mescaline

My attitude towards drugs is like this:

I do them.

I am not a drug addict. Let me re-phrase that-- I am not addicted to illegal drugs. I'm addicted to legal drugs like cigarettes, and probably drink more than a man with an allergy to alcohol should.

After cigarettes, Mary Jane is my "main thang". I smoke it daily, and it helps me sleep and gives me an appetite. If I did not smoke pot, I can safely bet that I would get even less sleep than I do now, and I would weigh a measly 95 lbs. Marijuana is a benign high, and it gives me comfort.

There are certain drugs I will not do at all. Crack, heroin, speed, and most pills hold no fascination for me, or else they scare me to death. They are highly addictive and I need not get into that realm.

Then there's the flirty drugs, the ones that are variations on the ones I will not do. Cocaine, opium, diet pills, pain relievers are some of the ones I've dabbled in, but I very rarely pay out money for them. They are usually offered to me and I partake of them once in a great while.

When it comes to "hard stuff" I indulge in hallucinogens: LSD, mushrooms, and Ecstacy (which really isn't a hallucinogen but I lump it in with those drugs) are my favorites. I don't indulge in them habitually, as they are not habit-forming. Anyone who tells you they were physically addicted to acid or shrooms or X is a liar and cannot be trusted. You don't get withdrawal symptoms from those pharmaceuticals-- it's not an opinion, it's a fact.

Why do I do drugs?

Is it because there is a huge empty void in my soul that I have to fill? Is it because I spent the first five years of my life under the influence of Phenobarbitol to calm my seizures? Is it because I posses an amazing amount of self-loathing and therefore am on a collision course to eradicate my ego?

No.

While all the above things might be true about me, they are not the reasons why I take drugs.

I take drugs because I like the effects they have on me.

Two drugs I have never taken are DMT and mescaline. DMT is very expensive and I doubt I will have an opportunity to sample its wares any time soon.

But mescaline is cheap, and I know someone who can get them.

I know a lot of people who can get me things.


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According to the Wikipedia entry for mescaline:

--It is largely extracted from particular kinds of desert cacti

--A decent dose is 200 to 400 milligrams. The effects last for up to 12 hours.

--Mescaline, like LSD and mushrooms, is not physically addictive.

--It is related to the phenethylamine class of pharmaceuticals. Phenethylamines can also be found in foods such as chocolate, and if taken in massive quantities can produce psychosis in the human brain.

--Side effects include "visual hallucinations and radically altered states of consciousness, often experienced as pleasurable and illuminating but occasionally as accompanied by feelings of anxiety or revulsion".


Positive side effects include:

Open eye visuals
Closed-eye visuals
New thought processes
Dream-like scenarios
Euphoria
Mystical experience


Neutral side effects include:

Pupil dilation
Sensations of warm and cold
Temporary splitting/destruction of ego


Negative side effects include:

Dizziness
Vomiting
Tachycardia (accelerated heartbeat)
Diarrhea
Headaches
Anxiety
Feeling of dying or annihilation
Fear of not being able to return to normal consciousness
Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD)
Irrationality of the thought-process

Sounds good. It's right up my alley, really.


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Noted mescaline users throughout history include luminaries such as Aldous Huxley, Henri Michaux, Jim Morrison, Carlos Santana, Hunter S. Thompson, Timothy Leary, Jean-Paul Sartre and Antonin Artaud.

The Huichol Indians of Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico worship a sun deity named Tau. Out of the Tau four principal deities were spawned: Corn, Eagles, Deer and Peyote.

A German pharmacologist named Arthur Heffter first extracted mescaline from a peyote cactus button in 1897. Over two decades later it was synthesized.

The late, great Beat writer William S. Burroughs (in the masterful index at the end of his novel Naked Lunch entitled "LETTER FROM A MASTER ADDICT ON DANGEROUS DRUGS") had this* to say about it:


Peyote (mescaline)-- This is undoubtedly a stimulant. It dilates the pupils, keeps one awake. Peyote is extremely nauseating. Users experience difficulty keeping it down long enough to realize the effect, which is similar, in some respects, to marijuana. There is increased sensitivity to impression, especially to colours. Peyote intoxication causes a peculiar vegetable consciousness or identification with the plant. Everything looks like a peyote plant. It is easy to understand why the Indians believe there is a resident spirit in the peyote cactus.

Cool. Fun.


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So, am I going to do it?

Of course I am. I have two microdots on me as I write this. I could put one of these things in my mouth right now and within ten minutes I'd be spinning out of control.

But, no, I will wait.

I have been instructed to only take one at the most. Two at a time would make me puke, drive me insane, and probably wreck my head for a week.

Well, why do it, if it's such a risk?

I dunno... Why did David Blaine try to break some stupid record by holding his breath underwater? For charity? For the greater good? No, he did it to see what it was like. Millions of people tuned in and watched. It was a stupid risk, and he didn't even get high from it... well, then again, who knows? Maybe he did.

I will be fortunate: no one will be watching me when I make an ass out of myself on this mescaline shit... well, that is, if I do it alone.

I'm looking for someone to do this with me. So far I have no volunteers. And after reading this blog entry, I suppose I would only be approached by drug fiends as depraved (if not more) than me.

Damn, where's William Burroughs when you need him? Oh, yeah, that's right-- he's been dead for almost ten years. Maybe when I'm visiting with the Great Spirits, I will get a chance to have a talk with Mr. Burroughs on the enchanted plane of consciousness where ghosts and demons reside... or maybe I'll just trip really hard and find out things about myself, like I always do when I go under.

I guarantee, though, that when I do take it, I will let you all know in this blog how it went.

*= British Journal of Addiction, Vol. 53, No. 2, August 3rd, 1956