My Journey into Recreational Drug Use

SmokingCaterpillar  March 30 2025 02:58:18 PM

So, how on earth did I get into recreational drugs?

Well, it's a relatively short story spread out over quite a long time period. Soething like seventy years.

So, I was born in 1953, some 8 years after the end of World War 2. That makes me a Baby Boomer, I think. At the time, quite a lot of people smoked. I remember my father smoking (Rothmans). My mother only smoked socially and I never felt that she was actually very keen on it. As for me, I was introduced to smoking at around the age of 12 to 13 at my boarding school. I continued smoking till my late twenties. Smoking everything I could lay my hands on - cigars, pipes, cigarettes, rolling my own. I was quite heavily addicted, but eventually I had a sudden attack of common sense and quit.

As for recreational drug use, I really didn't do anything. I was in the Merchant Nave as a deck officer - the favoured recreational drugs were nicotine and alcohol, often in heroic amounts. The unique aroma of smouldering weed was something that I could recognise, but it never really occurred to me or my compatriots to partake, with one exception that I recall in West Africa when we midshipmen bought a quantity of cannabis and smoked some of it while sitting on the pop deck while in port. This wasn't terribly risky - a spliff is merely a roll your own with cannabis mixed in the tobacco. The only giveaway is the smell and if you're outside, well, that's quite temporary.
It didn't do anything memorable.
 
Fast forward to 2023. When I went to a music festival with two junior relatives. That's junior to me, by the way, they are very much consenting adults. One of them is an experienced but infrequent recreational drug user and his expertise was invaluable. We took a motorhome, beer, some MDMA and some cannabis in the shape of flower.

The experience was extraordinary.

I had never felt anything like this in my life. I decided that recreational drugs were just too good to miss out on. I'm retired, though I do work part time. But I have few responsibilities and there are plenty of opportunities for me. If I took the time and trouble to research what I was doing, I'd be minimising my personal risk.

I drew up a list of recreational drugs that I would countenance.

Opiates were out. Solvents also. And cocaine. ketamine, heroin. Alcohol, too, except for rare occasions and even then it's usually a glass of wine with a meal, that sort of thing. I'm not the sort of person who goes out for a drink. Anything I took must have low toxicity, too. This is my main criterion - with the way in which some recreational drugs are mixed with fillers of doubtful provenance, toxicity is the main reason why I steer clear of certain drugs. Another issue is one of addiction. I like cannabis but find that waking and baking is not for me - I'm usually an evening consumer and I find cannabis about as addictive as coffee to me. Which is not really at all.

Other risk factors that come to mind are things like mental issues. In my case, this is relatively easy to check. I have never experienced or had any treatment for any mental health issue - for example it is likely that high doses of THC can cause issues. But they seem to be mainly in people who have pre-existing issues already. My personal risk is probably low and I have not had any issues so far.

My list eventually came down to:

1. Cannabis in most forms

2. LSD

3. Magic mushroom

4. MDMA

Cannabis

I'm a bit of a gadgeteer. By that I mean I like shiny new things, especially when it comes to recreational drugs. So I have a wax pen, a 510 cart battery, an Arizer XQ2, a vapour cup, and a few other vaporisers driven by a mod box. Now this makes me sound like a complete dissolute, but that's not the case. I probably get through about 1 - 2 grams of flower or its equivalent per week. Hardly a high consumption. My favourite method is probably vaping flower. I seem to get the best high from that - 510 carts, which are essentially a subset of the active components of the cannabis plant are effective, but the high just doesn't seem to be quite the quality that I get from pure flower. Wax is OK, too, but sometime I find the rush a little intense.

Cannabis is probably the safest recreational drug you can take, especially when you vape or eat it. Yes, there are risks involved, but when you look at them, they're manageable in my opinion. As a side note, I've had little success with cannabis edibles. It's possible that I don't have the genes required for processing THC via my digestive system. Though I haven't given up yet.

LSD

This was interesting. And that's an understatement. My first LSD trip was a bit of a disaster. I bought some through Little Biggy. Ignoring completely the concepts of start low, take it slow, set and setting, I took 125mcg around 7pm one evening. Nothing happened for a while, so I had a couple of rips from a 510 cartridge and when that didn't improve matters, I dozed off.

Only to wake around 9pm in the middle of an LSD trip. My first ever full on psychedelic experience. Aged 70 or so.

And it was absolutely brilliant. My brain was doing all sorts of things I had never experienced. The tidal wave of emotion, glory and hallucinations enveloped me. I knew at that moment that this was the start of a new and very interesting experience.
It became clear to me that what I craved was the psychedelic experience rather that the soporific effects of the drugs. Since then I've had a couple more trips and am getting the hang of it, I think. LSD is a very suitable recreational drug for me in that it gives an intense psychedelic experience without any significant risk of harm from its chemical toxicity, which is extremely low.

One of my best trips was on a summer day, out in the open. It was indescribably beautiful. I won't attempt to describe it. After all, I've just said it was indescribable. You just have to experience it. Much better than listening to me rabbiting on about it.

Psilocybin

For me , this is the kissing cousin of LSD. Trips are as enjoyable. And different. Though I can't really put my finger on those difference, partly because I've found difference in trips with the same drug. Again, as with LSD, toxicity isn't really an issue here. Which is just as well, because experience has told me that the amount of psilocybin per gram of mushroom can vary widely. If you take too much on board, the only realistic option is to ride it out. The aftereffects of psilocybin for me last for days or even weeks after a trip. - a general calming down and a feeling of resetting. Similar to LSD. I've recently done a trip on a heroic dose. 6 grams of Melmac Monster shrooms. McKenna reckons that anything over 5 grams qualifies as a heroic dose. I was an intense experience - most enjoyable. But I don't want to do another for a while. It takes (for me, anyway) a few days to process the experience.  I'd advise you to work you way up to it - don't do it the way I did the LSD trip.

MDMA

I have only taken this once - at that festival I mentioned earlier. But I'll be back for more. A maelstrom of happy emotions is what I recall - even to the point of looking in a marble and seeing an entire universe in it. Yeah, I don't understand it. But I liked it.

So, what's the takeaway from this?

Here's what I've worked out so far. It's better to go into recreational drugs deliberately than falling into it. You might argue that it's better never to get into recreational drugs. But that's a different discussion. Deliberation implies research into possible risks and benefits. So, while taking recreational drugs might be considered irresponsible, if you have few responsibilities, irresponsibility becomes irrelevant.

I've not had a bad trip yet. But I do generally take care to ensure that 'Set and setting' is right. And I take recreational drugs for enjoyment, not to solve personal issues. Which I know they don't. In fact, I find that if I have life problems to solve, I actively do no want to take recreational drugs.

I'm really glad that I didn't start recreational drugs when I was younger. I think that may well have turned out badly. Actually, I'm sure that would have been the case. But I'm also glad that there's a wealth of information on the subject out there which enables me to take a decision that some might find irrational. I disagree. At seventy, taking recreational drugs (with caveats) can be a responsible decision leading to fascinating and enjoyable experiences. And we are all the sum of our personal experiences to a great degree. You might well consider it.

• Comments [0]