I think it is a bit too reductive to say they're neutral, just yet, but I am willing to say they can be used responsibly if the right information actually existed - but like with any science I am open to changing that if the conclusions were found to be different. Again let's just stick with acid instead of all psychedelics.
I tried once or twice after that, both times it turned immediately into flashbacks and led to horrid experiences so I called it quits for good.
I had done it probably ~20-25 times by that point, along with a bunch of other stuff.
LSD
Mushrooms
2C-B
2C-C
2C-I
DMT
4-AcO-DMT
5-MeO-DMT
5-MeO-MiPT
DOM
There might be some others I've forgotten, it's been a long time.
> Again let's just stick with acid instead of all psychedelics.
What you won't find in academia or textbooks is that, at a high enough dose, all psychedelics feel the same. You reach a point where it's indistinguishable and the unique properties vanish. It's hard to describe if you don't have experience with a bunch of them, but there's this "peak psychedelic state" where they all sort of converge, which is what I only assume is the result of your serotonin receptors getting completely bombed/saturated.
Personally, I was much more of a fan of phenethylamine psychedelics (particularly the 2C series), they're more clear-headed and "light"/enjoyable. The time dilation from psychedelics makes the 12-16 hours from LSD feel like days, and by the end of it, generally the last 4-6 hours you just want to be finished with it already.
It's really difficult to make a blanket-statement like "can be used responsibly" about psychedelics, because it's a dice roll. No matter how cautious you are, there's always the possible that this time, things go sideways. Though most people (when I was in that scene as a teen) couldn't really empathize after my bad trip because they'd never had one, so it's a rare occurrence. Maybe I was psychologically predisposed, who knows.
But I do think that people stand to gain a lot from having a psychedelic experience in their life, and from having an experience taking MDMA and talking with someone they love.
> Though most people (when I was in that scene as a teen) couldn't really empathize after my bad trip because they'd never had one, so it's a rare occurrence.
Yeah this is another thing I've seen.
Online there are lots of stories of "bad trips", like this one.
In person its "what happened? I've never had a bad trip [so what's wrong with you]". It is very unscientific, and for the people that do empathize, it is very reductive to "bad trip". No discussion about PTSD. And then you can't talk to anybody else about it because they are illicit substances.
I think it is a bit too reductive to say they're neutral, just yet, but I am willing to say they can be used responsibly if the right information actually existed - but like with any science I am open to changing that if the conclusions were found to be different. Again let's just stick with acid instead of all psychedelics.