IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please copy and paste the survey found on line 306 of this Issue and return it promptly. There are only 3 questions and you'll be put in a drawing for 5 grams of DXM to be given away on November 20. This month's contest winners are announced in this Issue and last month's survey results are also posted. Thank you for your participation! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "DXM is simply the key to unlocking a world that is as dark and mysterious as the drug itself." - Anonymous THE DXM ZINE. Issue 7. October 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 Zine Web Site Mirror at http://www2.1starnet.com/dominion/. Official #High Web Site at http://www.amvalue.com/~ben/. Official #Uaf Web Site at http://uaf.lycaeum.org/. Edited by Gravol, with article contributions by fellow DXMers. Now over 220 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 www.alaska.net/~zorak/dxm/ or www2.1starnet.com/dominion/. 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. --- Just in! Specialized DXM caps and shirts... get your own shirt or cap with the letters DXM embroidered in it. Any color/size you want. Shirts also available that say Dextromethorphan, #DXM, or any other DXM-related logos. You choose what you want! Very low prices! Act today and trip away with your new apparell. Email Zine@dxm.net for more information! --- CONTENTS 1 From the Editor - by Gravol 2 Letters to the Editor 3 DXM News - from Internet reports 4 DXM Survey 5 *DXM Breakthrough...Grapefruit Juice and DXM - by Gravol, BlkFury, DexdBob 6 *The New DXM - by various authors 7 *The Living Dead - by Satva 8 *I Should be Dead - by Gravol 9 Hallucinogenic Drugs for Inner Space Exploration - by Donald DeGracia 10*Tripping in Tampa - by Gravol 11*The Time I Ate 60 Coricidins - by Thorazine 12*Life and Death - by Gravol 13*Across the Universe with DXM - by Cliff Alexander 14 Another Moron, Another Moment - by William White 15*Mixing DXM with Hallucinogenic Mushrooms - by Gravol 16*Why Recreational Drugs Have Made the World a Better Place - by Optima 17 The Time I Saw God - by Okey 18*Serotonin Syndrome and Other Conditions - by William White, Gravol 19*DXM and Antidepressants...the Bottom Line - by William White, Gravol 20 Coricidin May Be Deadly - by Robert Golaszewski, Bill the Cat 21*Sigma...A Not-So-Fun Trip - by _Sc0tt_ 22 DXM Poetry - by KoFt 23 DXM Site Review - by Gravol 24 Info on Ordering Pure DXM Powder - from compiled information 25 DXM Music and Movie Reviews - by various authors 26 Various DXM Sources (from the PDR for Non-Prescription Drugs) 27 Various DXM Internet Sites 28 Various Trip Reports - from Internet reports 29 Complete Listing of DXM Zine Past Issues 30 Credits/Zine Information * DXM Zine exclusives FROM THE EDITOR by Gravol Hello and welcome to the October issue of the DXM Zine. I'm not sure how many of you actually read this section but if you got this far then congratulations for maintaining an interest in this publication and promoting the secrecy of DXM and this zine. We need you for article contributions as well. As you can see from the Table of Contents, there aren't as many people as I'd like to see contributing, so I have to make up for the missing space and write my own articles, which I do enjoy very much. But we need some fresh ideas and viewpoints to be published and that can only be done by you, the subscriber. If I didn't think your ideas would be interesting then I would never be giving out free powder DXM in a contest to whoever submits an article and returns their survey. The odds of winning are much better than your local lottery, too. And I doubt if you can win DXM any other way. :) But I'm not here to bribe you with free DXM (if I gave it out any other way I'd be breaking the law). The simple fact is that DXM is growing faster than anyone ever expected it would. A recent example of this is the fact that just 1 year ago the #Dxm channel on EFnet IRC had only 4 or 5 people in it chatting. Now you can't log on without seeing at least 25-35 people in it at all hours of the night. And for people who have DXM-related questions, it's the best place to go since you can talk to other users just like yourself. But it's only a matter of time until you turn on the TV or open up the newspaper somewhere down the road and start seeing reports of a large number of cases regarding DXM abuse. It really is just a matter of time until the whole secret of DXM gets into the hands of someone who really can publicize it on a national level, and the Internet is the best source to read about DXM. Which means thousands of people could one day read your contribution to the DXM frenzy and you could be apart of something so big and growing so fast that we really don't know where it's headed, or what's going to happen when it gets there. But one thing is for certain, DXM isn't going away any- time soon, and neither is this zine. It is growing bigger each month and there are also more people subscribing to it as well. All the time. So step out from the crowd and don't become just another faceless subscriber or enthusiast and actually submit something that other people can perhaps learn from. You have total freedom of speech and endless knowledge at your fingertips, so you should take advantage of it. Or at the very least submit ideas for articles. With DXM, the possibilities of article topics are endless, since DXM is still an enigma to everyone who uses it or finds out about it to their disbelief that it's been in the drug store for the past 30 years. But nothing will stay secret for long with the Internet and we must become responsible users if we expect it to stay out of the spotlight for now. With the abuse that's running rampant right now, it is becoming more and more apparent every day there is a new drug problem in certain areas. And stores are fed up with having their stock stolen and in some cases have put the OTC brands of DXM behind the counter and require proof of age before purchase. I've seen this done firsthand in cities of a half-million residents. To me, this symbolizes everything a Nazi civilization would do to suppress freedom of experiencing life in every way, shape, or form possible without infringing on the rights of others. But it would be a shame for everyone to know about DXM since the government would take immediate action to make it almost impossible to find in its pure form, along with making sale of the powder to unlicensed individuals or companies a federal crime. On a different note, you'll find a lot of philosophy in this issue, not necessarily my own nor ideas that I agree with. I hope you will not get offended by these viewpoints. They have all been shaped by DXM and I'm sure you'll agree with some of them. But keep in mind that you can't prove them or disprove them... they are simply theories and peoples' opinions. We've also returned to many more trip stories, and I've published the most interesting and unique experiences. The idea is to keep fresh information and ideas flowing at all time, so I hope you will enjoy this issue and every upcoming issue. One final note is the addition of a new website. The old one, http://www.alaska.net/~zorak/dxm/, is still up and running, and its mirror site is at http://www2.1starnet.com/dominion/; you can find Issues 1 thru 6, with this issue appearing there later. Please access these sites from now on, as these are the official zine website. Thank you and enjoy! Gravol St Augustine, FL October 4, 1998 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR From prawitt@inconnect.com: Excellent job on the 'zine; it's the best thing to come along since DXM- only preparations. - Art From cpulster@ix.urz.uni-heidelberg.de: Nice greetings from Germany, and please continue the great zine! - Christoph From steel@pdq.net.au: Hi Jeff!, Good work on zine 6! - Steel From biot3ch@aol.com: Thanks for providing me with copies of the recent issues of the DXM Zine. That's very kind of you! Best regards, God bless!!! - Adriano From drenss@hotmail.com: I wanna subscribe to the DXM zine. Thanks dude. It kicks ass. Visit third-plateau.lycaeum.org, they have a cool BBS for us DXMers. - Rens Dusseldorf From rich@cabinessence.cream.org: Love the DXM Zine - please add me to the subscriber list. Keep up the good work! - Rich DXM NEWS from Internet reports "Grapefruit Juice adds important discovery to DXM" It has been proven that by drinking grapefruit juice, which contains naringin, the active ingredient which also inhibits the P450 enzyme group (the same one that is responsible for the metabolism of DXM), you will increase the effects of the DXM dramatically and keep it in your system longer, making it amazingly more potent. While this new breakthrough is remarkable in itself, DXM is not the only drug grapefruit juice has been known to potentiate. But until now, no other substance has been known to increase the effects of DXM by so much, and now with this new discovery, we can again see how powerful DXM really can be. Please read the article regarding this breaking story in the first part of the zine. "DXM Zine may not appear next month" The Editor is taking a month off, due to helping his parents in getting their business off the ground at the local mall, and will be putting in full-time work there. If the Zine is released, it will not be anything of comparison to the size of this issue, but if enough articles are received by fellow subscribers, Issue 8 may appear at the end of November. Likewise, the DXM Zine Contest will still take place on November 20, so I encourage you to send in your surveys and article contributions. Regardless of whether the Zine is released next month or not, regular issues are still going to be published again beginning in December. "DXM Zine announces contest winners" Congratulations to JFlock and Jim Rutley, last month's winners in the new DXM Zine contest. JFlock sent in his survey and was picked on October 20 to win 5 free grams of DXM HBr powder. Mr. Rutley contributed an article for Issue 7 and was also picked on October 20 to win 10 free grams of DXM HBr powder. The next drawing will be on November 20. Information on contest rules follows: 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. "Website changes" The official website for the DXM Zine is still www.alaska.net/~zorak/dxm/, and this site has now been updated and includes issues 1 thru 6. However, there is also a mirror site set up, thanks to BlkFury, and this is at www2.1starnet.com/dominion/, and this site contains the exact same contents as the other site, and in addition it has the original three issues in HTML format which was written by Greendrag. Last Updated: November 3, 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 8 for this survey. Also, when you return your survey you are automatically put in a drawing for a 5 gram giveaway of DXM powder to be drawn in November. Last month's results are posted at the end of this section. 1. Y/N Have you ever mixed DXM with another hallucinogen in approximately equal proportions? 2. Y/N Have you ever had adverse physical reactions or other uncommon side effects after Coricidin Cough & Cold? 3. Y/N Have you ever experienced withdrawal symptoms after abruptly stopping DXM use? (i.e. nightmares, headaches, depression, mood swings, etc.) As you can see, this survey is related to a wide variety of topics... We are trying to get a general picture of how many people have mixed DXM with another major hallucinogen such as LSD or psilocybin. By answering these questions you are in no way stating that you ever participated in any illegal action, and all responses are immediately tallied and deleted, with no trace of the sender on my hard drive or online file cabinets. All confidentiality is guaranteed. Also, we are trying to get a picture as to how many people have tried Coricidin and got adverse reactions from the antihistamine found in it, along with how many users have been physically addicted to DXM to prove once and for all if DXM is physically addictive or not. Many of you already know that answer. Please do your best to answer and return promptly. It would be appreciated if you could return the survey before reading the actual Zine so the results can be recorded immediately. The cut-off date for receiving entries is November 19. Thank you. Last month's survey results are posted below: There were 19 participants, or 9% of the total number of subscribers. 68% of those who participated reported unexplainable phenomenon on DXM. 58% of those who participated say they like DXM better than LSD. 58% of those who participated state their principle DXM source as being OTC. 9% of those who said OTC most frequently use Generic store brands. 27% of those who said OTC most frequently use Robitussin. 27% of those who said OTC most frequently use Coricidin. 9% of those who said OTC most frequently use Delsym. 28% of those who said OTC stated another brand of choice. (Other brands named: Actifed Cough & Cold Dry, Vicks 44, Boots Tusana Cough Linctus) 37% of those who participated state their principle DXM source as pure powder. 43% of those who said powder say they order from Biotech. 29% of those who said powder say they order from JLF. 29% of those who said powder say they order from another company. (Other companies named: Wanman, and another undisclosed company) 42% of those who participated say that have tried DXM politirex (Delsym). 5% of those who participated were undecided on a particular question. These results show that 2/3 of the participants thought a paranormal experience had occurred. Since this can really only be left up to the actual person who experienced it to decide if it was truly paranormal, not much can be said of these results. However, just over half of the participants claimed to like DXM better than LSD. And the same number also said they buy DXM in the OTC form, rather than pure. Robitussin and Coricidin Cough & Cold tied for the two major store brands, but a lot of other brands were being used as well. Of those who buy pure powder, Biotech was the clear choice to buy from. And under half of the participants claim to have tried time-release DXM in the form of Delsym. Thank you to all who participated in this survey, and I hope more of you will participate in this month's survey. DXM BREAKTHROUGH...GRAPEFRUIT JUICE AND DXM by Gravol, BlkFury, DexdBob A new breakthrough has been discovered regarding the potency of DXM and grapefruit juice. If you read on, you will soon learn how amazing this discovery works and why it works the way it does. The first part of this article is taken from the Web: "If you start out the day with a glass of grapefruit juice, you may inadvertently be magnifying the effects of certain drugs. According to reports that have trickled in over the past few years, a combination of compounds in grapefruit can keep certain drugs in circulation longer by preventing them from being fully metabolized. Grapefruit juice is thought to work by inhibiting an enzyme called cytochrome P4503A4 (the same enzyme responsible for the metabolism of DXM hydrobromide), one of a family of enzymes that break down drugs as they pass through the liver. CYP3A4 is instrumental in the metabolism of the calcium-channel blockers nifedipine, felodipine, nitrendipine, and nisoldipine, as well as cyclosporine, an antirejection drug taken by people who have had organ transplants. It also appears to interfere with CYP1A2, the enzyme that breaks down caffeine. As a result, the morning cup of coffee may pack a greater wallop. Although the compounds responsible for this effect haven't been firmly identified, some scientists have speculated that it might be the bioflavonoid naringin, which gives grapefruit its characteristic bitter taste. Other suspects include quercetin and kaempferol. This triple combination appears to be unique to grapefruits, although tangerines, lemons, beans, and peas contain one or two of the compounds. Pharmacologists are exploring the use of grapefruit juice in combination with the drugs it potentiates. In a few physiologic studies, it has increased the levels of calcium-channel blockers in patients' blood, but in an unpredictable fashion. Someday, doctors may prescribe lower doses of drugs to be taken with grapefruit juice. Today, however, if you're a grapefruit juice drinker and taking a calcium-channel blocker, you might want to discuss the matter with your doctor." Now, below, is a trip report from BlkFury, who drank grapefruit juice along with 900mg of DXM: "After hearing about grapefruit juice and DXM, I decided to do it. Last time I tripped, I decided I was going to drink mass quantities of grapefruit juice just to see if/how it affected the DXM trip. Here is the report of how it went. That morning, I woke up and had a bowl of cereal and a glass of grapefruit juice. Typical breakfast, only this time with grapefruit juice. My day went pretty much as it usually does... Didn't have grapefruit juice available for lunch, so I had a medium cola. The meal, all-in-all, was also fairly small. Got home around 4:00 that day. Instantly started drinking more of that juice with a kick. I drank probably around 1 - 2 glasses an hour until about 8:00. Had a small meal for supper at around 6:00, too, by the way. Then, I started drinking a bit of water, because I was running low on the juice. At around 10:00 - 10:30, I started taking the dex in coricidin form, 32 in total. To get technical, they were taken in pairs of two at the rate of about 2 / 30 seconds. The pills were also drank with milk, as I find milk the best way to take the pills because of its thickness. Also had 1/2 glass of juice about 10 minutes before taking the pills. Every 10 - 15 minutes afterward, I drank 1/2 glass of grapefruit juice, leading to a total of about 4 glasses an hour. At around 11:30, I started to feel the effects of the DXM kicking in. Basically, it was a hyper type of mood; really talkative, just wanting to do something. This is typical of most of my DXM trips. Two hours or so into the trip, things started getting really weird. I started talking about just plain stupid things on IRC. The trip was slowly getting stronger and stronger. Closed eye visuals were becoming more and more common, soon open eye visuals started occuring. Soon, as time slowly ticked away, I found it very hard to read my monitor. It wasn't really the fact of not being able to read, it was more or less forgetting I was even on IRC. I started talking less and less on IRC. I just couldn't understand what people were saying, and what I did understand, I didn't feel like giving much thought to. The effects of the DXM were hitting me like a freight train. I constantly found my room flipping around. I was never sitting in my chair on the floor, anymore. I was either on a wall or on the ceiling, always looking a distance into my seemingly far-away monitor. I always had this feeling of certain objects being near me, either people, trees, chairs, books, or whatever, which never really were there. I was slowly moved into this other world where nothing really matters. I found myself also always talking mentally to this 'entity' which was in my room, which I have done on previous DXM trips. I went to bed, eventually, although not able to sleep. I just laid there, simply getting lost in dreams. I would come back to the real world every so often, usually the need to go to the bathroom. Every time I got up to go, the room was FILLED with colors, shapes, and designs. It was all in perfect geometrical shape, always moving, always twisting. While walking through the dark kitchen, I saw several things that weren't really there, and I usually stepped past them, trying not to touch it, because I wasn't sure if it was actually real or not. The trip ended sometime that night, but the afterglow continued on through the next day. The grapefruit juice definately did a number on me. This trip felt much like it did when I did 1.3g. The trip had this new 'quality' to it that I can't come near explaining. It was this really odd feeling that I've never felt before. Grapefruit juice is a must now every time I take DXM. Although not sure chemically how it does it, I know it does it." Now, with all that in mind, we can begin to see how greatly DXM is affected by grapefruit juice. The following information was released on the #DXM EFnet channel during a special DXM Conference regarding grapefruit juice: It has been known to scientists for a while now that the chemical in grapefruit juice, naringin, potentiates the effects of certain drugs. In fact, it was just recently discovered that the same enzyme group that metabolizes DXM is also inhibited by grapefruit juice, thus altering the metabolism of DXM and making it stay in your system longer... What effects occur if you drink a half gallon of GFJ with about 500-600mg of DXM? It has been noted in TRIAL reports that tolerance goes away, there is an increase in CEVs and OEVs (an extreme increase), and there is a different mentality that occurs which makes it seem like you're tripping for the first time again... This is no joke. Everyone who has tried GFJ with DXM will swear by it. I was skeptical at first, too, until I actually tried it. And all I can say is WOW. But be warned, large doses of DXM and GFJ can lead to toxic levels of DXM in the bloodstream (it is already proven that large amounts of GFJ and Seldane can be fatal). If you need further proof, go out and buy a gallon of grapefruit juice and drink a quarter of it with about 500mg and you will SEE and FEEL a dramatic change! I assure you! Direct evidence taken from the Australia Pharmaceutical Society (http://www.psa.org.au/qld/grapefruit.htm): "Grapefruit (juice or fruit) may increase the blood concentrations of some drugs several fold, causing clinically significant interactions. Drugs affected include those which are extensively metabolised and have low availability due to first pass metabolism. Grapefruit should be avoided in patients taking the following medicines: calcium channel antagonists, cyclosporin, midazolam, terfenadine, triazolam, etc. "The duration of the effect of grapefruit is thought to be about 10 hours, therefore grapefruit taken in the morning may interact with medicines taken at midday or in the evening. It appears that components of grapefruit juice, called flavinoids, inhibit the pre-systemic metabolism of some drugs. Grapefruit juice has been shown to inhibit the activity of cytochrome enzymes (3A and 1A) and the interaction is thought to occur within the gut wall at the time of absorption." DexdBob's Grapefruit Juice Experience (750mg + GFJ): It started one Friday night when I got home with a big can of grapefruit juice from the store. I pilled my dosage levels (pure) and got ready to trip (750mg). Around 10:30pm I decided to break out the grapefruit juice and have a glass of it. Then, 20 minutes later I swallowed the pills using grapefruit juice as a chaser. After that I had another large glass of grapefruit juice and set a glass on my desk that swigged at it every 10 minutes or so. I began to feel the effects in about an hour. About 30 minutes after that I began to realize that this was hitting me head on. Typing on the computer seemed like a chore, so I loaded up my flasher program on the computer, and laid down on my bed with headphones n' trippy music. I laid there and closed my eyes. I was amazed of the amount of CEVs I was getting. I would constantly start out in my room, and begin to spin around the room, get going faster and faster and break out my room (like crashing through a wall) and float out into space. My surroundings were GONE. During the peak I was on some sort of craft (probably a very soft and spongy craft, ie my bed) that sped through dimensions or something, passing by lots of stuff that happened in my life that when I think about its way too complicated to put into words. Also, the feeling you get while seeing this stuff is more "out of body" vs. DXM with no grapefruit juice. When that ended, I laid there, feeling something totally different than my earlier DXM trips, I felt more enriched, excited, like I had discovered a whole new door to DXM. Everything was different about this trip. the messed-up intoxicated feeling of DXM, the visuals, even the ringing in my ears was different. I got up to my computer and stared at IRC, and got conversations going. While I stared at the screen typing, I noticed that the screen kept getting more and more "messed up" visually. It got blurrier and more delayed and slanted until I refocused my eyes, and it all went away. I checked the time on the computer clock, It was only 1:30 am, it felt like at least 5 hours have passed. I continued typing on IRC, and noticed how bright the monitor was, almost burning my eyes and I didn’t even realize it. I dimmed it way down to a comfortable level, and continued typing. Now suddenly it felt like my computer and I were floating together, and flying sideways at the same speed, I was still seeing the chattering on IRC. And suddenly the computer and I shifted forward and I saw OEVs going around me, they looked similar to Quake II-type computer games, textured walls, red sky, hills, pits of lava, ect. Sort of like I was playing Quake-II on my computer at the time but the game was all around me except on the monitor. Then the computer and I started going down into some green tunnel and it ended from there, I was back in my room, still typing on IRC. The time came around 3am by now and I decided I should goto sleep. I laid in my bed and tried to keep my mind clear, so I could fall asleep. This was indeed very very difficult, but I eventually fell asleep and woke up 6 hours later, still tripping on the DXM as if I took some just a few hours before. The day was pretty laid back. It is now Sunday afternoon I am typing this, and I am still feeling the effects of DXM in my mind and body. This trip was defiantly an experience I will remember, and I will defiantly do again. Grapefruit juice really opened another door to DXM for me, it was like discovering it all over again. Its crazy to think that grapefruit juice can actually do something like this. Finally, I would like to add my own experience with grapefruit juice for you all to read: I began taking Coricidin, 3 at first, then 2 more every fifteen minutes until I had 21 inside me, each time downing them with gulps of grapefruit juice. Pretty soon, things started to get really strange. I'm talking about fullblown OEVs (Open Eye Visuals)... the walls were making funny patterns and everything looked as if I was on acid. And when I closed my eyes, I saw more CEVs than I ever have before. So basically what I'm saying is grapefruit juice is also the way to induce CEVs! It's guaranteed! Going on with my experience, things became so intense that I really have no memory of what even occurred next, only that I was more high than I had ever been, and a lot of the old effects of the DXM (from the early days of use) were brought back and I was again that little child experimenting with something so strong and overwhelming that all I could do was lay there and absorb all the information. It literally floored me. Conclusion: In conclusion, I am again emphasizing this important discovery, thanking BlkFury in pointing it out to me, and I am glad I finally had the opportunity to test it out for myself, because now I am too a believer of grapefruit juice. There is NO doubt in my mind that grapefruit juice is the BONAFIDE way to induce CEVs and make your trip twice as potent. This discovery, is by all means as amazing as the discovery of DXM itself. I, personally, also noticed a complete obliteration of all DXM tolerance and even the afterglow was more intense. It was like tripping on DXM for the first time again, and everyone I told that tried it themselves agreed. I hope you will try it and see what I'm talking about, as most people don't know yet how groundbreaking this is. [Editor's note: NaCl, or table salt, has also been shown to increase CEVs slightly, but nothing to the magnitude of grapefruit juice. I encourage everyone to try it and send in trip reports concerning the results of your experimentation.] THE NEW DXM by various authors Suddenly, out of the darkness, a new DXM emerges. What is this new DXM? It is Dextromethorphan hydrobromide. Yep... the same stuff as before. But why is it suddenly crystalized? That, and more questions, will be answered in a future issue by the man behind Biotech itself, Adriano. But in the meantime, we can only speculate as to the difference between the crystalline DXM HBr and the baking-soda-like-powder that WANMAN once sold. One user, Diamond, said "Biotech's DXM gives more of a body buzz... more intense body feelings, and you can take shitloads of it and not get the kind of dumb confused feeling I always got on Wanman's. For instance, I can take like 1.2 grams of Biotech's DXM, and be able to go to other places in my mind, but when I snap myself out of the "trance" I still have a clear mind. I can talk better and walk better. I took 1.2g last night and I coulda ran a marathon. It's not the loss of body movement as much as other DXMs because of the form of the DXM, one type is converted more into DXO than DXM, thus the difference in highs. I'm not sure which would be the more DXO:DXM and the one that would be the more DXM:DXM but thats the only thing I can think of." Psyclobe also reported this difference. And as we can see, many other people have come to me stating this subtle change in the DXM they've been ordering. I guess we'll just have to wait for an answer. THE LIVING DEAD by Satva I recently interviewed a fellow psychonaut by the name of Satva, who reported to me what appeared to be the occurrence of the "living dead" while he was on DXM. If you think this is startling, read on... (it should be noted that my computer started acting funny while I was editing this file): Gravol: Describe the people that you see when you are under the influence of DXM. Satva: I don't really know how to explain them. Usually it is people I have never seen before. Ocassionally though, it has been people I have known. Alot of the time, it is just a feeling I get too. As if somoene was in the room with me. When in reality, I am all alone. Gravol: How do you know if the people are living, or if they are dead? Do they appear to be real people or are they imaginary people? Satva: At the time I see them they appear to be real. It is later when I am talking with someone and find out that no one else was around. Also, I really sometimes believed that they were "the walking dead" but then, I dont know how I would explain the people I knew and hallucinated. Gravol: When did this first occur, and does it occur everytime you trip on DXM? Satva: It first occured a few months ago.. I guess... and it has been happeneing ever since. Lately though, the last few times i did DXM.. I just got that feeling. I didnt actually see anyone. Gravol: Does this phenomenon ever occur while you're not under the influence of DXM, or during afterglow? Satva: No, It has never happened while I was sober. Although, it has happened a few times while coming down from DXM. Not sure if this was totally "afterglow" or not. Gravol: Have you ever tried to communicate with these "people," or have they tried to communicate with you? Satva: I have had full conversations with them. I cannot remember any of them though. I know that I have thought I was at work a few times, and had conversations with what I thought to be co-workers and customers. Which is really weird, because I have only had these experiences after I had quit the job I was currently working at. Gravol: Do these people occur as CEVs or OEVs? Satva: I am not sure. I think both, because I remember looking around the room at my friends house a few times. I also remember being in a weird place that I had never been to before. Gravol: What other CEVs/OEVs do you get and are they as common as the people? Satva: I dont really get CEVs anymore, and I have never really had much for an OEV. The most common ones though are patterns moving, etc. Also.. I tend to get alot of audio distortion when Im on DXM. Which I can't control.. Its like noises inside my head.. as if I had headphones on. Gravol: What emotions do you get when you witness these apparitions? What do they appear to be doing when you see them? How old do they appear to be? Satva: They appear to be of all ages. I can't firmly remember any of them doing much. Although.. one time I was tripping at a friends house, and I saw a Chinese family sleeping in his bed. I asked him about it in the morning and he said "what are you talking about?" Gravol: Have you witnessed this phenonemon on any other drug, or just on DXM? Satva: I have only had this type of experience on DXM. I have saw shit on LSD though.. such as cop cars, helicoptors, etc.. but I have a theory for that. I think it is just what I was thinking about at the time.. and it became more and more intense, which made me think about it more.. and eventually it appeared to be real. Gravol: Does this happen every time you trip or just once in a while? Please state how often this occurs. Satva: It has happened quite often lately. Although, im not doing DXM as much. When I was though, it happened about every trip. Usually, it was just a feeling, but sometimes I actually saw people. Gravol: Are you currently taking any other medication, or have you been diagnosed with any kind of mental condition? Satva: NO. I think DXM has made me a little bit paranoid, delusional, and obsessive compulsive. All these disorders seem to go away after not doing DXM for a couple weeks. Who knows? Maybe I'm just insane. Once again, we have gotten a glimpse into the madness of DXM. And I thank Satva for cooperating with me for this interview. I SHOULD BE DEAD by Gravol It was one of the most intense experiences of my life. To make a long story short, I should be dead. From a near-fatal drug interaction involving DXM. Plain and simple. And to really understand what happened, you'd have to look back at the events that led up to that fateful Monday night. Sunny Sunday It started out as any other Sunday morning would, only this was to be the day I first tried Dexedrine, also known as dextroamphetamine (no relation to dextromethorphan). I crushed up the time release capsules and started doing lines about 11am, and then went to work for my parents. The initial effects weren't that strong, so I kept doing line after line, considering that most anything you'd snort would take effect immediately. Each line got me slightly higher, but somehow that wasn't enough. So I started popping the regular 5mg tablets that I had... these made me feel a little more disoriented when they kicked in, and combined quite nicely with the effects of the crushed Dexedrine that I snorted. Morning turned into afternoon, and after that time just flew. And I found myself going back for line after line, not caring about the consequences because it just felt so good to get that rush after inhaling a line. However, by 6pm or so, I was starting to feel like I was coming down and no longer had that full burst of energy that I had all afternoon. So I stopped doing lines and got on the computer, and with no appetite and a throat infection (bronchitis I later found out) I started noticing that the speedy effects were getting stronger and stronger. Before I knew it there was no turning back... I was speeding so hard that my fingers could barely keep up with my flow of thoughts. And when I wasn't typing, my mind constantly rambled off thoughts of everything from existance to philosophy to life itself. Not realizing that the high would last 12 hours and that I took more than I should have (especially for the first time) I stayed surprisingly calm (Dexedrine doesn't make you paranoid like methamphetamine can) but speeded my ass off to the point that before I knew it, the clock read 6am and my heart was still beating just as fast as before. I remembered the lyrics to a song... "My heart was beating fast, and I was dreaming of the past," and instantly thought of what DXM must be like combined with this weird drug. And why I call it weird is because everytime I looked at the screen it would set off a constant barrage of colorful hallucinations of shapes and lights... nothing full blown, more like flashes. And everytime I'd close my eyes or blink I'd see a flash of bright green. Something I had never experienced with meth before, or any other stimulant. But those hallucinations would later come back to haunt me. Monday Mourning But as the night turned into day I soon forgot about DXM altogether until I was getting out of the shower around 10am. At this point I realized I had gotten absolutely no sleep the night before and I was beginning to experience DXM withdrawal symptoms... especially a massive headache that plagued me all morning, so I went back to my Dexedrine supply and snorted 3 more lines, this time playing it safe, and just as quick as the powder from the first line went up my nose the headache mysteriously vanished. And I'm convinced it was a headache due to DXM withdrawal. So now I had yet another reason to forget about DXM... and I did, for awhile. You see, I didn't mean to take the 3 lines because I didn't find out until afterwards how long dextroamphetamine can last... and I realized that I was fucked for yet another day. And to make matters worse, my throat infection was getting more annoying by the minute. So I hopped online and asked someone on IRC about what would happen if I mixed DXM with Dexedrine, because I desperately wanted to get some relief for my throat, and if I was going to fork out the money for a bottle of Robitussin, I was probably going to do the entire thing. The individual told me he had mixed DXM with amphetamines in the past but suggested I check out the FAQ by William White. I did, and to my disappointment I found the following regarding their mixture: "This is probably asking for high blood pressure problems, strokes, brain hemorrhages, and the like. While a few people enjoy this combination, most find it unpleasantly speedy anyway. Most who've tried it reported that DXM will potentiate other stimulants. Since DXM inhibits dopamine reuptake, combining it with a dopamine releasing agent (amphetamine or methamphetamine) will naturally produce a combined, synergistic effect. I'd suggesting avoiding this at all costs." So I went back to IRC and pasted the excerpt to the individual and I was told that William White was just covering his ass by saying this, and again he reassured me that he had mixed the two before with no ill effects. So I decided to say fuck it... the effects from the Dexedrine were seeming to become less and less anyway. So I drove down to the local Publix and bought a 4oz bottle of Robitussin Maximum Strength Cough. Once back, I guzzled about a third of it and put it away for a while. I got back on the computer and was soon greeted by a nice, mellow buzz. It put a weird twist on the speed buzz and the hallucinations were wild. Almost like hallucinations experienced on diphenhydramine (the "jelly mold layer" over everything). Now my parents wanted me back to work, so feeling pretty safe and confident I downed the middle third of the bottle. I never had such ease downing the syrup... the taste didn't seem to bother me. I went out in the garage and worked a little while longer, sitting in a daze most of the time I was in there... The effects were growing stronger, and my mom inadvertently offered me a glass of wine. I took it. I also noticed just as quickly that time went from real fast to real slow... but I was still feeling speedy. But for some reason this didn't seem to bother me as I went back in and sat down to a tiny bit of spaghetti and an icecold beer. But before I ate the spaghetti I decided to be a man and down the last third of the Robitussin bottle... This was truly the point of no return. I came back to the table but had already lost my appetite so I put the beer back in the fridge, rinsed off the plate and headed back to my room. My parents had company in the garage (our workroom) at this time, so I decided I'd be perfectly snug in there chatting on the computer. Then, suddenly, it happened. As I was sitting in my chair typing, I realized that my consciousness seemed to shift im- mediately backwards and I was seeing the computer from the viewpoint of the back of my head... not from my eyes. I could also view what was on my other side at seemingly the same time and as I suddenly began to try to shift around in my chair I noticed that the room looked oddly distorted... like how it would look on a high dose of LSD or in a funhouse. But this was anything but fun. It was sheer terror as I realized something was about to happen... something big... possibly heart attack, stroke, some kind of adverse reaction... and the only words that came to mind were simply "Ohhh SHIT!" Suddenly I was back at my original viewpoint of sight, my eyes, but the room still looked distorted, my chest was hurting and nearly every part of my body began aching simulteaneously. I found breathing to be something of a struggle and likewise my head seemed to be somewhat detached with the exception of pressure around my eyeballs, and by this time I was trying to hang on for dear life... I scrambled on the keyboard, cold and clammy hands, trying to get peoples' attention in the chatroom I was at... which happened to be #DXM on EFnet. Several people came to my aide and tried calming me down, but in my eyes the world was anything but calm... it was coming apart, and I was about to die. Then instantly, just as I was noticing how the letters on the monitor turned into what looked like stitches on a piece of white fabric, my left hand went numb and lifeless. I grabbed it with what feeling I still had with my right hand and rubbed it. I seemed to be going in and out of a state which would no doubt involve the shut down of my organs and the loss of my life. And the DXM made all my fears come to light. Paranoia was no longer something that could be brushed aside and blamed on DXM. I KNEW I was about to go into some sort of cardiac arrest or coma so I started breathing as heavily as possible and hugged my knees to my chest... time was growing shorter, and now my legs were becoming numb. Then just as there was a momentary lapse of pain, it all hit me again... what seemed like a million pin pricks all over my chest and stomach and I remember throwing the headphones off of my head (my head was very sensitive to anything that touched it) and glancing down at the floor, it seemed to slither back into a nightmarish display of frightening distortions, so I looked away and kept blinking my eyes and just held myself between typing on the keyboard and asking for help. I knew if this got any worse I would surely be calling 911. And furthermore I wasn't even sure if all the DXM had fully absorbed yet so I panicked even worse and fell back into the chair and it hit me again, this time causing a large purple dot to flash across my plane of vision and I became more frightened and more frightened as the sensation of my hand kept going in and out, along with coughing up mouthfuls of phlegm and mucuous from my irritated lungs and experiencing needle-sharp pains hitting me all over. I knew I was totally in the hands of the DXM, and if any more was going to kick in, I was surely doomed. A Living Example I knew the only thing I had on my side was Time. And time went very slowly, but steadily. And after what seemed like hours writhing around in my chair and trying to remain conscious I made it to the bathroom (after I felt that I could stand) and stuck my mouth under the faucet and drank as much water as I could swallow. I must have stayed there for about 10 minutes, then splashed water on my face and made it back to my room. Once there, I collapsed back into the chair and started freaking out online with paranoid rants and delusions brought on by the DXM and as I switched windows on the monitor I couldn't even look up because the bright white of the screen turned into the texture of a blanket, and I could actually see individual fibers protruding from the screen. And then the other hallucinations would start bombarding me from all sides and I prayed and prayed to be taken out of this living hell and to survive... And survive I did. But barely. After what seemed like an hour or two the DXM's effects started to subside (if I wouldn't have drank the bottle in thirds, it would have hit me all at once, twice as intense as it did) and slowly but surely I regained control of my body and most sensation, but slight hallucinations remained of colors and lights and I could still feel sharp pains inside my stomach which felt like pure agony. But I was lucky... because eventually, by 4am, I had come down enough to try to sleep. And this whole nightmare happened somewhere between 9 and 11 o'clock. To this day I still can't believe how close I came to actual permanent brain damage or cardiac arrest, if not death itself. By sheer coincidence I had just wrote a paper that very same morning on how good drugs can be if they are used responsibly. But I didn't heed the warnings and I almost lost my life because of it. It was so painful and scary that I don't even want to remember it anymore, nor did I tell anyone close to me about it. I just thanked a higher power, and prayed I didn't get any permanent damage out of this episode of pure stupidity and ignorance. I was certain that I was about to become the third DXM fatality. Like I said, I should really be dead. Background Information Amphetamine was first synthesized in 1887. However, it was almost 30 years later that it was first used for medical purposes. Due to its ability to dilate small 'air sacs' in the lungs it was sold as inhaler for asthmatics, but was widely abused. During the '30s and '40s recreational amphetamine use took off. Some people finding it the ideal drug to make their lives easier to manage during times of depression and war. During the Second World War large amounts of amphetamines (72 million tablets) were given to soldiers to keep them alert and awake. Even Hitler took daily amphetamine injections. Until 1956 many amphetamine-based substances were easily and legally available over-the-counter. After 1956 it was available only as a prescription drug. This continued until 1964 when the Drugs Act made possession of amphetamine without a presecription illegal. Due to its energy boosting and active nature it has been used by many (mainly youth) subcultures. The '60s Mods used it partly in reaction to the passive dope smoking hippy movement. Recently it has had somewhat of a revival due to its use in raves and clubs. [Editor's note: In no way do I recommend stimulant abuse to anyone, and I hope most subscribers will heed the warnings as to how dangerous these substances can be.] HALLUCINOGENIC DRUGS FOR INNER SPACE EXPLORATION, PART TWO by Donald DeGracia The following is Part Two of an article that appeared in Issue 6. It covers many theories and viewpoints concerning the astral dimensions as related to hallucinogenic drug use. Since DXM is tied to the paranormal, I felt it was important to include this article. Occult Explanations Of Hallucinogenic Effects Now occultists have a much different world-view than scientists, but as a world-view it is no less complex. For our purposes here what we must realize is that occultism teaches the opposite of science and that is that our consciousness is independent from our body. According to occultists, our body (and therefore our brain as well) is but a temporary vehicle that houses our consciousness in the span of our life in the physical world. Occultism also teaches that there are worlds other than the physical and these worlds are called "planes". Only four of these planes are significant to humans. These are the physical, astral, mental and buddhic planes. According to occultists we also have vehicles or bodies for each of these planes. Thus each of us has an astral body and mental body and a buddhic body. It is by this theory that occultism explains the plain facts of our lives. Occultism teaches that our emotions are our astral body, that our mind is our mental body, and that our soul or conscience is our buddhic body. Thus, right from the start, occultism does not bother with the idea that our physical body creates our mind, emotions or soul (and this idea of "soul" incidentally, is something science likes to deny). Instead, occultism claims that all of these vehicles overlap and interact and create our life and experience as we know and understand it. Now it is not my intention here to judge occult theory, or the validity of these ideas. To an explorer of inner space (especially one who frequently experiences out-of-body states) this theory is perfectly obvious. For someone with no comprehension of inner realities or experiences with altered states of consciousness, all I can say is, this article is not for you. Go read Carl Sagan or something. To return to the point, occult theories detail very carefully the manner in which all the vehicles interact. The interaction of the vehicles is explained by the theory of the chakras. The chakras are seven (or a couple more depending on the scope of the occult theory) vortex like depressions in the astral, mental and buddhic bodies that serve as energy channels between the bodies. The chakras are energy processing centers that hold the bodies together and unify mind, body, emotion and soul into the one framework of our direct experience. Any meditators out there probably have had direct experiences with their chakras. As it turns out, the location of the chakras in our other bodies, line up in a line with the spine of our physical body and they are located wherever there is a nerve plexus in our physical body. Furthermore, occultism teaches that there is an intimate feedback and interplay between all of the bodies, and this feedback is effected through the chakras. Our physical body also has chakras, but these are invisible to our physical senses of sight, sound, taste, touch and hearing. Our physical chakras are made of a type of radiation that is invisible to our sense (this radiation is called "etheric matter" by occultists), but they exist nonetheless, and serve as the bridge between our nervous system and our astral, mental and buddhic bodies. Chakra theory is very complex. Each chakra serves a variety of specific functions. These I will only briefly outline here to the extent that it is relevent to our discussion of hallucinogenic drugs. Here is a list of the chakras by their common name (the Hindu names can be found in any worthwhile yoga book). These will be listed from the bottom of the spine up to the top of the spine, along with the corresponding body locations: o Root chakra - between the legs; o Navel chakra - at the waste; o Spleen chakra - over the navel; o Heart chakra - over the heart; o Throat chakra - over the throat; o Third eye chakra - over the forehead; o Crown chakra - top of head; So as not to keep the reader in suspense, the reason I am going into some detail about chakra theory is that we shall see that it explains much clearer than science does what happens when under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs. Now to go into this we need some understanding of the functions of the chakras. These are listed briefly as: o Root - sex energy, libido; o Navel - excretion (kidneys, liver), sensation in general; o Spleen - digestion, energy input, ability to dream; o Heart - circulation, empathy; o Throat - communication, speech, hearing, clairaudience; o Third-eye - sight, cognition, clairvoyance; o Crown - brain, thought, spirituality; What the reader will notice about this list is that each chakra has not only physical functions or organs associated with it, but as well subjective and psychological functions associated with it. It is by means of this theory that occultism explains the relationship between mind and body and soul. All of these factors are interconnected through the operation of the chakras. Even though it may seem that we are getting unnecessarily complex here, we are actually building a very powerful theoretical framework of how a human is built and operates. Already at this point we have related biological and psychological functions in one coherent theory. Science, with its reductionistic mentality can offer us no equivalent counterpart. Science, as mentioned above, cannot offer any detailed understanding of how the subjective and objective facets of our life interrelate. Chakra theory, and occultism in general, does indeed offer this understanding. And what I shall now illustrate is that occultism does not contradict or clash with science in any way. Instead, it offers us an expanded viewpoint that integrates the facts known to modern science into a larger view of our total experience as human beings. So with this minimal picture of occult theory in mind, let us return to the issue of hallucinogenic drugs. Using occult theory, what we can say is that hallucinogenic drugs severely affect the behavior of the chakras. All of the subjective effects listed earlier in this article can be accounted for as effects of hyperactivity in definite chakras: o Thus, visual hallucinations are in actuality the stimulation of the third eye chakra, leading to some degree of clairvoyance, which is the perception of the adjacent planes. o Audio hallucinations are the stimulating of the throat chakra to hyper activity. In this case, one begins to hear on, for example, the astral plane. o The mixing of sensory modalities is an effect of the crown chakra, which is the site of integration, not only of sensory perception, but astral perception (emotions), and mental perception (thinking). Thus, at the point of integration (crown chakra) all separate modalities are blended into a unified consciousness. This effect is enhanced under hallucinogenics. And the hallucinogenic effect is even more pronounced because of the fact that we rarely recognize this integration to begin with. It is there all along but we don't see, and when the drug stimulates the crown chakra and we are forced to look at this integration of the modalities of our consciousness, it seems surprising to us. o The weakening of ego boundaries is again an effect of increasing the activity of the crown chakra. In this case, it is not so much that the ego is loosened but that the ego is seen in its proper perspective in the totality of our organization as a human being. Again, this is an effect of the integration function of the crown chakra. The ego (which effectively is our personal identity) is but one facet of our being. In our day to day life however, we tend to over emphasize our ego at the expense of other facets of our being. Again, of the crown chakra. In this case, it is not so much that the ego is loosened but that the ego is seen in. o Enhanced ability to think abstractly. What is happening here is that the hallucinogen triggers off such an enormous increase in libido energy (which will be discussed below) that our mind is capable of perceiving a much vaster range of the mental plane. This effectively translates into broader, more sweeping and more abstract thoughts. o The uncontrollable urge to laugh is a classic phenomena indicating enhanced chakra activity. Laughter is a release of tension. Increasing the activity of chakras is also a release of tension. The increased chakra motion effectively burns up the extra energy. An experienced LSD user is unlikely to have this laughter effect, only a novice who is not used to the sensations of enhanced chakras would express these sensations by uncontrollable laughter. This is very similar to how people laugh when they are nervous or cry when they are very happy. However, on the hallucinogen, the effect is greatly increased. o The enhanced empathic ability is mainly a function of the hyper stimulation of the heart chakra. Our whole ability to be sensitive to the emotions displayed by others resides in the heart chakra. The hallucinogenic stimulates the heart chakra, so it is no surprises that a typical hallucinogenic user is more sensitive to the feelings and attitudes of others. o Inability to maintain focus or concentration for long periods. Here we run into a situation that is probably more a function of the brain than of the chakra system. It should be pointed out that experienced hallucinogenic users will report that this effect only lasts for a small percentage of the time that the drug effects are occurring. Probably what we are seeing here is the maximum effect of the actual chemical in the physical body in which there is a maximum disruption of the normal function of the neurons in the brain. Again, this effect is short lived (usually about 30-60 minute). And often it seems that this effect is a prelude to the effect of thinking abstractly. It appears that we are dealing with distinct phases of the drug experience here and with effect number 5, again, with number 8 here preceding number 5. o Feelings of extreme joy. This effect is literally the opposite of effect 10: feelings of extreme terror and/or depression. What he have here is an amplification of ones normal state of mind by the enhanced libido of the drug. Whatever the user is feeling becomes greatly magnified, so reports of extreme emotional states are common. Also, since emotion is generally a function of the concerted (simultaneous) operation of the four lower chakras, we find here evidence that the hallucinogen is affecting not only the higher chakras (throat, third-eye and crown) but the lower ones as well. Again, this will be generalized below. o Finally, the direct apprehension of God. It is in studying this hallucinogenic effect that we can begin to tie together many elements of this article. We have seen that intellectuals such as Huxley, Watts, and Leary identified the LSD experience with religious experience. It is also a common, though reasonably accurate picture that the guy in the nut house thinks he's Jesus. Furthermore, all yoga texts worth reading explain that the function of yoga is ultimately to transfer all of the libido energy to the crown chakra at which point the yogi achieves nirvana, or mystical insight, which, practically speaking, is *the* total, integrative psychological event. One directly perceives the unity of the cosmos, and ones place in this unity. For all practical purposes, this is indeed seeing God. That Western intellectuals have perceived this in a religious context, and Western physicians have perceived this in the context of psychosis, really tells us something about Western intellectuals and Western doctors. All I can ask is: "Who would you invite over for dinner, or have watch your kids?" At this point, I would like to attempt to generalize this picture of the action of hallucinogenic drugs on the chakras system. One important facet of occult teaching I have not explicitly stated yet, though I have been using it, is the idea of "kundalini". Yogis and occultists teach that housed in the root chakra is a fundamental energy called kundalini. This energy is depicted as a coiled snake and it is the goal of the yogi and occultist to, slowly and in a controlled manner, release this energy. The purpose for releasing this energy is to bring it progressively through the chakras, which in turn confers the particular psychic abilities associated with that chakra. This process is known as "awakening" or "vivifying" a chakra. This energy is brought up the spine (or the etheric counterpart thereof) and its final destination is the crown chakra, which, upon successfully reaching, confers enlightenment, which is the true goal of both yoga and occultism, as well as mysticism. Bringing the kundalini to the crown chakra is exactly the method by which enlightenment is conferred. This is a well known and well accepted fact in Eastern cultures in which the yoga tradition is kept alive. Above I used the word "libido", a word derived from Freud that loosely translates as "sex energy". Libido is kundalini. However, the idea of kundalini is much broader and clearer than Freud's concept of libido, so I will now use the word kundalini from here on out. So with this backgound, let us attempt to give a general explanation, in occult terms, of the effect of hallucinogenic drugs on a human being. What seems to be happening during the hallucinogenic experience is that the kundalini is spontaneously activated by the drug. How this occurs I do not know. I can speculate that probably what happens is that the hallucinogenic somehow affects the gland system of the body (which is called the endocrine system and includes the adrenal glands, thyroid, parathyroid, pituitary and pineal glands, among others), not simply the brain. I make this statement about the endocrine system because occultist often point out the crucial role played by the pineal and pituitary glands in meditative practices. In a fashion that is very ill defined both scientifically and occultly, these glands play an intimate role in relation to the kundalini. Unfortunately, not much more than this can be said. Somehow, the drug confers changes in the endocrine system of the body that result in the stimulation of the kundalini. The kundalini becomes active in an uncontrolled fashion, which is literally the opposite of yoga in which kundalini is slowly and painstakingly controlled over years of meditative practices. The onset of alterations in the LSD user's perception corresponds with the onset of the kundalini release. As this energy is released in a spontaneous and uncontrolled fashion, any number of psychological and subjective events are possible that would be completely dependent on the circumstances under which the drug was taken. This then is the explanation of Timothy Leary's notion of "set and setting". Hallucinogenic Drugs And Inner Exploration At this point we have completed our overview of hallucinogenic substances. We've briefly mentioned the history, discussed the subjective effects of these drugs, and gone into some detail of scientific and occult explanations of why these drugs do what they do to human beings. In this last section, I would like to try to tie all of this together in terms of how these drugs provide a tool for the individual interested in exploring his or her own subjectivity, the inner spaces of ones being. Going off on all the occult chakra theory as I did above has one overridingly important lesson to it, and that is the realization that hallucinogenics do in one hour what yogis spend their lives trying to accomplish. The release of the kundalini energy is no small or trivial matter. My friend that I mentioned earlier likes to compare LSD and related substances to nuclear bombs. Both are immediate, almost uncomprehensively powerful, and can kill a lot more readily than they can heal. LSD is something to be respected, if not revered, because it is indeed a doorway to many divine things. I would not discourage one from taking the drug. However, I do not advocate the careless use of the drug either. If one is interested in using it as a tool for experiencing realities that current dogma tells us do not exist, well, I recommend that the explorer exercise respect for this particular tool. And then, as an explorer, you can see that current dogma is simply wrong. Another purpose for going off on both scientific and occult theory is to show that there is way more going on here than meets they eye. In this regard, I have a favorite quote by Leadbeater that says it all: "We must beware of falling into the fatally common error of supposing that what we see is all there is to see." LSD, and hallucinogenic drugs in general, can be used as a tool to give concrete substance to Leadbeater's statement. The watchful and attentive hallucinogenic user will learn many things about the hidden worlds that we cannot perceive with our physical senses, ranging from things as unbelievable as seeing the cells inside your brain, to seeing atoms and molecules, to readily perceiving abstractions so glorious as to defy your very being, all the way to -dare I say it -seeing God first hand, and allowing God to talk through your mouth. On this note, I'd like to end this article with a quote by Aleister Crowley, (taken from "The Book Of Wisdom Or Folly) that absolutely captures the spirit of this article: "Concerning the Use of Chymical Agents, and be mindful that thou abuse them not, learn that the Sacrament itself relateth to Spirit, and the Four Elements balanced thereunder, in its Perfection." TRIPPING IN TAMPA by Gravol It turned out that I had to go to Tampa, Fl. for 3 days for a business seminar with my parents. Something I was very much not looking forward to, since I had to stay indoors for most of the 3 days. So on the way down I chugged a bottle of robo and tripped peacefully in the minivan. That was all fun, but Sunday soon turned into Monday, and Monday into Tuesday. The classes I was attending were very boring, going from 9am to 4pm each day until Wednesday, and after several unsuccessful attempts at having my dad buy me some beer (I'll be 21 in 3 months... go figure), I decided it was time to buy another bottle of Robitussin Max Strength. So during our lunch break on Wednesday I had my parents bring me by the Publix on Gandy Road (Publix is always the cheapest source for DXM... a 4oz bottle of Robitussin costs only $3.69) and bought a bottle. Before going out the door I opened up the box and stuffed the bottle in my pocket. I then hid it in the van and by the time the classes were over for that day, the bottle was about 90 degrees. Ick. Now, back at the hotel room at the Ramada I went into the bathroom and locked the door and downed half of it, waited 15 more minutes, and downed the other half. With it being so warm it tasted like chocolate syrup with a twist of cherry. Don't think I enjoyed it though! I exited the bathroom and told my parents I was ready to go... we were going to go tour the area tonight and see what was around, so I hopped back in the van, had them play some of my tapes, and we started out towards Route 699 and Clearwater. At 5:15pm, we hit the wonderful city of Clearwater. I also started feeling the initial effects. I hadn't eaten all day and now that the DXM was kicking in, I didn't plan to eat at all until after the trip. We kept passing so many hot girls in hot cars, like one chick that was cruising down the highway in a '69 Camaro. Throughout all this, however, I had a terrible stomach ache (I'm glad I took the bottle a half at a time though... or else my stomach would've really been aching). We were cruising down Route 60 towards 699 (Gulf To Bay) and soon we hit Clearwater Beach. We went into the beach parking lot (there were SO many hot women) and I argued with my parents for a bit about something I don't even remember, then we left to go further south. I remember telling them I didn't want to eat so they could hurry up and find a restaurant and I'd just stay in the van and listen to my music since they wouldn't play it above Volume 2... which really pissed me off. Trust me... when you're tripping you need music. I just wish I had a portable CD player with me and headphones... headphones blow your mind on DXM. Anyway, at 6pm my parents stopped to eat in Indian Shores, so I stayed in the van to smoke cigarettes and listen to music. I also wrote a letter to my ex-girlfriend, Mandi. By this time I was tripping pretty hard, but keep in mind it was only 350mg of DXM... still enough to get me off quite nicely though. At 6:50pm I smoked a cigarette and by 7 we were on the road again. Out West there was a beautiful sunset over the Gulf of Mexico... it really captivated me at the time. Pretty soon we were at Treasure Island near the beach, so we parked and me and my dad got out and walked to the beach. It was a huge beach. Kind of reminded me of the beaches in California. Lots of volleyball courts and the beach seemed to stretch all the way to the horizon and took quite a while to reach the shore. There were occasional couples walking along the shoreline, and as I looked down I saw seashells everywhere washed up, so I reached down and grabbed a handful to take back to my mom. Walking was difficult and talking was even more so... but the water and the sky were so beautiful. Truly the highlight of the evening. Around 7:30pm my stomach ache returned about the time we reached St. Pete Beach. Nothing to see there... we didn't get out or anything, instead we headed back to the mainland (on the way back I remember passing a souvenir shop and looking at the word souvenir and actually thinking it was spelled wrong... and I'm a wonderful speller... then I remembered the DXM and figured I must have really been fucked up) and I remember stopping at Kmart. This was around 8:30pm, after dark, and I was the only one who went in. I was looking for a computer game that my instructor said was dirt cheap because Kmart was selling all their computer stuff and getting rid of the electronics department. Somewhere off in the distance someone had the stereo systems jamming rap, and I spent what seemed like hours looking thru the assortment of games, but finding nothing that really interested me. We then set out to find the infamous Ybor City. My instructor said there was a strip with a ton of clubs for every musical taste you might have. He also said movie stars go there all the time. But since my dad was driving (he refused to let me drive the entire trip) I was without much luck in finding it. We drove around for about a half hour to an hour and my dad went to where he thought Ybor City was, but it turned out to be a run-down, crack-infested neighborhood and my mom started freaking out and locking the doors, telling my dad to get back to the hotel room, so I never did get to see Ybor. Oh well. By that time I was beginning to come down and Hendrix's Electric Ladyland was playing on the radio. Pure bliss. We finally got back to the hotel but I couldn't sleep. I just laid awake for a while, becoming very talkative and thinking about the future. DXM has always made the future look brighter when you're laying in bed coming down, and a million thoughts seem to penetrate the silence... eventually sleep overtook me and I got to enjoy one pleasant evening after-all. THE TIME I ATE 60 CORICIDINS by Thorazine Last year I decided I wanted to go on an intense DXM trip. I went to Walgreens, got 2 boxes of coricidin, then went to Rite Aid and got a few more boxes. I was hungry, so I went to Applebee's Bar and grill to eat some lunch. While waiting on my food I popped 20 coricidins, then after eating I ordered a nonalcoholic frozen fruit drink that was soo damn good I thought I was in heaven, so I ate 40 more coricidins...after my trip starts kicking in, I leave the restaurant after paying and I start puking. I puke in the parking lot of the restaurant, drove home, which is less than 2 minutes away, laid on my bed and put in my DJ Insect mixtape (very hard beautiful melodic trance). I feel like I'm floating in the mountains of Utah, I start to leave my body, but I end up having to go answer the phone because there was a phone call for me (huge mistake! If you're going to eat more than 1000mg of DXM do not get up for ANYTHING!)... I answer the phone and unknowingly I say "I'm in trouble" (I found out the next day it was my psychiatrist), put the phone down, go to the bathroom, and I start having seizures, and start throwing up and convulsing. I wake up in the emergency room, still tripping balls but I thought I was being abducted by aliens. My mom's in the emergency room and says "your left eye is bleeding," and I was like Huh??? She found out I was under the influence of cough medicine again and she like bitches at me and says, "what were you thinking?" I didn't say anything because I didn't give a fuck. My eye was healed after 3 weeks and it was back to normal. This was a fucked up few weeks. [Editor's note: The damage to his eye was most likely caused by the large amount of the antihistamine ingested from the Coricidin; large amounts of Coricidin almost always end up a very bad trip.] The next week I call up my girlfriend in Michigan and she says, "You've lost complete control of yourself and you need to get your life back together, I can't talk to you and I don't want to talk to you." I've not heard from her since. And I've been going through DEEP depression because of this shit. Somehow I think what happened was that I accidentally projected my energy and I called her unknowingly a thousand times without knowing it. She told me that I was calling her a thousand times in one night and it was making her crazy. And before that trip I haven't talked with her in WEEKS! Now this girl has NOTHING to do with me and I'm bummed out about this still, and it happened in late March/early April of 1997. I also lost a few friends during that time (during the time I was doing DXM every other week, and sometimes every other day). Friends started to say that I've lost touch with reality and I wasn't the same person they knew. I ended up in a rehab center too but they kicked me out after two weeks and said "cough syrup isn't a real drug. Maybe if you do heroin or cocaine or crack then you'll be able to call yourself a real addict," same thing when I went to Narcotics Anonymous. After this I started drinking liquor & beer and getting drunk and coming home but my parents didnt give a fuck about that. They thought it was great that I was doing a "safe" wonderful drug called alcohol. And so that was what happened the time I ate 60 Coricidin pills. Feel free to contact me at bluerazz@wsp1.wspice.com if you'd like to talk about DXM sometime. I'm very lonely. :) LIFE AND DEATH by Gravol Life and Death. They are as different as night and day, and while simple laws of physics and astronomy can explain how this occurs, it can't explain why. And that also applies equally to the drugs LSD and DXM. Two totally separate drugs, as different as night and day, but somehow you can't abuse one without trying the other. Everyone likes either the daytime or the nighttime better. We all have our reasons. Now I'm going to tell you why... LSD stands for Life. DXM stands for Death. LSD can open up places of your unconscious mind that you never knew existed, and can make you think thoughts that you never knew could come from you. It can be a scary road into the depths of your own insanity or it can be an enlightening transcendental experience. It's often both at different points. But it's still the same drug... a speedy, teeth-grinding display of Open-eye visuals that can be as frighteningly startling or magnificently clear as the daytime itself. DXM is in perfect contrast to LSD though. DXM lets you explore not only your mind but what lies beyond your mind... the rest of the universe. And I don't mean physical universe. You can't tell me there is nothing beyond matter and physics and the 3rd dimension because everytime you "think," you are creating stuff that isn't matter. Stuff that can affect your decisions and your life down the road. And DXM can make you see there is more to life than just inner exploration of your own mind... there is an outside world of a billion minds laced all across the spans of Time (if time even applies to certain places) and if you've ever had a TRUE out-of-body experience... one where you actually see the deceased or other peoples' thoughts, then you KNOW without a doubt that what I speak of is true. DXM is the Dark and LSD is Light. DXM is often more abused at night and LSD is abused a lot during the day... hence "frying" in the sun for LSD and going into a motionless state sleep-like state to the onlooker for DXM at high enough doses. LSD makes you speedy and DXM makes you mellow. LSD gives you open-eye hallucinations and DXM gives you closed-eye halluc- inations. One is known to all and hard to come by if you don't know people who sell it or manufacture it, and the other is easy to come by but nobody knows about it. DXM is truly as secretive as the night that surrounds it. Problems or depression can be strongly intensified by LSD but problems are easier to forget on DXM... until they arise in the middle of a trip. LSD's comedown is rough but DXM's comedown is smooth. LSD can cause an uneasy jittery feeling that almost makes it impossible to close your eyes at times. DXM can make you so calm and relaxed that you find it difficult to WANT to open your eyes during a trip sometimes. They both can take you to different realities and open up new ideas and imaginative thought and talent inside you, but they don't open up the same type of thought nor the same areas of the brain, so each is just as important experiencing as the other. There are many odd similarities, too. They were both legal at one time (in the sixties), with DXM still being legal today. They both make you trip, which can be said for more than any other two drugs out there that make you trip but are so contrasted both in effects and chemical structure. They both last the same amount of time approximately, 6-8 hours. They both can cause paranoia, depression, and psychological dependence, but the lethal dose is far from reachable and there is no proof of permanent damage (only to people who have had major underlying mental problems brought to light by their use). Nobody understands them totally or can fully master their power... and not every experience you have with them will be a pleasurable one. But they are more important drugs than most every other drug like morphine or heroin in a subjective since, because they make you perceive life differently... they open up new schools of thought and ideas and can and have shaped our culture and made us who we are today. They have made people who use them look deeper into their lives and even review what's wrong and find problems easier. They've even made people decide to quit using drugs altogether because they no longer needed them. Do you think we would ever take such a serious look at our lives until a major problem arose? This lets you change your path before a problem may arise, and lets you see more clearly your fears and worries, goals and anxieties, and sometimes change peoples' entire belief systems from one extreme to the other. But why would you change your beliefs unless you found new compelling evidence to rebase your opinion? And any drug that is based solely on a religion is not to be taken lightly, such as mescaline, which produces very similar effects as LSD. To never experience these drugs or similar hallucinogens means you'll never have the key to unlock that part of your mind, and you will never experience life in the beauty it can be experienced in. Learning and life is all about experience... I highly doubt that something so common would be so easily accessible if it wasn't put on the Earth for a reason... or how anybody could have an argu- ment against others doing LSD when they have never tried it themselves nor know anything about it...but enough of my philosophy. :) Simple fact is that the contrast between these two drugs AND the similarities are fascinating if nothing more than sheer coincidence. But it is weird how these two substances are in a class of their own, and are always compared to one another in discussions about psychedelics. The answer is simple... you can't see what's in the night without the light of day... and you can never dream without the darkness of night. One final note... combining these two drugs is perfectly safe and can cause a life-changing reality to take hold that extends beyond the trip itself, but eventually subsides back into normal thought. However, when using this combo a lot of people have reported seeing God or understanding concepts they've never been able to comprehend before... and at the same time experience these thoughts in a way DXM alone can't create. (LSD can make you feel colors or see sounds, and when combined with DXM you can actually feel your thoughts turn into their own reality and open up avenues of total understanding and perfect harmony in ways you've never before experience from a single drug.) It simply puts you at inner peace and your mind is surprisingly quiet but you don't need thoughts to guide your happiness... you're not experiencing it in any way you have ever felt before. It's definitely worth trying at least once, but you won't be able to do it very often, because depression may result immediately afterwards when you return to reality and this can lead to psychological dependence very quickly. But there is always a price for total peace and bliss. In the long run you must give up your life on earth to experience it, and all the drugs... so learn life as best you can now with what you have to make due with. And don't let anyone else make the decision on what you can put into your body. That is not freedom. Drugs are simply the key to unlocked doors within yourself and LSD can open up thoughts like the light of day, and DXM can be as dark and magical as the night itself. So go and explore... ACROSS THE UNIVERSE WITH DXM by Cliff Alexander Well, when I first started I was using Drixoral Cough. Once it was vanquished, I gagged down syrup until Sucrets Cough Drops with DXM came out, so I began melting them in water and drinking the powder at the bottom. Got me going, but nothing like Drixoral. Now I've been turned on to Coricidin Cough and Cold, thank God. I've been tripping like I haven't tripped in a long while. Last weekend my girlfriend and I decided to hit the Coricidin and spend a night adrift in the universe -- so we each took 40 pills -- 1200 mg of DXM (since I've reached this range, I find it a waste of a night to take any less, and will work up to 50 pills soon). We took the pills at approximately 9:30 pm and at around 10:15 I felt them begin to work with their trademark effects. I had spent about ten minutes wondering if I was feeling anything, and soon my veins lit up and I felt warm all over. I sat there in the living room for about ten minutes trying to fight the nausea that I always get at the onset but to no avail. I went to the bathroom, heaved about five times (I washed out a few small chunks of undigested pills but not too much) and then felt fucking great. Back to the couch I went. The majority of the first hour was spent in darkness with my eyes closed. Every five minutes or so my girlfriend would ask in a choppy speech "You awake?" ... "Yes," I'd respond. I sat and watched pattern after pattern over beautiful colors errupt before my eyes. It wasn't long that I stood slowly, feeling as though my body was made of a very heavy steel, and clambered to the stereo. I put in Mozart and stumbled back. As soon as the first song started (not sure which CD it was, nor what the piece was called) I was off. I flew over distances and distances of dark night, floating very high above a blurry, gray city. It seemed like the city was a very, very busy and fast-paced place, although I can't be sure how I know that. At some point I approached a wall thinking that if there was some way to bust through it that I would appear in whatever vision my girlfriend was experiencing. This was very similar to a trip I had once before with a buddy of mine. Anyway, the scenes changed off and on. At one point I was watching a starry sky, and trailing the lines and meteors across the scape. By the way, later in the trip we tried something you'll have to check out. Take a camera -- doesn't matter if you have film -- and trigger the flash very close to your eyes. The very split second after the flash, close your eyes. It's phenomenal. The world is a bright, bright purple, and as it dims down, a small bright light appears that you can follow. It will seem to crawl all over space and time, tracing paths and creating designs within itself. It seems to last for minutes at a time. As the night wore on, and our visions were becoming fewer and further between, we pulled out the nitrous tanks and the cracker. Oh, shit. After the first hit of gas, I became very sure I was losing my mind. Everything went black for a moment, and there was a very loud and constant screeching, like millions and millions of crickets were chirping. I kept thinking of ideas and things in sets of three -- like the holy trinity (I'm not being Christian here, just happened that way), or Mother, father, child. Every time I thought of something that didn't perfectly fit into a mold of three, my mind raced trying to tie it in to another set of three somehow. I was sure that if I became aware of an idea that couldn't be put into a three category that I would lose some aspect of my logic forever. Eventually we ran out of gas so I stopped calculating -- but the rest of the trip was affected, altering the general mood just slightly from my typical trips at that dose. As we came down, we began chatting about our place in the universe, and why time travel and astral travel really is a probability if there were only some way to open the door and figure out the controls. I know it sounds insane to those who have never used drugs, but to those who have, you'll realize that not only is this a very serious type of rationale during the trip, but long after you've come down, you've taken a piece of knowledge to constantly think about. A challenge to always turn over in your mind. DXM is my favorite chemical tool out of all that I have tried. I have other favorites as far as recreational use -- but if I'm going to spend an entire night of exploration and reflection, acid has its place, but DXM seems to really get down into the meat of the gray noodle. ANOTHER MORON, ANOTHER MOMENT by William White Well, it's time for another deconstruction, thirteen months after the first one (come *on* people, where are all the criticisms from the hellfire-and-brimstone crowd??). This makes ten negative comments, some 940 positive ones, as of right now. Mind you, some of the latter are of the "H3Y D00D 1'M R3ALLY FUCK3D UP AND 1TS K00L" variety, but what the heck, at least they had the courtesy to write. ;) Once again, the original comments, and my "my ego's bigger than yours, so nyaah" response. Here is the original feedback: Date: Mon Oct 5 15:43:22 1998 Host: 204.169.235.171 Alias: the drug counselor Age: 43 dear william, I think that we are products of our environment, and possibly you have not seen the damage that chemicals do to people's brains-out here in the real world. 1. Abbie Hoffman committed suicide. He was a very brave and heroic man, and he was also a very sad and delusional man. All mood altering chemicals have side effects, and not very many aren't DANGEROUS. He used lots of drugs. 2. You repeatedly say, this can be dangerous if you are not careful. These things ARE dangerous, EVEN WHEN YOU ARE CAREFUL. 3. I work with young people who take drugs. They are by nature, not careful. I have witnessed many a suicide attempt. I agree with your moron of the week. We have seen that drugs basically cripple our minds and our bodies. There are far more beneficial pursuits in life than self-medicating our neuroses. Thanks for the forum. At least you gave the other side a chance to speak. And here is my response: > dear william, > I think that we are products of our environment, Yes, I think by now it's well established that environment contributes to personality, just as genetics does. Thus far I agree with you. > and possibly you have not > seen the damage that chemicals do to people's brains-out here in the real > world. Out here in the real world? Oh yeah, I'm off in an ivory tower somewhere, that explains why I have to get up at oh-dark-thirty in the morning and go to work for a living. And I hate to break it to you, but you aren't the only one who's gotten calls in the middle of the night. More than once I've had to convince people to go to the hospital after they drank some Nyquil and *then* found the FAQ, and I can't count the number of bad trips I've had to talk people down off of. And frankly I have neither the desire nor training to do this sort of thing, and I'd rather not. But don't say I ain't seen the casualties because I have. I am, however, pragmatic about harm reduction, and I've drawn different conclusions than you have. > 1. Abbie Hoffman committed suicide. He was a very brave and heroic man, and > he was also a very sad and delusional man. As are most brave and heroic men. It is, unfortunately, in the nature of heroes to fall from grace. Taking a considerably less philisophical bent, though, had Hoffman never had to fight against an oppressive political system (part of which being its drug policies), do you think he would have committed suicide? Even if he *did* commit suicide, that still doesn't invalidate anything he said. The messenger is *not* the message. (And speaking of Hoffmans, Albert is still going strong at 90-something. Makes one think that LSD must be a preservative. And Shulgin's still got his faculties too, of course). > All mood altering chemicals have side effects, and not very many > aren't DANGEROUS. Well of course they're dangerous, *everything* in life is dangerous. If you want to start arguing relative risks, however, I'm going to start throwing in many sanctioned (often respected) activities such as mountain climbing, which, like psychoactive drugs, offer entirely subjective benefits with considerable risk. If you want to live without risk, move to Disneyland. Now, I'll grant you that young people are, in general, very poor at assessing risk. Do you think withholding information is going to improve their abilities? If easy access to psychoactive drugs (which don't substantially stimulate the VTA -- I'm excluding hard drugs like heroin, cocaine, and alcohol) were so dangerous to the young, why aren't kids in the Netherlands dropping like flies? Why do they instead show substantially higher standardized test scores than kids in the US? > He used lots of drugs. No, really. Hmm, he used lots of drugs, drugs are dangerous, therefore drugs caused his suicide. I commend you on your solid grasp of causality. It's just as likely that the drug use was an effect, not a cause, of the conditions that ultimately resulted in his suicide. Might as well argue that "Socrates was mortal, dogs were mortal, therefore Socrates was a dog". Furthermore, what you *don't* see in your occupation are the people -- and I know plenty -- who have used drugs (typically cannabis and psychedelics) throughout their lives and haven't shown any signs of being hurt (barring moral concerns, which are entirely subjective). For the average citizen, the knowledge he or she has about drug use comes from those who enter the public view, and it is those people who are precisely the ones who cannot handle it. To use an analogy, had I beamed down from Mars during Prohibition, I would have concluded that alcohol made everyone into a boozer, because the only alcohol use I would have seen would have been among those who couldn't keep quiet about it. Given that you work with the casualties, I'm not surprised that you have reached the conclusions you have. On the other hand your conclusions are by no means shared by all drug abuse counselors; you are the first one I've heard from who has been substantially critical of the FAQ. > 2. You repeatedly say, this can be dangerous if you are not careful. These > things ARE dangerous, EVEN WHEN YOU ARE CAREFUL. Pardon my bluntness, but *duh*. Anything dangerous is still dangerous EVEN WHEN YOU ARE CAREFUL, due to the risk of error. Handling poisonous snakes is still dangerous even if you know what you're doing. The relevant questions, as far as I'm concerned, are: what are the risks when used safely, what are the risks when used carefully, what is the likelihood of safe use vs. careless use, and how do we minimize the latter? In the case of many psychedelics, e.g., the serotonergics, the risks when used carefully are minimal, based on long-term (longitudinal) studies of users (recently published), and some ground-breaking stuff comparing Ayahuasca users vs. non-users among South American native populations (the users were more emotionally and psychologically stable). This is from peer-reviewed sources, by the way, so if you don't believe me, look `em up. > 3. I work with young people who take drugs. They are by nature, not > careful. No, you work with young people *who have problems with drugs*, either because they themselves suffer, or because their use becomes noticed by the authorities. This is a skewed sample of the population. Even were it representative of the drug-taking sample of young people as a whole, do you really think that the best way to improve the situation is to withhold information that they'll get elsewhere (and of dubious accuracy) anyway? I, at least, listen to and try to accommodate my critics if they have specific suggestions, and I have spent much time and effort verifying what information I have presented. I believe it presents a balanced view of DXM use, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and I think the only way people (young or old) can ever make good decisions if if they are fully informed. > I have witnessed many a suicide attempt. Congratulations, anyone who works with young people has witnessed many a suicide attempt. I'm sorry, but I still think your causality is screwed. It's one thing to say that many troubled children use drugs and try to suicide, it's quite another to say that drugs *caused* the trouble, or the suicide. It's still another to say that this has anything to do with the use of drugs by psychologically healthy individuals. And please, no statements that psychedelic drug use automatically disqualifies one from psychological health, since even a cursory glance at other cultures will disprove this -- providing you are defining psychological health in a meaningful way and not "what I happen to think is a good idea". > I agree with your moron of the week. That's "moron of the moment". Notice the alliterative euphemy. And did you stop to wonder *why* I put that up in the first place? No, it ain't to stroke my John Holmes sized ego and whip it out in front of everyone like Jim Morrison. Now, admittedly, I *do* have an ego, and I *am* arrogant; it's the consequence of having watched so much utter stupidity in people who should know better. Remember the 1950's? Communist witch hunts? If you think this sort of public-sanctioned stupidity has ended, go check out FAMM (http://www.famm.org/), or compare the crime, drug use, and school test score stats of the US vs. the Netherlands. The reason, however, that I called the person a moron wasn't because he had an opinion different from mine. It was because he couldn't (or didn't) support his points logically, and didn't offer an email address so the issue could be debated and logical fallacies taken care of. But since you've offered me no email address either, well, it looks like we've got ourselves a replacement (good enough, the damn "moment" had lasted over a year). > We have seen that drugs basically cripple our minds and our bodies. How do they do so? Which drugs are you talking about? Certainly abuse (and I'm sure you know of the medical distinction between use, abuse, and misuse) of alcohol can cripple the mind and body. But many drugs, e.g., the serotonergics and cannabis, have been studied exhaustively and the question of neurotoxicity has been answered in the negative. I've seen plenty of people (who are careful and respect both themselves and the psychedelics they use) whose bodies and minds are just fine, thankyouverymuch. > There are far more beneficial pursuits in life than self-medicating our > neuroses. Oh, so I take it all use of mind-altering drugs is "self-medicating our neuroses". Does this include people who drink alcohol socially? How about social cannabis smoking? Ritual use of peyote, or ayahuasca? Self-exploration with LSD? Ecstatic dance with psychedelics? Using 2CB as a sexual enhancer? How do you separate the context of drug use (i.e., its illegality, and the effect of this on adolescent deviance) from the effects of the drugs themselves? Have you done cross-cultural study of any kind? No? Well, maybe you should. Schaeffer's Drug Library has some good starting points, and various countries' health ministries offer lots of statistics you might find interesting. And how exactly do you assess benefit? What objective standards do you apply to determine whether something is beneficial to someone or not? There are a *lot* of casualties from mountain climbing and skiing, does this mean that these activities are not in some way beneficial? How about sitting on the couch watching TV and letting your health deteriorate? How do you know that everyone who takes drugs has neuroses to medicate? Is it because you are assuming that drug-taking is evidence of such neurosis? Certainly, there *are* a lot of neurotics out there, and a lot of them *do* take drugs, but there are also a lot of people out there who are answering a very deep, human drive to achieve altered states of consciousness -- a drive which has been with us since before recorded history, based on archaeological evidence, and which I have no doubt will continue long after you and I are dead. Personally, I believe we have much to learn from societies which maintain a healthy relationship with psychedelic drugs, used in ritual contexts, typically in nature-centered religions. In any case, a lot of neurotics take drugs. A lot of neurotics also masturbate, and up until fairly recently, the medical community tried to argue that masturbation made you crazy (or at best, was good evidence that you already were). See where I'm going with this? You're putting the Horse before Descartes. Not to mention which, your sample is non-representative to begin with. If you wish to construct an argument in favor of your position, you're going to have to work a bit harder than that, sorry. You do, of course, have a right to your opinion, and I *will* listen to you if and when you have some actual suggestions to make (and no, I can't get rid of the FAQ, even if I wanted to, since it's already in circulation). > Thanks for the forum. At least you gave the other side a chance to speak. Hell, I'll even put your comments up. That makes an even ten negative responses I've received so far, which, though clearly in the minority (compared to 937 positive responses as of now), is still food for thought. Conclusion People, please, if you're going to offer criticism, try to do one of two things, and preferrably both: make it logically rigorous, and give me some suggestions for what to change. I probably won't change it, mind you, but I can (and have) change my mind. And DXM is still dangerous. Welcome to the Real World, full of things which can kill, maim, or otherwise hurt you. If you have a problem with risk, I'm sure Michael Eisner would be happy to take your money at the Magic Kingdom. Or maybe, just maybe, we can accept that there are risks in life, and some people actually like to take risks (gosh, no!), and they obtain subjective benefit from doing so. So long as you're an adult, I have no problem with that; go out and ski down Mt. Everest, road-luge amidst semi trucks, bungee jump out of an SR71 blackbird, or whatever else floats your boat. There's a hell of a lot of risky things people do that make taking DXM look like doodling with crayons in the rubber room in comparison, and I have yet to hear people gritching about those. And you're still more than welcome to put up your own webpage about how evil and nasty DXM really is, and I'll still link to it if you want. MIXING DXM WITH HALLUCINOGENIC MUSHROOMS by Gravol What a glorious experience it was. We had gone out to the field with the best intentions. Just earlier today I was talking to an ex-girlfriend and I found out that by sheer coincidence she was the neice of the guy who owns this farm. Anyway, I found out he was selling the cow fields, and that the driveway that leads to them is a public road, so now there was virtually no chance of getting caught trespassing... a perfect shroom field. We got there around sunset and picked as many as we could find... finding about 30 in all, we split it up between the 4 of us back at the house. We ate both cap and stem, and most of the shrooms were bleeding purple, nice and fresh... they were so potent. We ate them and soon afterwards I started to get a headache, so I asked for a Tylenol. Also, we began smoking a lot of weed. And I for one had already been on a DXM trip earlier in the day. But knowing what I had to do, I departed from the crowd and explained how I had to get back early. Once back, I downed the rest of an 8oz container of Robitussin. Hallejulah! Within a half hour, the two drugs combined and I felt like I was one with the Universe. A truly remarkable experience. I chatted on the computer for a while and then no longer felt the need to stay online. I typed the following before retiring: Not since time forgot I am living no more Where I go, I no longer care Perception is a door That time forgot Listen to the night As it calls out your name You know it's only right When you are the one to blame I know the Universe. I am Knowledge. I Possess The Mind. Just a glance, A passing chance That could steal the night away Into waves of light And tender delight Insanity. Subtle. Timely. Distorted. Omnipotent. Powerful. Forever is true, and now is you. You know the time. It's time to come home. To you. There once was a man From his own shadow he ran Until one day the sun lost sight And day turned into night And the man was surrounded With sounds of thunder, And creatures of fright In a forest so dark It has never known light. For him there was no moon And the blood he saw turned into white For Eternity was born a new rite And the altar was blessed with life. Prosper and die. Wither and fly. It's your turn to try... I got off and went to bed and found that as I listened to the headphones I was immersed in a world of thought sensation and pure euphoria... I could now grasp the concept of all life and eternity, and I was at perfect peace with myself. I still am, as I write this while coming down at 2:30am. It's always been my observation that when you mix DXM and LSD or shrooms or mescaline, there seems to be a sort of "brain reset"... you experience a new birth of life and imagination and inspiration and continue with this new personality of not caring and complete understanding for the next couple of days, until the effects eventually subside. I've only been able to do this a handful of times, but it's always been an enlightening experience. Anyway, as I laid awake in bed and listened to the music, I soon began to make realizations that I never had before. For instance, the CD I was listening to was Atom Heart Mother by Pink Floyd. On the CD case there is a picture of a cow standing in a field. And certain parts of the song are named Funky Dung, Remergence, etc. And if that weren't enough, the whole album is very trippy and zoned out and the very last song is called Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast. So I suddenly began to think that I've discovered the secret of Atom Heart Mother and that it's about shrooms... and then I realized how much nicer it would be with a joint. So I pack a cigarette half-full with the rest of my weed and head out with a flashlight down to the beach, about a half- mile down the road. Once I get there, it's extremely dark and there's nobody else out. I take off my shoes, and walk into the ocean, letting the waves come up against me, thru my clothes and up to my waist. I'd like to recall the lyrics of a Doors song, Moonlight Drive, which was written by Jim Morrison and interestingly enough was written while he was on LSD: Let's swim to the moon Let's climb through the tide Penetrate the evening That the city sleeps to hide Let's swim out tonight, love It's our turn to try Parked beside the ocean On our moonlight drive. Let's swim to the moon Let's climb through the tide Surrender to the waiting worlds That lap against our side. Nothing left open And no time to decide. We've stepped into a river On our moonlight drive. Now it was getting late, and it was time to turn back. The night was dark and the trip was getting old, so I began walking back ashore, grabbing my shoes, then walked back to the house, where I returned to write this. Overall, it was a wonderful experience. A total rebirth of everything dear to me... a splendid vision of life and the wonder of the Universe. WHY RECREATIONAL DRUGS HAVE MADE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE by Optima I did not write this and it is only somewhat related to DXM, but I totally agree with the philosophy behind the article so I decided to publish it. First off, when the government or a morally righteous person speaks of drugs, they don't speak of the good drugs or how some drugs have no evidence of any permanent damage. But that doesn't matter, because any ignorant person groups every illegal drug together in the same category ... and anyway, what is considered moral or immoral? Ultimately it is based on our individual beliefs but you'd be surprised at how society controls almost everything you believe and what you do, and the media brainwashes you with subliminal messages that can be more powerful than most drugs. The society of the present forms an overall opinion of what is good and bad. But what makes our society of today any more right from the one 200 hundred years ago? Or 200 years down the road...? The point is that your overall life and quality of life is based on the work and beliefs of everyone before you who shaped this world. So if people decide what's moral and immoral, that doesn't necessarily mean what is immoral to one person is immoral to the next. But this country doesn't allow you to express individual freedom in a totally free way. Sure, you can speak your mind but you can't act it out... and who else are you harming by abusing a drug than yourself? Can't hardly say your family because some families are comprised of every member abusing drugs. You don't know if God or whatever you believe in thinks drugs are moral or immoral because it's not mentioned in the bible and they are only a sign of the times... and evil wasn't born yesterday. But it's evil for people to put the blame on something they don't understand. And then there are all the people who disapprove of drugs because of all the negative things that have happened to their friends or themselves because of them. But I think anyone who uses the right kind of drugs for recreational purposes would agree that certain drugs should be legalized to prevent people from doing the more easily obtainable dangerous ones. Drugs aren't necessarily evil, and you may not even be alive today if it wasn't for them most likely. I'm talking about the drugs that save your life. But you gotta take the good with the bad. One day you might see life a little differently after doing LSD or DXM and down the road you will make a decision based on a new perception of understanding that would've never come to you if it wasn't for that drug. And your whole life could change at that instant, but the good thing is we'll all end up in the same place eventually, wherever the road may take us. And only after your own personal experience should you decide if drugs are worth it. I refuse to listen to anyone speak against illegal drugs because I've done more research on them than most anti-drug bigots. And twisting propaganda to decieve the public into believing drugs WILL ruin your life is just wrong. Especially associating drugs with elementary schoolyards and teens pushing them on youngsters. This type of propaganda is simply used to make people become more emotional about the issue. Fact is most drugs are brought into the schools by the children themselves and are often obtained from their own parents. And the government is already afraid of legalizing LSD simply not because of accidents, but of people seeing the truth about what's wrong with the country. If they cared about accidents, there wouldn't be alcohol. And anything that alters beliefs is dangerous to a government. Especially if the whole population uses it. That's why they've pitted drug abusers in a minority class and treat the people as such. The reality of it is that if it weren't for the government (FDA) and multibillion drug companies like Parke Davis and Bayer then you would have never heard of heroin, and a thousand or more people could have lived longer lives and experienced so much more from life. But every cause produces an effect, and if isn't bad enough that the government and drug companies are to blame for pushing these now-illegal drugs in the first place with false advertising to get people hooked (which would nowadays be prosecuted but because the government was behind it as well and they took responsibility for approving it, they are really to blame for allowing it out in the public), the government then punishes the people who abuse the drugs which wouldn't even be around if it wasn't for the government itself screwing up in the first place by making them accessible to every kid in the US and abroad that can walk into a drugstore and get heroin. So the government has pushed more drugs on more children than a worldful of drug dealers can. They forget people can make their own decisions, and they have to learn from their mistakes. The government in essence created the drug revolution with the release of powerful, addictive drugs onto the mainstream drug market and let the companies make tremendous profit off peoples' addictions and allowed false advertising to run rampant in every newspaper abroad. That is what's wrong with the anti-drug campaign. By telling you that you can't have something, you become more curious. Especially if it's from a government that denies the existance of everything you know probably exists. If someone can't trust the government (and why should they if the IRS is constantly harassing the taxpayers who actually have to pay to finance the drug war whethe they like it or not) then why should they really believe the anti-drug campaign is really the right thing to do? Back to what this article's about... you may agree one way or another about whether drugs are good or bad. But you wouldn't be the person you are today if it wasn't for drugs in our society... illegal ones. For instance, they say music can shape the soul and your personality. A lot of songs wouldn't even exist and a lot of stars would have never been born if it wasn't for the inspiration and ideas born from higher understandings and altered states of consciousness. Books wouldn't have been written, people wouldn't have started to mistrust the government, and a lot of lives were ruined by products that were supposedly safe and cure-all antidotes to anything you may be troubled with. And the government and schools wouldn't be so broke for spending all this money on a losing war. But in reality it's just our money that's going towards financing a botched war. Money that goes right down the drain that is eventually used towards more drug enforcement (I am in no way making drug dealers out to be good, but I do think it's wrong to punish individual drug users who don't sell drugs to others). Sure, battles are won and drugs are seized but people could make drugs and transport them til the end of the world, long after all natural sources run out. So how can you stop them? Why on earth would you ban something that's already in your brain like GHB? You have to go to the source and prevent people from making them in the first place. And that is my other point... why is a drug necessarily a bad thing if it grows wild in nature? Or naturally in your brain? Like hallucinogenic mushrooms several chemicals that are actually safe for you like GHB. They're very accessible. And can't you have a cough suppressant that doesn't make you euphoric in certain doses? Impossible... nature just doesn't work that way, folks. No other drug class is like that except for the restricted ones... but nobody in the government is saying not to abuse DXM... and it's a hallucinogen. :) They'll also deny it's abusable and that is an outright lie because the FDA obviously did extensive tests on it that run back to the 50s and 60s... another classic example of a government drug conspiracy. If it wasn't for drugs, culture would not be the same and perhaps music today wouldn't be anything like it actually is. No techno, no trance... perhaps we'd still be into the rock revolution. Perhaps rock would have never been born. You really don't know for sure... Somehow somebody's view on life and perception of reality changed and something totally new was invented. Not a machine but a new way of thinking... and that was born in the late 50s, and everything since then has been the direct or indirect result of that revolution in the 60s. To get to the present you have to go thru the past, and to say that drugs don't affect who you are is absurd because environment does shape a person... along with other factors. I'm not going to get into why drugs should be legalized (I don't think they should beyond ones that are proven safe and won't cause problems down the road; there must be some drug restrictions so access to dangerous drugs can be discouraged... most people don't have enough drug knowledge to know what is safe to use and what isn't) because I think we all know the benefits of controlled substances being sold to individuals of age and funds going to the appropriate source... education and more police and prisons for the people who do crimes... not to themselves but to others. At least with drugs you see what you're getting into first and it's your decision to start experimenting. But with crime, you never know when it'll strike and it's far more deadly than any drug. And far more preventable in the longrun if enough money is spent on proper law enforcement and censoring certain shows that youngsters have access to. The good thing about the Internet is you have to at least be able to read and type to use it effectively, and by this time the Internet hasn't been a direct influence in a person's childhood years, so they are less impressionable by the time they can access the Internet. Television is a far worse medium for subliminal brainwashing run by the media and government-regulated programming. One last point... if anyone disagrees with you about your pro-legalization views, ask them why alcohol is legal and not every other drug. Alcohol is a drug, afterall. And it's far more dangerous than nitrous oxide, LSD, DXM, marijuana, etc. It's only legal because it's a part of our society and it's viewed as morally acceptable to drink in a responsible manner to get a buzz and loosen up, and to get drunk occasionally when you're celebrating. But how is that different than smoking a joint to relax after a hard day's work or to get better acquainted with a girl and to meet new friends? It's not... only difference is one is legal and the rest are illegal. And the most ludicrous thing is that people who really need the marijuana for medical ailments can't get it but anyone can buy alcohol... which has no medical use and any other use than to intoxicate and make people act like fools. Why? Because alcohol is mentioned in the bible because Jesus drank wine so thus it must be OK to use in moderation. So that means all drugs (that are preferably safer than alcohol... and a lot of them are) can be used in moderation. It's not like there was LSD or DXM back in the biblical times... or perhaps Christianity might be totally different than it is today.... and that simply means morals are in the eye of the beholder and the only thing to do is to keep living and learn from our mistakes. What might be good for one person can be bad for another. But nothing is universally bad... only God or a higher source can decipher true good from evil. And your only pure thoughts of good are abstract concepts you've learned since childhood. But you'd probably develop them anyway, no matter what. So if you abuse drugs, there's no need to stop if you don't want to. You're not a bad person. You just don't fit in with the average citizen's beliefs and thus you are a minority and your numbers will never be enough to overturn the government and get what you want. The '60s proved that... and there is nothing you can do except promote knowledge and pass on information to others that were once in your shoes. And if you abuse drugs, abuse them not to escape reality but to explore your mind and the universe. Use them to come up with new ideas and solutions to old problems and use them because they were put on earth for nobody or nothing BUT you to use and utilize. They're not just there to collect dust... :) Good luck in your journeys and I hope you will be able to use drugs in a useful and meaningful manner. After all, I'm at perfect inner peace and have a basic understanding of the Universe and do DXM every other day at times. THE TIME I SAW GOD by Okey DOSE: I took 25 caps of Drixol "Cough" at 7:00 pm. It took a little over an hour to hit.... in 2 hours I was flying. I did so many things I cannot describe. I saw God... I went into this room. I was "told" that it was his "room". I walked around a corner in the entrance... And He was standing there. I was scared to death. He appeared 50ish. With short dark hair (parted on his left). He was not handsome in any way. But He looked distinguished and very confident, and gracious. He knew that I was scared to death. He then held out his hand and shook my hand. He said "Hi ... have a seat." We sat down and had some small talk. And then I was lead away. He looked slightly Jewish. More like a cross between my Father and an older Me. One thing I was made aware of.... He had nothing to warn me about... nothing to scold me about... and He was glad to see me. He seemed proud of me... and He seemed very suportive. I saw myself... I understood my personality.... It scared the shit out of me. Every layer of my mind was pealed off... until my first (child) thoughts were left. I saw that my current personality is basically just the way I hide my insecurities. Now when I'm flying through DXM space I feel pretty safe... In fact I'm pretty cocky. Partially because of my mind training... and partially because of by previous beliefs about spirits. I may be temporarily scared... but I know I'll be OK. I ran into this bald black guy. He was living on this real cool platform that contained his living quarters. There was no roof... and no completly enclosed rooms. But he appeared not only wealthy but powerful and wise. He saw how cocky I was... He challenged me: He said "I know you are more powerful than me... But let me show you what I know about you." Then He said, "Look into my eyes and I'll show you how weak you are." I looked into his eyes... and I saw myself again. This time I saw what a small, predictable, lazy, insignificant being I was. Then I backed away from him. I didn't want to see any more. I was humiliated. Then I knew... even though I could kick his ass... that He could hurt me in other ways. I understood that I need to be a little more respectful toward those that I meet in D space. Several times my thoughts and beliefs were challanged. I was amazed how scary this could be. It seemed that I felt slightly detatched from what was going on... I felt kinda safe. Then... the trip seemed to start breaking rules... instead of me watching or observing... the trip sucked me into several realities that put be in threatening situations... and they became more real... like I couldn't tell what was real and what was a "vision". At one point I would live a complete life or "life thread" in the course of listening to one song. I could barely understand how to use the remote for the stereo. All of a sudden I needed to pee. I was tripping like a son-of-a-bitch. I opened my eyes. .. and forced my feet down on the floor. I focused and moved each limb seperatly. I moved like a robot.... very stiff and deliberate. I'm not kidding. I moved like a robot. I finally got my pee done... and made it back to trip land. The peak didn't last too long (it seemed). I think this is because I drank a quart of cranberry juice about 5 hours before I took the DXM. There was lots more. I bumped into a planet (or asteriod). The entire universe reality was destroyed... and another one took its place. I can't even describe all that I saw. Every thing that I believed in was destroyed... What else can I say. God bless, Good Luck.... and good night. SEROTONIN SYNDROME AND OTHER CONDITIONS by William White, Gravol The first part of this article, concerning serotonin syndrome, was written by William White. The second part of the article, concerning two other unpleasant DXM-induced conditions, was written by Gravol. It's not generally a good idea to diagnose yourself, but on the other hand, serotonin syndrome is, at least at the time being, relatively unknown and probably under-reported. And with increasing numbers of people taking SSRIs like Prozac, the potential for serotonin syndrome among users of DXM is rising. The symptoms of serotonin syndrome are specified below. Keep in mind that generally speaking, anyone on DXM will experience some of these symptoms, so don't freak out. The point is, if you start noticing these symptoms when you aren't on DXM, or if they are considerably stronger than usual, you might have a problem. Don't panic. Serotonin syndrome is rarely fatal; usually it's just an indication that you need to stop taking so many serotonergic drugs. There are specific treatments for it (antiserotonergic drugs, appropriately enough), and most of the symptoms respond adequately to benzodiazepines. Category: Theoretical (especially DXM + antidepressants) Serotonin syndrome is a recently-identified condition that typically occurs when combining serotonergic drugs (i.e., drugs that stimulate, or mimic, serotonin activity in the brain). Most of these drugs are antidepressants (MAOIs, SSRIs such as ProzacTM or ZoloftTM, tricyclics, lithium, and atypical antidepressants); others include buspirone (BuSpar TM), MDMA (ecstasy) and other phenethylamines, tryptophan, harmine and harmaline (both recreational MAOIs), and possibly serotonergic hallucinogens such as LSD, psilocybin, and DMT. Phentermine, fenfulramine, and phen-fen can also cause serotonin syndrome when combined with DXM. DXM induces a release of serotonin, and while it has never been demonstrated to cause serotonin syndrome by itself, it has been shown to do so in combination with other serotonergics. In particular, combining SSRIs and DXM may be risky; one paper found serotonin syndrome from an SSRI combined with DXM with a concurrent vascular disease. Serotonin syndrome is indicated by a combination of three sets of symptoms: changes in mental status, autonomic dysfunction, and neuromuscular abnormalities. Specific symptoms include: o Changes in Mental Status o Hypomania o Confusion o Agitation o Autonomic Dysfunction o Diarrhea o Low-grade fever o Diaphoresis (sweating) o Shivering o Neuromuscular Abnormalities o Myoclonus (sudden, brief muscle spasms) o Hyperreflexia (exagerrated reflexes) o Ataxia (incoordination and clumsiness) Yes, there is some overlap (e.g., shivering can be considered as an autonomic dysfunction or a neuromuscular abnormality). More serious symptoms can include rhabdomyolysis (basically, your muscle cells break open and leak muscle-cell-parts into your bloodstream, poisoning you), coma, and death. Serotonin syndrome deaths are rare, however. Treatment of serotonin syndrome requires medical intervention, and consists of supporting measures to treat the symptoms, and possibly antiserotonergic drugs. Benzodiazepines (such as ValiumTM) have also been used with considerable success. The astute among you will notice that many of these "symptoms" are characteristics of DXM intoxication. In fact, many serotonergic drugs can cause these symptoms. The question is whether or not the symptoms become severe and numerous. At least one symptom from each of the three categories is generally required for a diagnosis of serotonin syndrome. Once again, if in doubt, see a doctor. And avoid using DXM in combination with any antidepressant. Remember, combining DXM with a MAOI has been repeatedly fatal! Other Conditions Apart from making light of serotonin syndrome, the Editor would like to report two other yet unexplained conditions, both involving constant DXM use, but it should be noted that when either condition occurred, no other drugs were being used in combination of DXM, neither before or after the incidents. If anyone has information regarding these conditions, or have experienced them, I urge you to contact me at Zine@dxm.net. Condition A The first condition was the first to occur, after months of constant DXM use at 2nd plateau and occasional 3rd plateau doses. To make a long story short, all my trips were normal for approximately a year, but one day everything changed. It's somewhat similar to what White referred to as the "fifty trip limit," but it was more than having DXM just not be enjoyable anymore. My stomach was simply rejecting the DXM/DXO and sending it back up my esophagus and into my mouth, leaving me no choice but to spit up the substance (which tasted a lot like saliva but was obviously coming from my stomach). I would still trip, so I know the DXO was getting absorbed but at the same time I was spitting it back out. There was no warning that this was about to occur... all the trips were normal and then one day, it all happened. And I'd be spitting up this substance for hours after the trip ended sometimes, or even into the next day, over 24 hours later. The spitting would begin the second the DXM kicked in, and it didn't matter if it was DXM HBr or DXM polistirex, in any form... syrup, pills, or pure. There was also never a trip after this point that my stomach DIDN'T reject the DXM. I had no idea whatsoever was causing this "acid reflux" of sorts, but nothing ever stopped it. And I refused to not do DXM, so I pretty much went thru a living hell everytime I tripped (it should be noted, however, that this condition was not at all painful, just very disturbing to experience). But other than that, the trips were normal. Everything else was the same as before, but the spitting got to be very annoying, and I'd often spend hours huddled over a toilet in a very bad mood, unable to ever lay down. In fact, it was impossible to lay down on DXM and enjoy it because of the constant amount of DXO coming back up my throat. Another thing that should be mentioned is the fact that DXM makes your throat and stomach very sensitive... so I could tell exactly what was happening from the moment it left my stomach until it reached my mouth, I could feel it slowly moving up my esophagus in pure disgust. My gag reflex was also suppressed and throwing up was not an option, even though no nausea ever occurred. But taking this aside, DXM was still as enjoyable as it ever was... just different now. Needless to say this went on for over 6 months... and there never was a trip that it didn't plague. And then one day, everything changed... yet again. It was late in May and I was now only doing DXM occasionally, but still on a frequent basis. A friend wanted to do some Coricidin and knowing that he didn't trip very often, I decided to do some with him. I took a few pills every 15 minutes until the effects would start, but this time (as always when I was in public) I'd just have to swallow whatever came up. But nothing ever did. And nothing ever has since then... even though I do DXM just as frequently as I used to. So, just as mysteriously as it began, it ended. Condition B This is the most disturbing condition I have ever felt in my life, and occurred during the time span that the above condition was present. It would only occur if I did DXM on a frequent basis... for instance, more than once over a 3-4 day span. The trip would start out normal enough, but I would close my eyes and see a sea of CEVs that didn't quite look right. They were more intense than usual, but they were also broken up into little fragments like dotted lines upon closer inspection. And they were very uncomfortable to watch. Then, about 45 minutes to an hour into the trip, something changed. I need to emphasize that this was NOT just a bad experience or an adverse reaction... this was a very physical illness that plagued me for the next 30 minutes, and totally related to the DXM's effects. What would happen was time would become 10 times slower than it was just moments before, and so would my movements. It was as if everything was in slow motion, and I could barely move. It would always start with a slight slicing feeling across the top of my tongue, almost like finding a hair in your mouth... but there was never a hair to be found, and I'd then feel the "slicing" across my upper lip, and at the same time my entire body just became uncomfortable in a way I cannot describe, and I felt as if I was about to die. Not in the way of paranoid delusions or a bad trip, but the physical pain from this experience and the fact that what was happening was NOT symptoms related to DXM. After 30 minutes or so, and laying in a fetal position, this condition would always end by my stomach very painfully sending up a yellowish, thick substance, and the second it was spit out, the whole condition ceased and I went back into the normal DXM trip and time would once again speed back up to normal "DXM time." I mean, as it would slowly move up my esophagus I felt my throat actually quiver and convulse wherever this substance touched, until it was finally out of my mouth. This condition persisted only with frequent DXM use, or any use above 300mg or so, so naturally I spaced my trips out but it took a while to know when too much was too much. And with the ceasing of Condition A, Condition B also ceased to exist, even after I got back into heavy DXM use. I had somehow surpassed the "fifty trip limit," and returned to enjoying DXM once again. The last time Condition B occurred was when I used Amphetamines and inadvertently took 350mg of DXM. Everything from the trademark "tongue slicing" occurred to being practically unable to move, only it was much scarier because the Amphetamines were causing hallucinations and body sweats, so Condition B was only amplified and I felt certain I was about to die. Conclusion In closing I would like to apologize for grossing anyone out by these nasty experiences, but it had to be said and described in full detail. Condition A hasn't occurred since May, but I expect it to return someday because DXM seems to run in cycles as far as overall effects are concerned. These cycles can last over 6 months until a new cycle starts, but when it does it is impossible to not notice. I should also call into question what exactly may have been rejected by my stomach. I know DXM was always the only thing being digested at the time, every time it occurred. So why was the stuff in Condition A a milky-saliva like substance, and the stuff in Condition B a thick, yellowish substance. If I were a chemist, I might have been able to determine what the actual substances were, but I can only speculate at this point. These are in no way psychological conditions, they were purely physical and Condition B was so physically disturbing and intense that I am still certain it was related somehow to some sort of illness, but no permanent damage resulted. And it always lasted no more than 30 minutes (even though it literally felt like hours), and would leave the rest of the trip with a bad mindset and constant self- assurances that I would never touch the stuff again. But I did... and I'm glad I did. DXM AND ANTIDEPRESSANTS...THE BOTTOM LINE by William White, Gravol Okay, many of you have questions about mixing DXM with antidepressants, so I have compiled this article to lay to rest most of your questions and finally put an answer to the question that has intrigued us: is it safe to mix DXM with antidepressants? And that answer, in general, is no. Not all antidepressants work the same way. Thus, some are less dangerous than others when mixed with DXM. But you'd have to know exactly what type of antidepressant you have and how it affects your brain before you should mix it with DXM. For instance, fluoxetine (Prozac) is a cytochrome P450-2D6 inhibitor and will change the characteristics of a DXM trip somewhat, increasing the ratio of DXM to DXO. Other P450-2D6 inhibiting drugs, which include many antidepressants, will probably do the same. The duration of the trip may be greatly extended by P450-2D6 inhibitors; some users have reported effects lasting 12 to 24 hours past the normal duration. The potency of DXM may also be enhanced via other mechanisms by fluoxetine. Combining DXM with the antidepressants Desyrel (trazodone) or Serzone (nefazodone) has been reported to cause liver damage! One user reported that combining DXM with bupropion (Wellbutrin) resulted in a prolonged (3+ day) hangover and an increase in adverse side effects. Fluoxetine and other SSRI antidepressants, as well as tricyclics and lithium (and of course MAOIs) may interact with DXM to cause serotonin syndrome. This condition, although rarely fatal, is not terribly pleasant. Vascular disease may increase the chance for serotonin syndrome with DXM + antidepressants, and other disease conditions may do so as well. Some DXM users who have taken DXM while on antidepressants have reported unpleasant reactions that sound a lot like serotonin syndrome, so you might want to watch out. Some of the symptoms of serotonin syndrome include muscle rigidity, confusion, diarrhea, incoordination, low-grade fever, sweating, muscle tremor, mania, agitation, exaggerated reflexes, and nausea. Do not take DXM with the diet drugs phentermine, fenfluramine, or phen-fen; this combination can also cause serotonin syndrome. And then comes Effexor, the most commonly mixed antidepressant with DXM (at least for those in the UAF). This drug affects serotonin levels in the brain by increasing them, thus the possibility of serotonin syndrome resulting is overwhelming. People have described a "mellowed out" feeling to their trips after taking Effexor while tripping. Other antidepressants that work the same way are Zoloft, Prozac, and Paxil. Finally, for the first time ever, Mellaril has been shown to actually block the entire DXM trip from occurring in the first place. This is similar to studies done and published on the Internet regarding mixing antidepressants with LSD. Antidepressants were shown to sometimes increase the effects of the LSD trip, and other times totally prevent the trip from occurring, as was the case above. Bottom line... there are a lot of antidepressants out there, that work in a lot of different ways. The only antidepressant I'd ever recommend mixing with DXM would be GHB, which happens to be banned and listed as a Schedule I substance in a number of states now. The point is, you never know how the antidepressant is going to affect the DXM trip unless you do some reading on it, and you're going to find it's not generally safe to mix the two. Period. Why risk liver damage or other conditions just for a little added extra to your trip? It's just not worth it... be safe, not sorry. :) CORICIDIN MAY BE DEADLY by Robert Golaszewski, Bill The Cat The first half of this article was written by Robert F. Golaszewski, who is in charge of the message board at the Third Plateau Website. The second half of the article is another user's opinion about not using Coricidin Cough and Cold. It has just come to my attention, as I am moderator of the Third Plateau Message Board, that some kid almost killed himself due to antihistamine overdose by taking DXM to get high in the form Coricidin Cough and Cold tablets. Apparently, according to one source "He ended up overdosing and was technically dead, but they managed to save his life." William White (author of the DXM FAQ) has also posted some information about this in a prominent update at the beginning of The DXM FAQ (http://www.frognet.net/dxm). Mr. White is currently recommending taking no more than 5 of these nasty pills at once (if, at all) and I wholeheartedly concur. I have long been advising about the dangers of Coricidin Cough and Cold (a US OTC pharma- ceutical; it contains 30mg dextromethorphan HBr, and 4mg chlorpheniramine maleate per pill.) Taking these has never made any sense to begin with, as DXM-only cough syrups are available in the US. Basically, these pills have been taken by weenies who are dumb enough to dare anticholinergic overdose because they aren't man or woman enough to handle the taste of cough syrup. Foul taste is far preferable than risking your life. DO NOT TAKE CORICIDIN! Bill The Cat: I have recommended it in doses of ONE or TWO pills, solely to combat the Robo itch. Since this is the intended dose, I don't see how that would be a problem (unless they're hypersensitive to DXM, in which case they're fucked when they drink that Robo bottle anyhow). Why even take Coricidin? I can testify that Biotech ships orders (and quickly, if you go COD). I think I ordered three (maybe four) days ago and it got here today. It wasn't supposed to be COD, but due to a miscommunication, it ended up that way. That's fine, I paid the extra 5 bucks and got it several days early... which is great because the weekend is here! (Well, not for me and my 7-day-a-week job, but it means there's nobody home). Oh yeah, I admit one or two mg's of powder may not be a fair sample size, but at least to me, DXM just doesn't taste as bad as it's rumored to taste. It sure as hell doesn't taste GOOD, but I think it actually could be overpowered. If you want to try this at home, whack an aspirin with a hammer a couple times and taste a bit of the powder. You'd be close enough. SIGMA...A NOT-SO-FUN TRIP by _Sc0tt_ As I remember it, which probably isn't very good, but here goes. "Hey Scott, what you doing tonight?" "Not much, why?" "You care if I come over?" "Not really, you wanna get fucked up, im kinda burnt out from last night though." "Yeah I guess we could just take a little pure." "I've still got like 20 grams..." "Whatever, I'll be over in about 20 minutes." "Ok, later." "Later." I got up and started to move a TV into my room, my parents had guests at the house, so I wanted to stay in my room most of the night. I put a TV, VCR, and my brothers n64 in my room. I pulled out my pure DXM, looked like I had a lot left, but I knew it wouldn't last me very long. (I went through 29 grams in about 3-4 weeks, with help of course) My friend Levi was coming over. I had just finished a huge dinner and really didn't feel like taking DXM, even though the night before I took about 800 mg. I was used to dosing a lot lately. Levi came over, we pretty much just stayed in my room all night. About 8 or 9 PM we took 1 pure capsule each.. Im a little unsure on how much was in each cap, but im set on 500mg, because I packed them pretty tight. 9:00 PM - First pill ingested 10:00 PM - Another pill ingested (nothing felt from previous pill) 10:30 PM - Another pill ingested (still felt nothing) 11:00 PM - Took another pill (I had a light buzz, I knew all the food I ate was blocking the DXM) 11:30 PM - Took another, (this was a double 0 cap, which probably had like 700 mg in it, I was fucked off my ass by this point) Now my friend tells me that I took up to 8 caps, all I remember is taking 5 caps, so the final dose varies from 2700mg to 3.5 grams, im pretty sure I went over 3 grams. I blacked out after the 5th dose. All I remember that night was lights going on and off, and me taking my headphones on and off. I was listening to FSOL - Dead Cities, which I had bought a few days earlier. This music probably sent me off the edge, I can't even listen to this CD anymore, it scares the shit outta me every time I listen to it. Anyway, Levi said that he was in the Simpsons, going down a huge tunnel, so I guess he had fun, but I don't remember anything except taking my headphones off 1 time in the middle of the night. I must have passed out. I woke up the next day at about 6 AM, I got out of bed and could not see anything, my vision was terribly jacked. I saw about 5 or 6 visions of everything, and my vision was horribly blurred. My balance was shit, it was like trying to ride a bike for the first time. I kept walking into walls. I walked out of my room, and glanced my dad on the couch, I don't know if he saw me or not. I went into the bathroom and tried to look at myself, I couldn't focus on my own face less than 5 inches away. I got into the shower, which was not something I would normally do, especially at 6 AM on a Saturday. The water was very unpleasant, it felt like sandpaper rolling down my back... It felt like I was in the shower for about 2 hrs, but I think I was in for about 5 min... On sigma time goes VERY slow. I got out of the shower and dried off, and went back into my room. Im not sure if I went back to sleep or not. I later got out of bed at 8 am or so.. My friend Levi had hit sigma too... We both looked and felt like shit... He just sat there and looked at me and said, "you look like shit," and "I'm still fucked up". So I guess he left, that was when I started to freak out. I had done DXM a lot before, for almost over a year. I had never had a trip like this before. At the time I didn't really know what sigma was, but I had heard someone tell me about it before. I got into the pool and swam around for a few minutes, my dad came out there to swim too, this was weird. I was so surprised I could talk. I mumbled everything. My dad said to me "You look tired, you stay up late?" I just said "Yeah.. Guess so." Which was my response to everything that day. I decided to get on IRC, because none of my friend were up at the time anyway. I needed someone to talk to, I was getting scared FAST. All I know was getting on IRC and feeling very emotionally close to everyone on it. Now when I think back about it, its really dumb, but at the time it was almost like a family. I started to type and I couldn't type worth shit, I had to read the other peoples responses about 2 inches away from the screen, just so I could focus on it. All I wanted to know was if I would ever come down, that seemed to scare me the most. I had felt the same 4th plateau hangover for about 4-5 hrs. I felt like a retarded person. I remember thinking about the disabled people at our school, how impaired their thoughts must be. It scared me because I could not see, act or feel normal. It was like I was once sane but now was insane and would never return to that normal state. I started to break down. I couldn't handle this, I cried a little. My greatest fear in this world is death, and for your greatest fear to seem to be coming true right in front of your face, its a little scary. Somehow someone on IRC managed to tell me that I would come down. They told me I needed to eat and drink something. I ate some stale bagel and drank a diet coke. I felt a little better, I didn't throw up the previous night, so I must have had tons of DXM in me. After that, I think I went into my room and tried to sleep, everything was so mentally and physically uncomfortable. I don't remember going to sleep, but I woke up about 7 hrs later, with a heavy buzz. I was able to see, somewhat now. I was so happy, a little shook up, but happy I was coming down. The buzz didn't go away for about another day or two. I felt the mental effects of the DXM for another 2 weeks. Days after I dosed I got very depressed. DXM is a very powerful drug and really should be used in consideration. I made a very stupid mistake. All I can say is, I hope it doesn't happen to any of you, it really feels like a nervous breakdown. I had no comprehension of what reality was. The next day I took back my FSOL cd, I could not listen to it for mental reasons. Just recently I was at a concert, and they were playing FSOL before the concert started, it gave me the chills big time. Its weird to know something like that can still effect you 2 months later. My advice to people who want to do sigma, be carefull. Im pretty sure if you wanna hit it, you wont like what you see. If you do hit sigma, try to get ahold of someone to talk you down. Food and sleep help tremendously. That's about it. In all, it wasn't a fun experience, but you live and you learn. DXM POETRY by KoFt There weren't too many submissions for this month's poetry contest, so I'd just like to publish a poem sent to me by Koft, who happens to be female: "Parasite" Syrup, enlighten me, tell me my weaknesses. Syrup, you take over my body, swing me against gravity. Syrup, you take my legs in your arms and take me where I want to go. Syrup, float with me, up, a forty-five degree angle is ideal. Guide me, thrust me toward myself, never anchored. Will I ever come down? Syrup, learn me, explore me, i trust you when we are intimate. You make it difficult for me to taste the carpet beneath my teeth. The next time i taste you, Syrup, you push me away. Why? I trusted you. Syrup, Powder whispers in my ear, should i betray you? Syrup, i have not forgotten the times you have graced me with your presence. We can no longer be together, little whore. You forget me and take the body of another, you will use them as you used me, you will drop them as you dropped me. DXM SITE REVIEW by Gravol Welcome to this month's Web Site review. The page is located at http://motacracy.raptor911.ml.org/, and contains DXM Art, Message boards, files, FAQs, and links. Here's some info from the page itself: This is my page dedicated to the favorite disassociative drug of shoplifters worldwide, DXM. Here I will display various dxm-induced bits of creativity. I have begun with the picture, done by me on 354mg, and this list: you know youre a dxm addict when... (mostly real life accounts) o you wonder why robo doesn't come in six packs. o the people at the grocery store start laughing as soon as they see you. o you pay for bottles of robo with nickels and pennies. o you complete your 5 foot tall pyramid of robo bottles. o you regularly drink the family size robo bottles without ralphing. o your teeth are permanently stained red from sucking on sucrets. o putting tinfoil in your ears to keep the aliens from reading your mind sounds like a pretty good idea. o you shoplift cough syrup once a week or more. o you and your toilet have come to really understand each other. o 4 people check to see if you're dead in one night. o you have more than 10 coricidin coupons at any one time. o you start recieving coded messages from the toaster. o your plastic shotglass collection starts taking up too much space. Quite funny stuff, I might add... and if you'd like more, just go to the site... www.motacracy.raptor911.ml.org. INFO ON ORDERING PURE DXM POWDER from compiled information Currently, there are many DXM suppliers that will ship to private individuals. They do not condone recreational use and will only ship for research purposes. Listed below is some basic information on them taken off the Internet. For a more precise review of these suppliers, see Issue 1. Current prices are listed, and where current prices are unavailable, I posted the old price. Just get in touch with them for the current price. Also note that a supplier who was listed in previous issues, Biogenesis Laboratories of South Africa, no longer sells DXM or Ketamine. They are still selling GHB, however (http://www.pix.za/ biogenesis). Also, these companies are no longer selling DXM: Wanman, Kris Kindell, Softearth, Plateau Labs, DxMan, DXM King, and Zachary Earnest (due to his extremely limited supplies). Biotech International: Prices (current) 10g......$3.00/gram 25g......$1.80/gram 50g......$1.60/gram 100g.....$1.30/gram 250g.....$1.20/gram 500g.....$1.10/gram 1kg......$1.00/gram 5kg......$0.90/gram 10kg.....$0.80/gram 20kg.....$0.70/gram Make checks/money orders payable to Adriano Sanchez. Shipping and handling is included in the above prices. International orders please add USD $7.00 to the price. We accept (International) Money Orders, Cashier's Checks and COD (Charge On Delivery) orders. Cash and personal check payments are also accepted but not recommended. COD is not available on international orders. Shipping After receiving the payment or placing the order via E-mail, the buyer will be confirmed that the order was received. We will then proceed to dispatch the order within 24 hours of receiving it. If there is a delay for any reason, the buyer will be notified immediately. After the dispatch of the order, the buyer will receive a notification informing him/her of the estimated time of arrival and any other useful information. Samples of up to 10 grams are packaged in plastic bags and dispatched via USPS First Class Mail. Samples of 25 grams and over are packaged in plastic bottles and dispatched via USPS Priority Mail (included in the sale price). Address Biotech International 2221 Saxton Hill Ave Las Vegas, NV 89106 Internet You can reach Biotech via email at Biot3ch@aol.com. Robo K: Prices 500mg....$3 (capsule form) 1000mg...$5 (capsule form) Cash only. Each capsule contains 500mg. Two capsules cost $5 total. Shipping and handling included in prices. Shipping E-mail will be sent upon receipt of payment and upon shipping of substance. Address No information known. Internet You may reach Robo K via email at Robo_k@yahoo.com. Sean McKeon: Prices 1-15g....$8.00/gram 16-25g...$6.50/gram 26-50g...$5.50/gram 51-100g..$4.75/gram 100+g....Email for price The powder has already been placed into convenient 250mg gelcaps. Payment in cashier's check or money order only. Shipping No information known. Address No information known. Internet You may reach Sean McKeon via email at n9645852@cc.wwu.edu. SUNSET PH: Prices (current) 15g.....$45 30g.....$75 50g.....$99 The price includes shipping within the US only. Shipping They accept international orders by payment of an international money order only. International orders must add US $5 additional for shipping. Address SUNSET PH P.O. Box 180684 Austin, TX 78718-0684 Please send an email with your address before you send your money so they can have your order prepared beforehand. Internet Contact sunsetp@usa.net for more information. Chemical Resale of Santa Barbara (CRSB): Prices Check their web site for their current prices, since they tend to change from time to time. Shipping No information known. Address Chemical Resale of Santa Barbara 6 Harbor Way, Suite #171 Santa Barbara, CA 93109-2353 Internet Visit CRSB's site at http://www.sb.net/wirehead. Orders can also be emailed to wirehead@sb.net. JLF Poisonous Non-Consumables: Prices (current) 5g......$25 50g....$130 It is best to do business through their website, due to the fact that DXM is just one of the hundreds of products they sell. All products carry a 100% money-back guarantee of authenticity. Orders are usually sent in unlabeled/mislabeled (could say anything from pampers to motor-oil on the box), recycled containers. To order from them, you must call them and read their "Ordering Agreement Statement & Required Release" into a tape recorder. This is necessary to solve any legal problems that they may encounter. More information on this, including the statement itself is located at http://www.jlfcatalog.com/disclaim.html. Shipping No information known. Address JLF Poisonous Non-Consumables P.O. Box 184 Elizabethtown, IN 47232 Phone: 812 379-2508 Internet Visit their website at http://www.jlfcatalog.com/, or email info@jlfcatalog.com DXM MUSIC AND MOVIE REVIEWS by various authors Okay, because of a lot of griping about last month's enormous music/movie reviews, I have tremendously scaled down this section to put the emphasis back on DXM. But I just couldn't help myself, and would like to review a few good bands. None of these reviews are written by me, and I have put due credit where credit is due. Radiohead - OK Computer Damn That is my best word for describing this album. I will go on to clarify what I mean by the simple word. This album rocks. Buy it, listen to it, love it, live it, breathe it, be it, die it. If you like alternative or alternative rock, you MUST PURCHASE THIS ALBUM. Ok, enough raving, here is the actual low-down. Ok Computer is Radiohead's third album since their debut with Pablo Honey, and boy have they progressed through the years. It is no wonder they were nominated for the 1998 Grammy Award for Album Of The Year and won the 1998 Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance with this album. Imagine, a rock band... a great rock band. They go forward into the realm of techno/electronica without sacrificing their instruments. Instead they get the desired effects with the guitars and bass and drums, as well as adding a hint of synthesizer and sound effect samples. This album is where music is headed, and there is no better band to lead the way than Radiohead. Although from my above description, it may sound like just a techno album, that is not the case. It is firmly grounded in rock. There is no techno beat or overuse of samplers - these are merely added for effect in a few spots on the album. The majority of the electronic sound is from the style in which the guitar is played. Thom Yorke's voice is a haunting, mysterious one, that fits Radiohead's musical style to a T. This is one band in which the greatness of the music lies not in just one single member, nor with the entire band. Instead what we have here is each single member, working together with a certain texture, to achieve a climax of musical piety, with Thom Yorke's cracked-throat voice in the center of it all. The songs on the album are not all your basic 4-minute pop rock tunes like those being pumped out by the rest of the music industry currently. For instance, Paranoid Android, the first single from the album (you may remember the music video with the little cartoon), is an epic musical masterpiece. It includes tempo changes, mood changes, wild (but not gross) shifts in dynamics, all topped off with the fits of anger and melancholic depression we can expect from signer Thom Yorke. This song in itself is a modern symphony. These days, it is difficult to find all of the aforementioned styles on one cd, let alone one song. Better yet, Radiohead succeeds in pulling it off beautifully in just over 6 minutes. Keep in mind, this is just one song on the album - there is an another 47 minutes to go. About halfway through the album we are greeted with an eerie track which probes the value of our lives and where we place our values. This track, Fitter Happier, includes no actual vocals, but instead a computer voice reading off phrases over a piano led background track. It ends with this phrase "fitter, happier, and more productive. a pig, in a cage, on antibiotics". Yorke's lyrics are directed towards a a look at the future. Not in the musical sense, but in a Philosophical style as well. He delves into the minds of the listener, grips their psyche, and questions its worth before moving onto his next patient - himself. This is done in a less-straitforward, more artistic style which Yorke excels at. It makes the listener think, and the meaning behind them relies on the listener above all else. Deftones - Shove It! The Deftones second album shows how much they have grown over the past two years. Instead of insubordinate screaming and yelling, unthoughtful lyrics, and blurting out vulgarities by the handful, they have sat down and wrote a promising record. Founded in 1992, in Sacramento, CA, the band Deftones was discovered by the ultimately popular Korn. Many have thought that Korn's unique hardcore style rubbed off on the Deftones on their first record, Adrenaline, which does prove to be a fact. Listen to how similar the Deftones are to Korn on their debut and you will have to agree. It does seem that they all have grown musically, and shown their true inner talent on their latest record, Around the Fur. This CD is definately not for the weak at heart. Although some more "emotional" songs such as "Mascara" and "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)", would possibly attract a more alternative crowd to this band. Yet, they still live up to their screamy meamies and extremely energetic mix of hardcore-metal/punk in the songs "Around the Fur" and "HeadUp". The vocal style of Chino Moreno, best known for his wildness on stage and drunkeness off stage, is similar to such bands as Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Rage Against the Machine. He sings sweetly at certain times in songs and when you least expect he'll just start yelling his ass off. Although, this may sound unappealing to some people, it definately fits the moods of his songs. Even on his slower songs (e.g. "Mascara") he holds his vocals down to a low level. This certainly gives off the mood he was trying to create in the song. However, I still think some times Chino lets himself go a little too much for comfort. The music in the band seems to hit all different genres mixed together like they were making some sort of fresh-ass cake batter. The drum beat reminds me of a hip-hop style beat. The guitar sound is more punk rock or hardcore sounding and the bass follows along that aspect. The music is very tight, and flows together nicely. It seems like the band really works good together, and a replacement in the Deftones would not be in the question. To sum it all up, the Deftones are one band that writes very decent songs for almost any occasion. You can listen to them when you're sad, happy, and especially when you're angry. They're a great mosh pit band, if that's the type of group you're looking for, and even a great chill out band, if that's your flavor. Deftones are not for everyone though. If you want some pure rock 'n' roll please don't bother with the Deftones, but if you're pleasure is very energetic music, then Around the Fur is the right CD for you. Korn Well kids, the time has come. The time has come for an overall quality release from Korn. It is about time after their last two releases. Sure, they have a strong following, but their last two albums still left much to be desired. They broke through onto the music scene with their single "Shoots and Ladders" from their debut album Korn (1994 - Sony). They followed up that album with Life is Peachy in 1996. That album included singles such as "No Place to Hide" and the classic "A.D.I.D.A.S." Yet, there was still much to be desired. The crunch of the band is one thing that really hits hard. They do have 7 strings on their guitars which leads to quite a fucked-up sound. Coupled with Jonathon Davis's completely original voice, there is no mistaking Korn. The only problem with their early CDs is the repetition in songs. Many of them sounded very similar. Also, there was a kind of lack of rhythm in some tracks. Don't get me wrong, I love the band and own all three of their CDs, but I usually couldn't ever handle listening to one of them straight through. No such problem with the new CD. Now this is quality shit here. The tracks have a new drive to them, making each one individual in its own right, yet not losing the quality of the music. Songs such as "Got the Life" (the first single) showcase the musical artistry of the band - especially with the slap bass from Fieldy. (The video is also cool as hell - I recommend checking it out). If you want a song to scare the crap out of you, be sure to check out "Dead Bodies Everywhere". The first time I heard this song was when I had a funky shuffle going on with my music. Anyways, I had some Men Without Hats set in the shuffle with Korn. When this song came on I thought it was "Pop Goes the World" (I haven't heard the song much - so lay off). It starts with a little piano-esque sound with a ding-ding-ding single key hit musical riff. Starts out sounding pretty happy, that is until it kicks in. Once it does kick in, you are blown away. This has to be one of the best tracks on the CD - Korn got across the exact feeling they wanted to with it. Come on, who else can start with a happy little piano tune and take the song into Davis screaming "DEAD BODIES EVERYWHERE," ending it with the little piano riff again - pure evil I hate to continue raving about this CD, so I will be brief with my explanation of why the rest of the CD continues the streak of kicking ass. The next track "Children of the Korn" features a guest appearance by Ice Cube. Cube's voice is set through an effect to make it sound like it is going through a hand-held radio. The duet - style between Ice Cube and Davis makes this song hard as hell. Once Ice Cube kicks in with lines such as "Fuck the law with my dick in my hand" and "Fuck authority". The song is at its epitome. While Cube is kicking out lines, the music in the back is spanking it just as hard. There is a wicked scratch effect back there, along with what sounds almost like a jack-in-the-box. When Davis gets back in there is the hard guitar chords to back him up. All the rest of the tracks are about as high in quality as the ones I described above. "All in the Family" features a guest appearance by Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit. Tres Hardson of The Pharcyde also makes a guest appearance on the CD in the song "Cameltosis." The CD just blows me away though, there is nothing on here I don't like. Usually there are only a few tracks I really dig into on a Korn CD, but this one doesn't have one. Gotta send the props out to Korn for that one. Be advised though - if you haven't figured it out from the review alone, this is not for the weak hearted. If you are easily offended you best stay away. I am pretty sure not just anyone can handle lines like "Getting butt-fucked by your Uncle Chuck" (All in the Family) and "I see your pretty face smashed against the bathroom floor" (Pretty). If you aren't offended by shit like that, get the CD. The only other problem I have is that Korn put 12 empty tracks (4-seconds of silence each) before the actual musical tracks on the CD. If anyone knows why this is so, email me. Otherwise, this is definitely on my list of favorites for '98. Below are some more cult movies that are a continuation from the previous list that were published in the last zine. IN A GLASS CAGE [Tras El Cristal] (1985). Director Agustin Villaronga's sick-assed drama will best stick in your memory as an oppressive masterwork of dread in the guise of an art film. Gunter Meisner stars as a Nazi war criminal who experimented on boys during the war, now living safely in Spain. But when he becomes trapped in an iron lung, a mysterious young man is hired on as his nurse---and just by coincidence, this kid was (1) violated by the bastard years earlier, and is (2) totally out of his fucking mind. He starts slowly by reading aloud from the Nazi's graphic journals, but soon progresses to killing the old dude's wife, recreating atrocities with the (unwilling) assistance of local urchins, and taking control of the entire household---eventually turning the incapacitated swine's dark past back on himself for a surreal revenge-fueled finale. Though lacking in hardcore explicitness, this grim, pedophilia-fueled flick focuses on the true horror at the core of human nature. A shower afterward is optional, but recommended. JONATHAN (1970). This Kraut take on Stoker's Dracula is endearingly half-baked art-sleaze on par with Herzog's NOSFERATU. It looks like your typical costumed bore, it's filled with trashy horror tidbits like cheap sex and dead nuns, but director Hans Geissendorfer's main objective is a two-ton metaphor about those evil Nazis and man's unending capacity for evil. Downtrodden 19th century peasants come up with a plan to destroy their fiendish ruling class oppressor, The Count. But first, they enlist the town bonehead, Jonathan, to infiltrate the vampire's clan meetings. And wait until you get a gander at this sinister Count, who's got a hairdo just like ol' Adolph H. himself and barks orders to his minions like he just left a touring company of "Springtime for Hitler". A schizophrenic joyride, greatly aided by the Robbie Muller's (BARFLY, DOWN BY LAW) lavish cinematography, which provides the appropriate stench of rural life. Pink Floyd - The Wall This section was written by John A. Lavin. Director Alan Parker has always had a gift for the integration of music and film, and his many efforts over the years have reflected that. Movies like "Fame" and "The Committments" have made him a director more remembered for his music video skills than his storytelling, even though he's had considerable success with more serious films, like "Midnight Express" and "Mississipi Burning". For me, though, only one film speaks of Alan Parker, and that's 1982's "Pink Floyd: The Wall". Originally, Parker had intended to make a concert film of Pink Floyd's1980 tour in support of their strange concept album, "The Wall". "The Wall" tells the story of a rock star's descent into madness as he ponders his meaningless existence. For a child of the 70's and early 80's, it was the kind of album that was fashionable to find cool, if only because of its pretentiousness. Following the collapse of Pink Floyd, Parker reviewed his concert footage, and decided to adapt the album into a film. The result is one seriously demented piece of cinema that's kind of like a bad dream that just keeps getting worse and worse. The Boomtown Rats' Bob Geldof stars as Pink, a confused rock singer with a fatalistic world view that fuels his mental wall which he puts up to seperate himself from everyone else. Pink suffers from alienation, misses his dead father desperately, and just can't seem to connect with his estranged wife. Add to that his decadent lifestyle as a rock superstar on the road, and Pink begins to "freak out". He has visions of his lonely childhood, fantasizes about being a fascist skinhead leader, and turns his fevered dreams into harsh, rage filled, animated rants. Alan Parker translates the music into memorable images that are just relentless. All of Pink's life is thrown onto the screen, and we see songs like "Another Brick In the Wall, Part II" changed from an abstract concept into a vision of students being fed into a meat grinder. The animated sequences that reflect Pink's craziness are stunning; the merging of sexuality and violent imagery creates a window into Pink's character and acts to round him out as a real person, not just a cartoon character. Wow, pretty heavy for a rock movie, huh? While not exactly for everyone, "Pink Floyd:The Wall" is definitely unique entertainment. Besides, where else can you see somone shave his own eyebrows off? VARIOUS DXM SOURCES from the Physicians' Desk Reference for Non-Prescription Drugs Note: Acetaminophen is very deadly. DXM products which contain this substance can kill very easily. The original list contained products containing Acetaminophen but in order to shorten the list we have taken those products out and included all other DXM-containing products. This list is (c) 1998 by Jeff Sothen. You may copy without permission. Included below are 48 non-prescription medications containing various forms of DXM. Listed are the active ingredients, any relative notes or cautions, and a rating of the medication. Ratings are based on the amount of DXM in the medication and if any harmful ingredients are available. Ratings range from one * to 4 *'s, with no *'s being the worst rating; if something is rated with no *'s, you should avoid taking it, probably because of the presence of Acetaminophen in the medication or very low amounts of DXM. 1. Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Cough Medicine by Miles Consumer Active Ingredients (per tablet): Aspirin 325mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 2mg, Phenylpropanolamine Bitartrate 20mg, DXM HBr 10mg. Notes: In water the aspirin is converted into its soluble ionic form, sodium acetylsalicylate. Rating: * 2. Alka-Seltzer Plus Night-Time Cold Medicine by Miles Consumer Active Ingredients (per tablet): Aspirin 500mg, Doxylamine Succinate 6.25mg, Phenylpropanolamine Bitartrate 20mg, DXM HBr 15mg. Notes: In water the aspirin is converted into its soluble ionic form, sodium acetylsalicylate. Doxylamine Succinate is an antihistamine. Rating: ** 3. Benylin Adult Formula Cough Suppressant by WARNER WELLCOME Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 15mg. Rating: ** 4. Benylin Expectorant by WARNER WELLCOME Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 5mg, Guaifenesin 100mg. Notes: Guaifenesin may cause nausea in high doses. Rating: * 5. Benylin Multisymptom by WARNER WELLCOME Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 5mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 15mg, Guaifenesin 100mg. Rating: * 6. Benylin Pediatric Cough Suppressant by WARNER WELLCOME Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 7.5mg. Rating: * 7. Buckley's Mixture by W.K. Buckley Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 12.5mg in a sugar-free base. Rating: ** 8. Cerose DM by Wyeth-Ayerst Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 15mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 4mg, Phenylephrine HCl 10mg, Alcohol 2.4%. Rating: ** 9. Cheracol-D Cough Formula by Roberts Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 10mg, Guaifenesin 100mg, Alcohol 4.75%. Rating: * 10.Cheracol Plus Cough Syrup Multisymptom Cough/Cold Formula by Roberts Active Ingredients (per tablespoonful/15mL): DXM HBr 20mg, Phenylpropanolamine HCl 25mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 4mg, Alcohol 8%. Rating: * 11.Children's Vicks NyQuil Cold/Cough Relief by Procter & Gamble Active Ingredients (per tablespoonful/15mL): DXM HBr 15mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 2mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 30mg. Rating: * 12.Coricidin Cough & Cold Tablets by Schering-Plough HealthCare Active Ingredients (per tablet): Chlorpheniramine Maleate 4mg, DXM HBr 30mg. Rating: *** 13.Cough X Lozenges by Ascher Active Ingredients (per lozenge): DXM HBr 5mg, Benzocaine 2mg. Rating: * 14.Dimetapp DM Elixir by A.H. Robins Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Brompheniramine Maleate 2mg, Phenylpropanolamine HCl 12.5mg, DXM HBr 10mg. Rating: ** 15.Dorcol Children's Cough Syrup by Sandoz Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Pseudoephedrine HCl 15mg, Guaifenesin 50mg, DXM HBr 5mg. Rating: * 16.Drixoral Cough Liquid Caps (No longer available) by Schering-Plough HealthCare Active Ingredients (per softgel): DXM HBr 30mg. Rating: **** 17.Drixoral Cough + Congestion Liquid Caps by Schering-Plough HealthCare Active Ingredients (per softgel): DXM HBr 30mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 60mg. Rating: ** 18.Novahistine DMX by SmithKline Beecham Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 10mg, Guaifenesin 100mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 30mg. Rating: * 19.PediaCare Cough-Cold Liquid by McNeil Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Chlorpheniramine Maleate 1mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 15mg, DXM HBr 5mg. Rating: * 20.PediaCare Night Rest Cough-Cold Liquid by McNeil Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Chlorpheniramine Maleate 1mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 15mg, DXM HBr 7.5mg. Rating: * 21.Pediatric Vicks 44d Dry Hacking Cough & Head Congestion by Procter & Gamble Active Ingredients (per tablespoonful/15mL): DXM HBr 15mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 30mg. Rating: * 22.Pediatric Vicks 44e Chest Cough & Chest Congestion by Procter & Gamble Active Ingredients (per tablespoonful/15mL): DXM HBr 10mg, Guaifenesin 100mg. Rating: 23.Pediatric Vicks 44m Cough & Cold Relief by Procter & Gamble Active Ingredients (per tablespoonful/15mL): DXM HBr 15mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 30mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 2mg. Rating: * 24.Robitussin Cold & Cough Liqui-Gels by A.H. Robins Consumer Active Ingredients (per softgel): Guaifenesin 200mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 30mg, DXM HBr 10mg. Rating: * 25.Robitussin Maximum Strength Cough Suppressant by A.H. Robins Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 15mg. Rating: **** 26.Robitussin Maximum Strength Cough & Cold by A.H. Robins Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 15mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 30mg. Rating: ** 27.Robitussin Pediatric Cough & Cold Formula by A.H. Robins Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 7.5mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 15mg. Rating: * 28.Robitussin Pediatric Cough Suppressant by A.H. Robins Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 7.5mg. Rating * 29.Robitussin-CF by A.H. Robins Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Guaifenesin 100mg, Phenylpropanolamine HCl 12.5mg, DXM HBr 10mg. Rating: * 30.Robitussin-DM by A.H. Robins Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Guaifenesin 100mg, DXM HBr 10mg. Rating: * 31.Sucrets 4-Hour Cough Suppressant by SmithKline Beecham Consumer Active Ingredients (per lozenge): DXM HBr 15mg. Rating: ** 32.Sudafed Cough Syrup by WARNER WELLCOME Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Pseudophedrine HCl 15mg, DXM HBr 5mg, Guaifenesin 100mg. Rating: * 33.Triaminic AM Cough and Decongestant Formula by Sandoz Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 7.5mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 15mg. Rating: * 34.Triaminic Nite Light Nighttime Cough and Cold Medicine for Children by Sandoz Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Pseudoephedrine HCl 15mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 1mg, DXM HBr 7.5mg. Notes: In a palatable, grape-flavored, alcohol-free liquid. Rating: * 35.Triaminic-DM Syrup by Sandoz Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Phenylpropanolamine HCl 6.25mg, DXM HBr 5mg. Notes: In a palatable, berry-flavored, alcohol-free liquid. Rating: * 36.Triaminicol Multi-Symptom Cold Tablets by Sandoz Consumer Active Ingredients (per tablet): Phenylpropanolamine HCl 12.5mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 2mg, DXM HBr 10mg. Rating: ** 37.Triaminicol Multi-Symptom Relief by Sandoz Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Phenylpropanolamine HCl 6.25mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 1mg, DXM HBr 5mg. Notes: In a palatable, cherry-flavored, alcohol-free liquid. Rating: * 38.Vicks 44 Dry Hacking Cough by Procter & Gamble Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 15mg. Rating: ** 39.Vicks 44d Dry Hacking Cough & Head Congestion by Procter & Gamble Active Ingredients (per tablespoonful/15mL): DXM HBr 30mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 60mg. Rating: ** 40.Vicks 44 LiquiCaps Non-Drowsy Cough & Cold Relief by Procter & Gamble Active Ingredients (per softgel): DXM HBr 30mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 60mg. Rating: ** 41.Vicks 44e by Procter & Gamble Active Ingredients (per tablespoonful/15mL): DXM HBr 20mg, Guaifenesin 200mg. Rating: * 42.PediaPressin Drops by Quintex Active Ingredients (per drop): Pseudoephedrine HCl 15mg, Guaifenesin 50mg, DXM HBr 5mg. Rating: * 43.Scot-Tussin Sugar-Free DM by Scot-Tussin Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM 15mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 2mg. Notes: This contains pure DXM, not DXM HBr. Rating: ** 44.Scot-Tussin Sugar-Free Cough Chasers Lozenges by Scot-Tussin Active Ingredients (per lozenge): DXM 2.5mg. Notes: This contains pure DXM, not DXM HBr. Rating: 45.Sucrets 4-Hour Cough Suppressant by SmithKline Beecham Active Ingredients (per lozenge): DXM HBr 15mg. Rating: **** 46.Suppressin DM Caplets by Quintex Active Ingredients (per caplet): DXM HBr 15mg, Guaifenesin 200mg. Rating: * 47.Delsym Extended-Release Suspension by Fisons Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM Polistirex. Notes: DXM Polistirex is equivalent to 30mg of DXM HBr. Rating: **** 48.Rondec-DM Active Ingredients: DXM HBr, Pseudoephedrine HCl, Carbinoxamine maleate. Notes: No other information is known on this product at this time. Rating: N/R Italy: As far as DXM sources available in Europe, one user who lives in Italy said he used Fluprim by Roche (which should be available all over the European community). It contains 300 mg of DXM per bottle of lozenges or syrup and 327 mg per box of tablets (each box contains 20 tablets), and DXM is the only active ingredient. He also mentions Vicks for Dry Cough but it only has 150mg per bottle of syrup and has a very nasty taste (not recommended). However, another person living in Italy said Fluprim was not available anymore (at least in his area), and to stay away from a similar brand called Formitral Sucrets United Kingdom: Also, some users in the United Kingdom pointed out Vicks Vaposyrup, which contains DXM and guaifenesin, and Robitussin Dry Cough. The other ingredients in the latter are ethanol, disodium edetate, sodium benzoate, and amaranth (not sure if these are active or inactive ingredients). Germany: In Germany, nearly everyone is taking Dr. Rentschler Tuss Hustenstiller Retardkapseln. It's 10 60mg pure DXM HBr tablets, costing 12 DM ($7US). It may be expensive, but it's definitely the best OTC DXM-containing product in Germany. Besides the Dr. Rentschler, they now have another OTC DXM source: Hustenstiller-ratiopharmR. It's 20 30mg pure DXM tablets, costing 10 Deutschmarks ($6US). Many people says the latter brand doesn't cause nausea as Dr. Rentschler sometimes does. If you have any information on any other DXM cough preparations please let me know and I'll include them in this section. VARIOUS DXM INTERNET SITES Listed below are several Internet sites containing useful information about DXM. Special thanks to Greendrag for help with compiling this list. The DXM FAQ - Highly recommended http://www.frognet.net/dxm/contents.html The Third Plateau - The most definitive DXM site there is http://www.third-plateau.lycaeum.org/ The DXM Appreciation Page http://www.ugmadness.com/Ledderson/DxM/ Chris's Web Page - Home of the DXM calculator for windows http://advicom.net/~chris/ Erowid's DXM Page - Another good source of DXM information http://www.erowid.org/entheogens/dxm/dxm.shtml Sputnick's DXM Page - Another DXM archive http://hepenthes.lycaeum.org/Drugs/DXM/ Hyperreal's Dissociative Page - Dissociative and DXM information http://www.hyperreal.org/drugs/psychedelics/dissociative/ The Lycaeum's DXM Page - More on DXM http://www.lycaeum.org/drugs/synthetics/dxm/ Medline - Search this for information on studies done on DXM http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/ Infomed's DXM frame - Information regarding low doses of DXM http://www.infomed.org/100drugs/dextfram.html DeeXMan's DXM Page - Has a big collection of trip stories. http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Venue/3391/dxm.htm Old reports on DXM abuse (circa 1993) gopher://hemp.uwec.edu/00/drugs/misc/robo/ Deja Vu: Confessions of a Serial Robo Killer - Highly recommended http://www.wideawake.org/robo.html Dev/Null/The Happy Place in your Brain - various DXM information http://www.kelani.com/hull/ Microsoft Dextromethorphan Experiments - Bill Gates's use of DXM http://sefi.satelnet.org/~ccappuc/rants/msd.html Lycaeum Trip Stories - DXM trip reports http://www.lycaeum.org/drugs/trip.report/dxm.shtml A Night in DXM Space http://www.julian.org/journal/100597.html Poor Man's PCP - An article about DXM taken from Pills-a-go-go magazine. http://hepenthes.lycaeum.org/Drugs/DXM/poormanspcp.html The Rave Zone Drug Archive - DXM information in German http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/6549/ Liber DxM: The Cough Syrup Hypothesis http://www.brotherblue.org/csh.htm Tussin Space: Transdimensional Emergence http://www.unc.edu/~veritas/dissoc.html DXM Page from the Motacracy Homepage http://pw2.netcom.com/~nickc/dxm.html Plateau Sigma - A DXM-related band; you can download their MP3s. http://kelani.com/sigma/ Official DXM Zine Web Site Mirror - includes Issues 1 - 6 http://www2.1starnet.com/dominion/ Another DXM Zine Web Site http://phun.dreamhost.com/dxm/zine/ Usenet - drug newsgroups on the Internet alt.drugs hierarchy, rec.drugs hierarchy, talk.politics.drugs DXM EFnet IRC channels - DXM chat IRC channel #high, #dxm, #uaf, #robo, #syrup, #dex DXM DALnet IRC channels - DXM chat IRC channel #dxm If you would like to get your site added here, just email Zine@dxm.net with "Web" in the subject line and your site name with a brief description in the body of the email. VARIOUS TRIP REPORTS from Internet reports Listed below are a few of the more interesting trip reports we have come across floating around out there on the Internet. Dosage and other relative information are given when available, and we made no attempt at correcting grammatical errors, so read at your own risk. Enjoy! Sckot. 1000-1200mgs. Three times I took big DXM doses (1000-1200 mgs), and it started storming. I love storms. The first time, I was very confused, because I thought I had caused it (I had been trying to banish an 'evil spirit' from a plant in the front yard, and the second I made the big grey cloud of Evilness around the plant dissipate, the clouds broke. The ensuing storm did a great deal of damage, and many houses were devastated. It was very surreal seeing the damage the next day). That happened about 2 hours into the trip. The second and third times, I decided that it would be more entertaining if there were a storm to watch, so I just started staring out the window, and the bloody clouds broke. All three times were around 1-3 am, spaced roughly a month apart. The most recent time nothing like that happened, but I didn't have any intentions of causing it. Art. 354mg. It was 1 am. I was on my way to bed; I had been researching DXM on the web, and figured, what the heck. Previously I had not been in the best possible mind set for the last two weeks. The love of my life had left me saying that I was too intense for her, and she didn t want to be consumed. It was also about a month off from the anniversary of my father s death, and a mess of other angry-make events. I admit to being an adrenaline junkie, (ex NASCAR driver); but my most recent of two trips, gave me pause to re-examine my lifestyle. I had tripped a week before, on the same stuff, with a little less quantity, fairly uneventful, and actually pretty dull. The second time I had Massive Attacks newest on the juke box, and it was a cold and windy night. Not a cloud in the sky when I walked the dog around 10pm. I had left one window open to circulate fresh air, and so I could hear the outside world, a lucid dreaming trick I had learned at the NIH. 24 years old, 180lb, I have a rather exotic neurological disorder: Friedriech s Ataxia, (think Steven Hawking), and have a 160 iq, scored perfect on the language part of the SAT, (piss poor on the math, but nobody s perfect). I had never even smoked marijuana before, and was a virgin extreme to altered states. I had just finished some Sam Adams, and was already a little woozy as I toddled off to bed. At 1 am, I chugged a bottle of Robotussin Maximum Strength, Cough and Cold, (354mg dosage, not a lot I know, [5ml per dose / 118ml in the bottle x15mg per dose]); I did not gag at all. I climbed into bed, turned off the lights, and waited. Within 30-45 minutes I was becoming nauseous, but having had to throw back some truly disgusting substances for my neurology, I knew could keep it down. About 15 minutes later the sickness passed, and I, feeling sort of drunk opened my eyes, to look for visual hallucinations. No such luck, so I closed my eyes, and rolled over thinking, screw this, just go to sleep . I could feel my thighs tense and relax, like a puppy in rem. I could hear the leaves rustling outside. Every car that went by outside, I felt like I was the car for a split second...Then I opened my eyes again, and found the ceiling, white, was shifting like it was liquid. This was the coolest thing I had ever seen. Big sigh. I found myself thinking about my girlfriend; I think I may have had an out-of-body experience, because I was suddenly in her bedroom in NC, while I knew My body was in NY. I was sort of swept along by my thoughts, and found myself crying over her as she slept. I kissed her on the neck, and was gone. Back to my room, I opened my eyes again, and felt a presence. It wasn t an elf, or an alien, or anything which I could make out clearly enough to identify. The shadows on the ceiling sort of came together to form a void mouth type thing. It saw that I had been crying and thought/asked if there was anything to be done. Before I thought/said anything else, It thought/said she'll be back, she misses you too . Once again I cried. It then started to rain outside, right on cue, and I knew then what/who I had been conversing with. I didn't fear it, but I started thinking, hey this is pretty cool, getting to meet god on your second trip. I then sort of got up, and robo-walked, (very, very odd) into the bathroom for the most wonderful piss of my life. The other odd thing about my jaunt to the can was that I didn't wake up the puppy. I felt such empathy for her, as she slept; I then had a flash, and I was the dog. So bizarre, so basic, so hungry, (the vet said that she was overweight, so I was cutting back on her food). I got her a biscuit, and laid it at the tip of her nose, and went back to bed. Crawling back to bed, this was odd, but I could swear that I was levitating, and just sort of slid onto the mattress. I then stayed awake until the sun came up, coming down; I had peaked at about 2:30-3:30am, and was feeling unusually beat. I fell asleep and woke refreshed and only had a mild hangover at about 1pm. I massaged my thighs in a hot bath to lessen the stiffness, and sit here in my bathrobe, writing this. I have also in reading the stories, faqs, and information on the web, have encountered a number of strange real-world phenomena with regards to my two trips. The first is the dimming of street lights in my presence. I can shut off all the lamps on Broadway, one after the next, within a 20-30 foot radius. As I pass by, the last one flicks back to life. The other thing worthy of note is that I think I shut off the coffee bean roaster, at my favorite local coffee house, until they took my order, and then blammo, back on. Really quite bizarre; the other thing that gave me pause to re-examine was after the first trip, I was sitting at a red light, but the green wouldn t turn on! From red to nothing...A sign to slow down my life now, before it s too late. One which I am heeding with great care. I don t think that this is something which I could control, but am having fun, with my thought clapper, as I walk downtown after dark and amaze the odd pedestrian with my new found power. A group of teens asked me if I was a vampire; to which I replied "No, I've just met god." The only recommendation I would have for people interested in DXM, is to of course take it slowly, and to be certain that they read and comprehend all of the warnings and contra-indications before they proceed. I am so grateful to the people who have gone before and left descriptions of their experiences, I felt it only right to leave my own for the next generation of pyschonauts. Good-Luck. 31 Jan 98 And all the reflective surfaces, all identifiable elements within my field of view, that impinge upon my consciousness, that insinuate themselves within my psyche, began to dislocate. They separated from, and lost the frame of reference that reality normally provided, they lose context and become surreal elements in and of themselves - they exude their inherent Huxleian 'isness'. Although my field of vision has discernibly narrowed, I have a growing awareness of a great region of possibility, a field of as yet unrealised probability existing within my peripheral arcs - I need but turn my head to look, to trigger the transformation and selection of a new reality, to determine life or death for Schroedingers cat with the merest glance, but do not for fear of disturbing my current reverie. Colour drains from all I survey, and an alien mechanical tone replaces it, a washed out shade of no discernible flavour. The pseudo-colour takes on a texture, and all of the randomly dislocated objects now revelling in their isness take on a carpeting of this grimy foreign tone. My field of view continues to distort and diminish and before final disintegration, the sharp right-angled thing (that and the fan shaped thing dominate the scene) takes on an incandescent glow prior to vanishing completely (much like the final glimmer at sunset appearing ephemerally brighter than the light that had faded moments before). My eyes close, I enter the internal realms, and am immediately confronted with the electric blue aurora borealis of the inner antipodes. Hazes of neon bright flora dance across the textured black distance in a perfectly choreographed harmony to Jean Michel Jarres Zoolook. I perceive motion, not just as a result of the movement before my eyes, but I can feel the gravitational ebb and flow that accompanies acceleration and changes in the directional vector throughout my being, and the movement and visuals are completely and integrally linked to the music swirling throughout. I determine to do more than smell the flowers and enjoy the ride, I would attempt to travel the road within that inner realm wherever it lead, whatever the outcome. I could feel the tension building, particularly in my jaw and neck, and sweat bead across my back as the intensity climbed. My body judders and teeth chatter - drugs may facilitate entrance into this cerebral nether world, but the grasping of answers is still bloody hard work! With the greatest, most objective amount of concentration I can still muster, I grapple with this new reality, try to force the myriad visions to reveal the path - it is difficult to find, and easily lost within the fractured crystalline opalescence that surrounds me. The colours continually change and swirl within the nebulous organic mist, and that aspect of self that retains some semblance of detachment visualises travel along the contorted and convoluted synaptic pathways, through nerve ganglia and neural links that exist within the human mind, all the while being driven by the sounds around me. There was something that I was tracking - I became aware that there was indeed a goal toward which I plunged, an answer within to an as yet unarticulated question, only I was too weak, became distracted and lost my way. The path is not clearly signposted, it is in fact incredibly difficult to even identify, and there is so much to see and experience on the way to an unknown destination. Weathered stone tablets of a modern glyphic rather than the expected cuneiform, and tripartite sculptures of rippled black slate and electric blue-white glass were my downfall! o Movement is difficult. All of my limbs and components feel incredibly heavy and 'compartmentalised'. I know still that I could move, but the energy required to break the inertia of my current state would be enormous, and besides, I'm very comfortable as I am. Over time the state of dissociation accompanying this experience increases - I know that I have an arm, and I know that there is an arm above my head, but whether there is anything more than a coincidental link between those two statements is not known. o The carpeting effect reminded me of a faded, dry, cricket pitch, green - not that it was, but it felt 'green' without necessarily being of that colour. o Many drugs affect the electrical messages sent to and from various parts of the brain, primarily those pertaining to visual information. Messages from any of the senses can be perceived as merged together, creating a sensation known as "synesthesia." This most commonly is represented as "hearing colors" or "seeing sounds." Definitely what was occurring. o Much like within a lucid dream. As a child I would have lucid dreams quite regularly, and quickly learnt to manipulate the dream state, much like directing your own movie. It was sometimes hard work then, and it was definitely hard work this time. The internal landscape roils and twists to escape the shackles of comprehension and ones mental grasp, it is not easily subdued, and its secrets are not easily won. o There were other inhabitants within this realm occupying the very edge of consciousness. Many cloudy, dissipating faces were seen during travels, inner demons that would tear substance from the aurora with which to form themselves and then just as quickly dissolve back into the background swirls. Skeletal horseman within a flowing, golden, gelatinous river, contrived and constructed of the very liquid in which they existed, and only discernible in profile, against the darkened distance. o My concentration lapsed, and the question of art entered my mind. I got caught up in thoughts of object d'art that were weathered stone tablets, very old, very much damaged by wind and sand, fractured, broken, reminiscent of the Rosetta stone, but containing 'valid' texts from Hunter S. Thompson, or the chemical data and molecular structure of LSD 25. Along with this was the tripartite sculpture...Three large slabs of black textured slate of decreasing width, but constant height and depth (maybe 9 feet high). The major pillar had a non representational swirl of electric blue-white glass melted into its surface, an abstract form but with inherent significance. The swirled form overlapped partially onto the second, smaller, and stepped back slab, and then only a few vague lines onto the third. (I think I may have to actually make these items - maybe...can glass be melted and merged with the surface of black slate?) 21 Feb 98 I'm not sure I recognise the relevance. It would be nice if there were an additional depth to these experiences, but some things are just wallpaper. Aesthetically pleasing maybe, but merely a thin veneer with no inherent value. I guess the movie in which we star may echo earlier explorers - the wilderness is not always as wild as that we may have preordained...the forest for the trees et al. I see remembered images in flickering grey/blue phosphorescence. Am I man enough to be the conscientious objector I can respect? Set sail upon a sea of trouble...but will hindsight reveal me simply adrift? I have a terrible feeling of ominous foreboding - the horizon is significantly darker than it appeared a decade previous. I think I expected a future painted in burning white, I have no idea what led to this overly enthusiastic vision of the yet to be, it just seemed to be the way the cards would fall. Instead, the embers of the cold war seemed to have been fanned into reignition. I guess that at the very least it gives me a cause! I haven't marched since Palm Sunday and Michelle...all those years ago - younger, much younger...but now I'd mean it. Then it was simply the thing to do, newly immersed in tertiary idealism and freedom, it was right to express some political savvy and march for a cause, even if it was not truly grasped or understood. But even then it gave a feeling of belonging. I wore the 'No MX' badge proudly (in tandem with the 'Fuck off - I voted NDP' button) on my newest affectation, a climbing chalk bag. It's maternally warm within the clique even when, especially when, the slogans mouthed are not your own...but now I'd mean it. It's time to stand. Time to perform the surreal street theatre of death. Super eight photons flicker across the retinal surface, and the ghosts of the '60's rise before me. Where are you now Abbie Hoffman, now that I know your cause? I worry that my statements aren't subtle enough to be attractive, but fear that in additional convolution the point may be lost. How does one present their issues and beliefs in a format sophisticated enough to attract support, but not so sophisticated that only I, Jung and Freud could grasp the underlying principles? Cliched? Aren't we all, but still...one must appease the critic within. I wonder would She (my mother, my ex's, Lara, Gaia, the Goddess - the feminine incarnations I have known) be proud? Is this an act of defiance, or merely the making of noise to fill the silence? I want to hold the flaming flag and burn the acrid, nylon flesh. Uncle Sam sit me on your knee and tell me another saccharin sweet lie wrapped within the guise of truth. What happened to those dead years in between history's momentous peaks? How did the fabulous flappers from the roaring 20's furiously Charleston their way into the fascist Goose-step of the 30's? A premonition...I see Suharto fall, I see Nero play - just another repetitive motif indeed! Too many monuments, and always plenty of virgin marble for chiseling names, there's even room for foreign ones. I think it can only be described as cowardice, my current stance...there's no longer any comfort in the rhetoric I so readily spew forth...it's finally down to that confrontation between me and him - the voice within. To do the right thing, or do the safe thing? I wanted to be Che before I even knew who he was. Is it true? Are we just a generation afloat, in limbo with no anchors or roots to the past. Is there any reality beyond the actual ink used to print our carefully recorded history? Where are the physical links? Did these things really occur, or is simply reading it, wishing enough? Why can't I scream? Are there no answers, merely the mocking lines of innumerable questions? And they won't go away, can't go away, because they're all we have. You old men marching, you left us with a syndrome solved only through sacrificial bloodshed, and now the maddened screams are internalised because our hands cannot be cleansed, and to cry out loud would only draw additional attention to our guilt. Lady Macbeth are we all - out, out, damned spot! Why must I carry the millstone burden of guilt for actions perpetrated by my forebears? Why they, theirs? We were all supposed to start out shiny and new, the proverbial unmarked page, but the old folks remember, and their bitter memories are osmotically absorbed by the young along with childhood's fairy tales. What chance did we have? What chance they? Hate is as virulent and insidious as any viral infection, yet we illogically fear the anthrax, and quaff the cup of hatred. It's only dark because we won't open our eyes. I rejoiced when I saw Madeleine cornered on CNN. I thought that America had once more recalled the hazy memory of her constitution and joined in the fray, that the aquarian ideals weren't completely asphyxiated by 80's pecuniary infatuations. There are fragments of similarity out there, mirror reflections of self - they too fear, they too question. Why aren't there more? Old men once looked into childhood skies inhabited only by feathers and wind, whilst alien spacecraft are spotted by Islam's sons today, and blood is more readily consumed by sand than western soil. Desiccating desert winds preserve evidence of rage for future anthropologists to ponder. Global stockmarkets note the trade index of West versus Middle East, and today in Tokyo, the value of the Arab child dropped once more against the yen, whilst the price of a barrel of Saudi crude remained firm. Desperation attempts to force form from void. I pattern paper with repetitive notations, but it all appears deceptive. Unable to fully grasp the concept I perceive, I continue to sketch the ephemeral edges. I wish to brandish the copper lance and, astride the peak, challenge the gods of old inhabiting the roiling stormclouds above...and even now I fear the thunderbolt of redemption. Would it prove my sanity or stupidity? Mistakes appear randomly repetitive even on the global scale, and at a generational rate that allows us all the privilege of partaking in the same dead ashes as yesteryear. Strike the Jesus Christ pose and become martyr to yet another cause - at least that's modern accrual accountancy at work, recognising value added to a life of dubious worth. Perhaps the only value of these words is the beauty they dance across the page. Is a phrase any less valid if it says nothing of worth, yet pleases the eye or ear? Aesthetics? Some things are just wallpaper! Maybe my thoughts, ideas and various other emotional outpourings fit nicely into that niche. The curlicue of the question mark taunts me with it's repetitiveness across the page. Do I bring nothing to the table but the fathomless hungry maw? Nothing to help sate anothers appetite? So now...what choice...I intend to fade, to sit back and fade to green. --- COMPLETE LISTING OF DXM ZINE PAST ISSUES The following is a listing of all past issues and their contents. To read the actual issues, go to http://www.alaska.net/~zorak/dxm/ or http://www2.1starnet.com/dominion/. Issue 1 - November 1997 o DXM and Creativity o Streetlights and Other Electrical Phenomenon o The Nightmare of Coricidin o Recipe for Getting Pure DXM Powder o Info on Ordering Pure DXM Powder o Delsym...A Whole New Trip o DXM is Here to Stay o Schering-Plough's Reply to a Consumer Complaint on DXM Abuse o An Ode to DXM o DXM Music Reviews o Various DXM Sources o Various DXM Internet Sites o Various Trip Reports Issue 2 - December 1997 o Letters to the Editor o DXM...The New Wave o Extrasensory Perception (ESP) and DXM o DXM Withdrawal o My Third Trip o The Trip From Hell...Punderson Manor o The Effects of Smoking on DXM o Material Data Safety Sheet on DXM o The Doors of Perception o LSD vs. DXM o My Experiences with DXM o DXM Writings o DXM Drug Culture and the Future of DXM Use o Beware of Bromide Poisoning o DXM Extraction...A Method That Works o Moron of the Moment...And My Response o Tips for Downing Cough Syrup o Info on Ordering Pure DXM Powder o DXM Music Reviews o Various DXM Sources o Various DXM Internet Sites o Various Trip Reports Issue 3 - January 1998 o Letters to the Editor o Out-of-Body Experiences and DXM o Brain Wave Stimulation and Inducing Paranormal Events o DXM Addiction o A Day in the Life of DXM o Nitrous Oxide and DXM o How DXM Compares to Other Legal Highs o DXM Nausea...And How to Prevent it o The Fifty-Trip Limit o Never Again o The Dangers of Redosing o Measuring DXM Powder o The Ouija Board and Other Supernatural Phenomenon o Lilliputian Hallucinations and Other Uncanny Occurrences o DXM Hangovers...Avoiding and Alleviating o The Writings of a Madman...DXM Writings o Info on Ordering Pure DXM Powder o DXM Music and Movie Reviews o Various DXM Sources o Various DXM Internet Sites o Various Trip Reports Issue 4 - June 1998 o From the Editor o The Road to Insanity: DXM and Salvia o Tripping in NYC o Conspiracy Theory o Media Blitz o Trip Back In Time o The Day the Music Died o Purple Haze o DXM and Antidepressants o How to Know When You've Done Too Much DXM o Cosmic Coincidence Control o The Day DXM Came to Town o DXM on Television o Smoking DXM o Operation Agent Lemon o Info on Ordering Pure DXM Powder o DXM Music and Movie Reviews o Various DXM Sources o Various DXM Internet Sites o Various Trip Reports o Credits/Zine Information Issue 5 - August 1998 o From the Editor o Letters to the Editor o DXM News o DXM Survey o Break on Through (to the Other Side) o DXM and the Out-of-Body Experience o Side Dishes: Other Substances that Go Well with DXM o My Experiences with DXM o DXM Chemistry Lesson o DXM and Drug Screening o The Cord of Life o DXM Poetry o DXM Made Simple...DXM Humor o Robo Journey o DXM Replacements o DXM Site Review o Info on Ordering Pure DXM Powder o DXM Music and Movie Reviews o Various DXM Sources o Various DXM Internet Sites o Various Trip Reports o Credits/Zine Information Issue 6 - September 1998 o From the Editor o Letters to the Editor o DXM News o DXM Survey o The Power of Astral Projection o Returning to the First Plateau o A Complicated View as to How DXM Works o Hallucinogenic Drugs for Inner Space Exploration, Part One o Nightmares and Paranoid Delusions o Tripping at Virginia Beach o Redosing in New Zealand o My Theory on Life, Existance, and the Universe o Space Alien Conspiracy o A Fishy Experience o Cough Syrup Extraction o Miscellaneous DXM Tidbits o How DXM Affects the Stomach o Background Info on OTC DXM Manufacturers o DXM Drug Combos...DXM Humor o DXM and Hypnosis o DXM Poetry o DXM Site Review o Info on Ordering Pure DXM Powder o DXM Music and Movie Reviews o Various DXM Sources o Various DXM Internet Sites o Various Trip Reports o Credits/Zine Information --- Credits: I wish to thank everyone who either contributed to the zine or helped provide information on DXM. I also would like to thank IRCers in their endless efforts to shed light on DXM use and experiences, along with their help and cooperation in putting the zine together. I especially wish to thank William White, Greendrag, and BlackFury. Without your help, this zine just wouldn't be what it is. I also wish to thank my ex-girlfriend for her support. Next Issue: Biotech Interview, plus much more! About the Editor: Gravol, also known as Jeff, is 20 and works on the zine in his spare time. Born in Phoenix and having lived in Akron, Ohio, for most of his life, he has recently moved to St Augustine, Florida. He is also the author of the Dramamine FAQ, found at lycaeum.org. * If you'd like to contribute an article or any information to the DXM Zine, email Zine@dxm.net. The Zine is free, but any contributions reduce the tremendous amount of time it takes to complete it and would be helpful in maintaining its free distribution. Thank you and Happy Halloween! *