From: zfried@aol.com (ZFried) Newsgroups: alt.drugs.culture Subject: Trip Survey Results! Date: 6 Mar 1995 09:58:48 -0500 Message-ID: <3jf7v8$3rf@newsbf02.news.aol.com> Thank you everyone who contributed their thoughts and feelings into this survey. - Zach Fried 1. Have you ever strongly regretted a specific trip? 6 yes, 4 no 2. Have you had any regrets about having tripped a lot? 8 no's, 1 "don't think so," 1 yes 3. Do you regret having tripped at all? 8 no's, 1 "don't think so," 1 yes ------------------------------------------------ The following are quotes from various responses to my survey: "Sometimes after I'd just begin tripping I'd get a 'paranoid' feeling about having had too much of a dose and begin regretting ever having taken it. This passes after 1/2 hour or so and once I 'catch up' to my mind, I feel better and just kinda settle in to the experience..." "After the drug wore off, I never regretted having taken it and look forward to the next time (although not often). All I can say is I'm careful with it." >1. Have you ever strongly regretted a specific trip? Perhaps one. There almost was most certainly something else other than pure LSD there, and the results were quite unexpected. But retrospectively, it was one of the most amazing trips I've had. >2. Have you had any regrets about having tripped a lot? No, although I don't like doing things illegal....stupid government. >1. Have you ever strongly regretted a specific trip? I dunno. None stand out in my mind specifically. I've tripped a few times and regretted it - not because of the drug - but because of the environment I was in...I guess my answer to 1. is "no". "I don't believe I've tripped enough to seriously damage myself. I'm talking about probbably a dozen mushroom trips and a 6-7 acid trips over a two year period. Not a LOT, but enough in my mind to get a good understanding of what the drug(s) do to ME." "I'm very happy that I've tripped." 1. Have I ever regretted a specific trip? Yes, due to my own stupidity. I got VERY drunk, then took a hit someone offered me, then felt like I was trying to pass out but the LSD wouldn't let me. Spent most of the night wishing I would just die and get it over with. 2. Regrets about tripping a lot? Nope. 3. Regret tripping at all? Definity not. "My friend Bill has had a lot of trips, and his share of bad ones. He doesn't regret any of them, since they were all learning experiences. I've had some that were less than wondrous, and don't regret them either. I only wish I had done more when I was younger and it was easier to find the right time and circumstance." "Hey man, I must say that the floors and walls always still breathe for me when I stare at them for a while...things get wavy all of the time. It's not something that happens occasionally or often, but all of the time. And unless I'm tripping at the moment, that's all that happens, the waviness I mean. If I stare at the surface for about 10 seconds, it will begin to look like it is underwater...I have tripped a lot, and trust me...it gets worse every time...I think that a lot of dosers out there may have gotten bad hits and don't even know. Although I don't regret tripping because i feel it somehow expanded my mind and changed the way I view things, I could live without the floors and walls shifting/swirling/breathing the way they sometimes do. I plan to keep on tripping when I can, but when I get older I think I will limit it to once a year. Anyways, you also wanted to know if the waviness gets lesser with time and it tiled floors and the like are worse. Well, so far nothing has decreased in means of waviness." "Acid has significantly improved the way i perceive life. i find it to be an intensly personal drug, and a very spritual one. i have on a number of occasions visited locations that have been of personal or historical significance to me while on lsd. the significance of these geographical locations to me has been altered by the drug. often i gained insight into why the places were important in my own mind, and in the collective mind of the city i live in." "acid has helped me to realise the significance of history - personally, politically and spritually." "i have never regretted taking it, and i have no plans to stop taking it." "Each trip is what you make it. Don't let drugs bring you down, man. They are there to escape into another sort of reality - make your alternate dimension an enjoyable one." "Only once when we (inadvertantly) smoked a joint heavily laced with PCP just after dropping...double-plus nasty on acid." > 2. Have you had any regrets about having tripped a lot? No. Not an iota. No long-term ill effects at all. None. What was the question again? ;^) But seriously, no. > 3. Do you regret having tripped at all? "[Taking acid] should be part of the school curriculum, just before graduation, IMHO." "I only used psychedelics for about 1 year of my life. After I started using them (by the way, I used psychedelic mushrooms, not acid, but basically they are the same) I thought they were the absolute greatest thing on earth. I began to encourage everyone to use them. I thought I learned something each time I used them, and I thought that everyone in the world should use them at least once in their lifetime. Unfortunately what I didn't realize until later is that the drug was taking over my mind. My goal in life was to grow psychedelic mushrooms and distribute them to all the world. I even wrote that down in a will of sorts. During the day I could not stop thinking... not only about psychedelics, but my mind was just constantly working overtime. I couldn't stop talking to myself in my mind. Often I had trouble falling asleep because I simply could not stop thinking about things. I would also constantly think about when I was going to trip next - even though I rarely ever tripped more than once a week. My point is, I didn't suffer from any flashbacks or anything like that - the drug just completely took control of my life. It lasted for months and months after I stoped also....Of course I realize that there ARE indeed people who can trip reponsibly and not have problems with it. I was just the type of person who thought it was stupid to trip at parties. It meant much more to me... I think there are other people out there who have had experiences like mine, but most will either not admit it or do not consider it "bad." "Acid intensifies any emotion that you are feeling at the time, and I have had scary trips, but, I can't imagine how anyone could have a "bad trip" unless they really overdose." > 2. Have you had any regrets about having tripped a lot? "Yes, I once tripped for four days straight without ever comming down, that was a little too intense. The real reason that I had regrets though, is because I lost four days, time passes much more quickly on higher levels of reality." > 3. Do you regret having tripped at all? "No, I could never regret tripping. Tripping is somthing that stays with you and becomes a part of your reality. I've gotten to the point where I can trip without being on anything. You don't remember everything that you think about while you're tripping but what you do remember becomes valuable information which could not be gained any other way." "I don't at all regret the usage of LSD or mushrooms but have decided that LSD is no longer something I can learn from or use in a semi-heathy way of mind expansion."