[extropy-chat] baloney in the memetic superstructure

[Eugen Leitl]

On Sat, Dec 03, 2005 at 07:46:04PM -0800, spike wrote:

> inhaled huge amounts, hundreds of times the ordinary 

Thousands of times, actually. Some ~100 mg instead
of some 10 ug.

> LSD dose.  Even Timothy Leary would have dropped out
> permanently.
> 
> As for those cooking up their own at home and accidentally
> poisoning themselves, I found no cases of that.  The web

That's because (unlike some other drugs) LSD is quite 
nontrivial do synthesize at home, even by a trained chemist.
And those few who can, can tell micrograms and milligrams
apart.

> has been with us a dozen years and the internet for over
> three decades.  If it hasn't happened by now, it evidently
> isn't a risk.

LSD can be overwhelming, especially to novices. Even in
a proper set and setting the experience can turn nasty,
and cause a panic (you're completely convinced you're dying
or see dead people in the cars on the highway). Add to this 
the subjective impression than time stops (you don't see the 
second hand move, even though you know that this can't be),
and you'll see that things can become quite interesting.
 
> So now I ask myself how I got the notion to start with.  One
> site suggested that many newspapers report LSD overdose
> incorrectly.  I heard of one a couple years ago because it
> happened in my wife's home town of Spokane Washington.  Turns
> out it was something else besides LSD, an experimental
> substitute that the prole used and managed to poison 
> herself.  Perhaps much of what is sold as LSD may be 
> something else, such as strychnine.  Rat poison is cheap 

LSD is sold either as blotter, microdots or as liquid. 
There's not enough volume in a microdot or a blotter for
a strychnine dosage to have any detectable physiological
effects.

Newspapers reports and depictions in flicks and other
media (starting with Reefer Madness hilariousness) are
almost always inaccurate, whether from sheer ignorance,
or due to a targeted defamation campaign.

> and legal.  Deaths from this might be reported as
> LSD overdose, especially if the victim's friends
> also thought they were getting acid.
> 
> A google search on fatal drug overdose reveals
> some interesting findings.  Evidently the most 
> common drug overdose is from heroin, followed by... 
> alcohol!  I never realized how common that is.
> 
> retailer to do some shoplifting.  Downy then devours all the
> LSD, presumably twice or thrice the normal dose.  Bad
> circumstances result.  He survives, barely.

Another bogus report. People frequently drop 2-3 of the
baseine experience. Remember, it takes 1000x to take
you out for good. That's a lot of petty cash, and inert
filler to swallow.
 
-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
______________________________________________________________
ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820            http://www.ativel.com
8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A  7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: Digital signature
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20051204/c8e81f4a/attachment.bin>