelic drugs). Oh, and I'd second Xorkoth's point, practically everyone I knew who startred doing serious drugs at a young age qualifies to have a drug problem, I know I do. One of the biggest parts of that, I think, is that drug use has become part of my identity (I mean, jesus, I'm a bluelight moderator! haha), which is all too easy to happen if you use drugs at a formative age...

 

[Ghettochrist]

Hmm i can relate to Xorkoth in the sense of just always feeling the need to be on something.

I like it though as a part of life.

And i don't think psychedellics give or take anything away from me, they just make me feel really good and make me really happy and alot of the time makes me more grateful too, i don't claim to learn anything just feel more intense things and learn to deal with being calmer etc.

I just love tripping.. i been smoking weed since i was 12 too like somekindalove.

I don't know, maybe i wont think the same when i have more responsibilities?

 

[Cloudy]

I took mushrooms at the young age of 14 and honestly it couldn't have come at a better time. I was starting high school, and the biggest realization I had during my experience was basically that everyone is different and these differences aren't necessarily choices. Basically I vowed to never make fun of someone again. I vowed to respect everyone till they broke the respect. This has stayed with me through all of my high school career and beyond that.

 

[Shlumpeet]

I first tripped when I was 16, I had a lot of fun but never really realized the potential until I was 17. I've learned a lot about myself and how the world works, and have become a lot more confident and happy with myself.

 

[Roger&Me]

i believe psychedelics possess as much power to delude as they do to enlighten. who says i am any closer to the "truth" now as per before? i am just living in a different illusion.

I think I left my original statement open to misinterpretation. I certainly don't think psychedelics possess any type of "knowledge" or anything of the sort, I'll point you to a pretty good synopsis of my views on the subject that I posted in this thread:

Psychedelics don't provide answers, my friend; nor do they provide questions. They simply provide an experience, and what you make of that experience is where the inherent value in the usage of psychedelics lies.

You see. It's about the experience of integrating and interpreting the psychedelic experience that makes you less ignorant. It's a process of interpreting uninterpretable experiences. It's a mind exercise.

 

[IAmJacksUserName]

i believe psychedelics possess as much power to delude as they do to enlighten. who says i am any closer to the "truth" now as per before? i am just living in a different illusion.

Agreed. I think one of the problems I've been having until recently is that I wanted to believe that psychedelics gave me a superior understanding of our reality. Psychedelic drugs can open new doors in the mind that can introduce new ways of thinking, but they won't teach you the secrets of the universe. If you believe that psychedelics have given you some sort of fantastic revelation of the nature of the universe, then you've fallen into the same illusion that religions trap people into.

From what Xorkoth and SomeKindaLove have said, I suppose I should count myself lucky that I don't have a drug problem to speak of, and that I don't feel that drugs are a major part of my identity (although they're definitely play a strong minor role). I guess that's because even when I've used drugs frequently, it's always ended up complementing the things that were going on in my life, rather than actually defining my life.

 

[phan]

It sounds like you don't want your innocence back, you want your ignorance back. Which I think is something we ought to try to get rid of.

Ignorance is bliss my friend. And it really is too

 

[Dextro 2C]

It sounds like you don't want your innocence back, you want your ignorance back. Which I think is something we ought to try to get rid of.

Haha so true. I think going into the adult world with our experiences with psychedelics prepares us much better. Ignorance can lead to stupidity.

 

[soniq]

I started taking LSD at 17 also...... Blue Unicorn $3 per hit.... so clean...... anyway...

I agree with all of the above; double-edged sword. I think I've gained both insight and possibly sensitized myself to imbalances of sorts....

I did have perma-tracers for about 5 years after I stopped tripping; they're gone now though. I worry too much about mortgage and bills to trip anymore; i'd probably have some sort of bad trip about foreclosure monsters and rabid bill collectors

 

[Roger&Me]

Ignorance is bliss my friend. And it really is too

Ignorance is not bliss, my friend. In fact, I would go as far as to posit that ignorance is the root of all suffering. (This is not my idea, I stole it from Buddha. At gunpoint.)

I'm not going to expound on this argument unless someone invites me to, though, because its pretty complicated Buddhist theology and this isn't the place for that--I'm a Buddhist myself, however I'm NOT a proponent of Buddhism, and I'm certainly not here to convert anyone.. If you're interested, though, you can research the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination--the first of which is "fundamental ignorance."