Which recreational and/or illegal drugs have you tried? Why and how did it happen?

I work as a substance abuse counselor and a majority of my caseload are daily fentanyl users. This is a drug that you do not want to be involved with. I have never personally tried it but I have learned the gritty details through months of conversation with these users.

In no particular order: pot, mushrooms, acid, DMT, MDMA ("ecstasy"), MDA, kratom, 2c-b, several NBOMes, DXM (cough syrup), ketamine (and analogs), Adderall, coke, various benzos (and analogs), various opioids, amphetamine analogs, a PCP analog... I think that covers it? I stopped keeping track.

Why? Depends on the drug! All in all, I find it fun and interesting to alter my brain state.

How? Well it started with pot as a teen, I'd really bought into DARE. But I was listening to sublime and remember thinking "hey, if these guys are literally singing about smoking pot and are more successful than I'll ever be, how bad can it be?" So I asked my sister and she set me up and I had a great time. So then I wondered what else they BS'd me and just started trying whatever I could find.

Uhh, ask me anything? I'm pretty open about it.

Over the years, too many.
Alochol - I drank heavily for like ten years. Talking going through several half gallon bottles of whisky on a weekend with my partner. Drinking during the week. I maintained a job, and was functional during the day but it got bad. I would terrible hangovers that I'm pretty sure just began turning into full on withdrawl territory. Alcohol really is terrible. Now that I've been not drinking for a while it's hard to go back. I don't enjoy the drunk anymore.

Weed, thc, delta 8 - I'm lumping these all in together. I love these. I still do these fairly regularly. I got through periods where I might do a lot, and periods I don't do them at all. Pot isn't legal in my state but d8 gummies are and I enjoy those. A 50mg gummy of one of those feels really good in the evening. The only downside here is pot can have a pretty negative effect on my anxiety if I'm not in a good headspace. I try to respect that and moderate the usage. I always aim for low doses because I don't want to be stoned out of my mind, just a nice relaxing vibe. Also really helpful for sleeping if you time it right.

LSD-a few times. Honestly it's just a pain to find. A lot of times it's fake research chemicals and I'm not about that shit. It felt very artificial. It's hard to explain, but I didn't love it. Easy to get stuck in insane thought loops and loose yourself to anxiety. I don't really fuck with it tbh. It's too much. If you can take that, more power to you.

Mushrooms- these are actually great. Like being stoned but more at low doses. Once you get into the moderate visuals it can be pretty fun.

Adderall- I'm literally adhd, and tried this in college once. I didn't have a diagnosis at that time. I liked it. Idk if I called it fun, but I sure felt pretty functional with it.

A bunch of stupid over the counter bullshit. DXM from cough medicine. Swallowing 60 of those robotussin pills to trip. Vomited my guts out. Feeling so disassociated from a body that my brain feels like it's controlling your limbs like a puppet. For some reason I liked this in my youth, thinking about it makes me feel sick now.

Diphenhydramine- Benadryl, yes Benadryl in sufficient doses will make you feel... something.

This is an excerpt from a blog a wrote about that actually

Did you know that Benadryl can get you high? Well, less of a high and more of a medically induced state of extreme deliriousness. Benadryl's active ingredient is Diphenhydramine. When you take enough of it, a few hundred milligrams, in my case one entire box I would buy(or occasionally shoplift) from the store, you enter a delirious haze.

One Friday my freshman year I had no classes. No classes and no obligations, and I decided to engage with this trip. My roommate was gone that weekend so I dosed up early in the afternoon. Within a few hours I was completely gone. I was lying on the floor, staring out my dorm window. I could see spiders all over my window moving in impossible ways. Later that night I would see spiders on the moon.

I went to take a shit. Our bathroom was at the end of the hall. The hall had four rooms. It was quiet. The bathroom door wouldn't lock and we had no stalls so we would put the trash can outside the door when he had to take a shit. I put the bathroom out the door.

I sat down, and began talking to my roommate. I asked him why he followed me into the bathroom. I looked up and he was standing through the sink. It was then I remembered that my roommate wasn’t here this weekend. I was in the shit now. I finished up and went back to my room.

Not long after I began to get uneasy in my dorm room. The cinder block walls began to feel oppressive. The checkered pattern of the bricks outside my window was a prison. I needed to leave. I remembered that time my roommate tried to see if he could trick me into thinking he gave me radiation poisoning. I left my room.

I wandered around campus high out of my mind. I don’t remember much about that day. Apparently I met a group of people that day and sat talking with them for several hours. I have no memory of this.

I would only learn of this several months later when someone yelled ‘BEANS!’ at me from across the lawn. I didn’t know they were talking to me. “BLUE SHIRT!”. I was wearing a blue blood donation t shirt. Most of my shirts were blood donation t shirts. I didn’t care about my appearance. I looked around. I saw no other blue shirts. I crossed the lawn over to the group that had called me.

“Do you remember us beans?”

“Beans? Why are you calling me beans?” They laughed. They told me how I had met them some weeks back. How I had approached them while they were sitting and how we’d talked for a long time. I had told them what I was on. They had named me beans because of how many pills I had had to take to get the effect. The thought of swallowing that many pills made them sick. These days the thoughts of swallowing that many pills makes me sick.

I talk about a view different experiences and some other anecdotes here:
https://snakejess.substack.com/p/methadont-fuck-around

First time I smoked reefers I was 14 and probably smoked maybe 4 more times until I was 20.

Magic mushrooms in my early 20s. (everyone should try it at least once)

Extacy in my early 20s. That stuff is great.

I was never around any drug users when I was young but always seemed somewhat interested. Though for the most part I didn't feel like doing anything because I had a catholic upbringing and between that and drugs being generally demonised (Sex too) I was very afraid of addiction. It wasn't until later in life that I understood better what the risks are around drugs and the impact that they can have on you (both positive and negative).

Since then I've done LSD, weed, mushrooms, cocaine and MDMA. I absolutely do not like cocaine, partly because I hate anything that I need to snort, part because my brain is going fast enough as it is, doesn't need to go any faster so I'm not interested in trying other stimulants (I also don't regularly drink coffee partly for similar reasons). That said I think psychedelics are amazing, both as entertainment and as a tool to be better.

The first time I tried MDMA I felt emotions that I had never felt before, that's coming from someone that's the complete opposite of emotional. I felt like talking for the sake of it whereas usually I won't say anything unless I intend there to be a purpose. It felt like I could finally understand others better and made me more empathetic.

LSD is my favourite and I tend to do it once a month or so (no rough schedule though). It's just amazing the way it opens your mind, it's made me strive to be a better person and undertake some changes to improve myself like eating better, exercising regularly and also reaching out to others and let them know that I appreciate them (This was incredibly hard to do and still is but I wouldn't be doing it otherwise). I've also been able to very quickly and satisfyingly process some harsh things like passing of loved ones during a trip. The best thing is no hangover!

Mushrooms I just find OK, they're an interesting experience but I feel like LSD is much better. The thing about mushrooms though is not the trip but what you get afterwards. They generally make me feel much happier even at low doses, they change my perspective and things that would bother me previously I realise are not that important. I've dealt with mild depression before but the mushrooms are excellent at getting rid of that.

I was never a huge fan of weed but it was the more readily available, it's nice to just be able to sit, watch nonsense and laugh for a while, like a holiday for my brain. My main issue was about dosage, I could never do it right because I hate smoking so I always cooked with it. That lead to sometimes having too much and then feeling unbalanced a few days after like having a short temper.

I’ve tried many drugs many times. I regularly use THC (nightly) and alcohol (3-4 nights per week). None of the following have been used since 2020 because I got pregnant (planned) in 2021 and now have a little toddler.

LSD- first tried at 16 and was using frequently- once or twice a month for a while. I loved it but these days (34 now) an 8 hour trip would be daunting. Last used it at a music festival in 2016.

Mushrooms- 16 or 17. I’ve always felt they’re more intense than LSD, but probably more so because they’re more difficult to measure. Potency varies from strain to strain and between caps and stems. Visuals are definitely more intense than LSD. Heavy giggling is a thing. Last used in 2020.

Nitrous- 16/17. Oh god I love nitrous. But it lasts like 90 seconds and isn’t cheap when accounting for the short high. Last used…. 2016?

Cocaine- 17ish. I liked it. I still like it. It’s expensive and relatively boring for a drug. Last used in 2020.

MDMA- I flipping love MDMA. First “tried” at 17, I think it was fake. Because the first time I really experienced a true MDMA high was at my 20th birthday party. Planning to use again this September at a show.

Methylone (bath salts)- used by accident thinking it was MDMA. Test your drugs, kids. Hated it. It was kind of like rolling except you never peak and feel slightly aggressive. Last used in 2018.

Ketamine- never tried but would like to!

Candy flipping (LSD + MDMA)- tried in 2016 but the timing was off. Should have taken MDMA sooner into the trip.

Hippie flipping (mushrooms + MDMA)- haven’t tried but would like to.

Too many to count or for me to list out though I'll take questions if anyone has them. I tallied it up once and got to about 40 or so, though that was including different analogues or things in similar compound categories, for example with opioids I was counting hydrocodone distinct from oxycodone and opium distinct from both. I was also about 17 so it was quite a while ago.

I've done most of the standard psychedelics, including some weirder ones, like low doses of datura. The basics like mushrooms, LSD, and MDMA. Plus things like ketamine, 2-CB, nitrous, DXM, DMT, 5-MeO-DMT and MDA; even some pretty rare ones like ibogaine. The majority of my more experimental drug taking days happened from about 13-16 which was a lot more focused on experimenting and more of a psychonaut attitude. Seeing what consciousness change was like and all that. This was in the very beginning of the research chem boom that we're still living in so I can't say I've done a ton of RCs and never messed with spice or bath salts. I learned some things, mushrooms specifically are one of the few drugs I've done that I think provided me with actual valuable experiences, though not necessarily always fun ones.

From about 16-26 I was heavily addicted to opioids and more specifically heroin. This included plenty of smoking crack, injecting speedballs (heroin and cocaine mixed), smoking and injecting meth, pills, and fentanyl on the side. I was also regularly homeless. I went through ibogaine treatment at 26 after many failed attempts at getting clean and that helped immensely with making it stick.

These days I still struggle with a nicotine addiction that I'm only just now starting to address, I'll have a drink or two pretty occasionally if it's a show or something social, and I'll sometimes smoke some high CBD low THC weed but that's about it. I have a drawer full of drugs that I barely touch. There's some adderall in there, some klonopin (I have a prescription I barely take for break through insomnia), a bunch of random hits of LSD, and a few other things. I'm not completely opposed to doing drugs, I just stay away from opioids (don't trust myself) and meth (not really my jam) but other than that, if it's a festival or a party I might indulge if offered. On the other hand I think drugs wasted a lot of my time and I don't really think they have that much to offer.

For the most part I feel happier and better staying sober than getting high or altering my consciousness these days. It isn't a place I ever thought I'd be in and it's taken a lot of work to get there but it's really a much nicer place to be and frankly if it wasn't for some of the social group aspects, I'd drop even the limited recreational usage I currently engage in.

I haven't tried that many drugs.

Alcohol was my first. Think I was like 17, the summer before Senior year of high school, when I first started drinking. Still do, but not very much anymore. Certainly not as much as in my early 20s. Like not even once a month.

Marijuana is the "conventional" drug I started with. I was out of high school, so like maybe 18 or 19 when some friends offered me a joint or a bowl. Was definitely a pothead during parts of college. While marijuana is recreationally legal in my state, I don't really partake much anymore. On the rare chance I do (like less than once a year), I much prefer edibles.

LSD, I've tried once during college. My cousin hooked up my college roommate and I with a couple tiny tabs. It was shocking how little was needed. And my god was that a long experience. I was up for like 14hrs straight, hard tripping for most of that. I remember towards the end being super tired and wanting to go to sleep, but couldn't because when I closed my eyes, all I saw were shapes and colors. Even at the very tail end, when all the "visuals" stopped, my body was like "buzzing." I was tense and felt like electricity was running through me. It was fun, "saw" music from my computer (ofc I was listening to Pink Floyd), I even got a little creative with some writing and such. But I don't think I'd do that again.

Shrooms, I've also tried once in my mid/late 20s. A friend had gotten his hands on some for the first time and suggested we try them. Nothing really happened. Not sure if it was just a bad batch or what. So that was disappointing. Don't think I'd try again.

Vicodin/Hydrocodone I've done recreationally a few times. The first time in my early 20s, I took a few pills from my parents (they were prescribed legally to them) and performed a "cold extraction" to get rid of the Acetaminophen (Tylenol/paracetamol). But I've also had my own prescriptions when I got my wisdom teeth taken out in mid-20s. My favorite drug, because it's gotten me the best sleep ever. But given how easy it is to get addicted and the opioid crisis and all that, it's not something I really want to engage in further. I do take Kratom daily -- which is legal in the US -- and has some similar effects.

I've done Xanax once or twice recreationally. My younger brother got his hands on some so we paired that with weed. Super relaxing and chill, but I was shocked at how fast time went by.

Nicotine rounds it out. I started smoking pretty late compared to most, when I was hanging around smokers in college and was going through some personal issues. But I only smoked regularly -- and lightly, like a pack a week -- for like 5-7yrs before I switched to vaping. I still vape today. And have like a handful of cigarettes a year.

But my real drug of choice is Caffeine. Which obviously isn't illegal. Still though, I probably drink too much coffee.

• Weed: Probably the best one i've ever done, especially if in the right place. The most noticable thing for me was a state of euphoria and being extremely horny.
• Alcohol: I never have had a lot but my experience with it was pretty chill, the only things i remember was being pretty happy, dumb and not being able to walk properly.
• Nicotine: If i haven't had it in a while it gives me some dopamine. One of the lamest drugs i've ever done.
• Phenibut/Gabypentin: I noticed literally nothing when i had these.
• Caffeine: There was one time when i hadn't had coffee in months, and because i was really tired i decided to down an entire cup of coffee, and felt really energetic and euphoric for a few hours. Honestly pretty cool.
• DXM: Made me really sick, most displeasurable drug i've ever done.

I've tried LSD, weed, Adderall, cocaine, nicotine, dextroamphetamine, phenibut, and more.

I realized I had an affinity for stimulants because I've dealt with untreated ADHD for most of my life. Now I have a script so no need for all that.

My general rule for drug usage: try to stick to mostly weed and psychedelics. I'm not really into downers, at least from what I can tell with phenibut and pain meds I've received for dental procedures.

LSD was great for me. I always wanted to try it but it took me years to finally take the plunge. I got some one day on a whim while getting some weed. I started out with a micro dose and worked my way up. I never had a full blown trip but I did have some great experiences and visual alterations. It made me realize I stress too much about stuff that doesn't really matter. I held onto that since that experience.

Weed is fun occasionally. I tried it a few times when I was 19 or 20 then I didn't touch it til several years later. I used to smoke way more often than I do now. Whenever I smoke now I get pretty high and end up learning more about myself and things I need to improve. It's not all self reflection though - a lot of times it's relaxing or entertaining.

Phenibut was something I came across while browsing the nootropics subreddit. It's supposed to be relaxing in small doses but euphoric in recreational doses. It worked a few times but wasn't my cup of tea outside the euphoria. Everything else about it felt dirty and gave me a wicked hangover. I wouldn't recommend it.

Stimulants just helped me focus. I did the smallest amount of cocaine at a party many years ago and didn't feel much. Didn't care to try it again.

I've always been open but careful when it comes to drugs. There are some I'll never try, and others I'd still like to.

In order of consumption.

Alcohol: Tried beer with a few friends, moved to on cheap vodka after that. I think it started out as teenagers rebelling against the system, but then became a thing to chill over. As time has passed, I don't think I'm a particularly big fan. I drink it in social settings with friends, but don't rarely, if at all, when I'm alone.

Weed/Hash/Bhaang: By far my favourite. Tried a few months after my alcoholic drink. I remember telling my friend that I'm doing this just once, only to understand it. There won't be a second time. A couple hours later, and I call him up and tell him that I definitely need to do this again. I think I enjoy the sense of euphoria it gives, and also most of my experiences have been extremely positive.

LSD: Tried it after a trek where I almost died. And god damn this shit is strong. I questioned a lot of my life post it, and it has given me a much better understanding of how I think. Apart from all the visual funs, and the usual clowning around with my friends, this drug has given me a far deeper insight into my own self. However, the after effects are a bitch where you feel really tired. After having done it around 10 times, personally, I think this doesn't have a lot more to offer me, I'll probably do this once/twice in my life going forward.

Shrooms: I would call it LSD lite for all intents and purposes. While LSD has a gradual, but much longer high, this kind of jumps on you, and then fades away in a few hours. A very euphoric, warm high, with visuals and self introspection. If I ever feel the need for tripping balls, I can probably give this one a shot instead of LSD.

I have tried Cocaine and MDMA once, but to be completely honest, I didn't feel a thing, apart from just being really awake. It was like drinking multiple cans of redbulls

In the Netherlands I tried many types of weed, tried once mushrooms and MDMA on a psytrance festival.

Good times.

I was prescribed Ketamine as a daily medication, which I guess is still a little controversial, and plenty of different anxiolytics, does that count?