| Foopgoop 2004-08-05, 3:26 pm |
| Between acid and mushrooms, I did about fifty trips -- give or take a
few -- between 1983 and 1988. I stopped because the experiment was
over and I could no longer justify playing Russian roulette with my
brain. Besides, I prefer to be in control of myself at all times.
Okay, I'm through sermonizing.
Before I tried acid, I had already read an interview in OMNI magazine
with Albert Hofmann, the chemist who invented LSD. His advice for
anyone trying it for the first time: do it in familiar surroundings --
positive, artistic, interesting surroundings that will engage your
mind and enhance the experience. I was alone when I did my first trip
and I took that advice. The trip was fascinating and went smoothly.
Another piece of advice -- a cautionary note, actually -- came from an
interview I read with Grace Slick: if you think you're going to have a
bad trip, you probably will. I've had one bad trip (the quality of
the acid wasn't at fault -- I simply took too large a dose), but I
recovered after a few hours. I wasn't in Hell, just hopelessly and
helplessly lost in an abstract "Doctor Strange" world. It's very
disorienting trying to navigate through the real world when you're
flying above rolling purple clouds, and seeing melting trees made of
mercury and exploding flower-frogs in your living room.
Generally, I've found it takes about one and a half hours for acid to
take effect (that may vary depending on the dose, quality, or your own
metabolism), so don't get impatient and pop another hit into your
mouth. You should probably get some food into you beforehand -- it's
hard to eat when your jaw is hanging open and numb. If you're not a
very stable person to begin with, you might want to reconsider. Syd
Barrett's a good example of acid aggravating a problem or accelerating
mental deterioration. (On the other hand, others like Allen Ginsberg
and Robert Crumb said acid had been beneficial in curing some of their
personal weaknesses and solving problems that plagued them mentally.)
As for the crux of your question, I always found a judicious amount of
hash to be a good accompaniment to acid. Either way, the latter will
dominate.
Don't abuse the stuff.
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