To those who believe, no explanation is necessary. To those who do not believe, no explanation is possible." - Anonymous THE DXM ZINE. Issue 6. September 1998. A Symposium of Articles Pertaining to DXM Use (c)1998 UAF/Gravol Publications Email at Zine@dxm.net. Please visit our IRC channels on EFnet at #High, #Dxm, and #Uaf. Official Zine Web Site at http://www.alaska.net/~zorak/dxm/. Official #High Web Site at http://www.amvalue.com/~ben/. Official #Dxm Web Site at http://abuse.dxm.net/. Official #Uaf Web Site at http://uaf.lycaeum.org/. Edited by Gravol, with article contributions by fellow DXMers. Now over 190 subscribers strong, in 10 countries. DISCLAIMER: The authors of this zine do not condone the use of Dextromethorphan in any way. This text is simply used as an informative guide to issues relating to Dextromethorphan use and should be used for entertainment purposes only. We are not responsible for any actions taken by anyone reading this text. ADVERTISEMENTS: You may now advertise your products or your services in this section of the zine. Advertising is free for all who are interested, I just ask that you provide a link on your Web site to the Zine Web Site at http://www.alaska.net/~zorak/dxm/. The editor has the sole discretion to edit or remove any advertisements he deems inappropriate. Send your advertisements to Zine@dxm.net with the word "Advertisement" in the Subject line. Thanks! --- Hi! Dxm.net offers shell accounts and complete virtual hosting solutions through e-systems.net. We are just cool! Apply today by contacting next@dxm.net. Thank you! --- Greetz! The UAF is looking for a few good men and women that can help out on the zine with artwork, articles, and other related activities. If you are familiar with the UAF, and have any experience with ascii art, jpg/gif artwork, coding, or drug-related chemistry, you are strongly persuaded to email the founder, RESiST0R, for further information on how you can help out. If you're not familiar with the UAF, please check out their website at http://uaf.lycaeum.org or email at uaf@lycaeum.org. The UAF Chemicals & Crime is again back up after a short leave of absence, and it is released each month along with the DXM Zine. The zine is presented as an alternative to all those small zines out there about H/P, drugs and other "taboo" topics. We believe in free speech and mean no harm by material published. We hope you will take a part in this exciting organization! --- Hello! To subscribe to the DXM Zine, email Zine@dxm.net. To get back issues, go to http://www.alaska.net/~zorak/dxm/. Subscribing is safe and easy, and only the editor has access to the subscriber list. It will never be sold or shared with anyone else, so subscribe today! Please note that we no longer take subscriptions from juno.com because Juno does not allow attached files exceeding 100k to be sent to its users, so please provide an alternate email address if you fall into that category. --- CONTENTS 1 From the Editor - by Gravol 2 Letters to the Editor 3 DXM News - from Internet reports 4 DXM Survey 5 The Power of Astral Projection - by various authors 6 Returning to the First Plateau - by Walt, William White 7 A Complicated View as to How DXM Works - by William White 8 Hallucinogenic Drugs for Inner Space Exploration - by Donald DeGracia 9 *Nightmares and Paranoid Delusions - by Alpha 10*Tripping at Virginia Beach - by Gravol 11*Redosing in New Zealand - by Yahuel 12*My Theory on Life, Existance, and the Universe - by Gravol 13*Space Alien Conspiracy - by Anonymous 14 A Fishy Experience - by Legion 15 Cough Syrup Extraction - by Anonymous 16 Miscellaneous DXM Tidbits - by various authors 17*How DXM Affects the Stomach - by various authors 18 Background Info on OTC DXM Manufacturers - from Internet reports 19*DXM Drug Combos...DXM Humor - by Muha 20 DXM and Hypnosis - by Sick-boy 21*DXM Poetry - by Gravol, DrQbert, et al. 22 DXM Site Review - by Gravol 23 Info on Ordering Pure DXM Powder - from compiled information 24 DXM Music and Movie Reviews - by Gravol, Al Crawford, MattC 25 Various DXM Sources (from the PDR for Non-Prescription Drugs) 26 Various DXM Internet Sites 27 Various Trip Reports - from Internet reports 28 Credits/Zine Information * DXM Zine exclusives FROM THE EDITOR by Gravol Welcome to another issue of the DXM Zine. So far, we've had 5 issues published which are all available on our website. I hope you will take the time to review all the articles in each issue... they provide a lot of information on Dextromethorphan. There is not much change to tell you about. I am now living in St. Augustine, FL, and have adjusted quite nicely. I will continue to work on the zine in my spare time, but I need help from our subscribers as far as sending in articles, returning surveys, and other things which would really help me out and get the zine published a lot faster. If I had an overload of articles, I'd release two zines in the same month, but so far I've had no such luck. So I encourage you to become a part of the DXM culture and send a story or article to be published and get your name out in the ranks of robo-trippers and psychonauts. Or tell me more about you by emailing me with your personal information for me to include in an upcoming Bio section of this zine. There will be a lot of changes, and for the better. I will always be expanding the zine to make it as complete and well- rounded as possible. I just hope that you will be part of the changes and take an active role in the DXM community. One final note... it is by a sheer miracle that you are even reading this month's issue, because it was nearly deleted due to an unknown disk error. That is why I've split it up into two smaller files. Also, because this is the largest issue to-date and I know many of your text editors simply won't support very large text files, so I hope this helps. Thank you and have many wonderful trips. :) Gravol St Augustine, FL September 22, 1998 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR From SeeLeut@aol.com: HI, Jeff. Thanks for the great zine. I am at least a part-time writer as a way of life, and though time is at a premium, both in terms of having time to write and having time to trip, I hope to become a contributor to your community of writers soon. This is too good to pass up! Best wishes. - Edward Levy From cliffalex@mindspring.com: Hey there. Just a word to find out if I need to write to you every month for the newest issue, or will I receive it automatically? Anxiously awaiting issue 6. I really like the zine, man. I've enjoyed DXM at the fourth plateau for a very long time with only a very few select people and it's nice to have a forum to read through put together by people who recognize this as a very serious tool, as well as a recreational trip. Loads of fun, and very insightful, DXM has been a favorite for a long time. I've been documenting as many trips as possible as thoroughly as I can, with complete database listings for each trip (all the facts, times, consumptives, feelings, reactions, etc) and even photos and tape recordings of thoughts and visions. Just want to offer my sincere thanks for giving this chemical and the people who love it a voice to be heard and expressed and also offering to those who are uninformed a very thorough look at all of DXM's many aspects. Take care. - Cliff Alexander From the Editor: Cliff - I am glad you enjoy the zine so much. You do not need to keep writing to me each month to subscribe to the zine... once your name is on the subscriber list, it will always be on the subscriber list... just as long as the email address stays valid. - Gravol From DrQbert@aol.com: Keep up the good work! - DrQbert From Biot3ch@aol.com: By the way, thanks for your efforts in compiling DXM information and making it available to the psychedelic community. I think that's an important contribution to the development of the drug culture and all seekers of spiritual growth. - Adriano From Yahuel@nightmail.com: Good to know that the zine is back. I missed it. I found the first 3 issues really informative and entertaining. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to future issues. - Yahuel From Gizard@aol.com: Nice job with the zine! - Gizard From Pagodadxm@aol.com: I took LSD long before I first took DXM. I dont think that me having taken LSD has effected DXM. The only effect LSD has had was that I didn't really enjoy my first trip as much because I didnt know much about DXM and kept anticipating something similar to acid. DXM, however, has affected the way I percieve things when I'm on acid, or even just stoned. It's like DXM has somehow connected with a part of my mind and whenever I get any kind of intoxicated, it's there in the back of my mind shining a light the color of a DXM trip (no, not the color of Robitussin, but a strange abstract color that you don't really see, but feel with another unident- ifiable sense that I've gained as the result of psychoactive drug use) on my other highs. Well anyway, thats how things are to my perception. Hope I've possibly helped you out somehow, or just told you some crap about the intricateness of my DXM use. Peace and perfect trips. - J DXM NEWS from Internet reports "Dxm.net services cut back" Some services that dxm.net used to offer, such as an open window to IRC and use of the dxm.net server while connected to IRC have been restricted due to a computer hacker attacking the domain. The main services, such as ftp/http/pop3/gopher/slip still remain and the cost is $100 or $30 in 3 monthly installments. "DXM Zine and Chemicals & Crime merger" Effective immediately is a merger between the DXM Zine and the UAF's e-zine Chemicals & Crime. This simply means that when you receive either one of these publications, the other will be included with it as well. This simply allows more people to receive both publications, and in no way changes the actual format of either zine. "DXM Zine announces new contest" The DXM Zine has announced a new drawing in which anyone who sends in survey results from each the current issue will be put in a drawing for a 5 gram giveaway of DXM. People who contribute articles or trip stories will be put in a drawing for a 10 gram giveaway of DXM. Each month, 15 grams total of DXM HBr will be given away to 2 different subscribers. Hopefully, this will get more people involved with contributing to the DXM culture and this zine. Last Updated: September 25, 1998 DXM SURVEY A Survey on DXM Use Hello and welcome to this month's survey. Please take the time to fill out the following form and return it to Zine@dxm.net with "Survey" in the subject line. Results will be posted in Issue 7 for this survey. Last month's results are posted below. 1. Y/N Has anything paranormal ever happened to you while under the influence of DXM? 2. Y/N Do you like DXM better than LSD? 3. What form of DXM do you take most often? If it's over-the-counter, name the brand, otherwise name the distributer you buy from. 4. Y/N Have you ever tried DXM polistirex (Delsym)? As you can see, this survey is related to a wide variety of topics... please do your best to answer and return promptly. Last month's survey results are posted below: There were 59 participants, or 35% of the total number of subscribers. 86% of those who participated claim they have experienced CEVs. 69% of those who participated claim they have taken LSD in the past. 54% of those who participated claim they have had an OBE on DXM. 2% of those who participated were undecided. These results show that CEVs are almost commonplace for tripping on DXM... it also shows that LSD does not directly influence the DXM trip in most cases, nor does LSD affect whether or not you get CEVs. About half of the subscribers claimed to have experienced OBEs (out-of-body experiences) at some point, but it is not clear whether they were just feelings of being out of your body or full-blown astral projection. Thank you to all who participated in this survey. THE POWER OF ASTRAL PROJECTION by various authors [Editor's note: The following article contains viewpoints that doesn't necessarily include that of the Editor. They are simply included in this zine to give a more complete understanding of the Out-of-body experience.] In the last issue we discussed how to leave your body, or astral project. In this issue we're covering the basics of out-of-body travel, what to expect, the theories behind it, etc. This article is divided into smaller sub-articles, written by various authors. The first sub-article is about using the OBE for consciousness research, followed by another sub-article regarding an actual OBE description. The third sub-article is taken from "The Complete Ascension Manual." Due to size and space limitations, you may expect more on OBEs and astral projection in Issue 7. There is simply too much to discuss to fit into one article. Also, keep in mind that this all relates to DXM because DXM is a dissociative and it is very simple to induce an OBE on DXM. For more information on how to induce OBEs with DXM, see Issue 5. This article simply relates to general OBEs and personal experiences with them. Consciousness Research Using the Out-of-Body Experience (by Kevin de La Tour) Do you wonder why you are in this life? Would you like to know where you have been before this physical existence and what will happen to you after physical death? If we accept the premise that we are not simply physical beings who have a single life on this planet, but that we have experienced a multitude of physical existences and will continue to do so, then we will probably have a natural curiosity about our past lives. How can we access this information to find out who we have been and what we have done? And if we have had past lives, is it not logical to presume that we may have spent a period between lives - perhaps preparing for our upcoming physical existence? If this is the case, then how can we tap into this information that can tell us what our existential program (task or "mission") is in this physical life? The International Institute of Projectiology is a Brazilian institution of research and education that instructs individuals how to work with bioenergy and employ the out-of-body experience (consciousness projection, astral travel) in order to perform individual consciousness research. In this way we can begin to arrive at answers to age-old questions such as: Who am I? What am I? Where am I from?; Where am I going?; and Why am I here? Dr. Waldo Vieira, founder and president of IIP, is a Brazilian physician who has been researching consciousness full-time over the past 30 years. From his independent research, he has codified a wealth of information in the fields of consciousness (spirit, soul) and out-of-body experience. The result is the body of programs offered by the International Institute of Projectiology. The goal of these programs is the effective dissemination of IIP's research findings in a format that is both informative and useful. If we are going to begin to find answers to the questions that have been taunting mankind for millennia, then we are going to need a technology that will allow us to directly access this much needed information about ourselves and the multi-dimensional nature of the world in which we live. IIP is dedicated to the research of consciousness and the development of technology that allows the interested individual to perform this investigation on his or her own. A tool that is most useful for this purpose is the out-of-body experience (OBE) or projection of consciousness (PC). What makes PC so effective is that we are all multi-dimensional beings or, rather, we are able to transcend this physical dimension and participate in the infinite number of non-physical dimensions that exist beyond this world. Since we invariably come from these non-physical dimensions and return to them upon biological death, we can appreciate that the physical dimension is not our source. Actually, our origin is the extraphysical (non-physical) dimension. Indeed, we are all essentially consciousnesses that are repeatedly reborn into physical life for a relatively brief period of time. Although physical life is somewhat short, it is very important. Many individuals refer to their existential program (task or "mission") that they feel they need to realize. IIP research indicates that many of us prepare for this physical life before being reborn into this dimension. We do this in order to take maximum advantage of this physical opportunity to grow, learn and develop - in order to accelerate our evolutionary process. But if we have performed this preparation, why can we not recall it? How can we reclaim this information from our multi-dimensional data banks? What is the out-of-body experience? OBE is not a new phenomenon. IIP research indicates that it is a perfectly natural physiological phenomenon. It is, in fact, innate to being human. It occurs when one's physical and non-physical bodies are in a state of non-alignment. Everyone leaves their physical body every night when they sleep. Statistics from international surveys, however, show that approximately 10% of the population has OBEs with relatively little awareness, while only 1% (55 million) has fully conscious OBEs. OBE is a completely different experience from dreams (lucid or not) and also from any other altered state of consciousness. It is not an imaginary event. OBE is a real situation experienced in another dimension. OBEs can occur in a number of conditions: while walking, sitting, relaxing, meditating, or sleeping. Most often, for those who are not developed projectors, OBEs are experienced spontaneously, when the individual is in one of the foregoing conditions. Projections of consciousness can also be provoked using various OBE techniques, many of which are taught through IIP courses. If one is going to develop their capacity to willfully produce projections, it is essential that they also develop their capacity to work with bioenergy. Also called life force, prana, chi, etc., bioenergy acts as a kind of adhesive, serving to maintain the physical and non-physical bodies connected with each other. If one wishes to promote their ability to have projections, they must develop a certain looseness between the bodies. This is accomplished by working with the bioenergy that holds the bodies together, in order for it to become more supple and pliable. This will, in turn, allow the easier separation of the bodies when desired. Projection of consciousness can also be forced, resulting from a traumatic incident, such as an accident, surgery, illness, etc. The near-death experience (NDE) - an example of a forced type of OBE, in which the individual is resuscitated from a traumatic incident, and sometimes from clinical death - is currently being widely researched. References to it are made in ancient Egyptian and Greek records as well as the teachings of Buddha, Herodotus, and Plato. Nowadays, it is receiving much more attention as more scientists investigate this phenomenon. Laboratory experiments, for example, have been conducted in the last 3 decades by American researches such as Dr. Charles Tart, Dr. Karlis Osis and Dr. Janet Lee Mitchell. Why can the out-of-body experience be regarded as the most important of all psychic phenomena? All psychic phenomena (clairvoyance, clairaudience, psychic readings, etc.) involve the utilization of non-physical capacities to perceive non-physical events and/or information. They thus require that the individual consciousness be operating, to some degree, from a non-physical body or vehicle, using its perceptive capacities. In order for this to occur, one must be at least slightly projected from the physical body - in an altered state of consciousness. One reason that OBE is such a valuable tool for self-development is that it allows direct access to information about ourselves and the multi-dimensional nature of life. We can access information about past lives, for example. There are also educational facilities outside the body that one can frequent in order to gain information that would otherwise be unattainable. Many of the greatest insights throughout history have been achieved through projections of consciousness. The out-of-body experience allows us to access not only multi-dimensional reality, but facilitates our regaining the road map or "blue prints" that we drew up for use in this physical life. If we can access these directives, we will be able to live much richer lives in the here-and-now; lives that are more clearly focused on our personal goals and allow us to realize the next step in our evolutionary development. One of the most important uses of projection is assistance to others. As we develop our capacity to project, we can perform much needed energy treatments while outside the body. This can be applied to imbalanced and ill non-physical consciousnesses, as well as to physical consciousnesses who are temporarily projected outside their body for the purpose of receiving energy transmissions. There are a multitude of individuals, for example, who do not pass through the transition of biological death in a good condition. These consciousnesses, when they return to extraphysical status, end up as psychotic post-mortems or "earth-bound spirits". In other words, they are not able to completely orient themselves in their new non-physical environment. In this case, an extraphysical consciousness may conclude that they are still physically alive or may simply remain confused and disoriented regarding their unfamiliar surroundings. In other cases, the newly extraphysical consciousness is aware that they have passed through physical death, but are upset about having lost their human body. Regardless of the specific reason for their disorientation, the result is that they are dysfunctional citizens of the non-physical dimensions. While this problem is not readily perceived in our day-to-day physical life, it remains a very real one. Whereas there are a multitude of practitioners and therapists who attend to a variety of physical issues in this dimension, there is a severe shortage of competent extraphysical therapists. As our energetic abilities, projective capacities, understanding of multi-dimensionality and maturity develop, we can begin to serve as much needed projected therapists in increasing partnership with the extraphysical Helpers (spirit guides, guardian angels). An example of this is illustrated in Dr. Vieira's book Projections of Consciousness: A Diary of Out-of-Body Experiences, when he relates, "I moved away with the extraphysical consciousness and transmitted energy to him, focusing the emissions on the extraphysical brain of the suffering consciousness. I sensed the transmission of a great flow of energy that was not my own. The ailing extraphysical consciousness immediately recovered and stated, 'It's gone! I'm better!' " The variety of experiences one can have while outside the body is quite extensive. This book relates 60 of Dr. Vieira's most illustrative OBEs (he has been having lucid projections continuously since the age of nine), serving to give the reader a realistic idea of what can be experienced through OBEs. Nevertheless, the best way to understand the scope of what awaits us in the extraphysical dimensions is to develop our own capacity to have projections. Following is a possible scenario of what one could experience during an OBE: After sleeping a short while, you find yourself lucid, but having sensations unlike the ordinary waking state. Feeling numbness and a difficulty in moving, you begin to experience a certain lightness and then a floating, bobbing sensation. You start to feel a kind of electrical current running throughout your body. Suddenly you see interesting, but perhaps unrecognizable images and hear things that are quite different from the ordinary, ranging from light whistling or hissing noises to loud successive pops. After feeling neither here nor there for a while, you sense that you are rising out of and leaving your physical body. Feeling amazingly light and without the need to walk or breathe, you are swept up in a sudden euphoria - you are free from the heavy process of physical life. You experience a degree of lucidity that you have never had before, feeling much more intelligent, perceptive and creative than in physical life. It is clear that you are not physically awake, as you can see your body calmly sleeping below. Slowly turning away from your static physical figure, you glide effortlessly out through the window of your bedroom - which is still closed! Rising higher and higher into the night sky you sense an unequaled freedom that words cannot convey. After zooming around a bit, you sense that your return to the physical body is imminent. Your landing is as effortless as the takeoff. As you begin to experience breathing again, you open your eyes. The vivid memory of this brief but vibrant journey confirms that this was not a dream. This is a very simple example of a projection of consciousness. As one develops their projective capacity and relationship with the Helpers, the benefits and problem solving possibilities available through the use of OBE increase exponentially. The experience of cosmic consciousness (also known as nirvana, samadhi, oneness with the universe, etc.), for example, is actually a very high-level projection of consciousness. Dr. Vieira relates such an experience in Projections of Consciousness: "I was suddenly sure of being a participant in a formless gathering, composed of bodiless points of mental focus, of masses of energy that was taking place in a nirvanic atmosphere that was of an unimaginable level of mental elevation, unapproachable with earthly descriptions, and indefinable in known terms....This projection, having a curious distortion of the time-space continuum, had gone from a temporal and spatial level to the cosmic level - beyond all material restrictions and physical impediments." The point here is that we are all able to achieve extremely high quality results if we are willing to dedicate ourselves to this end. As well as a fair degree of perseverance, a certain amount of courage, sincerity and ethics are necessary to achieve truly profound results. But the technology needed for this is currently available and is offered through the International Institute of Projectiology. IIP gives experiential training seminars through its Consciousness Development Program (CDP). It includes both theoretical classes that serve to orient the participant to the dynamics of the out-of-body process and practical classes that allow one to practice with time-tested OBE techniques. Participants of the CDP have experienced specific benefits as a result of the program in the following areas: o Health: prevent and correct illness; manage stress and emotional problems; maintain good health; promote sound natural sleep; assist others to improve their health. o Personal Success: expand problem-solving ability; amplify intellectual capacity; build confidence; improve interpersonal relationships. o Consciousness Development: expand self-awareness and psychic abilities; learn how to provoke and use the out-of-body experience (OBE) to gain insights and understanding; develop past life recall capabilities and use them to define and accomplish current life projects; eliminate the fear of death. Anyone can project him or herself if he or she can overcome the fears and insecurities that most people have, knows how to work with bioenergies and acts in accordance with the cosmoethic. The long-term benefits of interdimensionality are so many and transcendent that the effort and discipline required to realize lucid projections is well worthwhile. My First OBE (by Jim Lagerkvist) I'm going to share this with all of you in the hope you find some value in my experience. First of all, I want to say that while I enjoy reading about OBEs, I never had a serious desire to have one myself. This now seems ironic after reading posts from those who are knocking themselves out trying to do it. Last Thursday night, I went to bed feeling really stressed and hoping to have interesting dreams as sort of a "poor man's vacation". I think my desire to escape the events of the day may have been the catalyst for what happened next. I must have drifted off for awhile, but then awoke suddenly. My entire body was vibrating intensely. I layed there awake while the vibrations increased. From reading about OBEs I recognized the sensations and wasn't scared. I had full choice to either stop it or let it continue. The vibrations escalated until I felt I could leave my body if I wanted to. In my eyes, I saw flashes of blue light the color of static electricity. As I was laying on my left side, I rotated clockwise and gave myself a mental "push" out. I floated up and looked down to see my body on the bed and my dog still sound asleep next to it. I wouldn't have recognized the body as mine... it was white and featureless. The 'me' that was out of my body was everything I identified as myself, but no vibrations. I don't remember trying to look at my new form, but was puzzled as how I could see without physical eyes. I recalled I should have the ability to pass thru the bedroom to go outside the house. The thought of safely trying to go thru the glass window concerned me, so I went up to the solid wall. I felt a slight resistance but pushed and went thru with the sensation of wet soft cardboard. I floated to roof level and traveled about a 1/2 mile to the house I grew up in. Travel time seemed instantaneous. I entered thru the garage roof and exited out the front wall with the same sensations of soft wet cardboard. I headed home and the next I knew I was back in my body. Another OBE happened that same night and I don't remember where I went. But the initial "launch" was identical. For the next couple days I was excited at the privilege of the experience, but now I'm not sure what it's really useful for. For those of you who have been having these, what value do you find that I may be missing. And for those who are trying so hard, what is it you are hoping for. I'm not ungrateful for having experienced it, just curious what's beyond the entertainment of it. From "The Complete Ascension Manual" (by Joshua David Stone) Between Lifetimes --- [...] I am going to attempt to give a glimpse of what goes on the astral, mental, buddhic, atmic, monadic, and logoic planes of consciousness after the death [or passaway] of a soul extension. Where a soul extension goes after the death is determined by how it had lived throughout all its past lives, including the most recent past life, and how it dealt with its bardo experience. It will gravitate like a magnet to the plane that is most appropriate to its soul development. [...] The choices for a soul extension first entering into the spiritual world are: o A quick return to Earth life For the average person who has attained even the smallest level of enlightment, an immediate return to incarnation on the Earth would be unthinkable. The average person gravitates to the middle astral plane. Paramahansa Yogananda said that if a person has the slightest degree of a spiritual belief in life, his passin would be a pleasant one. [...] It is usaully only the lower impulses of Earth life that draw a soul back for immediate rebirth without some kind of review and assessment period. This path is followed very often. o Hell regions There is a lot confusion as to whether there is actually a hell region. The most fundamentalist religions say there is, and that if you don't accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour you will burn there forever. Some metaphysical schools of thought say there no hell region, it is just a state of mind. In my opinion the truth is somewhere in the middle. Hell is most definitly a state of mind. It is also a location, but it is not as the fundamentalist religions describe it. People are in hell when they are run by the negative ego, by material and astral desire, and hence are cut off from their own souls. [...] Hell, however, is not a place of eternal damnation. It is really just the very lowest level of the astral plane. Some have referred to it as outer darkness. [...] Soul extensions will stay there indefinitly until they begin to take responsibility for their actions, or until they can't take the torture of their own deluded consciousness any longer and cry out to God for help. Each time they cry out to God for help, a guardian angel will come and offer some aid and assistance. Over time, such a soul extension will begin to emerge out of the darkness. There is no eternal damnation in God's plan or consciousness. God, in His infinite mercy and forgiveness, gives all soul extensions, no matter how deluded, a chance to return home. o Purgatory The term purgatory is also a term that has been confused by the fundamentalist religions. It has very negative connotation and has been associated with hell, but this is not true. Purgatory is a region where soul extensions go who are not evil like those in the hell regions, but rather just misled and not educated properly on Earth. They are those who have been misled in their education through unsound religious practices, those who have been overtaken bad habits, those who are atheists, those obsessed with material desire and attachments, those who have gone insane, and so forth. This would be the lower astral region. It is often very difficult to awaken such people to their spiritual path. There is a great mass of humanity living in this region of consciousness. o Lower, Middle and Upper astral plane There is a borderland zone that is above the purgatory and hell regions and that actually superimposes itself on Earth life. Here are good people who have found what they consider to be contentment in areas close to the Earth. This particular area is like an astral counterpart that duplicates life on Earth, except it is still in the astral plane. Life is so much like that of Earth it is often hard to realize that once has even left. At some point these soul extensions begin to yearn for something better. [...] It must be understood now that life after death looks not much different from life on Earth. The astral and mental and higher planes have whole thriving life with cities, beaches, mountains, homes, streets, concerts, libraries, social halls, clubs, churches, and temples just like we have on Earth. Many soul extensions, when they pass over, do not even realize they are dead. They are in their astral bodies which look just like their previous physical bodies. The unique thing about life after death is that astral bodies travel with the mind. If they want to go to the beach, they just think "beach", and they are immediatly there. There is no need to get in a car, train, or airplane to travel. Very often when soul extensions pass over like this, they will think of the family they have just left and they will immediatly be with a given family member. What they don't realize is that they are in another dimension, and their family members can't hear or see them. This can be quite confusing for people who haven't realized that they have died. There are some soul extensions who are so attached to the material world that they don't allow themselves to go through the tunnel to the other side and are stuck on the earthly plane even through they are in their astral bodies. There are called "Earth-bound souls". They may continue to live in the same house they lived in before death. They don't realize that it is their own consciousness that is keeping them stuck on Earth and not allowing them to continue their spiritual evolution. There are some soul extensions who are able to get hold of some vital force and play tricks on people who are still in earthly bodies. [...] Many people, when they die, stick arround and watch their own funerals before passing on the astral plane. Those soul extensions of a more evolved nature will gravitate to their higher astral realms and possibly to the mental realm. Many soul extensions, when they pass over, sleep for a long time before awakening on the inner plane. This is especially true of those who have experienced lingering illness or uncontrollable grief and of those with a strong desire to continue life in the physical body. [Editor's note: More on the Out-of-body experience and astral projection can be found in Issue 7.] RETURNING TO THE FIRST PLATEAU by Walt, William White Recently I started experimentation with the First Plateau after several nasty experiences at higher dosages. If you are like me, then you may want to go back to the basics and return to the First Plateau to renew your pleasures of DXM. Keep in mind that it is very easy to overstep the First Plateau and jump right into the Second. So it's best to start out low, then increase your dosage over time. I usually took Coricidin Cough & Cold, and only took 90mg to 120mg (3-4 pills). Keep in mind that I weigh about 135-140lbs. I would also take one Tylenol PM (containing 25mg of Diphenhydramine HCl) to further the effects of the DXM. [Editor's note: Taking Tylenol PMs or any form of diphenhydramine hcl is not recommended at larger DXM doses. It has been reported that people have gone into seizures after mixing diphenhydramine/dimen- hydrinate and DXM combos, so steer clear of Dramamine, Benadryl, and Marezene when taking large doses of DXM.] These First Plateau experiences totally rejuvinated my view of DXM and got me totally back into tripping. If you have any marijuana around, you may also wish to smoke a joint while on a First Plateau trip. It's more like a slight alteration of consciousness than an actual trip. And the best thing is you can totally function and go places without people really noticing that you are high. Oftentimes I would start out the day with 4 Coricidins, 1 Tylenol PM and this would be all it took to get a decent 5-6 hour buzz going, without anyone else knowing that I was high. By doing this, I also steered clear of tolerance and most of DXM's nasty side effects, and also experienced minimal stomach discomfort. This is what William White has to say about the First Plateau, for reference purposes: The first plateau generally occurs around 1.5 to 2.5 mg/kg (some net users suggest 2.7mg/kg as ideal for regular users), but this may vary enormously depending on metabolism and other factors. The first plateau is probably the hardest to hit; many people "overshoot" it. Please keep in mind that these effects listed are general effects, and that individual results may vary considerably. A general narrative of the first plateau can be constructed. At about 30 minutes to 1 hour after dosing, an "alert" sensation is noticeable; this is simply a feeling that is unique for individual and signals the begin of altered consciousness. The experience has only a vaguely "drug-like" character for about 10 minutes, after which restlessness and slight stimulant effect are noticeable. After another 10 minutes or so, movement and position sense are altered; those with motion sickness begin to notice nausea. Gravity starts to feel weird, and one may bounce around a lot. Emotions may start to become intensified. There is a slight feeling of dissociation from reality, but overall the experience is slightly intoxicating, with intensified emotions and sense of importance from everyday events. This effect peaks and then slowly subsides until it is unnoticeable. A first plateau trip usually takes between 20 and 40 minutes to start (on an empty stomach), peaks about 1.5 to 2 hours later, and lasts between 4 and 6 hours. Gel capsules take up to 1 hour additional to dissolve. Hangovers are very rare from this plateau, but if they do occur, they tend to consist mainly of lethargy. The primary effects of the first plateau are general euphoria, euphoria specifically linked to music and motion, slight disturbances in balance, moderate stimulation, and very slight intoxication. The intoxication and balance disturbances are similar to that induced by alcohol, but much weaker and without the mental confusion; there is little if any mental sluggishness or confusion with a first plateau trip. Some people have difficulty hitting the first plateau. It can take several trials; as a general guideline, if you notice double vision, you've gone way too far. A lot of the more pleasurable first plateau effects, in particular the music euphoria, are set and setting dependent. Being in good physical condition, avoiding excessive caffeine, and being in a good mood are all important factors in achieving a good first plateau dose. Positive first plateau experiences are one of the first to go with regular use. Part of this seems to be tolerance (which builds quickly and lasts for considerable time). Another part seems to be a familiarity with the first plateau experience; after awhile it no longer seems quite so profound or interesting. Some have suggested changing set and setting as a way of regaining the more interesting aspects of the first plateau. Anyway, if you are like me and have experienced nasty effects of DXM at higher dosages, I hope you will not totally give up on DXM and return to the First Plateau... you never know how much fun you may have until you try it! A COMPLICATED VIEW AS TO HOW DXM WORKS by William White DXM binds to at least four sites in the brain, which can be arbitrarily labeled DM1, DM2, DM3, and DM4; there is probably also a fifth binding site (DM5). Some of these sites are sensitive to pentazocine, a known sigma ligand; some are sensitive to haloperidol, another sigma ligand. On the following table, information from several sources has been gathered and combined. The binding affinity of DXM, DTG, and 3-PPP are listed, along with (+)-pentazocine sensitivity, and haloperidol displacement ability (binding values in nM unless otherwise specified). "Low" means micromolar binding affinity. DXM binds to four separate places, two with high affinity. The first receptor is accepted to be the sigma1 receptor based on the binding to pentazocine and haloperidol, and the potency of (+)-3-PPP. The second receptor is almost certainly the PCP2 receptor, given the insensitivity to pentazocine, and the very high affinity for DXM. The third site is probably sigma2 (based on the potency of DTG) but it is possible that "DM1" in this table represents both sigma1 and sigma2 and that the third site is something else. The fourth site is probably the NMDA receptor's open channel site, although it might be the ion channel binding site. The PCP2 binding site is probably the dopamine reuptake complex, so blocking it would prevent the uptake of dopamine in much the same way that the antidepressant bupropion (WellbutrinTM) or cocaine does. Of course, DXM is considerably weaker than cocaine (and stronger than bupropion, incidentally) at this site. This probably accounts for the euphoric effects of a low recreational dose, and almost certainly explains the stimulant effects of a low dose. Interestingly, the stimulant effect seems qualitatively different from amphetamines to most people (I have no comparison information on cocaine). One user compared DXM and bupropion favorably in stimulant effect. Incidentally, it seems that DXM may bind noncompetitively at the dopamine reuptake site whereas bupropion binds competitively. The music euphoria and motion euphoria are probably partly due to PCP2 activity, and partly due to other activity. As NMDA blockade and sigma activity can both lead to dopaminergic activity (see below), reuptake inhibition would potentiate these effects. Interestingly, DXM seems to be much more potent at this site than other sigma/NMDA ligands (such as PCP or ketamine) in comparison to activity at other sites. Also interestingly, at least one tricyclic antidepressant has been found to be active at related receptors (sigma, PCP); it is possible that the PCP2 site may be a target of some anti- depressants. As the sigma2 site is a fairly recent discovery, it is not known what sigma-related effects and behaviors are attributable to which receptor (sigma1 or sigma2). There is very little data on the subjective effects of sigma ligands, in part because only recently have selective ligands become available, and in part because most researchers aren't very willing to dose themselves to find out. DXM binds to the sigma1 receptor and is generally considered to be an agonist at this receptor. DXM is probably also an agonist (as opposed to an antagonist) at sigma2, though it is much weaker there. The disruption of sensory processing may be due in part to sigma activation (and partly due to NMDA blockade) (63-65). Sigma receptors may be specifically involved in the auditory effects of DXM (65), and these effects may relate to a disruption of sensory input persistence. The psychotomimetic (literally "psychosis-like") effects of DXM may be a result of sigma activity since sigma receptors seem to have some involvement in schizophrenia. People who have used both DXM and ketamine have remarked that DXM is much more likely to induce delusional and hyper-abstract thought patterns. Sigma receptors may temporarily modulate cholinergic receptors, so sigma activity may produce temporary effects somewhat like the delusional anticholinergics. The effects on motor skills may be a result specifically of sigma2 receptors. Expect to see more data on this subject as sigma2 receptors are investigated more fully. There may also be a contribution from NMDA receptors, of course. Dextrorphan (DXO) is much more potent than DXM at the NMDA receptor, which accounts for the slow onset of most of DXM's effects even when it is injected. The NMDA receptor is the central site of dissociative action, and is probably the main contributor to most of DXM's effects. Dissociatives, including DXM, act on the NMDA receptor by binding to its channel once it opens up, essentially plugging it up. Most of the "stoning" or intoxicating effects of DXM are due to NMDA receptor blockade. Alcohol's intoxicating effect seems to be mediated in part by NMDA receptor blockade (alcohol's depressant effect is due to GABA activity; DXM has no activity at GABA receptors) (28,61,62). The dissociative anesthesia of high DXM doses is also likely due to NMDA receptor blockade. As stated before, sensory processing disruption, especially at higher doses, is probably due in part to NMDA receptors and partly to sigma. NMDA blockade is probably responsible for most if not all of the flanging effects of DXM, especially visual flanging. This is likely an indirect effect, i.e., the blockade of NMDA receptors induces changes in the way the brain processes information, leading to flanging. The effects on memory are almost certainly due to NMDA blockade. NMDA receptors are intimately involved in long-term potentiation, the primary mechanism behind intermediate-term memory (ITM) and long-term memory (LTM). By blocking NMDA receptors, long-term potentiation, and thus intermediate- and long-term memory encoding, are disrupted. NMDA blockade indirectly increases dopamine activity in the striatum, nucleus accumbens, olfactory tubercule, and prefrontal cortex. Increased activity at dopamine D1 receptors is responsible for the increased locomotor activity seen in rats on dissociatives, and may be responsible for many of the effects DXM has on motion. Chronic use of DXM may result in upregulation of dopamine D2 receptors. DXM's ability to suppress respiration at toxic levels is most likely due to NMDA receptor blockade or (in my opinion) ion channel blockade. Some of the effects from very high dosage levels may be due to overall disruption of neural networks. There is some preliminary evidence that both the "spontaneous memory" effect and the sensations similar to near-death experiences may occur as limbic areas (the hippocampus and hippocampal formation and surrounding areas) are disrupted by NMDA blockade. Most drugs target specific, small clusters of neurons (or their receptors, which can be scattered about). Both excitatory amino acid secreting neurons and NMDA receptors tend to be more evenly distributed, although they too are concentrated in certain areas of the brain to a lesser extent. Probably the greatest degree of DXM's effects come from consequences of the aforementioned receptor binding on the temporal lobe limbic areas. The blockade of NMDA receptors by DXM has specific consequences in these areas. The normal functioning of the hippocampus and amygdala are disrupted since NMDA blockade prevents long-term potentiation. The posterior cingulate and retrosplenial cortex paradoxically become more active. There may be spontaneous "noise" effects in the entire limbic system amplified by feedback. One paper suggested that dissociatives may induce "microseizures" or limited areas of high activity in the limbic system. There is also the suggestion of a "top-down" inhibition of the senses, i.e., inhibitory signals from the limbic areas and surrounding cortical areas are sent "down" to sensory networks, lowering the strength of sensory data. This "top-down" inhibition of the senses may be the mechanism behind dissociative anaesthesia; sensory information is still processed by the brain, but never makes it to the conscious mind and is never encoded in intermediate-term declarative memory (in the hippocampus). Finally, dissociatives seem to alter the flow of signals through the limbic areas, possibly increasing the degree of internal feedback within these areas (or between these areas and the neocortex) and diminshing the amount of sensory data that comes in. Gating of signals coupled to the theta rhythm through the posterior cingulate may be altered. Putting this all together into some sort of cohesive theory may be too soon but I'm going to do it anyway. My belief (which will probably change as new research becomes available) is that the diminished sensory data (from top-down inhibition), and the decreased encoding of intermediate-term memory, combined with the enhancement of activity in the posterior cingulate and retrosplenial cortex, all lead to an increasingly closed feedback loop. Within this loop, random noise, individual differences in temporal lobe "wiring", the contents of intermediate memory, and the influence of electromagnetic fields all combine to give rise to profoundly abnormal neural patterns. An interesting aside to this is that the sense of smell is sometimes reported to be enhanced on DXM. This hasn't been formally studied, and may be all in one's mind, but since olfactory data is treated somewhat differently by the brain than the other senses, it may be spared from the descending inhibitory signals that attenuate other sensory data. If so, then the feedback loop could actually serve to increase the strength of olfactory data, by repeatedly adding the same, small signals together. Many of DXM's effects are undoubtedly due to indirect activity at other neurotransmitter systems. For example, it may indirectly increase 5HT activity, especially at the 5HT1A receptor. This could explain some of its mood-altering properties. Another example is dopaminergic activity; DXM has a fairly strong ability to increase dopamine activity (both from activating sigma receptors, and from preventing dopamine reuptake at PCP 2 sites). NMDA receptor blockade also has been shown to increase dopaminergic activity, as well as activity of other neurotransmitter systems. One of DXM's most prominent effects if the flanging of sensory input. This happens to some extent with many drugs, and I have a hypothesis on this. Note in particular the relation of flanging to "stoning" and "buzzing" - in some ways, flanging is a more profound degree of stoning. Some people have noticed a flanging or strobing effect after smoking a great deal of cannabis, and nitrous oxide users are also familiar with flanging of sounds. Even alcohol can produce it. What it seems many of these drugs have in common is the ability to inhibit hippocampal long-term potentiation. Some have suggested that there are more than one set of signals that pass through the same limbic areas, with those in phase with the theta frequency and those out of phase being gated differently. Perhaps one set of signals is more strongly involved with memory, and the other set more strongly involved with sensory data. Or, perhaps all drugs which inhibit hippocampal LTP all activate the posterior cingulate cortex. In either case, signals at one phase of the theta rhythm could be disrupted, leading to a pulsing of perception in step with theta rhythm. A different theory is that networks in the brain will re-process the same data repeatedly until a stable configuration is formed, and that DXM (and other drugs) slow down this process. With some networks slowed down and others operating at normal speeds, the characteristic frequencies of the two sets of signals would differ, leading to a "beat frequency" in much the same way that two very similar sounds can lead to a beat frequency (for a quick demonstration of this, listen to someone tuning a guitar by ear). Another interesting effect of DXM is its ability to induce peculiar cognitive disturbances, which I lump together under the term of "hyper-abstraction". Two examples: o A meme is a "particle" or "virus" of thought - an idea which is in some ways self-contained, and which spreads like a virus. For example, the idea of civil liberties is a meme, which at some point sprang into existence, spread rapidly, and has now become an integral part of our consciousness. One user during a DXM trip suddenly became aware of (or thought up) "The self-invoking, self-creating meme", which was the concept of a meme whose identification creates and invokes it. It seemed that this meme was timeless in the sense that it must have always existed, or it could not have come to mind, since it is not easily deducible from anything other than itself (of course, the brain doesn't work on the rules of logic, but ... you get the point) o Another user wrote of thinking about convergent infinite sums (e.g., 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + etc., which sums up to 1). Although one can add these terms up forever, it's easier to abstract the process and get the answer that way. This user imagined an infinite series of abstractions, and then imagined abstracting that infinite series to get a new level or plane of abstraction. Many DXM thought patterns involve what some have called "Strange Loops" in logic. Like the self-contradicting statement "this statement is false", some of them cannot be embodied in logical form; others can be, but cannot be derived without presenting them as hypothesis. Thinking at this degree of abstraction is very difficult (unless you are fortunate enough to be Kurt Gödel). Several people who have written first-person accounts of psychosis and schizophrenia have mentioned increasingly abstract thought patterns (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance springs to mind). This may of course be complete bunk, and it may be that the increasingly "abstract" thoughts are just increasingly loony (and thus difficult to relate to concrete ideas). On the other hand, it may be that something about schizophrenia and psychotic states is related to a blurring between levels of abstraction. Once blurred sufficiently, a thought which cannot be represented at a concrete degree of abstraction could be representable in the mind. Thus, DXM may induce a sort of temporary blurring of these levels of abstraction. Whether this is due to NMDA or sigma activity, I don't know, although I suspect the latter, since other NMDA antagonists don't tend to induce such changes in thought patterns. As stated above, sigma activity may modulate cholinergic receptors in the brain, leading to a temporary decrease in cholinergic function similar to (but considerably safer than) that caused by anticholinergics like atropine, scopolamine, cyclizine (Marezine), etc. It is known that cholinergic activity is important in memory, and many nootropics ("Smart Drugs") enhance cholinergic function. Sigma activity may very well cause temporarily lowered effectiveness in some cholinergic receptors, thus distorting memory and thought processes. Some people have in fact said that DXM makes them feel temporarily stupid ("Dumb Drugs", anyone?) although this by no means happens to everyone. Many of the biogenic amine systems seem to have a modulatory role, and some researchers think these modulating systems operate much like "control knobs". For example, one theory on LSD is that it upsets the "gain control" on sensory recognition networks (possibly by descending inhibition, although through different pathways than those postulated for dissociatives). As a consequence, the random noise input (necessary for any pattern matching network) becomes much stronger than the sensory input. Sensory recognition becomes increasingly less and less precise - ergo, hallucinations. LSD's effects are almost certainly more complex than this, but there may be some truth to the "control knob" idea of the biogenic amine systems. If so, then the cholinergic systems may be the "control knobs" for cognitive networks in much the same way that 5HT2A/5HT2C systems are for sensory recognition networks. Delusions may simply be the cognitive equivalent of hallucinations. Or to put it another way, the difference between thinking you look like a flower and thinking you are a flower may be a question of which network is disrupted. Memory problems derive to some extent from NMDA blockade, although some users of ketamine have remarked that DXM can have a stronger effect on memory than ketamine. It is possible that, in addition to inducing delusional thoughts, a decrease in cholinergic function could be responsible for some of the memory problems. This is certainly consistent with the effects of the delusional anticholinergics. Incidentally, the anticholinergics also affect acetylcholine receptors that govern the functioning of the heart and respiration (these receptors do not seem to be modulated by sigma activity). Recreational use of anticholinergics can be extremely dangerous, leading to collapse of respiration or heart failure. HALLUCINOGENIC DRUGS FOR INNER SPACE EXPLORATION, PART ONE by Donald DeGracia The following was written by an expert in the field of hallucinogenic drug research, and the exploration of the Inner Self. It doesn't directly relate to any DXM issues, but since DXM is a hallucinogenic substance, it can be applied to the following article. Introduction There are a variety of tools available to anyone interested in exploring altered states of consciousness. Such tools include meditation, out-of-body experiences, brain and biofeedback instruments, occult type rituals, visualization exercises, and also in this category are hallucinogenic drugs. Each of these tools provides a different doorway into the inner spaces of our subjectivity and consciousness. In this article, I would like to provide a brief overview of hallucinogenic drugs as one means among many for achieving altered states of consciousness. It is not my intention here to debate whether it is right or not to use hallucinogenic drugs, whatever is ones motive, though I will discuss the variety of opinions that exist in this regard. My purpose here is twofold: 1. to give a broad overview of hallucinogenic drugs in general, and 2. to show how hallucinogenics can provide, if used reasonably and responsibly, a valuable and substantial tool for exploring inner spaces. History Of Hallucinogenic Substances The history of mankind's involvement with hallucinogens seems to go back thousands of years. Some modern scholars speculate that the soma of the ancient Hindus was indeed a hallucinogenic substance that was used for purposes of religious ritual and ecstasy. The use of opiates in China and the Far East is well documented. The religious uses of hallucinogenic mushrooms by Native Americans is also a well documented fact, as well as being a point of controversy in modern legislation. However, the modern West only really became involved with hallucinogenic drugs after World War II. It was in 1948 that LSD was first produced from rye mold by Albert Hoffman, who was at the time looking for antibiotic substances in fungi. Also around this time, mescaline was identified as the active agent in certain hallucinogenic plants. Within a few years after being recognized, these substances began to cause severe polarization in opinions about their use and benefit. On one hand, there were in the 1950s and early 1960s, small groups of avant garde intellectuals who began to associate religious and mystical qualities with the effects of these drugs on human perception. Perhaps best known in this regard was Aldous Huxley's "The Doors of Perception", which highlighted Huxley's personal experiences on mescaline. Also in this vein was Alan Watts' "The Joyous Cosmology" which also extolled the philosophical and mystical virtues of the hallucinogenic experience. On the other hand, during this same period, hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD and mescaline were seen by the medical and psychiatric fields as being agents that seemed to simulate psychosis. Initially, the term "hallucinogenic" did not even exist. In the 1950s and 1960s these drugs were generally called "psychomimetics", meaning that their effects mimicked symptoms displayed by psychotics and paranoids. Perhaps the crowning tribute to this view of LSD was the book "One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest" by Ken Kesey, which reflected Kesey's experiences as a volunteer in medical experiments on the effects of LSD. Incidentally, Kesey, in the late 1960s went on to be one of the leaders of the West coast psychedelic movement with his "Band of Merry Pranksters" (as described in the book "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Tests"). So from the very beginning the hallucinogenic drugs have been viewed from totally opposite points of view: doctors initially equated the drugs' effects with psychosis, and intellectuals equated the drugs effects with profound religious experiences. The story of LSD climaxed in the early 1960s with the research of Timothy Leary at Harvard University. Initially, Leary, who was a Harvard psychologist researching the nature of personality, had only an impartial scientific interest in these so-called psychomemetic drugs. He soon found out however that their effects were so great as to cause him to essentially abandon his roots as an elitist East coast intellectual and to become the founding father of the psychedelic movement in the United States. It was Leary's contention that hallucinogenic drugs opened up to human perception things long lost from Western tradition, things that were well understood in older cultures and religions. Timothy Leary recognized, like other intellectuals a decade before him, that these drugs have the potential to cause profound religious and mystical experiences, experiences that could easily be distorted and misconstrued by Western reductionistic intellectuals as being symptoms of insanity. Leary, like any other person made sane by LSD, came to the conclusion that it was the modern West that was insane, not some poor individual in a psychiatric ward who was experiencing visions and hearing voices. I do not think there is a need here to attempt to recount in full the story of Timothy Leary. However, we will return to the contention that hallucinogenic drugs cause religious and mystical experiences. At this point, it is enough to say that Leary started something much bigger than himself. The psychedelic movement gained much momentum through 1965-1967, culminating with events like Woodstock. However, quick as it came, it was gone. LSD was made illegal, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin died, Leary got off his soap-box, and the United States, after failing miserably in Vietnam, drifted into a depressing 1970s. And here we are, some 20 years later. LSD has not gone away, it is simply not talked about anymore. The best of the actual psychedelic movement turned into the Grateful Dead, who have been riding a successful music career ever since. And the basement scientists who in the 1960s made and sold LSD turned into the "designer drug" community on the West Coast, giving us such wonderful poisons as "Ecstasy" (which causes severe nerve damage if taken enough - so beware!). Well, with this bit of history under our belts, I'd like to discuss a little about the hallucinogenic drugs themselves both in terms of what their subjective effects are and also what is known about how they react in the body. After that, I will then go into more detail about their use as a tool for exploring inner space. The Effects of Hallucinogenic Drugs So doctors call it insanity, and intellectuals call it enlightenment, but really, what is it? What are the effects caused when on hallucinogenic drugs? In terms of effects, one of the most important generalizations about these drugs' effects was laid out by Leary when he spoke of "set and setting". What he meant by this is that what an LSD user actually experienced was critically dependant on the user's state of mind (set) and where he was at and what company he was in (setting). This fact is completely true. It is very difficult to classify the effects of hallucinogenic because they *are* so dependent upon set and setting. If the user is depressed and in bad company, the experience will be vastly different than if the user is relaxed, happy and in good company. But, keeping this idea of "set and setting" in the front of our mind, we can still make some generalizations about the subjective effects of the LSD experience. Some of the most commonly reported effects are: o Visual hallucinations. o Audio hallucinations. o Sensory mixing (hearing sights or seeing sounds). o Weakening of ego boundaries (a weakening or loss of sense of self). o Enhanced ability to think abstractly. o The uncontrollable urge to laugh. o Enhanced ability to sense the emotions of others. o Inability to maintain focus or concentration for long periods. o Feelings of extreme joy. o Feelings of extreme depression and terror. o A direct apprehension of God. Now this list is by no means complete. It only states some of the more commonly reported effects. It is also important to state that not all of these are experienced by a LSD user. As a matter of fact it is possible that none of these effects will be experienced. It is important to be aware that: THE EFFECTS OF HALLUCINOGENIC DRUGS ARE EXTREMELY UNPREDICTABLE. The rule of "set and setting" is the best guide for anticipating what the effects of a hallucinogenic experience may be. As a matter of fact, I have a close friend who is quite experienced at the use of hallucinogens, and his rule of thumb is the following: "if you have a garden in your mind, then you'll be in it. If you have a garbage can in your mind, then you'll be in it". This is very useful advice. Explanations of Hallucinogenic Effects At this point I would like to begin to discuss what it is that these drugs are doing in the body. There is no question that hallucinogens cause profound effects. The really key question is: where do these effects come from? To answer this question I would like to lay out two very different theories of what it is the hallucinogens are doing to the human being. We will see that these theories are complimentary in that they both shed light on mode of the action of hallucinogenic drugs. However, these two theories I am about to discuss are products of vastly different world-views that most people consider to be contradictory. In this article, I take the attitude that we can learn from both. The two views of how hallucinogens affect humans that I will now discuss are the scientific view and the occult view. Both science and occultism offer reasonable and useful views about the nature of the hallucinogenic experience. However, what I intend to illustrate here is that the occult view is simply better. Let us begin with the scientific view. There are philosophical problems we must as well address as we proceed. A drug such as LSD offers a severe challenge to the conventional scientific wisdom. Science tells us that our consciousness is somehow the product of our brain; that our psychology is the software, and the brain is the hardware. At first glance, the LSD experience seems to completely support this view for we have eaten a chemical that severely alters the hardware, and thus, expectedly, alters the software (i.e. our thoughts and perceptions). For the moment, let us just accept this contention and work with it. Scientific Explanations of Hallucinogenic Effects Modern scientific investigations into the structure of the brain shows that it is made of lots of different layers of tissues such as the cortex, cerebellum and others. These tissues in turn are, in total, made of some one trillion cells. These cells are called neurons. Neurons look a lot like tree branches, branching off in myriad directions touching many, many other neurons. And the neurons align themselves like fibers, making thick tracts of cable throughout the brain. It is well known that neurons conduct electricity along themselves. This electricity is created by salts like sodium and potassium, chloride and calcium. And these salts act in the cells, much like the salts in a battery work to make electricity. Now it is also well known that neurons do not touch each other directly, but that there is a small space between adjacent neurons. This space is called a synapse. Now the way neurons conduct electricity from one to the next is that, the electrical impulse travels the length of the first or sending neuron until it gets to the synapse. At this point, the electricity at the synapse causes the first neuron to release chemicals, called neurotransmitters, into the synapse. these neurotransmitters float across the synapse where they then encounter the second or receiving neuron. Depending on the nature of the second neuron, once the neurotransmitters contact it, it will either continue the impulse (and this then would be an excititory neuron), or it will not conduct the impulse (this is an inhibitory neuron). It is important to appreciate that there are two types of neurons in the brain, excititory and inhibitory. This is important for understanding how science explains the mode of action of hallucinogenic drugs. As it turns out, the chemical structure of the hallucinogenic looks very, very similar to the chemical structure of the neurotransmitters in the brain. Scientist therefore conclude (and quite reasonably) that what happens when you take a hallucinogenic drug is that the drug gets into the brain and interferes with the normal operation of the neurotransmitters. The hallucinogenic drug fools the neurons into thinking it is a neurotransmitter and it then disrupts the normal flow of business in the neurons. Now the specific details of how this happens do not exist. Yet, because the hallucinogens expand the activity in ones consciousness, scientists believe that whatever hallucinogens are doing in the brain, ultimately they are disrupting inhibitory synapses. The idea here is that inhibitory synapsis serve a filtering function in the brain and that unwanted or unnecessary stimuli are inhibited. If hallucinogens disrupt this filtering function, then one would expect an increase in the "noise" level of the brain leading to such activities as hallucinations or even delusions. Thus, the effects of hallucinogens are generally seen by scientists to be "noise" (similar to static on a radio, for example). There is no question a certain degree of merit to this hypothesis. However, one could ask as well: are there perhaps latent functions in the brain that are turned on by hallucinogens? This point of view has not been well addressed by scientific research for the simple fact that, how can you look at something if you don't know it exists? If there are functions turned on by hallucinogenic drugs in the brain that do not normally operate in our usual states of consciousness, then scientists have nothing to compare these states to, and thus are affected by a blind spot. Still, though this question of turning on latent functions is not easily addressed in terms of scientific thinking, we shall see below that occult views provide us a basis to reasonably address this question. In spite of any hypothesis scientists may provide as to the operation of hallucinogens in the nervous system, we must put this discussion in its proper perspective. Whatever scientists may profess to know about the activity of hallucinogenic drugs is colored strongly by the fact that the current scientific understanding of how the brain and nerve cells work is highly incomplete. And this point leads us back to philosophy. Because, on one hand, scientists like to believe that the brain creates consciousness, but on the other hand, scientist have only a partial and incomplete understanding of how the brain works. This seems like putting the cart before the horse to me. It is possible that science will come to understand in very full detail how the operation of the brain leads to memory formation and other psychological phenomena. But the point is, they only have a partial understanding at this point. If you took a brain scientist (a neurologist, or neurochemist, or whatever) and sat them down and asked; "How does the brain create consciousness?" They'll either B.S. you with a bunch of details and never directly answer your question, or they will out right honestly admit that this question simply cannot be answered with current knowledge (if you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bullshit!). So, the bottom line is, that science's contention that the brain creates consciousness is more belief and dogma than it is cold, hard, provable fact. Now it's important to appreciate this situation, because what it does is leave the doorway open for alternative explanations. And in this quest for alternative explanations, we do not have to take an attitude that science is wrong and the alternatives are right, or vice versa. We can take a more balanced and reasonable attitude and realize that different explanations will give us a broader scope on the issue and therefore, in the end, make our understanding fuller than if we defensively or dogmatically cling to only one view of things. So having said this, let us turn to an alternative explanation of LSD's effects (and any other hallucinogen for that matter), and this is the explanation given by occultists. [Editor's note: The second half of this article will be continued in Issue 7 due to size limitations. Thank you for your patience.] NIGHTMARES AND PARANOID DELUSIONS by Alpha We've all been there. Well, maybe not all of us, but a large number of us can relate to what happens when you take too much DXM on a regular basis. And for all of you who are fortunate enough to not know what I'm talking about, read on, because I'm about to shed some light on the darker side of Dextromethorphan. First of all, if you abuse psychedelics on a regular basis you're setting yourself up for a strain on your mind, and quite possibly a mental collapse if you overdo it. Drugs such as LSD, when taken in large and frequent amounts, can really take a toll on the mind, not to mention other negative effects such as depression, personality changes, etc. Such is the case with DXM. Only DXM's longterm effects are much different than those with LSD or other psychedelics. Listed below are some of the things I'm talking about: o Paranoid delusions while under the influence of DXM o Longterm paranoia o Personality change o Depression o Nightmares o Slight alterations of consciousness/headaches o Breakdown/mental collapse Okay, first up is paranoid delusions while under the influence of DXM. What this means is simply becoming overly paranoid about something while you're still under the influence of the drug. Specific examples of mine are when I believed that I was having a heart attack because I had a toothache after doing a hefty amount of DXM, or when I thought I had developed lazy eye and my eye would forever be that way because I took too high a dose of DXM, or when I thought I had a hole in my throat because I couldn't feel it (since my skin was so numb), and so on. Some people feel that they have either been hurt somehow or are going to die. Unlike LSD's paranoid delusions, these delusions are more related to the body than of the mind. If you freak out on DXM, it's most likely because of something to do with your body. A friend of mine thought his throat was closing, for instance. While these can be very scary when they occur, most of them are limited to higher doses and bad trips. As the DXM wears off, you'll be fine. It's also been proven that the antihistamine found in Coricidin can affect your sinuses and even your eyes, so be careful when using large amounts of DXM in the form of Coricidin Cough & Cold. There's also instances of false psychic phenomenon occurring while on DXM. Have you ever felt you "knew" something while doing DXM... but later it turns out you were totally wrong? One time I just knew my friends had died somehow... it came to me as more than a thought, but more like a psychic flash telling me so. And I believed it with all my heart. It's so easy to get tangled up in the paranoid aspects of DXM... too easy. Whenever you find yourself starting to believe or "sense" things, tell yourself it's just part of the DXM and to ignore it, and that really does work. What's even worst than all of the above, however, is longterm paranoia, because it occurs after the DXM has worn off and you often don't realize it's happening until after you've made a fool of yourself with everyone around you. For instance, after doing DXM heavily and almost daily throughout 1997, I soon began to think that the world was going to end. I "knew" the world was going to end, and soon. I spent all day on the Web researching Nostradamus, etc., and as every day passed by, these feelings grew stronger and stronger, until finally I had to see a psychologist. There has also been an impending sense of doom related to taking too much DXM too frequently. The sad thing with these sorts of paranoia are the fact that you don't realize they're even occurring because you're no longer under the influence of DXM... but trust me, DXM can affect you long after the trip wears off. Simple things like this equation just added to my paranoid hysteria: 3 x 666 = 1998 I figured that since there were 3 Antichrists (the third one yet to come) according to Nostradamus, and the number 666, being the Mark of the Beast, obviously meant there might be a major event unfolding in 1998 since the Bible said he who is wise can calculate the number 666, and calculate obviously met manipulate with a mathematical function. What was even scarier was when I read that Nostradamus wrote that in the seventh month of 1999, the "Great Terror" from the sky will come down upon all of mankind. Since he actually named a month and a year, this just added to my delusions of impending doom and death. All these are just examples of how these simple paranoias can grow out of control and totally envelope your life. If you do stop using DXM and can get thru the withdrawal symptoms, then all this will eventually go away, but it took about two months until it eventually subsided for me and I could see clearly what all DXM had done to me. Another sad aspect of doing too much DXM is personality change. Many people who I had contact with on chatlines over the Internet went thru subtle personality changes until finally they seemed like totally different individuals. And these personality changes weren't for the better. More often than not, they'd become moody, depressed people who acted totally opposite than how they should have, and lost a great deal of friends over it. They'd also babble and make crazy rantings about ideas and theories, and often go off on their own and be by themselves. Over-use of DXM is the perfect way to isolate yourself and stay in your room all the time. You get lost in the paranoid and ethereal world of DXM, like a prisoner who is blindfolded and led thru a dense forest, only to be abandoned by his captors. Like all the other paranoid aspects of longterm use, your personality will eventually change back to normal, but not until after you've stopped using DXM for a substantial amount of time and no longer go thru withdrawal symptoms. Depression is just another part of personality changes, but it happens more frequently than you'd expect. Even mild depression occurs frequently between trips. Some people only go back to DXM again and again because they get bored and depressed after stopping its use. This just leads to a snowball effect which can eventually lead to other problems. By taking certain antidepressants such as Effexor, you may be able to stop a lot of the depression, but more natural remedies such as St. John's Wort are recommended, because most drug interactions aren't clearly known. Depression only seems to go away when you beat the symptoms of withdrawal, because depression is one of withdrawal's biggest symptoms. Nightmares are another symptom of withdrawal. Usually the dreams are vivid and emotionally terrifying. When you stop DXM after frequent use, you'll notice a few days later that you start getting vivid nightmares, which only go away when you do more DXM. While some users report that nightmares can be fun, these nightmares can get way out of hand and you may end up getting 7 or 8 a night and waking up in a cold sweat, frightened out of your mind. I've dreamed of everything from the end of the world to ghosts and the police pursuing me. Now I realize that most of these nightmares were based on the same paranoid realizations that occurred during waking hours on DXM use and after-use. These nightmares will go away only when you beat DXM withdrawal, but often nightmares are the easiest things to pass by. Usually they recede faster than the other withdrawal symtpoms such as headaches and depression. If you survive the nightmares, then a second barrage of slight alterations of consciousness can occur, which may be more like head rushes or headaches to some users. At either rate, I've gone far enough in the past to get rid of the nightmares (about a week after ceasing use of DXM) but then the headaches and head rushes got so intense I couldn't go for more than 5 minutes without one of these occurring, and it wasn't pleasant at all. Like I said, the only way you can get rid of them once they start is by either taking more DXM or by continuing to put up with them until eventually they subside, which could be a few weeks later. Finally there is breakdown. Mental collapse. It's all the same. I've had two instances of this. The first one came on a rainy day when I had stayed over at a friend's house and got my car stuck in the ditch overnight. I couldn't wake my friend up and was locked out of the house, so I walked home in the pouring rain at 4 AM which took several hours, and got a ride from a neighbor the following day back to my friend's house (my parents weren't around), only to find my car was vandalized and the sides dented in with a hammer of some sort. I was out of drugs, my parents were about to kick me out of the house, I was also paranoid and delusional, and appeared to have nothing. I just wanted to kill myself. But I remembered the words my friend told me... "At least now it can only get better." And it did. I believe the DXM made what would've just been a real bad day into a totally breakdown for me. As the day went on, a darker and darker cloud developed above me and I never had such a lonely, desperate feeling of anguish and pain in my life. Of all the fun I had on this drug, and all the wonderful memories it made, I knew this was the end... it had finally come to this. It was over. To look on the bright side, I eventually recovered and got a job and spaced the DXM out to once a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. Right now I do DXM every couple days, and whenever I get paranoid about something I wouldn't normally, I say to myself "It's just the DXM" and forget about it. And it really does work. So now I hope I have shed some light on what you should expect if you're an adventerous psychonaut who is planning on doing Dextromethorphan on a frequent basis. Be careful! TRIPPING IN VIRGINIA BEACH by Gravol The summer of 1998 found me on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, with two friends at a condo and a load of drugs. This also meant much fun, and many experiences with visiting new places and people. One such experience was the day that we all decided to head up to Hampton, Va. and later to Virginia Beach. We started out by clean- ing up the car, vacuuming it out and later washing it at one of those cheap car wash places. Anyway, we stopped at the local Kmart and my friend stole a box of Coricidin Cough & Cold and later took 10-12 pills (300-360mg). Keep in mind that he is 6'7 and weighs about 200lbs. My other friend declined to take any. And since I can't stand Coricidin because of the antihistamine, we then went to Walmart and I bought some cough syrup. Since Robitussin wasn't available, I had to settle for Vicks. A very thick and nasty- tasting experience, I chugged the bottle after getting back onto mainland North Carolina from the Outer Banks, followed by 3 or 4 Coricidin pills. We then headed north in my silver 1973 Buick Electra into Virginia but ran into some major traffic near the Hampton Tunnel. We were heading to Hampton first so I could meet a fellow female friend that I got to know from IRC (Internet Relay Chat)... her name was Amber. Anyway, after what should've been a 1 hour drive turned into a 3-4 hour drive, we finally made it to Amber's house. About this same time, we were peaking on DXM. As we pulled up and parked on the side of the road which seemed to be a dangerous neighborhood, we began to get second thoughts. However, as we were all standing around my car, Amber drove up and parked in her driveway and invited us into her house. Inside we met her mom and sat in the back room while a talking parrot rambled on in the front room. I took things pretty calmly, but I could tell my one friend who took the Coricidin was starting to freak out. We went up there for the sole purpose of finding some marijuana, so I had Amber make some calls and finally, it was time to go pick up a half ounce. We all got in the car and headed over a couple streets to her friend's house. This was when the Hell began for my other two friends. Once inside, we met a guy that was at least 6'4 and 350lbs. He was tremendously big and muscular, and was ranting and raving about how a machine gun was stolen from his house the other week. We had to sit around for a while too until it was time to go pick up the weed. In the meantime, this ogre was starting to freak out my friends, but I still took things pretty mellow. His other friend was about my size and wore glasses... not a likely match for the two... kind of reminded me of Laurel & Hardy, only these guys were no laughing matter, at least for us. Finally, the call was made and it was time to go pick up the weed. Tripping quite hard, I got in the car with the second guy (the one who wore the glasses) and Amber, with me sitting in the back seat. We headed to some unknown neighborhood, and I mentioned how we were going to Virginia Beach later that day, but was warned that it probably wouldn't be a good idea since there were a lot of cops there. But I didn't really care... this was a once-in- a-lifetime experience and since my parents lived in Va. Beach in the 60's, I kind of wanted to see what it was like. Anyway, we got to the house where we were to pick up the weed and inside we met the dealer's pretty girlfriend. She let me weigh it out on the scale and I paid approximately what I would've paid for a quarter in Ohio, so I was pretty pleased. However, there was hardly any odor from the bag and the guy who was with us mentioned how there were probably "additives" in it, without really going into further detail. We drove back to the ogre's house where I found my two friends looking very pale. After we left and dropped Amber off, they explained to me that they were scared for their life, and they actually thought that they were about to die in that guy's house. I guess a lot happened while I was away picking up the weed, but I attributed most of it to my friend's DXM trip and simple paranoia. In the meantime, back at Amber's, we smoked two joints simultaneously and then decided to head to Va. Beach at that point. I said goodbye to Amber and had my friend who didn't take any DXM drive. But something wasn't right... it was as if the weed was laced with crack, and all of our hearts were racing. I can still hear my one friend's shakey voice saying "My shit doesn't feel right." This only freaked us out more and we thought at any minute we were all going to die of heart- attacks. But things wore off (at least the crack-like effects of the weed did) and with the easing of the DXM trip, so did our paranoias dissipate, so everything was looking good by the time we were cruising down the main road (which appeared to be The Strip) in Va. Beach. There was no boardwalk... just this long road, parallel to the beach, with a ton of people walking on the sidewalk and going in and out of the shops. We decided to park and went up to where a band was playing some classic rock. We went to a food stand and then sat down on the grass with our grub and chowed down (which is very common after starting to come down from DXM) while listening to the band and watching the day begin to turn into evening. I can still remember the pretty sky, and the white swirls of clouds against a pale blue backdrop, and the ocean gleaming in what was left of the day's sunlight. It was a wonderful experience, and a perfect way to end what started out as a scary day. After we ate, we got in the car and headed back to the Outer Banks and to our condo. The weed lasted us the entire rest of the vacation, and we never again experienced the weird effects that were experienced the first time we smoked it. But then again, we never again did DXM during that vacation. Just another wonderful day in the world of DXM... REDOSING IN NEW ZEALAND by Yahuel [Editor's note: Yahuel is a 38-year-old male, weighing 75 kg. The initial dose was 320 mg and the second dose was also 320 mg.] After a couple of low plateau experiences under my belt I was feeling a little more ambitious. Previously I had dosed on 160 and 240mg and experienced some but not all of the effects and few of the side effects mentioned in the FAQ and other web sources. In my country (New Zealand) the only source of pure off the shelf DXM is in a cough suppressant lozenge which contains a paltry 5mg per loz. So my first foray involved 2 boxes of 16 loz. and my second involved 3 boxes or 48 loz. I have never experienced nausea or any other gastro intestinal effects and I attribute this to two reasons: o I ALWAYS take DXM on an empty stomach and NEVER eat when I'm high. o I only take DXM, no other active ingredients like guaiefensin or pseudoephedrine. So, anyhoo, this particular day I decided to drive down to visit my best buddy and turn him onto DXM if he was keen, which he was. We had done weed, acid, e and San Pedro cactus together so were no strangers to the High frontier. After much searching we finally found a supermarket which had these particular lozenges in stock. I still relish the experience of buying DXM. I've been busted for buying acid so being able to purchase potent psychedelic drugs over the counter legally from the local mall is a thrill in itself. The plan was for me to take 4 packets and my friend Mike to take 3. This would give us both around 4mg/kg for a moderate 2nd plateau dose. These lozenges are a real asspain to take, menthol and aniseed or licorice flavor overdose! But thats a small price to pay. So it took me about 30 minutes to crunch my way thru the 64 loz and Mike took about 45 minutes to eat his 48. Mike found the taste of the lozenges to be most unpleasant. Then we waited for a bus to take us into the city to maybe catch the opening day of the XFiles movie. By the time we got to the theatre I was on a full body stone and having serious doubts about exposing my raw soft wet brain to the XFiles paranoia scenario. So we nixed the movie idea and opted to walk around the city and talk some. My sense of smell was incredibly heightened. I remember smelling the fart of some guys who were about 50 yards ahead of us down the road. It smelt neither pleasant or unpleasant, it was just fart molecules. Spoor. I remember also an incredible sensation when I sat and closed my eyes: the sensation was of being carried upwards and backwards, as if I was sitting on an escalator travelling at high speed. I remember trying to alter the direction to upwards and forwards and "realised" that for me, backwards = the past = myself = memory = the known = comfort = naivete while to go forward would mean embracing the opposite qualities: the future = others = plans and dreams = the mystery = risk = responsibility. There was a very clear "directive": if you want to go forward an upward, then this is the ride that you are signing on for. So I chose forward and upward and away I went. Most of that night was passed in a pleasantly stoned frame of mind. We caught the bus back to his place and watched some TV and talked before bed. He reported that he was having somewhat of a bad trip and was seeing the world as being empty and meaningless. I pointed out that he was making this "insight" mean something. When he realised that his supposed insight was itself meaningless in its own terms he was able to drop it and his mood brightened considerably. The poor guy had to work the next morning whereas I was on vacation and this may also have contributed to just how much more of a better trip I was having. As I drifted off to sleep I felt as though some kind of sentient mothership-type being was somehow standing gaurd over me while sending down little shuttle craft which relayed messages back and forth between us. It was all very pretty with speilberg twinkly-light stuff and did not seem to be at all unusual at the time. The next morning I woke up at 11(!), wrote Mike a letter and wrote a little in my journal. I skipped breakfast, deciding to fast for the rest of the day. By "fast" I mean drink water only. I hopped in my car feeling mildly exhilarated and cleansed and commenced the 2 hour drive home. I had originally left home with the intention of driving up into the wilderness for two nights, but had opted on a whim to visit my friend instead. This time my whim hadn't settled on whether to return home or make the 5 hour drive up to the wilderness for one night and then home the next morning. I opted for the wilderness and opted also to repeat my previous nights dosage. (Kids, don't try this at home!) The place I was headed is a special place: a hidden cave on a steep hillside overlooking the sea. I had tripped there before and was keen to take some DXM there, get on up to that Second Plateau and then come what may! About one hour from my destination, I started munching my way through the 64 loz and had downed them all in about 25 minutes with no problem. I had some amazing choral music (Thomas Tallis's Motet in 40 voices: Spem in Allium 500 year old Psychedelic Church Music!) on the tapedeck as I drove, and was feeling very high and happy. Not the least intoxicated, just really refreshed and glad to be where and who I was. I arrived at my destination just as the wintry sun was setting. I had chosen this particular date because it was full moon and that would make it easier to find my way for walking on the beach etc. Unfortunately the sky was darkened with low thick cloud cover and the only light was my torch and the sweep of a far off lighthouse. I packed my sleeping bag, a towel, a torch some water and my journal and set off to try and find the cave. Big mistake. The cave is as I said well hidden, and not easy to locate at the best of times, in broad daylight with a clear head. Also, it had been raining heavily in this region and the stream I had to wade was almost waist-deep rather than knee-deep. The water did not feel cold or wet. I was aware only of the weight and resistance of the water and my now saturated-from- the-waist-down-clothing. Across the stream the progress was even worse: the heavy rain had turned most of the hillside into a bog, with landslides here and there to confuse things even further. And thats when my sense of balance left me! Oops! Carrying a backpack up the side of a muddy scrubby hillside in pitch darkness about 100 feet above sea level. I spent more of the next 1/2 hour on my ass than on my feet, but I remained jubilant and still confident of finding the cave, which by now had become something of a point of personal honour: The Quest for the Cave. I was by this stage feeling no pain, literally. I didn't feel the least bit cold although I could see my legs shaking. I was however still capable of rational thought because I remember thinking about the three Ws: windchill, wetness and winter and concluded that I stood a very high chance of suffering hypothermia and perhaps facing actual death rather than simply ego death! The degree of intoxication I was experiencing went way beyond that of the previous night. Whether this was a simple result of re-dosing or was exacerbated by my fasting I don't know (it was by now some 30 hours since my previous meal -not, of course, counting the 128 lozenges!). More than once I collapsed from loss of balance and lay too exhausted to get up. More than once I found myself stuck, literally mired in ankle deep mud, beset by brambles and bushes. While part of me was still definitely attending to the ongoing tasks of risk management and survival, another part of me was still feeling incredibly clear, peaceful and happy, almost exhilerated. I finally concluded that my best hope for survival was to try and make it back to the car. The three risks being death by exposure to the elements (it had by now begun to rain as well as gust (presumably!) icy winds, death by falling off the hillside onto the rocks below or death by drowning: falling into the sea, or losing my balance in the river and being swept out into the ocean. It was an exhilerating and truly adventurous journey back to the car, not without moments of peril. All the way I felt, however, as though I was being helped. Not necessarily by other entities, maybe just by inner reserves of strength and survivability which I had never known I had. All the while the sense of exhilaration never left me. I found myself repeating like a mantra the intention of that evenings trip: "to deepen my experience and further my adventure!" over and over again, all the way back to the car. And at no stage did I feel like I had failed in my mission to find the cave. In my state of high exhileration there was simply no place for thoughts of failure. I peeled off all my wet clothes and dried myslf with the towel before climbing into my sleeping bag and making myself comfortable in the front passenger seat of the car. I put on a tape (Sheila Chandra's The Zen Kiss), found some dried apricots and almonds and started to eat- not from any sense of hunger but rather to replace te energy I knew I had lost up on the hill- side. Finally I could close my eyes... and WOW! This extraordinary spectacle was unlike anything I've ever experienced before or since. Mere language cannot convey the majesty and power of the everchanging spectactle before me. It was beyond words. It was Third Plateau. I remember taking out a piece of fragrant amber from a small box in my jacket and inhaling its pungent fragrance in one mighty sniff. As I did so with my eyes closed, the face of an angelic being drawn somewhat in a cartoon or airbrushed style appeared in the midst of the shifting visual kaleidoscope that was previously my all. She was smiling. Amidst all the multimedia, sensory overload synesthesia euphoria, I still had the presence of mind to turn off the car stereo, so as not to flatten the car battery. All night I drifted in and out of pleromic hyperreality, aware of the sound of rainfall on the car roof and the multiple images of the cars digital clock. I remember the feeling of leaving my body and how OK it was to do that and remember learning how dying is a good thing waiting for me, not a bad thing, and I can remember finding my soul and embracing it and bringing it back, and wondering in an amused way: ‘How on earth did I ever think I could make it on earth without THIS?! The next morning at 6 a.m., some 14 hours after second dose ingestion, and 35 hours after first dose I awoke feeling refreshed and ready for the drive home. I was still somewhat intoxicated, I now realise, although at the time I felt fine. (Note: In NO way do I recommend driving, wading rivers or rockclimbing on DXM. I was stupid to do DXM without having a sober sitter to take care of me. I've learned my lesson. If you're smart you'll learn from my lesson too!) About 40 minutes into the drive home, everything suddenly shifted into sharp focus and I realised that for the previous 40 minutes I must have been fighting to maintain binocular vision. The rest of the journey home was uneventful. My overall feeling was of being blessed: Peace on Earth and Goodwill to all! Looking back through my journal for those 72 hours I find the following jottings: o The body is alive and intelligent at every level. o Patterns which satisfy, persist. o I am a sacred pure being at every level. o An entity which we cannot relate to meaningfully becomes (or is) just a "thing." o To move beyond something, seek not its opposite but rather be free to have the thing, its opposite, and the unknown. o The universe is alive and sentient at every level. o There are levels which we cannot apprehend or comprehend. Much Love and Blessings to my Brother and Sister Psychonauts. MY THEORY ON LIFE, EXISTANCE, AND THE UNIVERSE by Gravol These are my beliefs as to what happens when we die, and the whole working of the Universe. Keep in mind that this is just not my personal experience, but the result of several years of research I've done from religious documents, out-of-body reports, and my own experiences with DXM and astral projection. If it weren't for DXM, I would probably not have a full understanding of these beliefs, but DXM has helped me perceive life in a much fuller way... in a more complete way, and for that I am very grateful. Now, as far as my theory goes, the universe is made up of dimensions. We are in the 3rd dimension right now... the 3rd dimension is made up of matter, and material things. The next dimension is the 4th dimension, which is where we go when we die. In this dimension thought becomes reality... thought takes on a form similar to matter in this dimension... and there is perfection like no other that we know. Did you know that you can't even draw a perfect circle? It's impossible... it's also impossible to perfect anything in this dimension. However, the dimensions overlap... that's why we exist in both our bodily and mental states. Think of it this way... your brain dies, but your mind goes on. Whatever knowledge you gain in this lifetime will only help you in the next dimension. A little more about the 4th dimension... you can visit it without actually dying, thru astral projection... and its description from people who have visited there is similar to the Bible's description of Heaven. The 4th dimension is basically what the Bible calls Heaven. Hell was only instituted to force people into believing religion. Look back to the Middle Ages, when you could pay off your sins with money, even before you sinned. These same people also said if you don't come to my church, you're going to burn in Hell. What kind of love and universal character is that? Surely God isn't that way... and I assure you, He's not. At the top of all these dimensions is God, and he is all-powerful. It doesn't matter what religion you are... or what you believe in... the Great Power still exists... you can call it whatever you want... but He is your creator and your sole existance. And all we're doing is moving up from one dimension to the next... not back down. However, to pass from one dimension to the next, you must become a more spiritually developed being, and that brings me back to this dimension... the planet Earth. We are all volunteers... we existed before we were born but we retain no memory of this. We, the brave ones, volunteered to come to this Earth as a test to accomplish some sort of mission, which is also unknown to us at this present time, and then die. By completing this mission, you are developing into a higher spiritual being and are capable of moving onto higher realms. But you must complete your current mission... life. People ask why their son may have been killed after just living a few days, or other similar tragedies, and I tell them their son was put on this earth to bring the family closer together... perhaps their son's mission was to create the atmosphere and situation that would allow his parents to bond and experience the grief of losing a newborn. Nobody is taken out of this world without first accomplishing their mission, unless they commit suicide. If you don't kill yourself, then you will accomplish your mission. Now, there's also a thing called Karma I believe in. What goes around comes around... you're going to have as many really good days as really bad days. And all the other days are going to be so-so. Don't you notice how life evens out? If you do something you know is wrong, maybe a day or two later something just as bad will happen to you... but it's all by coincidence. You can't prove a thing. But it's the great circle of life... Karma. That's where Cosmic Coincidence Control comes in... your life is controled by forces both good and evil... thru the result of coincidences. You can't prove them... they just happen, and the only thing you can do is to keep on living your life the way you were. If you command a ghost to appear before your eyes, it won't... because otherwise it wouldn't be a coincidence anymore, now would it? There's also Fate... the day you die, along with your life's mission, is already planned out. Just think back to when you were two years old... what if you woke up an hour later than you actually did, thus eating breakfast an hour later, forcing your mom to miss her flight... a flight in which the plane crashes and everyone onboard dies. Little things like that can influence larger things... matters of life-and-death. Do you really think you'd be on this Earth still if something wasn't keeping you here, wanting you to accomplish a mission? Do you think you shouldn't go thru pain to accomplish your mission? All of the pain and tragedy of life must be experienced to be able to develop into a higher spiritual being. Some quick notes... if you ever use DXM to leave your body, you may see thought forms because you are in the 4th dimension. These are people's thoughts, hovering over time and space like clouds... for instance, if a couch is in a room for 30 years, and one day it is moved away and you visit that place at night while leaving your body, you'll still see the couch because of the lasting thought impression it left... everyone else's thoughts of that couch still exist, and everyone still expects to find it there... even tho the actual couch is gone, the thought form of it still exists, and slowly fades with time. Did you ever break up with a girlfriend and become depressed because you found yourself thinking of her day in and day out? Well, this is the same thing... that's how powerful thought can be. And as far as ghosts are concerned, they are simply souls that don't want to move on because of loved ones that are still living, or they have grown so attached to someplace on Earth that they refuse to leave it... they are somewhere inbetween the 3rd and 4th dimensions, and that's why you can see ghosts but not all the other dead people. It has also been proven that upon death the body weighs slightly less, which philosophers believe to be the astral material of the body departing. When you die, you visit your loved ones and float up thru a tunnel of light to meet your maker. All the pain and heartache that you've caused everyone else must be experienced by YOU... like I said, what goes around comes around... you will feel in a split second everything bad you've ever done to someone. But then all the love and kindness you've ever given out will also be experienced by you... and a complete evaluation of your life follows. I realize this is going very deep, but this is truly what I believe happens, and this is truly how I believe the universe is made up. No joke. That's why I must keep on living, and give out as much love and friendship as I can, and at the same time gain as much knowledge and insight into life and everything else that may someday be able to aide me on my journey. I hope I have shed some light into the way things work... like I said, it matters not what your religion is... it only matters who YOU are. SPACE ALIEN CONSPIRACY by Anonymous It started out as any other day... I woke up, got in the shower, and ran to the local Publix to buy 8oz of Robitussin Max Strength Cough. I usually only bought 4oz, but today was special... my parents were gone all day and I had the house to myself... so I decided to up the maximum dosage to approximately 700mg and have a fun-filled day. That is not what happened, however... I ingested the syrup, a fourth of the bottle at a time, every fifteen minutes or so. Pretty soon I was feeling the effects, and it only grew stronger. After trying to get online and type, I found it to be pretty much useless, so I laid down on my parents king- sized bed and got under the covers. I closed my eyes and immediately was taken into another world. I saw myself hovering by some large spacecraft, then all of a sudden I felt like I was being beamed up to the spacecraft and next thing I knew I was onboard, and some alien-looking being was standing directly in front of me. He had a narrow, slender body and a large head with two large slanted black eyes... since all of this was in the form of closed-eye hallucinations, he looked pretty sketchy, but I could still make out clearly what it was and what was happening. Next thing I knew he reached inside me and a tremendous wind ripped thru me from up into the atmosphere, and he kept reaching deeper, until finally he joined all the energy that was flooding into my body and actually entered me thru my chest area. Next thing I know, I was lost in the world of the 3rd plateau, floating around aimlessly, seeing CEV after CEV, not knowing what to do... I could barely breathe, walk, talk, see, hear, or move... and everytime I shut my eyes reality was totally obliterated and I saw things such as my dead grandfather jump out of his coffin and kiss my grandmother (who is still alive) and stuff like that. These were 3D visuals, clear as day, but more like a pencil sketch than full of color... and they were full of life. I saw hour after hour of them, though I forget what most of them were... in fact, I forget what all of them were... it was much like a dream... you know what is happening at the time but upon later examination, you find that you've forgotten just about everything that happened. Finally, it turned into a worse and worse trip for me. As the peak wore off, I could still not see straight, nor could I hardly walk or do anything... the time on the clock read 2:22 and seemed to stay that way for an eternity. It wasn't until after 3pm or 4pm when I could again open my eyes and make out shapes and objects. A number of times I jumped up gasping for breath, thinking that the end was finally here... and cursing myself for every trying that much cough syrup. Yes, I've done high plateau trips before... but I always forget how bad they are until after I experience them. Anyway, to get back on the subject... the trip finally wore off but I was feeling high all day long and into the next day. Then I got an email from my friend up North... it seems that what I had told him about Karma and Cosmic Coincidence Control came true for him. While he was down here visiting, I told him once while tripping on DXM about Karma and how what goes around will come around... and how you shouldn't do bad stuff or else you'll have something else bad happen to you. Especially if you're a DXM user... Anyway, while he was down here he broke into someone's house to steal some pills and I did know about it, but didn't participate in it. My punishment came later that night when we had some friends over in my house and my parents came home early to find beer bottles and blunts everywhere. Needless to say I got the car keys taken away, the house key taken away, and was totally grounded. My friend didn't receive his punishment until after he went back up North. The email he sent me follows. Subj: (removed) Date: 9/19/98 2:53:25 AM EST From: (removed) To: (removed) what did i do, man i wish i would have never done that at (removed) house, i'm getting the negative effects bad, damn, man, tonite, i got fucked again. what am i going to do, i got another ticket, but for a first degree misdemeanor, man, i can't take this much longer, i really can't, i don't know what to say to my parents, and i have to go to court on this friday, and that's when i am supposed to go to school, fuck, man what did i do to get all this shit, i don't have this money to pay for all this shit, man, i really don't know, what to do, i'm going crazy, it was for (removed) bought some beer with money that we gave him, and we got fucked, for chipping in, man, i swear there is some negative vibes all over me, and i can feel it, i can feel the heat, just like tonite i knew someone was watching us, i felt it, but i couldn't do anything about it cause i didn't know what it was, then bbaammmmmmmm we got hit up, by two undercover feds. i swear man, i'm loosing my wits, what the fuck am i going to do, i really hope they let me off this easy, i'm going crazy sorry, i didn't die on the air flite, but i'm getting punished, right now, i'm feeling the guilt. damn, and i hate it and i'm scared. damn. well i need a smoke so i'll talk with you later, i'm quitting it all, i think, i can't take all this bull shit, and that's what it is, damn. i hate it. well take care, and hope things are looking up for you. see ya, your bud. Anyway, it's pretty freaky about what happened and I wish him the best of luck with his problems. And remember what I say about Karma... what goes around really does come around, it seems. And watch out for those aliens... the bad ones are up to no good. :) A FISHY EXPERIENCE by Legion The moment I heard that DXM could get you high I rushed to the pharmacy and bought a wonderful product which is made out of DXM on a mix of natural ingredients. After that, at my house alone I started working on my computer and decided to use it. Since I wasn't waiting for a major experience I drank the dose while working on the computer. After a few minutes I started to get deeper and deeper inside the computer. Then, my head started to gain weight and my eyes where closing. At that moment I realized that the DXM was acting a lot faster and more intense than I was expecting. I saved my work and arranged a quick "set and setting"; prepared my stereo with my "tripping" music, then I putted the beanbag between the two speakers, turned off the lights and sat. The visuals, even though not as intense as with DMT (mostly colorful lights), I felt they were real, palpable. The most impressive characteristic was the physical sensation. It is difficult to describe with words but if you have used DMT, X and Special K, imagine them together. I was lucky, not everybody obtains a psychedelic experience with DXM. [Editor's note: this statement is not necessarily true; it depends on a variety of factors as to whether or not you have a "psychedelic" experience... namely your body weight, the amount you take, and whether or not you have a certain enzyme that allows metabolism of DXM.] The most incredible visual was an entity that appeared floating over me. It was looking at me and slowly getting it's face closer to mine. Suddenly it started to introduce itself to my body through my mouth while I was trying to pull it out. I kept trying without success. When it was almost completely inside i tried one more time and pulled it out. When I looked at my hand I saw that what I pulled out was the entity's skeleton which had the shape of a fish skeleton. What was kind of strange was the feeling of peace I had while this was happening. [Editor's note: I have had similar experiences where "entities" have tried to enter my body.] About 5 hours later my roommates found me in the same place I started the trip and still tripping. My girlfriend helped me stand up (I lost a lot of my body's control) and took me to bed where I instantly fell sleep. About two hours later I woke up and tried to tell my girlfriend about the incredible trip I had but I still couldn't talk very well. [Editor's note: It is very common not to be able to talk after ingesting a sufficient amount of DXM.] COUGH SYRUP EXTRACTION by Anonymous [Editor's note: This message was posted anonymously to the alt.drugs newsgroup.] What follows is the procedure and effects of extracting Dextromethorphan hydrobromide from OTC cough syrup. Materials: o Methanol (used automobile product "HEET" as tech grade methanol, $.79) o Sodium Hydroxide (used lye in form of "Red Devil Lye drain cleaner," $1.88) o 8 oz (250mL) bottle Robotussin Maximum Strength Cough, $6.76 o (5) Drixoral Cough Caps (optional, about $4.99 for box/10) o 500mL Beakers o 250mL Beakers o 50mL flask o Coffee filter-basket type o Funnel o Stirring rod o Empty gelatin capsules [Editor's note: The Drixoral Cough Caps are no longer available. Use syrup instead.] Note: I had previously taken the liquid out of 20 Drixoral Cough caps and collected it in an ampule for quicker administration (the 20 gelcaps previously had upset my stomach and I don't like the time it takes for them to dissolve). I had 5 Cough Caps remaining and decided to use the fluid out of them in my extraction to "boost the octane" and compensate for the likely loss of product that would occur in the extraction. I mention this because it wasn't necessary to the procedure. Admittedly, I don't know what form of DXM is in the Cough Caps and how they could have affected the extraction, but I'm guessing not much. Precautions: The solutions of NaOH and water, as well as the overall mixture are very basic and can burn your skin. Wear latex gloves, wash your hands thoroughly many times, and try not to spill ;-) Procedure: The entire bottle of cough syrup was poured into a 500mL container. The additional DXM fluid from the Cough Caps was poured in. In another container a solution of 200mL water and approximately 2 grams of sodium hydroxide was prepared, then poured into the cough syrup. The mixture was stirred until a pinkish milky emulsion formed. At this time 50mL of methanol was added and stirred. The mixture was covered and let stand. At :30 minutes after the addition of the methanol no settling of any solid product was observed. Another solution of 30mL water and 1 gram sodium hydroxide was added, followed by 30mL more methanol. At 1:30 there were still no signs of settling. Dejected, I decided to put the mess away for the rest of the day. The next day, after approximately 20 hours had elapsed, the container had a scum of whitish particles on its bottom, floating on the surface of the mixture, and suspended in the mixture. The coffee filter was folded to fit a funnel, which was put in the mouth of a large jar. Filtering the mixture took almost half an hour as the sediment quickly clogged the coffee filter. Fresh water was periodically used to wash the filter paper down and concentrate the sediment in the cone of the funnel. After all the mixture was filtered another 200mL of water was passed through the filter to wash the sediment and remove any remaining mixture. This is an important step! The DXM is in its base form and water can't hurt it, so the more water the safer. The filter was opened up and a thimbleful of crystalline, fluffy wet off-white powder was it its center. This was allowed to dry for an hour. A razor blade was used to scrape it off the filter and the powder was loaded into a gelatin capsule. Given its weight, the amount of product seemed consistent with 900mg or less of DXM (the amount going into the procedure). Comments: I think I jumped the gun when nothing was observed after thirty minutes. Maybe the extra NaOH didn't hurt, but the added methanol probably just dissolved the DXM back into solution and made me wait longer. Oh well. Other brands of cough syrup contain alcohol, so they may not even need the methanol. The filtered liquid has been sitting in a flask now for a week and practically no sediment has showed up. Subjective effects: Setting was a walk on easy hiking trails in a state park well known to me. Weekend, no demands on my time, etc. Nice day. The capsule was taken at 1:30pm. No discernable effects were felt until 3:10, when an intense but quick episode of stomach pain occured. It lasted about five or ten minutes, and was gone. At 3:30 effects came on rapidly. Felt cross-eyed, sudden lack of concern for what other hikers might think if they saw me. Tried out a exercise from one of the Castaneda/Don Juan books where you cross your eyes to merge two pebbles into one and then examine details, but I was too easily distracted to maintain it. I had been getting weary but now I was full of energy again. There was an immense satisfaction in sitting on the ground and examining plant structures. There was the familiar "time-dilation" effect where something thrown into the air seems to linger there endlessly. Occasional, casual insights (i.e. "this would be a great place to read a book!" or "mud is cool!") but nothing to earth (or me) shattering. By 6:30 effects were noticably tapering. By 9:00 I felt almost totally "normal" except of that bizarre DXM "edge" one gets for the next 32 hours. Comments: Well, the time delay after dosing was peculiar. Taken as a syryp I notice effects at about thirty minutes usually. Is it possible that the gelatin capsule could have been prevented from dissolving properly? it was taken with plenty of water. The effects were within what I've come to expect from DXM, that is they had a "DXM feel" to them. They came on very swiftly (from initial effects to full in about 3 minutes!), though, which may be what other people are talking about when they say the free base has a stronger effect. There was a very "in the body" feeling to this, though. Also, once the experience was beginning to subside, I came down very quickly. Unfortunately I don't have access to a balance so I don't know exactly how much I took, but it had to be less than 900mg. A comment on this procedure from DXM FAQ author William White: Date: Sun, 28 Jan 1996 15:50:35 -0800 From: William White (bwhite@oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu) The listed DXM extraction process suggests using methanol as an extraction solvent. This isn't advisable due to the possibility of extracting NaOH along with the DXM; furthermore, DXM free base itself is only moderately soluble in methanol. A totally nonpolar solvent (e.g., naptha) is preferred, and can even be used with DXM plus guaifenesin syrups. MISCELLANEOUS DXM TIDBITS by various authors Severe Histamine Reaction Theory Some users have reported severe reactions after either suffering from hay fever or taking certain drugs for the treatment of allergies such as Claritin and Allegra. Peter Helyar writes: My take on this one is that there is the potential for some significant adverse effect in some people. My own experience (posted a week or so ago) included what I interpret as a fairly severe histamine reaction. It might be interesting to find out if Jane Ellis has other problems with histamines - for instance hay fever. A friend of mine who happens to be a nurse is the one who first proposed this theory. I would very much appreciate anything anyone here has to offer in the way of more educated viewpoints on the subject. If it gets posted soon enough, I might even get to read it before I experiment with the combination of 540mg DXM and 50mg Benadryl which my nurse friend suggested. In the meantime, it might be wise for any sufferers of hay fever to move very carefully with this stuff, in case there is a corelation. What A Medical Source Has To Say About DXM From "The Merk Manual" 16th edition: Dextromethorphan: a congener of the narcotic analgesic levorphanol, possesses no significant analgesic or sedative properties, does not repress respiration in usual doses, and is nonaddictive. No evidence of tolerance has been found during long- term use. The average dosage for adults is 15 to 30 mg. 3 to 4 times/day. Given as a tablet or syrup; for children 1mg/kg/day is given in divided doses. Extremely high doses may depress respiration [It acts to] inhibit or supress the cough reflex by depressing the medullary cough center or associated higher centers. [Editor's note: Several statements in the above paragraph are obviously false, having to do with DXM being nonaddictive and no evidence of tolerance. It may be true, however, that in small doses there is no addiction or tolerance, but it fails to mention what "extremely high doses" consist of.] Guaifenesin: is the most commonly used expectorant in OTC cough remedies. It has no serious side effects, but there is no clear evidence for its efficacy. Some Terms Defined From "Dorland's Pocket Medical Dictionary" 23rd edition: o Analgesic: an agent that relieves pain o Congenor: ... a chemical compound closely related to another in composition and exerting similar or antagonistic effects, or something derived from the same source of stock. o Dextromethorphan: a synthetic morphine derivative (C18H25NO) used as an antitussive (cough supressant) in the form of the hydrobromide salt. o Guaifenesin: the glyceryl ester of guaiacol (C10H14O4), used as an expectorant. o Levorphanol: a narcotic analgesic (C17H23NO). o Morphine: the principal and most active alkaloid of opium (C17H19NO2), its hydrochloride and sulfate salts are used as narcotic analgesics. o Narcotic: a drug that produces insensibility or stupor, especially an opioid. Poor Man's PCP The June 1993 Harper's magazine has a cool little article about robo-ing. I believe they got it from the Spring issue of Pills-a-go-go, whatever that is. The article is by Jim Hogshire, and it is pretty accurate. He tells of his adventures following drinking eight ounces of the magic elixir. I especially liked the part about being a reptile. The article follows: This issue's pill review is devoted to a chemical called Dextromethorphan Hydrobromide, the "DM" in DM cough syrups such as Robitussin Maximum Strength Cough. It's one of the most mystifying drugs in the pharmacopia. Even though it can be found in virtually every over-the-counter cold, flu, and cough remedy, most reference works hardly mention it; when they do, their information is sketchy and sometimes contradictory. One reference book called it a "narcotic antagonist" with "very good analgesic" properties. Other descriptions say DM is cough suppressant only and does not kill pain. It is supposedly non-addicting. And it's not supposed to get you high -- though legions of high-school and college students have formed an entirely different opinion. DM produces "full warping of subspace," in the words of one experimenter, who took more than the recommended dosage. "Pin Head with expansive arms/legs. Incredible head size. Warping and folding of body. Incredible spatial distortions." With this in mind, your faithful editor decided to carry out a Robitussin experiment of his own. Last night I drank about eight ounces of DM cough syrup. I was feeling kind of achy and wanted to see if it would kill pain. After a couple of hours all my pain had gone away, and I went to bed. It was midnight, but I felt neither awake nor asleep. It was like a typical narcotic high -- mildly content, kind of nodding -- but not as pleasant. At four o'clock in the morning I woke up suddenly and remembered that I had to go to Kinko's copy shop and that I had to shave off about a week's worth of stubble from my face. These ideas were very clear to me. That may seem normal, but the fact was that I had a reptilian brain. My whole way of thinking and perceiving had changed. I had full control over my motor functions, but I felt ungainly. I was detached from my body, as if I were on laughing gas. So I got in the shower and shaved. While I was shaving I "thought" that for all I knew I was hacking my face to pieces. Since I didn't see any blood or feel any pain I didn't worry about it. Had I looked down and seen that I had grown another limb, I wouldn't have been surprised at all; I would have just used it. Looking back, I realize that I had already lost all sense of time. The world became a binary place of dark and light, on and off, safety and danger. I felt a need, determined it was hunger, and ate almonds until I didn't feel the need anymore. Same thing with water. It was like playing a game. I sat at my desk and tried to write down how I felt so I could look at it later. I wrote down the word "Cro-Magnon." I was very aware that I as stupid. I think I probably seemed like Benny on L.A. Law. I thought I would have trouble driving but I had none. I only felt "unsafe" in the dark street until I got into the "safe" car. Luckily there were only a couple of people in Kinko's and one of them was a friend. She confirmed that my pupils were of different sizes. One wasn't quite round. I was fucked up. I knew there was no way I could know if I was correctly adhering to social customs. I didn't even know how to modulate my voice. Was I talking too loud? Did I look like a regular person? I understood that I was involved in a big contraption called civilization and that certain things were expected of me, but I could not comprehend what the hell those things might be. All the words that came out of my mouth seemed equal. Instead of saying "reduce it about 90 percent" I could have said "two eggs and some toast, please." The whole world was broken down into elemental parts, each being of equal "value" to the whole -- which is to say, of no value at all. I sat at a table and read a newspaper. It was the most absurd thing I had ever seen! Each story purported to be a description of a thing or an event, or was supposed to cover "news" of reality in another place. This seemed stupid. An article on the war in Burma was described as "the war the West forgot." It had an "at-a-glance" chart that said Burma was approximately three times the size of the state of Washington. This was meaningless and I knew it. The story did not even begin to describe the tiniest fragment of the reality of what was happening in that place. Since I hadn't always been a reptile, I knew things were what they call "complicated" and that the paper's pitiful attempt to categorize individuals as "rebels" or "insurgents" or to describe the reasons for the agony was ridiculous. I laughed out loud. I found being a reptile kind of pleasant. I was content to sit there and monitor my surrounding. I was alert but not anxious. Every now and then I would do a "reality check" to make sure I wasn't masturbating or strangling someone, because of my vague awareness that more was expected of me than just being a reptile. At one point I ventured across the street to a hamburger place to get something to eat. It was closed and yet there were workers inside. This truly confused me, and I considered trying to find a way to simply run in, grab some food, and make off with it. Luckily, the store opened (it was now 6 A.M.) and I entered the front door like a normal customer. It was difficult to remember how to perform a money-for-merchandise transaction and even more difficult to put it into words, but I was eventually successful. I ate the hamburger slowly and deliberately. If I had become full before I finished the hamburger, I think I would have simply let it fall from my hands. The life of a reptile may seem boring to us, but I was never bored when I was a reptile. If something started to hurt me, I took steps to get away from it; if it felt better over there, that's were I stayed. Now twenty-four hours later, I'm beginning to get my neocortex back (I think). Soon, I hope to be human again. A Journal Article On DXM AUTHOR: Schmid B; Bircher J; Preisig R; Kupfer A TITLE: Polymorphic dextromethorphan metabolism: co-segregation of oxidative O-demethylation with debrisoquin hydroxylation. SOURCE: Clin Pharmacol Ther (DHR), 1985 Dec; 38 (6): 618-24 LANGUAGE: English COUNTRY PUB.: UNITED STATES ANNOUNCEMENT: 8603 PUB. TYPE: JOURNAL ARTICLE ABSTRACT: Dextromethorphan hydrobromide, 25 mg po, was given to 268 unrelated Swiss subjects to study urinary drug and metabolite profiles. Rates of O-demethylation yielding the main metabolite dextrorphan were expressed by the urinary dextromethorphan/dextrorphan metabolic ratio. We found a bimodal distribution of this parameter in our population study, which indicates that there are two phenotypes for dextromethorphan O-demethylation. The antimode at a metabolic ratio of 0.3 separated the poor metabolizer (PM; n = 23; prevalence of 9%) from extensive metabolizer (EM) phenotypes. Urinary output of dextrorphan was less than 6% of the dose in all PMs and was 50% in the 245 EMs. Pedigree analysis of 14 family studies revealed an autosomal- recessive transmission of deficient dextromethorphan O- demethylation. In these families, 37 heterozygous genotypes could be identified; however, through use of the urinary drug and metabolite analysis it was not possible to identify the heterozygous genotypes within the EM phenotype group. Co- segregation of dextromethorphan O-demethylation with debrisoquin 4-hydroxylation was also studied. Complete concordance of the two phenotypic assignments was obtained, with a Spearman rank correlation coefficient of rs = 0.78 (n = 62; P less than 0.0001) for dextromethorphan and debrisoquin metabolic ratios. Presumably the two drug oxidation polymorphisms are under the same genetic control. Thus the innocuousness and ubiquitous availability of dextromethorphan render it attractive for worldwide pharmacogenetic investigations in man. MESH HEADINGS: Dextromethorphan--urine (UR)/metabolism (*ME); Dextrorphan-- urine (*UR); Levorphanol--analogs & derivatives (*AA); Morphinans--urine (*UR); Administration, Oral; Adult; Aged; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Hydroxylation; Middle Age; Pedigree; Phenotype; Female; Human; Male; Support, Non- U.S. Gov't CHEMICAL SUBS: 0 (Morphinans); 125-71-3 (Dextromethorphan); 125-73-5 (Dextrorphan); 77-07-6 (Levorphanol) STANDARD NO.: 0009-9236 HOW DXM AFFECTS THE STOMACH by various authors Several people have reported negative effects on their stomach after ingesting DXM. I myself have reported such incidents in the form of acid reflux. As far as my experience goes, I started experiencing negative stomach effects after about 6 to 9 months of constant use. It was as if my stomach refused to digest the DXM any longer, and spit it right back up my esophagus. Since my gag reflex was disinhibited, all I could do was spit out the half-digested DXM muck that came back up from my throat. I'd spend the entire trip just spitting out this DXM, still tripping, but very unpleasantly. Sometimes I'd fill up an entire pan with spit. I know it's quite disgusting, but that's how every single one of my trips were for at least 5 or 6 months of occasional DXM use. Since I was addicted and desperate for this malady to go away, I continued use until finally one day early this year, the acid reflux symptoms subsided and I had a normal trip. After that I realized that DXM is one of the weirdest drugs I've ever done, and if I spend the rest of my life researching it to find out why it reacts the way it does, then let it be... because I've yet to find a similar substance known to man. As far as my acid reflux is now concerned, it does still happen occasionally, especially when I use DXM too frequently. While this symptom is not painful, it is very annoying and takes away from the pleasures of tripping. Sometimes I'll continue spitting out crap until 24 hours after the trip. I can actually feel the spit coming up my throat too, because DXM seems to make all my insides (at least as far as the throat and stomach go) very sensitive and I squirm in my chair each time this happens. Truly a very nasty experience, and I would appreciate it if anyone else that has experienced this would contact the zine, because as far as I know, I am the only unfortunate soul which this has ever happened to. What makes me the special one? As far as others are concerned, there are a number of stomach problems associated with DXM use. One person writes "I feel sick, and puke EVERY TIME I ingest DXM. I've tried eating a bit before, taking pepto bismol. Nothing. You just have to hold on tight, and make it to the bathroom or keep a bucket next to you. Or you could shove it up your... uhh... I mean take it rectally. I've never done this, but there's been some allusions to this on this newsgroup, and apparently some people swear by it." Another user states "My stomach can't take it either, although I've found I can hold *real* still, concentrate on my breathing, and avoid puking for the hour or so it's real bad. I don't suggest trying rectal administration; I've never had colonic cramps before then, but I was doubled over on the toilet for about 45 minutes. "The one solution I've found is to take 2 dramamines about a half-hour before, eat a very small amount of bread about 10 minutes before, then smoke a bowl of MJ about 2 minutes before taking the capsules. If you can spread the DXM over about 20 minutes, like in 3 caps, that helps too. The MJ is the best thing for nausea I have ever experienced. I was not all that optimistic the first time I tried it, but my normal cramps completely disappeared, and I felt fine. I wouldn't do it without any more." [Editor's note: my own personal experience tells me that spacing out the ingestion of DXM seems best for preventing the initial onset of nausea. For instance, if ingesting syrup, drink half the bottle, wait 15 minutes, then take the other half. This way the entire bottle doesn't kick in at once... I've totally avoided a stomach-ache by ingesting DXM in this manner. If taking pills, I usually pop 3 Coricidins to begin with, then pop another 2-3 every 15 minutes until I get where I want to go. Since syrup kicks in faster, that may be a more convenient method. Also, I recommend drinking clear soda and eating crackers while taking DXM. Don't eat anything greasy, or really any large amount of food directly before or after ingesting DXM. If you must eat, eat after you ingest the DXM.] Yet another user reports that "When I used to drink robo I never really puked but about an hour after drinking it my stomach would start growling and rumbling every time.It was because of that, that I only use powder and sucrets now but my stomach still growls." Stash420 states that "DXM makes me puke and makes me really nauseous no matter what. Powder, syrup ..any kind. But then again, I have an ulcer (alcohol related- that's why I don't drink anymore). I always look forward to puking, because from then on, it's smooth sailing." Bait writes that "While in high school in Okinawa, Japan, there were very little real drugs, for example a dime of marijuana was $100 US. So everyone heavily abused unorthodox ones, i.e Ritalin, Robo DXM, Dramamine, and a codeine loaded medicine called Bron. I heard from a friend about Robo (DXM) and went to the local shopette and stole some. I liked the shit, and quickly began taking it daily (not weekends). After awhile I thought I couldn't go a day of school without it and would skip 3 classes and walk 2 miles just to get some. Towards the end (about 1 1/2 months) I got really sick, took some, puked everywhere, and remained sick for about 4 days, mainly stomach problems. I heard that it eats away at your stomach lining and can cause brain damage when used to extremes. "I was taking what was available at the military shopette, 1 to 1/2 bottles of AAFES DM, which has same ingredients as Robo DM, however, the AAFES bottle was at least 3/4 bigger and when we tried to get high off of the Robo shit, we took 2 bottles with hardly anything, if anything at all happened. I am worried about brain damage. I can't concentrate much, I know that, but I also used codeine heavily for a couple weeks, and have been smoking lots of weed and tripped four hits. But, it all started a couple months ago when I stopped using DXM, maybe it's just paranoia, who knows." [Editor's note: DXM does not eat away at your stomach lining and any apparent damage to your brain caused by heavy or frequent use is certainly reversible if you stop taking the drug and complete withdrawal.] Robert F. Golaszewski writes (in response to Bait's experience) "There are several issues here. As to any harm to the stomach, after going off of it, and giving it a chance to heal, this should be completely reversible (if you still have problems, go to a doctor who will likely prescribe something like Pepcid, Prilosec, etc. which reduces stomach acid and will allow full healing.) Long term stomach damage should not really be a problem with cough syrup (by the way, it is typically *not* the DXM, but the *other* shit in syrups that is hard on the stomach.) [Editor's note: And also the liver and kidneys.] As for withdrawal, if you were doing it daily, then most definitely you developed some sort of addiction (certainly a psychological one, and quite possibly a physical one also.) Like any drug abuse, if you do the crime you gotta pay the time. Just like an opiate or cocaine abuser. However, all withdrawal (at least the physical kind) goes away after a relatively short time; it's just hell for that period you have to go through it. The last issue is possible brain damage. You do not say what the doses you were taking were in mg/kg, or how often, so possible exposure is difficult to estimate. Since you were only doing this for 1 1/2 months, I estimate the possibility of permanent cognitive impairment is very low. This tends to be rare with DXM, and in many cases that it has been reported, the user was also abusing *other* drugs that may very well have been the cause. If you can still read, write, do math, etc. as well as before, I seriously doubt you have anything to worry about." FrequencyQ states "I've been on DXM for weeks on end... I don't experience any problems when I'm on it, but when I come off, I get chills.. violent uncontrolable shaking, hangoverish feeling, headaches, moody.. tho my friend can be on it everyday for two months and jump off with no problem.. depends on the person. It can fuck with your stomach, REALLY fuck with it. I have never thrown up, yet my friends throw up everytime... I have been extracting the DXM lately to create Agent Lemon (see the Agent Lemon extraction method in the FAQ)... It does create serious brain damage and retardation in excessive amounts..." [Editor's note: Again, I disagree with this theory, unless the amount is close to the lethal dose, or above 1500mg in most adults. Obviously, if you don't think you can handle it, don't do it.] BACKGROUND INFO ON OTC DXM MANUFACTURERS from Internet reports The following information was collected off the Internet and was written by Schering-Plough Corp. (makers of Coricidin and Drixoral) and Medeva PLC (makers of Delsym). Obviously, everything is written in the point-of-view of these two companies. Schering-Plough: Schering-Plough is a worldwide pharmaceutical company committed to discovering and marketing new therapies and treatment programs that can improve people's health and save lives. The Company is a recognized leader in biotechnology, genomics, and gene therapy. Core product groups are allergy/respiratory, anti-infective/anticancer, dermatologicals and cardiovasculars. Schering-Plough also has an expanding global animal health business. Pharmaceutical product lines are complemented by health management programs as well as leading consumer brands of foot care, sun care and over-the-counter products. Innovative research, dynamic marketing and solid financial management have enabled the Company to deliver superior financial results, outperform its peers and reward shareholders. Executive offices are located at: One Giralda Farms Madison, N.J. 07940-1010 Telephone: (973) 822-7000 Facsimile: (973) 822-7048 Capitalizing on such popular brand names as AFRIN, DRIXORAL, TINACTIN, CORRECTOL, DR. SCHOLL'S and COPPERTONE, Schering-Plough HealthCare Products is building on its position in North America as a leading manufacturer and marketer of over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceutical and personal care products. Understanding market trends and consumers' changing needs is critical to the success of Schering-Plough's OTC, foot care and sun care businesses. Today's customer is more knowledgeable, with an active interest in self-medication. Through extensive market research and targeted R&D, the Company strives to be customer-responsive, anticipating and responding rapidly with innovative and cost-effective products. Following is a brief description of Schering-Plough HealthCare Products' major product groups. For more details about products, click here to link to Our Consumer Products. OTC Pharmaceutical Products: This segment includes such leading products as AFRIN nasal decongestants; CHLOR-TRIMETON allergy products; DRIXORAL long-acting cough, cold and allergy medications; and CORICIDIN cold tablets. [Editor's note: It is interesting to point out that Schering-Plough is actually losing money in the OTC market... in 1995, they grossed 250 million dollars, which dropped to 210 million in 1996 and 208 million in 1995... perhaps it's because of the popular trend of stealing Coricidin...:)] Medeva: Headquartered in London, Medeva PLC is an international company which develops, manufactures and markets prescription pharmaceutical products and vaccines. With over 2,700 employees and operations in the UK, USA, France, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium and the Republic of Ireland the company's business is focused principally on the following therapeutic areas: central nervous system, respiratory, vaccines, hospital products, gastrointestinal and dermatology. Medeva PLC is listed in the UK on the London Stock Exchange and in the USA on the New York Stock Exchange. "Medeva's goal is to build a significant and self-sustaining prescription pharmaceutical company through the exploitation of market opportunities for existing products, by acquisition of products which do not enjoy full marketing support from other companies, by continuing development of its international infrastructure, and by state-of-the-art development of licensed-in compounds and proprietary technology." Respiratory Medications make up 19% of Medeva's gross annual income. These include both diseases of the upper and lower respiratory tract. Delsym fits into the upper respiratory tract, along with Tussionex (a 12 hour acting prescription cough treatment containing hydrocodone) which is sold in the USA, and other similar medications. Delsym itself is made and sold in the USA and is a 12 hour acting "non-narcotic" OTC cough treatment, primarily for children. [Editor's note: This may be due to the fact that Delsym is one of the best-tasting syrups available, and its effects are not as strong as DXM HBr, because it is a time-release formula. The effects last for a longer period of time, but aren't as intense. It is also interesting to note that Medeva markets morphine and other opiates for use in hospitals around the globe.] DXM DRUG COMBOS...DXM HUMOR by Muha Hello there.. this past summer, my friends and I took a little sojourn into the realm of lucidity by means of taking LSD. When we got bored of that we started mixing drugs with LSD. LSD + DXM, LSD + Shrooms; LSD + DXM + Shrooms; LSD + E; LSD + DXM + E; LSD + DXM + E + Shrooms; these were all combos we tried. And in our experimentation, we found that many of these combo's are wondeful, while others are not worth trying... but I'll leave that for the reader to decide. The thing that troubled us the most about these new and wonderful combos of drugs is that there weren't any proper names for them (an example of this is mixing E with LSD which is called Candyflipping, and Mixing Shrooms with LSD which is called Hippy Flipping) .. so one night we decided to come up with some names. I like em' and if you wanna use 'em too, that's just great... So, here's my little addition to modern day drug lingo: LSD + DXM : Dexelflippin LSD + DXM + Shrooms : DippityFlipping DXM + Shrooms : Dippyflipping LSD + DXM + E: Dandyflipping LSD + DXM + E + Shrooms: Lunacy Well... there they are... take 'em or leave 'em.. Just me and my friends' two cents. These were made up and written down through a collaborative effort by me and my counterparts while on 7 hits of acid, 500mg's of DXM, and ~1/10th of an oz of shrooms. Out of these.. Dippityflipping was the most fun.. and I recommend it... Recipe For DippityFlipping: o Don't eat anything for at least 6 hours beforehand o Drop the LSD o +30 minutes after the LSD take ~350mg - 500mg's of DXM dependant on tolerance. o +30 minutes after the DXM Eat between 1/2 an eighth, and an eighth, depending on potentcy, and your own body weight. o Lock yourself and any you took with you in a soundproof room, with a bed, and some good music. Trust me.. you will NOT want to see anyone who isn't tripping while on this combo. And you will make a lot of noise. Have Fun... More to come in Issue 7. DXM AND HYPNOSIS by Sick-boy The following comes from an experience that happened on October 15, 1996. The dosage is 600mg of DXM in one hour... from the long-extinct Drixoral Cough Caps brand. This story takes place in Virginia. It is very difficult to describe. I remembered how to look at things in this other, "special" way, that was hard to do and took concentration. I just felt this kind of reverse deja vu. When I did it, at least, it felt familiar. Anyway, I concentrated and vibrated my eyeballs a little while staring at my phone. After a few seconds of deepening noise and depth of perception, suddenly a new image would pop up before my eyes; this one was the same phone, but it looked closer and bigger and brighter and more *real*. All of a sudden I was within this new, hypnotic state of mind. I didn't realize it the first time, though, that I was in a trancelike state. When I continued staring at the phone, I became aware of slowly moving toward it, slowly, slowly....I felt the definite sensation of floating, and a sense of blueness seemed to fill my vision a tiny bit, although not obscuring it. I continued slowly moving toward the phone on my desk, all the while encountering strange abstract shapes and wreckages and hearing thousands of voices all around me. Always. While I was flying through this semi-realistic mental plane, I began to think about my physical self; and hoping I was not moving about and hurting myself in the real world.. As i thought about it, the flying scene seemed to go away like a dream does and I was once again perched in my chair, albeit with a definite feeling of energy and vibration. Truly; my muscles were minutely vibrating and my nerves were all jumping like mad in an effort to join in the fray. It was not unpleasant at all; but upon coming out of this state, I remember being very aware of the strange "vibrating" feeling that slowly went away, as if an electrical force-field had been moved away from my body. Yes - Exactly like that. After that, I was still quite "high", shall we say, and so I did not attach too much importance to this odd out-of-body flying that I had done. I continued to do my usual things on IRC and the internet, talking to the man who later killed himself. His irc nick was "rubberneck". He shot his head off with a shotgun. The next time I decided to try it, I had thought about it a bit more. This was perhaps 5:00am. I put all my computer activities on hold, got myself comfortable in my stupid chair, and began: I stared directly at the top portion of my computer monitor. I kind of helped the process along by vibrating my eyes a little. Everything was deep and drunk. The desk and its inhabitants were shaking, blurring, and then suddenly, everything cleared -- All became lucid and real. After about five seconds the monitor gained Life. Suddenly it was in control. It was looking right at me, and I at it. I was now directly before the center of the screen, seemingly, and the monitor had on overall quality of "bigness". It looked proportionally huge to everything else around it. I waited to see if I was going to move toward it; I did, I did. I begen sensing that the monitor was getting closer, closer...my vision was strange and incorrect, for my eyes were literally going in different directions (not up and down directions, but leftright+updown). I knew this in the corner of my mind and made a mental note to remember "that my left eye is looking at the ceiling over there and my right eye is trained on the monitor". All the while, remember, I'm moving toward this monitor. I'm staring to rise, and go upside-down in space. I don't really see things in my room as one would see if they were doing a virtual upside-down somersalt in the air, but it doesn't matter, because the feeling of motion is perfectly real, and Oh! I can see my starting point right ahead of me. I can see it.. Can see it... I am easing into it; kind of merging with the transparent form that it is, sitting there on the chair, and as I fit more and more perfectly with the form, I regain consciousness slowly and likewise the vibrating/electric warmth goes away accordingly. This time, I did it right. I came back, and it felt really good. Keep in mind, of course, that the above episode occured over a space of, ohh.. 2 or 3 minutes. It became really interesting. I thought, even in my fucked-up state, about the significance of the muscle-sensations I had been having, and realized the importance of hypnosis in all of this. What I had been doing during these strange "flights", was easing myself into a drug-induced state of hypnosis. The hypnosis is no less real, mind you -- it is just easier to invoke. What the drug does is to weaken the barrier between conscious and unconscious thought, and thus even when I wasn't in the trancelike state I was hearing voices and seeing things and thinking random thoughts. So, a little later, I decided to try another time, although I was sleepy. It was hard to get myself to commit to anything, you see. This time was around 5:30am maybe. So I began quickly. You may not understand while sober, but in the state I was in, it was very very easy to do it. To cross the line between reality and fantasy. The line was *right there* and there was an almost tangible feeling of it in the air. I started by watching a flashing-light program I dl'd somewhere. I set it at, um.. 22 flashes per second. It made me very sleepy, of course, in the state I was in, and I used it to enter the other reality in which i could fly. I began moving toward the monitor again, and this time completely through it and through the wall. I could see and literally feel the rocks and the cement in the brick wall as I passed through it. I wasn't definitely in my room.though, or definitely in the wall... I was constantly bombarded by subtle audible sensations welling up from behind the depths of my perception. People laughing; people answering my mental queries. I flew and saw blue shapes that moved as I flew through them. I always flew very slowly though. Very, very slowly. As I was passing through this mental dreamscape, some reason or the other caused me to think about my physical self and i unhappily and unwillingly lost the whole scene. I opened my eyes and I was propped up against the monitor, the lights still flashing at 22 flashes per second. I turned it off and went talking on irc. The interesting thing about Irc was that, when I typed anythng or thought anything, if i concentrated I could hear the "crowd" behind me answering my queries and statements. I had a direct tap into the subconscious inner-workings of my brain. The crowd was always there; throughout the night I was aware of hearing all kinds of things behind me, but never once did I judge them to be real. It was a very useful tool, as I will illustrate a little later, but my mental state at the time just kept me from using it adequately. For example, I'd be on Irc, and ask someone "Did you see so-and-so tonight?" Immediately the little voices of the crowd babbled on about this and that: "Ohh, yes I saw 'im 'ere", crooned an old lady's voice. "Haven't heard that name fer a long time!" whispered an old man. "He's my daddy!" cried a little girl. You get the picture. The point is, it was always there, It's just that only when I payed attention could I make out what they said. It was very, very realistic. I couldn't see the people, but I didn't look -- This is all when I am typing at my computer, high as a kite, and I *know* the voices are in my head. Anyway. I believe there was one more instance of flight. But it mimics the others in every way, so I will not recount it here. Later, it all went away, and I slept. [Editor's note: I have often times heard voices after trying to go to sleep during a comedown of DXM. The voices are barely audible, but usually result after laying in my bed for a while, listening to the silence. They're always of people talking, and it happens in a very subtle way, as if your brain is just unloading information after a very long day/trip.] --- Please see ZINE6B.TXT for the rest of Issue 6.