so i normally do 30mg of oc to get high. I ordered med/large poppy pods. WHats a good starting point for a first timer?
At this point in time, it's almost impossible to recommend a dose. It was hard enough when the pods we were all accustomed to were strong-walled AZ or WA's that hadn't been hit by the poor harvest, but in this season of grief, it's difficult to recommend anything with any sort of certitude.
Unless you're from the UK and getting different flowers than the crafters in the states, I would say that, judging from what is available at this time (at least 25% of popular pods sold are coming from one vendor whether they're being re-sold or not), 5 M/L's will be a good starting dose.
I'm also taking into consideration that pod sizes are totally skewed this year: what were sold Larges are being sold as Mediums, and what were sold as Mediums are being sold as Smalls. What are being sold as Smalls I have never before seen in my life except when someone grew and those were just the tiny side-flowers on a stem. For the pot only. Not worth lancing.
Nevertheless, I would recommend doing what any sensible crafter does on receiving a shipment from a new vendor: take a test dose of 2 pods. See what happens. Do not top up if you don't feel anything. Dose again the next day and adjust as you see fit.
If you do manage to get high off what you've bought what with the crap that's being sold this year, keep in mind that even with a 30mg OC tolerance, you may just feel a bit ill. When I first tried pods, having done many different types of opiates/oids (pharm and H and O), I got pretty ill: sweating, nausea, shaking, headache. Pods contain many different alkaloids that are not present in commonly available opiates/oids and it takes the body a bit of time to adjust to the new alkaloids. (And de-adjust when one detoxes.)
This may not happen to you. When I first started with pods they were quite powerful. But if it does happen to you, it will be nice to know that its a normal reaction. Cos it's not a pleasant reaction.