Alphabet Party!

**DISCLAIMER**
This blog is only about my personal experiences with recreational drugs (aka street drugs). It is NOT about promoting or condoning them in anyway. Recreational drugs are dangerous as they can become addictive and they can kill. Any experiences I had were under the supervision of another person (that I could trust) who had previous experience with the drug and was able to keep an eye out for me to ensure I didn't have an adverse reaction or experience. These drugs are also considered illegal. If as an adult you decide for yourself to try street drugs then please research them first and inform yourself. Do not do it just because your friends offer them or say that it is fun. Do not allow yourself to become a victim. PLAY IT SAFE!

*************

I grew up in a household with a parent that did recreational drugs. She didn't do a lot of them but she did partake once in awhile throughout my childhood. My mother never felt it was worthwhile to hide things from my brother and I. She did do most of it while we were in bed, especially when we were younger but as we grew and became teens we were often still up and about doing our own thing when she would do her thing.

My mother also believed that if we kids were going to do any drugs she wanted us to do it at home where she could keep an eye on us. I feel she played it smart. She never told us not to do drugs and made it clear she wanted us to be safe if we chose to experiment. I think it was her bit of reverse psychology. If teens are told NO then they will, but if told IT'S OKAY then they usually won't, at least the teens of my generation. The teens today are a completely different animal.

As a teen I was a quiet one. I preferred to stay home and read my books and/or watch TV. Sure I had friends that I would hang out with sometimes but we never felt the need or peer pressure to do any kind of drugs. The worse thing that anyone I knew did was either cigarettes or pot. I did have one experience with a recreational drug and that was "magic mushrooms". My mother knew of a few people the would pick them and she once took us out for a 'picking party' with her friends. On our way home mother offered us each a couple 'shrooms' if we wanted some. I remember that they tasted okay and becoming very hyper. I was naturally a hyper kid and the mushrooms made me more so for the rest of the afternoon. I don't remember much else but then I was only about 12 years old.

It wasn't until I was 29 and living in Victoria that I tried my next recreational drug. I was out with some people at a bar and having fun. One guy that I kinda liked invited me to a house party after the bar closed. I knew no one there. I was offered some LSD (aka Acid). I remember taking it and letting it dissolve on my tongue. About 30 minutes later nothing had happened. My friend got me another 'tab' of acid and within 10 minutes I was definitely feeling it. I had the intense need to dance. My thoughts kept telling me that if I didn't dance the world would stop revolving. After an hour or so of dancing my thoughts changed and reversed on me. If I didn't sit still the world would fall apart. It was totally real to me at the time. I also recall that I was coming off of a cold at the time and while I was 'high' I couldn't feel myself breathing so I made sure that I had a breathe every 5-10 seconds. My friend asked me what I was doing and I responded saying that I couldn't feel my breathing so I am making myself do it. He told me I was hyperventilating and needed to stop or I would pass out. He told me to trust my body, it would take care of itself.

Throughout the course of the night I had a fun time experiencing a lot of new things. I was sitting on the couch at one point laughing with my buddy as we stared at the drapes. We were laughing because we thought the curtains were making faces at us in Technicolour. LSD is of course a hallucinogenic. The next day I was so hungry and I also remember my lungs feeling like they were tingling. Overall it was an interesting experience but not one that I feel the need to repeat.

The next time I did any kind of drug of that kind was the one referred to as E, X-tasy or Ecstasy. I was with some home town friends in Kelowna at a Rave. I was living in Victoria at this time but had gone home to visit everyone that summer. I was sitting at a table chatting when I felt it hit me, a sudden rush of well being that bordered on euphoria. Before that I was feeling slightly uncomfortable as I was in a place I didn't know surrounded by people I had never met, my anxiety was giving me a hard time. Once the 'E' started that all changed. I went from feeling like I wanted to leave and go home to loving everyone and everything.  I have always enjoyed music and getting up on the dance floor and with the E coursing through me I felt an urge to shake my boogie! I was having an excellent time that last all night. Through out the night my friends kept watch over me, made sure I maintained my hydration with water and pop and ensured I made it back to their place in one piece. The next day as I was feeling the after effects or 'come down' they continued to take good care of me. A common down side to 'E' is the depression like feelings the next day or two.

Ecstasy is a drug that uses up all the serotonin in the brain all at once and that is why you feel so good. Once the drug is out of your system there is no longer any serotonin left to moderate and balance your emotions and you then feel depressed until your body and brain can create more of the serotonin to keep you feeling normal. I was fortunate because my friend made sure I ate well and took care of myself until I was feeling normal again. It took about a day for me. After the Rave if was a quiet weekend with my friends. Since then I have tried 'E' a number of times and enjoyed myself; I always made sure I played it safe. I would ensure I had a safe way to get home, was out with friends that I was comfortable and secure with and was in an environment that was familiar to me.

I never felt the need to try any of the other street drugs like many of my friends and therefore I limited what I  experimented with. I avoided anything that needed to be smoked, snorted or injected (Crystal Meth, Cocaine, Heroine, etc). If I was gonna take any I told myself it would have to be something I ingested. I figured that it was safer in the sense that I wouldn't be exposing myself to health problems that are associated with drugs that enter the body in other ways. So in my limited fashion I have partaken of  pot cookies/brownies, chocolate covered mushrooms, LSD, E and MDMA (it is similar to E) and of course Alcohol. Another thing that has helped me when it came to this kind of experimentation is that I don't have what is referred to as an addictive personality. I try something because it is new and interesting but I do not keep doing it to the point of it becoming the focus of my life. I have so many other things in my life that are worth holding on to that I will not allow myself to become stuck on something that I know could destroy my life. Experimenting can be fun and worth doing some times but never at the expense of a good life.

**FYI**
Most party drugs are usually referred to with a letter of the alphabet and as such are referred to as 'alphabet drugs'. Some of the common ones that I have heard about and been exposed to are ones like LSD, E, MDMA, GHB, K. There are many others. If you want to know more about recreational drugs there are any number of sites out there that can tell you more. I only talk here about the ones I know or have experienced.

I encourage you to become informed about this but to given it serious consideration before you ever try any.