And I'm mainly referring to psychedelic and hallucinogenic drugs. It seems like they can have benefits, and to some people they are artistically inspirational. What do you guys think? I'm looking to trying mushrooms and acid someday, I haven't gotten there yet though.

Not a good idea. Drugs are fun, responsibility isn't fun: put them together? Eh...

Responsible drug use is exactly that; responsible. Nothing wrong with it as long as you understand what you're getting into and take the appropriate precautions to ensure that things don't take a turn for the worse. Or if they do that you aren't a danger to yourself or others.

Can't speak for everyone but acid and mushrooms made me responsible.

I exhibit a bit of responsible drug use so I'm definitely ok with it. What people do is their business as long as its not impacting others.

What is meant by "responsible" drug use? If you mean responsibility as not letting things get out of hand and turn into addiction, you won't have to worry about that with mushrooms and acid.

I can only stand to do drugs like shrooms and acid once or twice a year at most. Way too draining on me. Shrooms are a little easier for me than acid, though. Acid's been making me feel very weird the last couple times I've done it.

Psychedelics (and cannabis) were what first got me really thinking about philosophical and political topics. I definitely think they can be beneficial in the right circumstances, though one must be careful- personally I've had some pretty messed up periods thanks to my drug use (just use in general, never any one substance, though marijuana has been what I've used most), though I've learned to moderate myself very well, and gotten over some bullshit that made me wanna be fucked up all the time anyways.

Responsible use of drugs is no different than responsible use of alcohol, with the caveat that responsible usability depends strongly on the addictive capacity and negative affects of the drug. Things that aren't physically addictive (like marijuana) carry much less risk. Opioids carry a much stronger chance of addiction and can cause great physical harm.

I currently don't use drugs, although I just got out of a relationship with a girl who didn't really approve of marijuana, and the people I will be rooming with in the fall smoke it semi-frequently, so we'll see how that goes.

I will also state that there is no such thing as responsible datura use. Shit will fuck you up.

LSD has changed my life for the better. I do think people should be very careful with drugs. If I had my way, psychedelics would be used mainly in therapy rather than recreationally (for my reasoning on this, see Stanislav Grof's book "LSD Psychotherapy." The power they hold is incredible, power for good and bad.

Other drugs I'm more wary about (sans marijuana), even though I've done a fair bit of experimentation.

I read a lot of stories about that over on erowid...Utterly insane; people hallucinating for literally days on end. Even scarier is how that plant grows in abundance in my backyard where I grew up.

Drugs can be used responsibly or irresponsibly. The harm reduction/responsible use set of drug policies can work only in those circumstances in which the people and the powers that be become convinced that the substance in question, and its set of users, are capable of being responsible.

Unfortunately, most politicians are not smart enough to understand this, so you end up with a situation where alcohol is legal and (usually poorly) restricted, and marijuana is illegal or very difficult to obtain legally.

Alcohol abusers probably misbehave, in terms of violence and reckless driving/behavior, more than marijuana users (though I admittedly don't have hard numbers on this). I think marijuana should be subjected to the same sort of relatively lax scrutiny and concurrent taxation that alcohol is, on the grounds that it is demonstrably less medically harmful and because cannabis is immensely useful as a cash crop even for non-drug purposes.

One would have a more difficult time making a similar case for psychedelics such as LSD, mescaline, psilocybin mushrooms, MDMA, etc., if for no other reason that the effects of these drugs are considerably more dramatic in terms of experience and behavior. I would, however, support the increased research on these drugs and the increased clinically-supervised uses of these substances (i.e. in psychotherapy and similar settings), and then, only with the mutual consent of both patient and physician. I'm not sure if I can really say whether or not they should be fully legal, but I wouldn't mind seeing them moved off Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act here in the USA.

As for the "hard" addictive drugs, I wouldn't have a problem with such things as medically-prescribed heroin along with a mandatory physician-monitoring program. I think treating problems with opiate/amphetamine/cocaine problems from a medical, rather than a criminal justice standpoint, would probably be more effective for both the addicts themselves and for society (in incarceration, court costs, etc.).

So do I support "responsible drug use"? Yes--but I don't believe that "responsible use" means "just legalize everything and let everyone get as fucked up as they want, they'll know when to stop". The fact is, there are always a few idiots out there who will do something terrible under the influence, and they are the ones who make the papers and TV/Radio news. Like it or not, the State does have the lawful authority (and in some circumstances, the legal duty) to step in when people behave irresponsibly. I just don't think governments need to be as heavy-handed as the typically have been, nor do I believe that the criminal justice and correctional systems are the best avenue for dealing with such issues.

I had a friend back in the school days. He and a group of others liked to smoke some weed etc. He always told me that they just do it for fun and they can handle the drugs well (i guess it was also some kind of "responsible use"). They also make some kind of "codex", if one of them ever start to use hard stuff he will get in trouble.

We choose seperate ways and lost contact. Maybe two years later i met a friend of these group who told me something about them. They all tried -everykind- of drugs, started dealing and my former friend have something (i don´t know a english word) cocain-ego? They called him Graf Koks then

Anyway, i guess it depends on you if the responsible use will work and stay responsible. My former friend tried it and failed.

@Fpqxz, prohibition has absolutely nothing to do with (ir)responsible drug use nor has it ever...

Starting in school is usually a bad sign, from all the stories I've heard. It's not responsible right from the start - being responsible would be saying "I'm too young for this, let's leave it until later on".

As long as your actions don't harm others, any prevention of it is a restriction of personal freedom.

By definition there is nothing wrong with responsible drug use. People who get on a high horse over sobriety or about doing copious amount of various drugs are equally despicable. The only legitimate reason to be proud of sobriety is if you're on the wagon.

Somewhere in the FFA, Napero had this to say about some guy:

Well i believe almost everyone should have one good acid trip in their life. My first trip was horrible, i was trapped in my own mind for 8-12 hours and didnt like what was in there. Only through that profound mental fuck up was i able to become the better person i am now. Every other trip after has been the most pleasant experiences of my life. Just prepare your self mentally, work out all your problems, and do it on a day and place you feel good about. Just be sure its lsd and not dob. People around here have been making and selling dob as acid, its cheaper and they make more money. The only way to really tell the difference is the taste and by then its to late, if its bitter its a spitter lol. If it is acid you will feel it with in 30 min to a hour. For dob it will take like 5 hours to start noticing effects, and acid peaks around a hour to two hours, dob peaks like 8 to ten hours. Acid wares of around 8-12 hours later, dob like 34 hours. Just be careful and buy from a trusted source.

What do you mean with a trusted source?

Do you think there is someone who makes fondly LSD for you like your mom did you lunchbox for school?

I think if you consider using drugs responsibly then they can be a good thing as long as you don't abuse them and you use drugs that you research thoroughly to make sure of any dangers or bad combinations etc so you don't ruin your life over a drug. About them being illegal, I doubt they will legalize psychedelic drugs ever, but theres plenty of legal/semi-legal drugs you can get online regardless, like for instance you can buy the cactus that contains mescaline in it and grow it and you wouldn't get in any trouble for just owning it, and if you are careful you won't get caught while on it anyway. Not to mention the countless research chemicals available to buy online that might get banned eventually but new ones will just pop up and take their place.

Spoken like someone who has never had any sort of contact with psychedelic substances. No offense to Napero, I think he's a cool guy.

Really, visual and auditory and other sorts of hallucinatory aspects are a very minor part of tripping, in my experience. I'd still advise against driving in the middle of a trip because your perception is not exactly normal and you may have some visual distortions, like the curving of straight lines and that sort of thing. I would trust myself to drive even during the peak of a trip far more than I would on alcohol, though.

I didn't know using illegal substances was something that responsible people did.

Can drugs be used moderately and fairly responsibly? Sure. Should some drugs be decriminalized? Absolutely. But I'm not really willing to trust a bunch of people to take drugs responsibly who commit felonies for no other reason than to get high.



The people I know that use psychedelics have told me otherwise. It might be a bit less outrageous than what Napero said, but that was stated as humor.

The effects are besides the point. We already have laws against driving under the influence, prohibition or no prohibition. And they don't work any better then drunk driving laws, again, prohibition or no prohibition. Being against legalizing and prohibition both have absolutely no effect on how much people drive under the influence.

Maybe if you're smoking DMT you're going to see pink unicorns and fairies and the sun is going to turn into a kitten, but on "normal" psychedelics like shrooms and LSD and other things of that nature, reality is distorted, not replaced. If you take huge doses things may get a little crazier, but I'm pretty sure that the people who take 10 hits of LSD are the fringe users (and most certainly aren't going to be driving). And things like DMT only last a few minutes.

But yes, just don't drive on drugs.

If it's a discussion on responsible drug use, why is driving even brought up? Surely the definition of a "responsible user" would fit someone who doesn't drive while high? Or maybe I just missed something, I don't know.

That's not a fair criticism since most people who would be committing a felony only do so because possession of certain drugs is a felony. Not everyone has so much respect for the government that they allow their ethical philosophy to be dictated by legislators.

Yeah, I don't think there is anything wrong with experimenting with a few drugs sometime in your lifetime. I don't really have that much experience with drugs. I smoked weed way to much when I was younger, and I have no desire to use it anymore. Hash is alright I guess, but I don't think i'd go out of my way to use it. Alcohol is my favourite drug, and thankfully its legal. I've never taken hard drugs. I mean, if people want to experiment with drugs and do it responsibly, who cares? Its probably a worthwhile experience to take psychedelics once or twice. I've had a psychedelic experience once and I don't regret it at all. However, you just can't use drugs like heroin, crack or crystal meth responsibly. I used to have a girlfriend who had to go to rehab because of crystal meth, and she was very messed up because of it. People should leave drugs like the three I just mentioned the fuck alone.

Edit - Just read the comment about being against legalization because someone could drive high. Just because a drug is legalized does not mean driving on it would be legal. Madd used disturbing images of the consequences of driving high to convince a lot of voters in California not to legalize weed, but that argument is retarded because driving high would still be illegal. I just don't understand how people can not understand that.

How is it not fair? I understand that there are laws that are unjust, but what you are saying is that everyone can pick and choose whichever laws they wish to follow based on their own personal ethics, and that's just totally acceptable.

I don't agree with your reasoning that "commit[ing] felonies for no other reason than to get high" is sufficient behavior for a person to display themselves unworthy of trust. True, there will often be other variables that make you wary. Like the acts of a desperate addict, or unrelated criminal activity. Committing a felony, in and of itself, is not immoral behavior to me. The law, unfortunately, is rarely congruent with ethics.

You are absolutely right! People don´t do illegal stuff

I would say that you are taking his comment too far. How is it fair to make it completely illegal for an adult to consume mushrooms containing psilocybin to help put his life into perspective, along with the existential crisis he may currently be experiencing at his age? Prescription drugs, really, do not have quite the power on the mind that psychedelics do, real or imagined, however you perceive these terms, there is a significant impact. If the user has sufficient self-awareness and realization, not to mention education, there is much to be gained here.


Would it be so bad if a doctor prescribed, say, 4-6 medium dose LSD blotters a year to a patient deemed psychologically fit and grounded, if he had questions or problems too deep for another to expose and ratify?

The kind of self-awareness, realization and education obtained is very different, and even poses a risk to, the kind currently possessed in society. It is not viewed as healing by our medical profession when it does not get the patient back into being functional in the community and contributing to it in its current form. Therefore the drug is totally useless to it and is going to be resisted. There's no point raising objections of fairness.

I'd say the problem has less to do with shrooms not being conducive to consumerism/"this shallow society" or whatever and more to do with psychedelics like shrooms having the potential to be just as damaging as rewarding.

All that "self-awareness, realization, education" stuff sounds great on paper but it's not that simple. Hence the need for professionally guided use in a therapeutic setting.

Native cultures have used psychedelics for the purpose of mental health, and the experiences have always been lead by someone who knows what they're doing, who's been around the block, who can help those who lose their way etc, the shaman or whatever the "spiritual guide" is called respective to the culture. Why should we do it any differently? The psychologist is the closest thing we have to that, unless you want to count the clergy (I don't).

Doesn't it occur to some people that the responsible ones are smart enough to not get caught and not do anything dangerous or illegal due to being under the influence? That's why you never hear about them, and only the bad ones.

Speaking of the driving issue, I'd rather ride shotgun with an experienced drinker who downed a six pack than some dolt who insists on texting.

Wow, way to completely miss my point.

Sorry if i got you wrong, but then i dont understand what you mean.

I can't agree more with this.

Not that I'm defending drinking and driving, but my grandfather always kept a bottle of whiskey in his glove compartment and would regularly take big gulps while actually driving. Never got in a car accident, never got caught.


Need? You're going way overboard with this. Thousands (if not millions) of people have had great experiences on these substances without any professional help, you included. While that would certainly be a useful service, and I really wish they would do more research regarding psychedelic therapy (especially for disorders like PTSD), it's really not that difficult to just educate yourself. There's tons of information available on the net and no matter what kind of degrees your psychologist might be packing, at the end of the day the person most qualified to make sense of your trip is you. I have experience as both a tripper and a trip-sitter and aside from safety information and a calming influence, you have to let people figure things out for themselves.