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Talk Video: So you want to try out LSD... (OBSOLETE)

Arnox

Master
Staff member
Founder
Messages
5,285

Original video creator(s): Arnox - script writer, video maker
gaijinkaiju - voiceover, second opinion

Creator's description: Watch me get absolutely bodied in Mortal Kombat 9 by an Expert AI (absolute cheating bastard) while talking about the many dangers of LSD. The source link mentioned in the video can be found here: https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/ak1sq1/1950s_housewife_tries_lsd/

Game source: Mortal Kombat (2011)

Thumbnail source: https://adf.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/drug-macro-pf-lsd-01-930x620.jpg

Music source: Plrkel by Infinite Scale

-

Script:
Before I start, I should give a little background about where exactly this video is coming from. So, some days ago on Reddit, I see a curious little thread in my feed with 27.7k upvotes. "1950s Housewife Tries LSD" Link and source video for all this will be posted in the description by the way. Now, that wasn't really at all what I had a beef with. Instead, when I viewed the comments for the video, at least 80% of them were praising LSD. Some even decrying that it was made illegal. Even the actual youtube comments for this were pretty much the same thing as well.

Now, before I even continue on, I am not talking about using LSD for medicinal or even scientific purposes. I am strictly talking about using LSD recreationally. I am also not going to discuss whether it really should be made illegal or not. That's a different discussion that I'm not equipped to discuss adequately and also don't have time for in this video right now anyway.

So, to actually start this off, let's imagine for a second, regardless of whether you actually do or don't want to try it right now, that you do want to try out LSD. Oh wait. The drug is heavily regulated and stamped down on, legally. So now you're gonna have to find a black market seller of some kind, and they don't actually just put their ads out on craigslist.

OK, so you finally found a seller and get the LSD and oh wait. Dear, dear... Because some manufacturers of the drug don't care as much as they should about the purity of the LSD they make, the batch you get has too much impurities in it, which gives you a horribly bad trip and just generally makes you feel like a weight in the ground, and you may even have to go to the hospital.

OK, but let's say you do actually find a reputable buyer and you do get a good batch. Everything's good now right? Oh wait, no it's not. Because when you administered the LSD to yourself, you took too much and now you really do have to go to the hospital while having a really bad trip and just generally feeling like the worst you can possibly feel, and now the hospital knows you took LSD and now there's cops asking questions.

OK, but let's say then that you do find a reputable buyer, get a good batch, and are careful to measure everything out incredibly precisely. You even, for whatever reason, have lab equipment for this. Everything is finally alright now- Oh wait, nope. Because your grandfather's grandpappy had a history of deep mental illness, the drug just activated your latent psychosis permanently. And now you're taking medication for schizophrenia and hoping every day that you'll be able to tell reality from hallucinations and delusions.

OK, fine. Let's say then that you do find a reputable buyer, get a good batch, measure out the LSD you need to the nth degree, and made sure there's no history of mental illness in your genealogy. Now things can't possibly go- Oh wait a second. You forgot to get a sober partner to watch you during the trip, and now you're drinking Drano because you thought it was soda, and now you're in the hospital, almost dead.

Wow. OK, let's say then that you do find a reputable buyer, get a good batch, measure out the LSD you need exactly as you need it, made sure there's no family history of mental illness, and made sure to secure a good partner who will watch you to make sure you don't do anything bad. There can't possibly be anything else. But wait, there's more! It turns out you can just have a bad trip anyway because even in the best conditions, bad trips can happen simply because your brain wasn't gonna allow a good trip to happen that day.

OK. FINE. Then let's say you do find a reputable buyer, get a good batch, measure out the LSD you need exactly as you need it, made sure there is no family history of mental illness, made sure to secure a good partner, and made it to where the fates smiled upon you today and you have a good trip. Congratulations, you made it. You see a bunch of cool shapes, and indescriable colors and you feel one with the universe. Now what?

For all that trouble, the only things you really learned and experienced could have been experienced with some meditation and discipline. Although there is dangers to certain meditation practices as well, I'm not gonna get into that right now. Also, you'll never even really be able to share this experience with a majority of the people in your area, because LSD is a rare thing nowadays, and chances are, if you bring it up, you'll be met with confusion or even hostility in some circles.

The point I'm trying to make here is, LSD isn't really worth it at all. Although I'm not your momma and you need to decide for yourself in the end what risks you're willing to accept and to reject, trust me when I say you'd be wise to sit this one out instead.
 
Messages
45
I'm not a big fan of this video at all. Heres why.

The first major thing is the structure - I get what you were trying to do by listing all the things that could potentially go wrong, but some of them are just long shots (more on that later). Give me any activity and I can set up a similiar road of "what-ifs". Admittedly, the risk reward ratio for most drug use is high compared to other activities but its still a shitty way of discouraging something, especially when any half sensible drug user or forum will run potential users through the exact same checklist (check your families mental history, check your source, find a trip sitter, etc) and especially since legalisation of LSD, which I gather you are not a fan of, would just eliminate a third of your protests in one swoop. Furthermore, anyone seriously interesting in experimenting with drugs is going to have a personality that at the very least favors risk in certain areas. A risk averse person will not consider taking (illegal or black market) drugs from the get go. On an anecdotal level, I've experimented with other drugs in the past and can say I don't feel put off after watching this at all.

Second, the by far biggest risk factor in the video is permanent psychosis or other mental health issues. (You can get over a bad trip and getting a trip sitter is pretty easy for 95% of people out there, so its the only one which is likely to have any really really bad long term consequences.) You didn't back that claim up with anything, and if you tried you might not have much success, because its just plain false. Psychedelics causing the kind of long term hallucinations that get you locked up for good is a very pervasive urban myth. There is something called HPPD, or hallicinogen persisting perception disorder, more commonly known as 'acid flashbacks', but HPPD/acid flashbacks don't occur with anywhere near enough frequency nor intensity to break you off from reality, not even temporarily - HPPD sufferers are well aware that what they are experiencing is not real. Its not related to psychosis. Its difficult to find solid data on how many drugs users experience HPPD but estimates put it anywhere between less than 0,1% and 5% - how many of those are severe enough cases to merit skepticism toward hallucinogens is also unknown. You're still rolling the dice but your odds are better than with many over the counter drugs we freely dispense at the moment.

When it comes to full blown psychosis, numerous studies have been done and failed to find any link between psychosis and hallucinogens. The rate of psychosis in users is not higher than in non users. In fact, in the case of LSD, users have lower rates of depression and anxiety and are less likely to attempt suicide than the rest of the population. For magic mushrooms those stats are even more favorable. I seem to remember seeing studies indicating cannabis can trigger latent mental illnesses in young (think children or teenagers) users but I can't find the specific sources now, just shitty word of mouth clickbait websites, and this is more about LSD anyway, so whatever.

I'll leave you with a link from an anti-drug website to back up my claims. In the article you can find numerous further links to solid studies from reputable sources if you want to take a closer look at them yourself. I think the community channel is a really cool idea and would be up to do some voice overs for future projects, and I'm not trying to hate on you or whatever.
https://oceanbreezerecovery.org/blog/permanent-trips/
 

Arnox

Master
Staff member
Founder
Messages
5,285
I'm not a big fan of this video at all. Heres why.

The first major thing is the structure - I get what you were trying to do by listing all the things that could potentially go wrong, but some of them are just long shots (more on that later). Give me any activity and I can set up a similiar road of "what-ifs". Admittedly, the risk reward ratio for most drug use is high compared to other activities but its still a shitty way of discouraging something, especially when any half sensible drug user or forum will run potential users through the exact same checklist (check your families mental history, check your source, find a trip sitter, etc) and especially since legalisation of LSD, which I gather you are not a fan of, would just eliminate a third of your protests in one swoop. Furthermore, anyone seriously interesting in experimenting with drugs is going to have a personality that at the very least favors risk in certain areas. A risk averse person will not consider taking (illegal or black market) drugs from the get go. On an anecdotal level, I've experimented with other drugs in the past and can say I don't feel put off after watching this at all.

Second, the by far biggest risk factor in the video is permanent psychosis or other mental health issues. (You can get over a bad trip and getting a trip sitter is pretty easy for 95% of people out there, so its the only one which is likely to have any really really bad long term consequences.) You didn't back that claim up with anything, and if you tried you might not have much success, because its just plain false. Psychedelics causing the kind of long term hallucinations that get you locked up for good is a very pervasive urban myth. There is something called HPPD, or hallicinogen persisting perception disorder, more commonly known as 'acid flashbacks', but HPPD/acid flashbacks don't occur with anywhere near enough frequency nor intensity to break you off from reality, not even temporarily - HPPD sufferers are well aware that what they are experiencing is not real. Its not related to psychosis. Its difficult to find solid data on how many drugs users experience HPPD but estimates put it anywhere between less than 0,1% and 5% - how many of those are severe enough cases to merit skepticism toward hallucinogens is also unknown. You're still rolling the dice but your odds are better than with many over the counter drugs we freely dispense at the moment.

When it comes to full blown psychosis, numerous studies have been done and failed to find any link between psychosis and hallucinogens. The rate of psychosis in users is not higher than in non users. In fact, in the case of LSD, users have lower rates of depression and anxiety and are less likely to attempt suicide than the rest of the population. For magic mushrooms those stats are even more favorable. I seem to remember seeing studies indicating cannabis can trigger latent mental illnesses in young (think children or teenagers) users but I can't find the specific sources now, just shitty word of mouth clickbait websites, and this is more about LSD anyway, so whatever.

I'll leave you with a link from an anti-drug website to back up my claims. In the article you can find numerous further links to solid studies from reputable sources if you want to take a closer look at them yourself. I think the community channel is a really cool idea and would be up to do some voice overs for future projects, and I'm not trying to hate on you or whatever.
https://oceanbreezerecovery.org/blog/permanent-trips/
No, you're alright. And you are correct... I actually received very similar criticism on a sub-reddit, although it was more vitriolic and loaded with downvotes, so I got pretty defensive. At the end of day though, I see what is majorly wrong with this video, the biggest thing by far being that I looked at all the possible effects and consequences of LSD, but I never actually studied the likelihood of them actually occurring.

I'll issue a correction video and make an apology as soon as I can.

Oh, and you can make videos whenever you like by the way. As long as they pass basic standards, I'll post them to our channel.
 
Messages
45
No, you're alright. And you are correct... I actually received very similar criticism on a sub-reddit, although it was more vitriolic and loaded with downvotes, so I got pretty defensive. At the end of day though, I see what is majorly wrong with this video, the biggest thing by far being that I looked at all the possible effects and consequences of LSD, but I never actually studied the likelihood of them actually occurring.

I'll issue a correction video and make an apology as soon as I can.

Oh, and you can make videos whenever you like by the way. As long as they pass basic standards, I'll post them to our channel.
Thanks for being cool about it and taking criticism on board! Do what you like to amend the situation if you feel like you have to, I'm certainly not demanding an apology though, in case someone got that impression.
And while we're clarifying things I guess I should also add that my post wasn't meant to encourage anyone to take LSD or other hallucinogens, the jury is still out on the exact short and long term effects of them, both positive and negative. I have a different legitimate reason to perhaps try mushrooms at some point (cluster headaches although mercifully in brief bouts and only once a year, psilocybin ends bouts) so maybe then I can recommend or discourage with more knowledge.
 
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