Educated opinions on LSD

Hey guys, im just after some opinions and advice here.
For a while now, i've been interested in trying acid, but haven't gotten around to it.
I have moderate experience with mdma and have smoked pot occassionaly, with no problems (ie. no paranoia). I also see myself as relatively stable, free from mood swings and general paranoia.
After conferring with friends, my two closest friends both support my decision to try LSD, however none wish to trip with me (which i dont have a problem with)... one for personal reasons, the other because he doesn't feel as solid as i do and has had paranoia problems with meth and pot in the past.
However, other (non drug-dabbling) friends continually discourage me to try it, saying about all the bad things that have happened to friends of friends of friends, and how dangerous it is, how easy it is to have a bad trip, etc, etc. I'm not sure as to trust in the opinions of these people, as they don't have a solid unbiased source of information.
I have heavily educated myself on LSD from both bluelight and erowid.org.
I understand that there is a risk involved with any drug use, but is LSD more risky than other recreational drugs? Is one highly unlikely to experience a badtrip on a lighter/moderate dose?
Any personal experiences, good or bad, would be nice to hear as well
Thanks in advance,
jimbu.

Acid(LSD)is unlike many of your other recreational weekend party drugs, in the way that it can take you to places you could have never dreamed of, or it can leave you edgy, with a sore head, sitting in a carpark wishing it was all over.
One of the most important factors is that not everyone is a tripper. In this day and age of people munching evry kind of drug under the sun, i have seen many of my friends and fellow party goers diss acid because it can lead them on a 9 hour 'trip' of paranoia, edgyness and a sore back of the head. Why does this happen? I believe it is because these people are not 'acid' people. Okay this is gonna sound like a load of shit to just about everyone, but bare with me.
It's all pretty easy actually - i find that people who are happy to sit around and talk about anything for hours, will love acid. Acid gives you ideas and thoughts, and can be very inspirational...but that is only if you are comfortable with being guided by the acid. If you're going to go tripping and you've got shit you have to do tommorrow, or if something is worrying you, it's probably a good time to leave it alone. Cid will make you think about everything in your life, which can be bad sometimes, but if you are a strong person with self confidence i believe you can really get a lot out of a good trip, a whole lot.
The best day i have ever lived is still the day i dropped three hits of acid after Utopia last year. :D
Before i go too far off topic, moderate MDMA use and pot smoking will not prepare you for acid in my opinion. Acid will fuck with you unless you treat it with the respect it deserves.
How do you treat acid with respect i hear you ask?
Heres a few pointers -
* Trip somewhere comfortable where you wont have to worry about people coming home and busting you..
* Trip with friends, but not necessarily your best friends...
* Listen to madd tunes
* Smoke some weed
* Play with toys
* Relaxxxxxxx....
This is all just my opinion, i found these tips work for me, i been tripping for a while now and havent had a bad trip yet. :D
Have fun, be safe, and dont trip and drive!

you sound like a pretty stable person. I would say go for it. You've done your reading and obviously know what you're in for.
Just make sure you're getting it off someone reliable. Aus doesn't have the BEST acid (Sometimes it does) so be careful.
Also on that advice above. I would HIGHLY recommend to leave the pot out. Many friends have wigged out when pot has been smoked, but been fine before that.
Have fun

I can't think of much more to add that hasn't been said, except that further to what horsey said, it's usually better to try new drugs on their own with nothing else in your system. That way you get a true feel for what the drug is...

Nice post moocho! Fully agreed...
If you follow his advice I'm sure you will have a great experience...
I can't go near any psychadelics anymore because when I first took acid I was too naive and stupid... I didn't have Bluelight or any other resource that I knew about at hand, so I trusted my friend's advice and went along with them to a club and had acid there... Bad move number one, a club is definately not a good place to trip, especially for your first time... Then, just as the acid was kicking in hard, my friends disappeared, so I was left standing at the back of a dark dirty little club, tripping hard with no-one to help me out, and in that environment I certainly needed help...
As moocho said, some people just aren't trippers, and I believe that even had that first experience not gone so wrong, I prolly wouldn't have enjoyed acid as much as most people anyway... I've had some really fun times on acid, but after that first time, most have been bad, and all have had the bad outweigh the good...
Don't let my post disuade you tho, do things the smart way and you'll have a great time...
My only other advice would be to start off small (half a trip) ...You can try a higher dose next time if the first doesn't do much, but you can't go back from a trip that's too strong...
[ 30 April 2002: Message edited by: Tarsarlan ]

You sound like you're ready to go!
I'd recommend doing it with friends. Even if your best freidns are not into it, find some people you are familiar with. My 1st trip was with practical strangers, lucky for all of us, we got along perfectly, but not everyone may be so lucky. It would really suck finding some friend of a friend really grates on you, in the middle of a trip!
From my limited acid tripping experience, the most valuable advice i can give is... Go on a Mission! Once you're peaking, do not sit around in the one lounge room or back yard, or wherever you are. It can become really comfortable and easy to stay in the one place, and the outside world can seem daunting, but once you're out there, the real world is amazing! A trip to the park, or the local 7-11 would be ideal. Any place without lots of people, and no busy roads without traffic lights. Just try to experience a few different environments. I've found just walking outside my house, and down the street a bit can create some hillarious situations.
Definatly do it in an environment that is comfortable. Be ready to puddle (pillows, couches, chairs, blankets if its cold). Have some cool drinks on hand, and a wide selection of music. If you're a youngen, i'd want to be absolutly certain that no parents are going to rock up, having that in the back of your mind may cause some paranoia. Switching off all phones is a good idea, even though you may think you can deal with non-tripping people, just wait until you try, I've found it almost impossible.
As for tripping toys, weird food, trip-tricks... I never found them that interesting, the people around me and the outside world have been far more fascinating. Staring at the walls and doors is intense enough anyway.
I'd recommend against using any other drugs at least the night before, and during the trip. If you are a dope smoker or drinker, either might be handy to take the edge off a comedown, but definatly not until the peak has started to subside. Smoking a cig can be an interesting experience during the trip though.
What Tars said, if you're unsure of the strength of the trip, try half. Trips take a long time to come up, maybe 2 hours. So if you are thinking "this isn't working" just keep waiting for a while before even considering having more.
Hope all goes well, Good Luck
gleep

Everyone has covered it pretty well. I like to have a bit of hard liquer to take the edge off the trip. Try it by itself first and see how you go. As has been said, it can take ages (2 hours or so) to kick in, so be patient. I wouldn't recommend doing it by yourself the first time. You may feel isolated from non-trippers, and besides, some of the most fun you will have on acid is laughing at absolute nonsense with other people on acid .
If you are planning on sleeping, you may want to have some sort of sleepers handy, or at least some valarian. Nothing is worse than lying in bed trying to sleep when your mind keeps going around in circles and every single noise paints pictures in your head. In my experience, and from others I've spoken to, this often leads to anxiety and panics attacks. Benzos can also be handy if you need to bail from a bad trip.
One last thing, if you play a musical instrument, have it handy! Sounds corny, but you will seriously become one with you instrument!
If you decide to try it, lets us know how it goes.
[ 30 April 2002: Message edited by: johnnyonelove ]

Good advice here.
One thing I would also say, is have soemthing to do. 8 hours sitting around watching tv can get pretty boring. Environment, and alternatives to your primary environment, are the key.
And I always find that some benzos (valium, temazepan) or depressants such as GHB, are perfect for the often sketchy comedowns from Acid.

I also find sometimes that if things go wrong in a trip (mentally) and it looks as though you're going to talk yourself into a panic, you can gain control again by taking a valium or similar. This way, you get a sense of security in the knowledge that in about 40 minutes, you'll be on your way to sleep. No matter how bad the trip gets, you can take comfort that you'll sleep it off soon (however, I would avoid redosing with benzos if you're not immediately sleepy).
Sometimes even the knowledge that you have taken control is enough to help you ease out of it, because I think bad trips are largely to do with talking yourself into the corner of a dead-end street - that's hard to talk yourself out of.
BigTrancer

I generally say this to everyone who is contemplating having acid for the first time... Candyflip! It takes the edge right off the acid and you can have an absolute ball. Trip first, wait about 3 hours then half to a full pill. weeeee

thanks too all of you for the helpful replies!
i certainly will try acid sometime, although it may not be until the end of the year, i feel there is no need to rush
i was thinking of the candyflip option, altho there seem to be mixed opinions on that - ie. trying a drug on its own first is best so as to get to know the drug.
thanks!
jimbu

Aye, just remember that a psychadelic kick in the head like acid can cause some anxiety and paranoia, especially if you mix in weed, and MDMA with is anti-anxiety properties and friendlyness makes for a good time indeed.

Full props to Gleep~!
(how are ya man long time no see!?)
Fully, go on a mission, it's fuckin whack man. The only thing to do while tripping, fuck the indoors right off and head outside, you will gain a greater understanding about the beauty of nature that way. Aaaah the memories....

As has been said before pretty much everything has been covered by our learned pyschonauts. First of all candyflipping is like a completely different drug i find, and if you've been wanting to try acid then i suggest that you stick to only the LSD. Secondly you're first time trippin should be in a place you are deeply comfortable with like your own home or your mates or whatever. Thirdly i'd try and score some liquid acid, for my mind whenever i seem to have liquid acid dropped onto a suger cube it seems cleaner and less headfucking with more of a body load. This may just be me however. Forthly i agree with moocho and gleep however cool things are inside the enormity of the outside world especially the dilation of distance form LSD will blow you away. If at all possible go to a river or waterfall, at night, there's nothing like setting in the middle of a waterfall on a rock with water flowing all about you and being completely trippin balls! Furthermore the first time i took acid i got this weird feeling like there was pressurised air in my ears, don't worry about this as it is only temporary and seems to happen randomly when acid is taken, ie one trip you'll have it then the next you won't. Lastly trip can turn bad, i thought this was complete crap until it happened to me. The best way to avoid this is to not take nasty other drugs like meth with acid that will leave you feelin shit whilst you're still trip--> NOT GOOD, or if anything really bad has happened that day don't trip. I did both these thing the day the ~bills tragedy became apparent and it wasn't good. BUT NEVER FEAR AS LONG AS YOU HAVE A STRONG MIND THEN YOU CAN PSYCH YOURSELF OUT OF IT TO A BETTER PLACE. Remember this then acid is a lot safer than IMHO drugs like ecstasy.