41–50 of 50 posts
I think people might under appreciate how easy LSD was to get in the US in the 90s and early 2000s. I was living in a fairly boring suburb, and was a complete nerd and had access to as much LSD as I wanted at less than $5 a hit when I was in high school in the mid 90s, and it continued to be easy to find well into the early 2000s.
I think people might under appreciate how easy LSD was to get in the US in the 90s and early 2000s. I was living in a fairly boring suburb, and was a complete nerd and had access to as much LSD as I wanted at less than $5 a hit when I was in high school in the mid 90s, and it continued to be easy to find well into the early 2000s.
Strychnine will do that :( Edit to add: i'm just talking about the rash of strychnine poisonings related to LSD usage in the early 2000s. it put a real damper on the party for a long time and for a lot of people.
There is no avenue in synthesis or purification in which LSD and strychnine would come into contact. There is no benefit to cut LSD with strychnine. The amount of strychnine necessary to have any effects on humans is too close to the lower end of lethality to be a useful cutting agent.
That being said, there are side-products in LSD synthesis or purification from natural substances (e.g. ergot fungus cultures) can leave related substances as impurities. These can cause vasoconstriction, which is unpleasant. This isn't strychnine, and it's unlikely to be dangerous as small amounts of impurity. It doesn't feel very nice, and it can cause bruising. Or, people tripping can just bump into things and be clumsy. Either way, the explanation that this comes from strychnine is and has always been bunk.
It should be obvious, but please don't confuse any of this with an endorsement of the drug. That's a separate topic. The most I'll say here is that I don't recommend it.
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Has he been doing well? I'd read he met Ross Ulbricht in USP Tucson when they were both serving life without the possibility of parole. I hope they can reconnect now that they're both free.
Yes, he’s living life to the fullest! The most active 80 year old I’ve seen. Lots of travel, speaking at conferencing, networking in his professional circles. Believe it or not, he’s a fairly conservative person. He’d never done yoga, breath work, sauna, cold plunge, saline IVs. I had the honor of pushing him out of his comfort zone a bit with the hippy health stuff. He’s speed run learning how to use a smartphone an…
Huh, the article says he did Yoga.
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I’m kind of perplexed by the way Ross Ulbricht is held up as a hero after he was caught spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire hitmen to murder multiple people. Usually when I bring this up people try to change the subject to the FBI agent who tried to steal crypto or they suggest that there wasn’t enough evidence to support the claims (the court found that by a preponderance of the evidence he sent the me…
The jury is out on whether the accounts linked to the hiring of the 'hitmen' was exclusively under the control of Ross Ulbricht. The 'preponderance' was found by a judge, not a jury, so it's a different threshold than say demanding a jury in a civil suit where the jury would make a finding on preponderance. You effectively have a jury of one, where that jury member is highly intertwined with the same federal governme…
Yet there’s this desire to downplay it or wish it all away as a conspiracy against him. You have to suspend belief and assume that someone else sent the messages or that they were fabricated. It’s all really hard to believe unless you’re in the mindset that he’s a hero and you need to explain away the inconvenient parts of his history that detract from the person people wish he was.
Prior to the LLM age, I found it very difficult to program while on LSD or psychedelics. I just could not sustain the logical inference needed to keep track. However, using a voice dictation program combined with a usb foot pedal and cursor, I have overcome this impasse in an interesting way. What was once the Ballmer peak, I should perhaps rename the Pickard Pinnacle. What a time 2B alive.
Prior to the LLM age, I found it very difficult to program while on LSD or psychedelics. I just could not sustain the logical inference needed to keep track. However, using a voice dictation program combined with a usb foot pedal and cursor, I have overcome this impasse in an interesting way. What was once the Ballmer peak, I should perhaps rename the Pickard Pinnacle. What a time 2B alive.
Computers and hallucinogenics are a lousy combo in every possible way. Even if you manage to interface, they're still digital, which just limits your experience. My advice is to write/draw your ideas while tripping and save the digital stuff for later. Trees and flowers is a much better focus, animals; as analog, natural and physical as possible. Playing instruments is nice if that's your thing. Take or leave.
Related: LSD chemist William Pickard to be released from prison - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23947157 - July 2020 (375 comments) The "Acid King," Serving Life Without Parole - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12211097 - Aug 2016 (25 comments) Other (more loosely) related threads: The LSD Museum (2021) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36673288 - July 2023 (25 comments) Owsley Stanley: The King of L…
Hey dang, not suggesting anyone do it - but... A tool which creates this post for you (probably shouldn't post it because slop, but just making the draft) could be a fun project!
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Strychnine will do that :( Edit to add: i'm just talking about the rash of strychnine poisonings related to LSD usage in the early 2000s. it put a real damper on the party for a long time and for a lot of people.
It never happened. I've heard varying versions of this urban legend from the late eighties through to modern time. The reality is that an LSD trip can cause physical discomfort, especially toward the end. Sometimes this discomfort is stronger than other times. For some reason, people have confused this with strychnine. There is no avenue in synthesis or purification in which LSD and strychnine would come into contact…
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What kind of a book is it, genre-wise? Was it interesting? I'm deciding if I should read it someday or not
My understanding is that it’s a loose autobiography. I read through two thirds of it during Covid. I think it’s has an unfair reputation of being a challenging read; yes you’ll encounter new vocabulary, but the narrative itself is really interesting and clear.
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It never happened. I've heard varying versions of this urban legend from the late eighties through to modern time. The reality is that an LSD trip can cause physical discomfort, especially toward the end. Sometimes this discomfort is stronger than other times. For some reason, people have confused this with strychnine. There is no avenue in synthesis or purification in which LSD and strychnine would come into contact…
well, it's too late for me to edit my comment, but whether they happened is beside the point. the rumors were enough.
Here in Florida, back in the eighties and nineties, an old timer with a background in organic chemistry used to make it. He was a fascinating fellow. He didn't make it for the money, and allegedly if you were introduced to the guy, he'd practically give it away. By the mid-2000s, he was no longer gifting folks his "samples" or even talking about his hobby. I'm sure he has long since passed on.