Althouse: "Don’t do acid and drive. Control your set (i.e., the people you’re tripping with) and setting. Don’t ever look in the mirror."

May 13, 2020

"Don’t do acid and drive. Control your set (i.e., the people you’re tripping with) and setting. Don’t ever look in the mirror."

"... or, alternatively, do look in the mirror. And, as Marc Maron says he was once told, during a bad trip: Just hang in there, man. According to Maron, that’s advice he still gives people today, although it sounds pretty banal."

From "Talking about LSD sounds funnier than taking it in 'Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics'" (WaPo)(reviewing a Netflix movie).

45 comments:

BudBrown said...: I suppose it's tough to drive if the steering wheel keeps melting.; 5/13/20, 1:40 PM
Amexpat said...: Don't do acid and drive is sound advice. I inadvertently broke it as a teenager in the 70's. I had taken some LSD, had a pleasant trip and after I thought I came down, I decided to drive home. While I was driving on the streets of LA, a second high came over me. The cars and lights on Santa Monica Blvd all started to blur together. I didn't panic at all. Was very relaxed. Somehow I got back home and parked my car in a tight spot without any problems. Don't know how I did it.; 5/13/20, 1:41 PM
Yancey Ward said...: If you are going to do it, you need to have dependable people who aren't doing it (or anything else) to watch over you.; 5/13/20, 1:47 PM
Kay said...: I’ve definitely driven on acid before, and luckily with no problems or mishaps. I can’t recommend it though.; 5/13/20, 2:08 PM
donald said...: I ate some mushrooms once, road my motorcycle home and started tripping before I got there. My brother and his buddies (All varsity super jock football players that got scholarships...ceptin my brother who was already enlisted to go kill bad people) were playing basketball. I joined them. I was seeing everything three steps ahead, it was amazing, I was frickin Doctor J. All I did was drive right through them. Them there was that other one which was not so great...; 5/13/20, 2:09 PM
Kyzer SoSay said...: Best way to recover from a bad trip is your favorite song on headphones (if you can tolerate wearing them) or playing softly in the room. 100% success rate in a sample size of about two dozen. For some of those experiences, there was no minder present, but seasoned folks know the drill.; 5/13/20, 2:10 PM
Mr. Forward said...: That would have been handy advice 50 years ago when I drove down Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona, picked up a stranded Air Force Colonel. It was a long, dark, winding road. He's probably still talking about it.; 5/13/20, 2:11 PM
Meade said...: "I was seeing everything three steps ahead, it was amazing, I was frickin Doctor J. All I did was drive right through them."

So what you're saying is: DO do acid and drive.; 5/13/20, 2:15 PM
Amexpat said...: Wasn't there a post here, a few years back about Doc Ellis pitching a no-hitter on acid? I think there was a link to this animation about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vUhSYLRw14; 5/13/20, 2:29 PM
Iman said...: Dropped 1/2 tab and went to see Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia on a Friday night with a friend and the other half the next day before going to Disneyland with same friend and one more, where my girlfriend (now wife) was working as one of the hostesses in the Bell Telephone exhibit. Much fun, both times... the pulsating, giggling piggies on the train ride were a bonus!; 5/13/20, 2:32 PM
J. Farmer said...: I’ve done a fair amount of experimenting, but hallucinogens were never one of them. Friends who have said its best to do in a safe place with someone you’re close to.; 5/13/20, 2:37 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: It can’t be worse than drunk driving, which most states call a felony, but which Wisconsin deems a constitutional right.; 5/13/20, 2:52 PM
Mr. Groovington said...: I’ll be doing DMT for the first time shortly.; 5/13/20, 3:00 PM
Daniel Jackson said...: Other lessons learned include:

"It's ALWAYS colder than you think."

"This, too, shall pass."; 5/13/20, 3:45 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: Along the coast you'll hear them boast
About a light they say that shines so clear.
So raise your glass, we'll drink a toast
To the little man who sells you thrills along the pier.

Legend of a Mind--Moody Blues; 5/13/20, 3:53 PM
bagoh20 said...: This reminds me that I've done some seriously risky stuff in my life, espcially when I was younger, and that gets much scarier when you get older. I don't understand why. You would think that surviving all those risks would give you added confidence and courage. In my circle of friends I was in the middle of the risk taking continuum. Some of my friends were absolutely fearless, and yet I don't remember any of them paying a price for it. Those who did get hurt or killed usually did it during something much less risky than their usual craziness. It's the normal stuff that gets you. Regardless, there are some people who have never done anything risky in their entire lives, even running with scissors. I pity them. I wish I had taken more risks, and I wish I still could. It's so much harder now. I only see the negative possibilities. I still take some risks, but usually only because not doing it is even more risky.

During this virus panic, there is a wide variance between how much risk some are willing to accept. It's no surprise that some would still not run with scissors regardless of what's at stake. I'm in awe of some who rose to the occasion. Those are ones I want in my foxhole.

I talked to my real estate broker in Los Angeles yesterday who is getting destroyed by this stuff, and he told me of an encounter he had with the distancing gestapo. Someone called the cops on him becuase he refused to wear a mask walking alone in a park. The cops pulled him over a few blocks away. He told them he will not wear one, and that the mayor has no authority to make him do so. The cops agreed with him. They admitted that the oath they took to uphold the constitution did not jive with the order, and that they were not enforcing it.; 5/13/20, 3:58 PM
rehajm said...: Yah those two steps ahead people are always two steps ahead in the wrong direction. You have to run up there grab them, drag them back and point them in the right direction.

In more ways than one for these druggie types.; 5/13/20, 3:58 PM
Grant said...: I didn’t have a car in those days. Solved the driving problem.; 5/13/20, 4:13 PM
Narr said...: Many of my friends took LSD and ate mushrooms, but that shit scares me and I only got drunk and high. Very drunk and very high. And driving from party to bar to party to home the while.

FTR the only things I liked more than some good reefer or hash, was music and sex along with good reefer or hash.

Narr
It's a wonder; 5/13/20, 4:21 PM
JMW Turner said...: Don't do acid, or smoke weed, or drink alcohol, or even take prescribed meds and drive, duh. When I was young and even more stupid than I am now, I did all of the above. Only with mary jane while driving, 8 track blasting Led Zeppelin, was it remotely pleasurable. I tripped at my apartment with a couple of nurses, had a great time, and stayed put. One of the girls was experienced and she talked the rest of us through periods that felt as though we were losing our minds. I never did it again, I wasn't willing to chance pulling a Brian Wilson.; 5/13/20, 4:23 PM
FullMoon said...: Somehow I got back home and parked my car in a tight spot without any problems. Don't know how I did it.

Magical Mystery Tour; 5/13/20, 4:28 PM
Scott Patton said...: Definitely don't drive through the Squirrel Hill Tunnel into Pittsburgh on your way to a Rush concert.; 5/13/20, 4:31 PM
gilbar said...: The first 3 times I took acid, ALL involved
Motor vehicles
Flashing red and blue lights

One involved a emergency room and a ruined motorcycle

After that, I decided that acid was BAD; 5/13/20, 4:37 PM
narciso said...: speaking of hallucinations,

https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2020/05/13/hidden_over_2_years_dem_cyber-firms_sworn_testimony_it_had_no_proof_of_russian_hack_of_dnc_123596.html; 5/13/20, 4:47 PM
Heartless Aztec said...: Never do acid and do anything. Don't even do acid and do nothing. It's crispy, burney and goes on wayyyyy to long. Mushrooms are much better. Up and down in about six hours and you can regulate the dose. Especialy if you're older - regulate the dose. The 60's and 70's were a long time ago now.; 5/13/20, 4:51 PM
Mark said...: Meade - Drive, but don't travel.; 5/13/20, 5:01 PM
narciso said...: definitely the brown acid

http://ace.mu.nu/headlines/archives/timmillerfinalformofnevertrump.html; 5/13/20, 5:26 PM
narciso said...: I guess it's a consensual hallucination,

https://twitter.com/shipwreckedcrew/status/1260691434207756289?s=20; 5/13/20, 5:45 PM
Rt41Rebel said...: I don't advocate driving on acid, but I will say that I set a high score on aa Atari Night Driver video game in an arcade on a boardwalk while I was tripping. There was a crowd of people behind me watching and cheering me on. Or maybe not.; 5/13/20, 5:48 PM
Howard said...: Sex on Acid is awesome. Saw the Grateful Dead (they actually sounded good for once), went backpacking (took too many side trips), Played golf (best round ever), Body Surfing (epic session), lifted weights (sore for a week), running (like a gazelle), driving (a little disconcerting), picking up girls (very successful)... Fuck the safe space. Do fun shit. It's not contagious.; 5/13/20, 5:49 PM
narciso said...: https://twitter.com/JordanSchachtel/status/1260691119115046914?s=20; 5/13/20, 5:49 PM
Rt41Rebel said...: I don't advocate driving on acid, but I will say that I set a high score on an Atari Night Driver video game in an arcade on a boardwalk while I was tripping. There was a crowd of people behind me watching and cheering me on. Or maybe not.; 5/13/20, 5:50 PM
Howard said...: 'shrooms cure everything nowadays from migraines to PTSD; 5/13/20, 5:51 PM
Howard said...: Allways follow advise from Jim Morrison: Keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel; 5/13/20, 5:54 PM
Xmas said...: My girlfriend at the time was tripping her balls off, thanks to friends in town for a Phish concert, and I took her, as a surprise, to see "A Bug's Life". She didn't tell me she was tripping until halfway through the trailer for "Prince of Egypt."; 5/13/20, 5:57 PM
Meade said...: "definitely the brown acid"

I was too young for Woodstock, plus I had a summer job. In Port Huron, yes, but no, I was not, uh, one of the authors of the Port Huron Statement, neither the original one nor the compromised second draft.

Still, it's my understanding that the famous brown acid was some of the purest LSD ever produced. Those who had "bad trips" on it were likely combining other substances with it, especially alcohol and/or speed — never a good idea.

https://youtu.be/uzFongNGuQM; 5/13/20, 6:01 PM
bagoh20 said...: I'd like to trip and fly.... a plane, a hang glider, a surfboard. I said I'd like to, not that I will. I have friends that fly hang gliders high on weed, but that would cause me so much anxiety that I'd probably just burst into flames in the sky. I've had more than one panic attack while flying hang gliders and planes. I just fly in circles until it goes away, but that is scary shit.; 5/13/20, 6:01 PM
narciso said...: its a remark, on the idiot hack at the bulwark, how else to explain consensual hallucinations like so,; 5/13/20, 6:03 PM
Howard said...: Panic attacks are no joke. Do you still get them? I got them between the ages of 43-45, then they disappeared for good so far knock on wood.; 5/13/20, 6:11 PM
Kay said...: I remember teenage me being driven home from a party by my friend who was tripping. She wanted me in the passenger seat because she was unsure of her ability to drive at this point and needed someone there in case something went wrong. Never mind that I was also tripping and that moments earlier at the party we had both been seeing the shapes and bodies of mountains of bugs and icky creepy crawly creatures in the shadows.

I put the right music on. She started smiling. We made it home ok, safe and sound with fortunately no problems.

I don’t recommend doing this though.; 5/13/20, 6:51 PM
Darkisland said...: Does lsd actually impair ones driving ability?

Or is it just common knowledge or "stands to reason" that it does?

Have there ever been any studies where they sent someone out on an obstacle course to get a baseline, fed them a measured amount of acid then sent them out again to see how they did?

Like the 3 studies in the 80s by the nhtsa look at r the study in Australia. None of them found impairment.

I did acid in the 60s but didn't have a car at the time. Looking back, I don't know how it would have affected my driving. Perhaps would have been toolin down t e thruway at 20mph

John Henry; 5/13/20, 7:04 PM
Iman said...: Panic attacks are no joke. Do you still get them? I got them between the ages of 43-45, then they disappeared for good so far knock on wood.

So you're saying teh Viagra solved it for you?; 5/13/20, 7:09 PM
bagoh20 said...: "Panic attacks are no joke. Do you still get them?"

I wouldn't really call them panic attacks like some people get for no reason. When you are thousands of feet in the air, can't pull over, or take a time out, and you know your survival is inescapably in your own hands, well maybe it's just simply being scared. When flying planes, it was the responsibility and complexity of flying over a huge city with all the things that can wrong with airspace and traffic and rules, while still trying to just stay in air. I didn't have enough experience to ever feel relaxed or comfortable. With hang gliders it just that it's so much more likely, everybody who does it knows someone who killed themselves with a mistake, or bad luck. I'm too much of a pussy now to go back to either one. That, plus to many dependents at the moment. I simply can't afford to perish. It would be big mess.; 5/13/20, 8:03 PM
pacwest said...: Friends who have said its best to do in a safe place with someone you’re close to.

And who has done it before. Guided trips were the easiest.; 5/13/20, 10:33 PM
jnseward said...: I drove a 1948 International Harvester school bus on the freeway in San Francisco while peaking on acid. I had just bought it, never drove it before, and it required double clutching which I had never done before. I made it back to the Haight from South San Francisco without any problems, but I would never think of doing anything like that now.; 5/14/20, 7:23 AM