I've Recorded My Drug Use in an Excel Sheet for Nine Years | Hacker News Reader

I've Recorded My Drug Use in an Excel Sheet for Nine Years

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19 pointskaraokeyoga22 comments

He’s done MDMA almost a 100 times, how is he not worried? While I tend to think much of the stigma around drugs is overblown, anyone that knows anything about MDMA will tell you this is insanity.

As the saying goes, you can’t manage what you can’t measure so at least he’s got that going for him.

I know plenty about MDMA and 100 separate usages over many years doesn’t even register on my worry meter.

Intuitively I don’t understand how annihilating your serotonin supply on a monthly basis can be without negative side effects.

The rat studies, while imperfect, point to neurotoxicity [1]. The longitudinal studies also show negative long term effects [2]. Even Shulgin, the man that "discovered" MDMA, advises against using more than 4 times a year [3].

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1705495/

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK56825/

[3] PIHKAL, Shulgin

How many drinks of alcohol are advised against by professionals, and how many do you find alarming in practical reality? What’s the delta? Milligrams of THC? What’s the recommended maximum for any commonly consumed drug versus known safe usage?

You need to judge MDMA and every other drug next to the reality of alcohol use (which is definitely also terrible for your brain). Not just from a realistic perspective, but purposefully as an acknowledgement that you have been emotionally indoctrinated to judge some things more harshly than others.

Interesting data, though I have to say consistency of MDMA/Ecstasy usage makes me pause for thought. My understanding was that while (assuming purity and correct dosage) MDMA is relatively safe, repetitive use over a long period of time can lead to issues with a person's seratonin system?

My experience is far below that of the author, however in general I figured that it was safest to stick to a general list of rules. This goes for everything including alcohol. For me at least these were:

1. Don't consume anything by yourself, especially at home.

2. If you are in a sad mood or similar, think twice before taking anything. Are you doing this to avoid a problem in your life?

3. If you are to take something, make sure you understand what it is, what the dose is, and what the side effects and risks are.

4. Avoid anything with a high possibility of addiction or damage to health.

For me this has pretty much resulted in only ever trying: Alcohol, Weed (edible form preferably) and once or twice Psychadelics. Alcohol is a strange one, since it is objectively quite dangerous but very socially acceptable. In this case keeping an eye on how frequently you drink is important.

Though I've been offered coke, or MDMA or similar, I have always refused for the above reasons. Maybe it's possible these things can be safely taken / moderated, but having seen people take these and long term go off the rails, it does not seem like a worthwhile risk.

A solitary, rehydrating beer or two after an intense game of pick up basketball is one of the finer things in life. Otherwise I'm ok with your list :)

Being from a conservative background in India I've never done any drugs in my life. Even alcohol was consider a big deal with my family and many friends (many not all). The closet I've gotten is smoking weed and that too only once and I didn't feel anything.

Reading articles about common drug use and watching Hollywood movies really makes me feel as if I've missed a big part of living life :( I wish I too had friends like this who would have helped me experiment and live life like this.

Don't sell your own experiences short. 100% chance you have something this person doesn't.

Never too late..

If you do decide this is something you’ve missed out on and want to experience, find friends you know who use and trust that they use responsibly, and don’t hesitate to ask for a buddy or three. One of my regrets as a late bloomer is having been ashamed to ask, then more ashamed to admit when I got out of my depth. Your friends who partake reasonably will be happy to guide you, and they’ll also be kind to set you back on your path if you stumble. If you find yourself among people who don’t match those characteristics, they’re not fun to stick around with. No matter what be kind to yourself and keep trust in the people you trust unless they show they don’t deserve it.

having frends that have done pretty much everything you can abuse/order off dnms and having done my share of most of that shit.. its only really worth it with friends. the novelty gets old quick. “drugs make staring at a blank wall fun” “drugs are so great theyll kill you” pretty much sum it up

A few years ago I went to a random meetup after I moved location to meet friends, and there were these two old English ladies in their 60s telling me how they went to burning man last year and did XTC.

So, you know ... never too late if you really want to see what it's all about.

That being said, personally, I think drugs are pretty boring, so you may end up being disappointed.

You're letting other people's actions dictate whether or not you're happy.

Using other people's experiences to judge yourself is not a good starting point. Adding mood-altering drugs on top of that, doesn't seem wise.

If you can imagine if drugs didn't exist, would you be happy with your life? If so, there's no reason to let the knowledge of something you don't have affect you negatively that way.

I’m in a similar spot to you, have been exploring weed since it became legal. It’s a blast and safe. I recommend edibles. My friends recommended a small dose, 5 to 10 mg when starting out, and waiting an hour to two hours before consuming more. It was a great time. I will never touch anything dangerous though. Hard drugs are a hard pass for me.

Some would call marijuana dangerous. I don’t agree, nor do I agree labeling most or all other drugs as hard drugs + dangerous.

If anyone else was confused, it looks like Champis is psilocybin from what I've found.

Yes, it's just "shrooms" in French

I've done the same for 40 years. The data is just not as exciting.

> Using my data, I can confirm I’ve taken ecstasy 81 times in my life, MDMA 74 times

Wait, I thought ecstasy/XTC and MDMA are the same thing?

It's usually mdma + amphetamine inba pill form, at least around eastern part of Europe.

Aside from the fact that XTC can be and frequently is MDMA mixed with something else, the form in which it comes (in case of XTC usually a pill) can be very different. In my experience when people explicitly call it MDMA it can be all sorts of things, from crystals to (as the author notes) "MDMA water".

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