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I asked the mods to pull this thread, but obviously, they didn't. You can say, "well, just don't read it." And of course, you'd be right.

I'm just imagining some innocent teenager, reading about the good old days, an all of you trying to one-up each other on your knowledge of acid etc. One guy even projects the idea that LSD is harmless, unless you were flakey to begin with.

Of course nobody KNEW they were flakey until that first bad trip. I met a guy once, a prisoner. He had been a final inspector of shop repairs on Hueys, a position of great trust and responsibility. Then he took to smoking marijuana laced with heroin, and deserted. Just as well, who knows how many crewdogs would have died if he had stayed. Sort of ruined his career though.

Its ironic. Here you are, bragging about substance abuse (arguably a major factor in the movement that lost a war) and you all seem to be doing just fine.

I never took a hit, at least not of dope. Yet I am sitting here trying to decide whether it would be worth the trouble to go back (to the VA) and kiss the elbow of my Primary Care Nazi; when my last vial of insulin runs out. Ironic. Thats the word.

Here you are, bragging about substance abuse (arguably a major factor in the movement that lost a war) and you all seem to be doing just fine.

I don't think anyone was bragging about their drug use and instead relayed stories of friends that had bad experiences on LSD. In fact, the story I told was about a friend who I can only imagine is dead today due to his drug use.

If I elected to, I could tell stories of friends who did various drugs and completed their PhD's and today are well respected figures in science and academia. In fact, I have seen articles posted here on FR by and about people who I witnessed doing hard drugs when we were in college. And for the most part, those people were met with affirmation here on FR.

And there lies the riddle of drug use, some use and their lives fall apart while others can use and they succeed in this world.

As for me, I was always scared $hitle$$ about addiction and never pushed the envelope with a substance.

And I would never advise anyone do any of the drugs mentioned on this thread but unlike some I would not want to see anyone go to prison because they elect to do certain drugs.

We are adults and we make adult decisions and we do not need the Nanny State Sycophants condemning out decisions of the past.

> One guy even projects the idea that LSD is harmless, unless you were flakey to begin with.

I don't think anybody said it is harmless. For example, I said (#91):

Acid is an incredibly powerful psychoactive drug. In my opinion it surpasses all other drugs in the regard that it is not for everyone, indeed most people probably should avoid it, because it will likely change their point of view about their lives, and most people can't handle questions like that.

I did say that in my opinion, acid got blamed for a huge variety of mishaps, injuries, psychoses, and deaths, which were actually the result of a person, often with existing psychological problems, ingesting not only acid but typically other stuff as well, in an unsafe environment, and doing stupid actions. In that regard, alcohol, pot, or any other psychoactive drug could do the same thing. Acid is arguably the most mind-altering of the lot, but a lot more people get their lives F-ed up due to alcohol than acid, for example.

The reason we're still here to talk about past psychedelic experiences is that we stopped (at least, in my case). Long long ago -- many decades ago.

Don't sweat the "innocent teenager" of today too much -- they've usually got more information about drugs than we did, and if something as generic as a discussion of long-past activities tips them over the line, I submit they would have found some other excuse if this one didn't exist.

I was quite clear that LSD is dangerous and that I did not advise it for anyone.

Quaaludes on the other hand were quite fun and had zero to do with losing Vietnam.

Vietnam was lost on capital hill and in Johnson's oval office.

I have never been anything but supportive here of Vietnam war and those I grew up with and knew who fought in it .

That doesn't mean we are glorifying drug use. You might notice I said I haven't used drugs since my early 20s, they get in the way of life and raising 5 children.

But as a southern style long haired boy weaned on the good music of the 60s, a came of age as Lynyrd Skynyrd-Led Zep-Tull-Floyd-Dead sorta fellow born around 3-4 years too late for Vietnam service (1957) that yes I do remember fondly my youth in the south of partying in the woods letting yer hair down, duck camp, deer camp, the insatiable quest for punani, smoking pots and taking some dope within reason and little drinking too. I had a blast...a wonderful growing up.

But was it not without pitfalls? nope...like any youth generation it can be very hazardous.

None of which makes me responsible for Vietnam. I applaud your service. I always have. My family is full of Vets. My uncle was killed in the Ardennes right after he turned 19. Another was gassed in number one. As a baby they passed me over his dying body as he lay at the vets home in Biloxi after 50 years post gassing of a difficult life.

Yes...I agree that LSD influenced many in the Yippie..student movement or was it that because of how they were they were inclined to that. I'm not sure but I'm a staunch southerner...we were not keen on Yippies nor their Freedom Rider agitator predecessors regardless of whether we took LSD or not.