Opinions - Should Swim (a male teenager) drop acid?

[killosaurus]

AFOAF of Swims said the following the said:

I am a male teenager, aged 18. I have taken several drugs on numerous occasions, including MDMA, LSA, psychedelic mushrooms( in small to medium doses), san Pedro cactus and other mescaline extractions often combined with TFMPP. I regularly smoke marijuana and drink alcohol( but primarily use marijuana).

Recently I have developed an interest in take LSD. I have read much information on the subject and this forum, along with other sources such as erowid have been of great use. I have spoken to several experienced drug users and the responses I have received from people who have taken LSD are similar. They are adamant that although LSD is a wonderful drug and a powerful tool, it is powerful and could be detrimental to a developing mind.People have said that i have my whole life to do drugs and that I should not rush into things. I have been told that as my ego is still developing and my sense of identity or self have not taken a solid form, I could damage my mind and my mental health and development.
I acknowledge this. I am aware that taking such a powerful psychedelic, especially at an age such as mine could be a very negative thing.

Nonetheless, were I to take the drug, I am confident that through my previous experiences and by having prepared my set and setting, i can have a postive experience. I am confident that I do not have an underlying fear of the drug or an unhealthy fear of my subconcious. I consider myself to be a confident person who is in touch with my emotions. I also know of no history of metal health issues in my family.

I know that the decision to take this drug or not is very personal, and only I can decide if I am ready or not but i am interested in others' opinion.

I have monitored this forum and have used the search tool to find similar requests, but I felt a thread tailored to my personal request would be more appropriate.

I am grateful for any advice you can provide.

Many Thanks,
killosaurs

[sylenth]

one cant really expect an answer to a question like this from people. swey says he has taken all these other psychedelic substances & smurf agrees to swey sounding mentally & physically fit. smurf feels swey is well prepared at this age with all the knowledge on the drug & if swey lives by the same kind of thoughts that some do of... 'you should try everything at least once.' then swey can make the choice to experience the alternative from the usual variety of psychedelics. but swey is swey & he knows what the important things are that he should focussing on... do'nt let age hold you back from anything you want to experience in life, but do'nt rush in to any thingeither. be safe & have fun dont abuse drugs...

[newgrower]

My gnome says he it sounds like swiy is ready. He started younger than swiy and it didn't do any damage. He says just only take one hit the first time and don't combine with anything else except possibly some weed if swiy wants. Remember set and setting, trip with a babysitter or experienced trippers. Have fun!

Reputation Comments on this post:

experience basis

[silenius]

Originally Posted by killosaurus

I acknowledge this. I am aware that taking such a powerful psychedelic, especially at an age such as mine could be a very negative thing.

[ ... ]

I know that the decision to take this drug or not is very personal, and only I can decide if I am ready or not but i am interested in others' opinion.

IMHO, the fact that SWIY is asking this question here shows that SWIY ain't ready. SWIY should ask experience trippers that know SWIY, as answering this questions in a sensible way requires knowledge about SWIY's personality, state of mind & general well-being. If SWIY is looking for an "excuse" to do it despite doubts, please have SWIY not be trapped in this false sense of security. What's my opinion worth here - I don't know SWIY, SWIY does not know me and thus anything I could say to answer SWIY's question with a yes/no is uninformed chatter.

Having said that, SWIM had his first LSD-trip at a similiar age and I would not say that it did do any damage to SWIM. But SWIM ain't SWIY.

[Junket]

If you have to ask wether you should drop acid or not, the answer is yes.. yes, you should.

[Micklemouse]

Encouraging a minor to take illicit substances is not something we should be doing really folks.

The choice has to be made by the individual at the end of the day. Silenius has spoken the most sense here so far I think. Like Silenius' imaginary friend A Certain Mouse first tripped at a similar age also, but had the advantage of a supportive group of older friends who educated him, gauged his readiness & looked after him well.

Did it do him any harm? Hard to say really. It opened his eyes to many possibilities, one of which was taking more acid - a pastime which whilst fun, enlightening & all also had a potentially detrimental effect on his schooling, employment prospects & social life, not to mention his mental health. He saw several of his friends who started on the same path at roughly the same time become casualties - most came back, some unfortunately didn't & the Mouse had some close shaves. Family history of mental health issues seemed to have little to do with it. The invincibility of youth is a myth he found - after a while that is. Meanwhile he had some amazing times & made connections that he would probably never have made & eventually managed to make up for the time he lost.

Would he recommend it to one so young? Probably not. Wait a few years would be his advice, & go easy on the other substances that he allegedly takes.

[Mona Lisa]

I'm going to be old-fashioned and say that he (SWIM) shouldn't. He needs to concentrate on his school and training. There's always time when he's (SWIM's) older and more settled to experiment.

[PingoTango]

At 16, your mind is still developing (I know that sounds horribly patronizing, but it is) - introducing LSD to the equation at this stage could have unforseen repercussions.

You have your whole life ahead of you to discover the wonders of psychedelics, but right now you need to be concentrating on school, prospects, etc. I know that's not the answer you want, but that's the way it is - my typist spent his middle/late teenage years fucking around and getting wasted at every opportunity instead of studying, and boy does he regret it now.

[Songcycle67]

Originally Posted by PingoTango

At 16, your mind is still developing (I know that sounds horribly patronizing, but it is) - introducing LSD to the equation at this stage could have unforseen repercussions.

I agree. LSD should only be taken by people who have a firm grasp on reality and unfortunately at 16 most people's (especially boys) version of reality is a bit out of focus, if you will. It does sound patronizing, but I'm giving an honest response as I'm sure Pingo was trying to do. There's no real doubt that if SWIY can handle mushrooms, they can probably handle LSD. But that doesn't mean they should take either.

There are a lot of myths out there floating around about the dangers of LSD use and a lot of us on this forum do our best to dispell them. Unfortunately that creates another dangerous myth in and of itself sometimes: that LSD is not dangerous. The fact is that it can be extremely dangerous to certain people.

Aside from your mind still being in its developmental stages, I'd also say to stay away from this drug for a while because mental addiction is so much easier to develop at a younger age. And mental addiction to LSD should be a major concern for someone who has to keep their shit together and form themselves into a halfway decent adult in the next two years. Mental addiction to LSD can lead to regular use, which ups the chances of derangement and possible psychosis. Even in psychologically healthy adults frequent use can lead to temporary, but sometimes severe, derangement and delusion. We don't really know how such temporary derangement could effect a person of 16, but I'd say the outcome would be pretty messy.

[highguy]

hell yea dude, just make sure you dont do anything stupid like go out in the road or jump off your house and brake somethig ect ect.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	bad advice...
	Stupid unhelpfull pointless

[Value Of Existence]

Swim definitely has to agree with junket on this one.

[leadcoffin]

While my local priestess does agree that LSD affected her development (she was younger than swiy when she first dropped) she feels strongly that it was positive and helped her rather than harmed her.

[newgrower]

My gnome wanted to clarify his previous post. He was speaking in particular about the one individual discussed and not for all people of similar age. The particular person has previous experience with multiple psychedelics. He also appears to be capable of presenting himself in a intelligent, mature manner which makes my gnome think that he may have the mental strength to withstand such a strong psychedelic. He has the added benefit of older, more experienced people to help guide him.

In general, my gnome would say that other people of similar age should wait before experimenting with LSD. That this is the rare circumstance where someone this young appears ready for the experience.

My gnome also wanted to add that he should listen to the people who know him rather than to random people who don't know him at all. My gnome would say keep discussing it with those that know him and are more experienced. When he changes their mind, he'll be ready.

[killosaurus]

A FOAF of SWIM wrote:

thank you all for the advice and experience you have shared with me.
I appreciate all the answers i recieved, even the ones i didnt really want to hear.

To, be truthful, i had made up my mind to take the drug before asking all your advice, simply because it seemed like such a wonderful and useful tool.

Also, a big part of my wants to trip major balls, for funzies!

jokes aside, i hope none of you are offended by my asking advice after i have made my decision, but i truly am grateful to you all for spending the time to give your 2cents.

If any1 is interested, ill give you a full trip report and tell ya how it goes.

I plan to listen to Philip Glass or some kind of electronic music, hang out with close, reassuring friends and perhaps watch 2001: a space oddessy.
I also hope to go for a slow relaxing bike ride( NOT on a main road) if i feel up to it, so that i can have my very own Bicycle Day.

thanks again,
killosaurus

[PingoTango]

I plan to listen to Philip Glass or some kind of electronic music,

Might I recommend Boards of Canada, particularly Geogaddi and Music Has the Right to Children?

Good luck in your adventures...

[Junket]

Have a good time dude.

bike ride and music. sound ready.. haha

[Greenport]

Originally Posted by silenius

IMHO, the fact that SWIY is asking this question here shows that SWIY ain't ready. SWIY should ask experience trippers that know SWIY, as answering this questions in a sensible way requires knowledge about SWIY's personality, state of mind & general well-being. If SWIY is looking for an "excuse" to do it despite doubts, please have SWIY not be trapped in this false sense of security. What's my opinion worth here - I don't know SWIY, SWIY does not know me and thus anything I could say to answer SWIY's question with a yes/no is uninformed chatter.

Having said that, SWIM had his first LSD-trip at a similiar age and I would not say that it did do any damage to SWIM. But SWIM ain't SWIY.

Some random person would have to disagree - it is good that the person is questioning things like that. Taking acid is a very serious decision -- some will love it, some will have a bad trip and hate it, some will find absolution, truth, etc while others may find themselves in a psycho ward. It is completely right that this bee question whether it is safe. The random person doesn't think that it means the answer is no just because these kinds of questions arise. They just need to be answered for swiY beforehand - and luckily unlike in the 60s we actually have resources for that kind of thing - such as erowid

However the random person can't give any suggestions as to whether to do it or not. All (s)he can say is that swiY needs to do his/her homework and find out everything (s)he can about it before going into it. And if swiY does take it, she should expect it to be completely different than everything she found out haha.

[cra$h]

it depends on why you're taking psychedelics in the first place. for me, there's 2 types of druggies (for lack of a better term)
one group will take anything that comes their way, just for a temporary thrill, to waste time, etc. They pretty much don't think about what's going on. These people tend to like drugs like coke, amphetamines, opiates, and alcohol to name a few. They're Narrow minded.
The second group are the ones that try to take something from their experience, and apply it to their sober life. They tend to be philosophical, spiritual, and pretty much hippies. And of course they like cannabis, mushrooms, dmt, salvia, dissociatives, and to top them all off, lsd.

Now if you're group one, hell yea, have a blast! Just keep your head strait.
If you're group two, be a little more cautious. These people tend to have fragil minds, but are the ones that get the most out of the drug.

This teen is probably ready. If something bad did happen durring the trip, that's just how life is. And since you're young, for a little while you'll probably be changed, a lot, but in the long run you should be fine.

[Desertfox]

let the acid come to swim. in due time.

[Junket]

LOL at this neg rep I recieved:

"Very bad advice, shouldn't be encouraging a 16 year old to take LSD...it could be harmful"

If the kid knows his shit, then what is the big deal?

Thats like saying, "don't encourage him to drive now that he is 16, people DIE IN CARS!!!!"

Any drug, any age, anybody, anything could go wrong.

[mrk1933]

listen...this will make more sense than everybody else here. im going to keep it simple. if u have already done all of those other psychodelics and ur still mentally stable, then my experianced guess is ull be fine if u do it. it is not much crazier than mushrooms unless u abuse. take 1 to 3 hits, and ull be alright. In my opinion acid is one of the greatest occassional drugs to do. be at peace when u do it, and do w/ someone else or it might not be as fun. I classify it as a fun drug. I went competely goof mode when i first did it at the age 17, but only when i was on it. have a great trip

mrk1933 added 1 Minutes and 42 Seconds later...

oh yeah i agree w/ the person directly above me... taking drugs when ur a teenager is no different than when ur a adult.

[PingoTango]

Originally Posted by mrk1933

oh yeah i agree w/ the person directly above me... taking drugs when ur a teenager is no different than when ur a adult.

Disagree strongly.

And as an 18 year old, you're not in the best place to pass objective judgment on such issues, eh?

Reputation Comments on this post:

Sensible

[Songcycle67]

Originally Posted by PingoTango

Disagree strongly.

And as an 18 year old, you're not in the best place to pass objective judgment on such issues, eh?

My sentiments exactly. Looks like the kid is going to do it anyway. And for the record, just because you've "survived" other psychedelics "intact" doesn't mean that it isn't fucking up your development. There are some major revelations to be seen on LSD and for young kids to try to incorporate these majorly high levels of awareness into everyday life is really complicated. At 16 you're barely pubic, your hormones are racing.

Shit, it's complicated for SWIM and others on this board to incorporate LSD experiences into waking consciousness and he's been doing it for a very long time and didn't start until he was 20.

Happy Trails, though, either way.

[mrk1933]

first of all people develope mentally at different stages, and if ur think ur ready to do it then do it. second of all dont try me cause im 18, and u "think" i cant have a view on something as well. i cant help it that some people dont experiance things till they are 20 or 30 and so on. that was their desicion. If u think u are prepared then ur prepared.

[PingoTango]

If u think u are prepared then ur prepared.

No, if you think you're prepared, then you think you're prepared.

Sorry to be so pedantic about this, but it really is an important issue - I'm not sure if you've ever seen anyone whose mind has been irreversibly altered by getting into drugs, particularly psychedelics, too quickly and from a young age, but I have, and it isn't nice. It isn't nice at all.

And you know what? All of those people thought they were prepared.

I have no doubt that there are some teenagers who can handle what psychedelics have to show them - the OP certainly shows a level of maturity beyond his years. But the fact is, most can't.