# What Would Happen If I Ingested 1 Pound of LSD? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 18, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423 "2004-08-18T17:34:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/41 "2004-08-20T22:56:40Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > As for the person who put down school anti-drug education, sorry, I don’t accept your appraisal. The alternative in 1965 would have been for me to get drug information from pushers. Hello, I am **Mr2001**. I can’t comment on what things were like in 1965, but today, there are far better alternatives, many of which can be found linked from sites like Erowid. Considering that schools are still pushing mistruths about drugs today, and more is known about them today than 40 years ago, I can’t imagine why schools would’ve been _more_ likely to give out correct information then than they are now. > [@](#): > > I guess that is what you want: The blind leading the blind. Well, you guessed wrong. I want everyone to have access to factual information, and to make their own decisions based on that evidence. I don’t want the government pushing propaganda in place of facts, especially in schools, where they’re the only source of information. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/42 "2004-08-20T23:14:02Z")
I was there in the '60’s (b 1945), and yes, we laughed at the “education” put out by the establishment. Not because it was especially funny (with the exception of "Reefer Madness), but because it was so often total bullshit. And we knew it was. When you lie to kids and young people, you lose credibility. And when you lack credibility, your propaganda’s gonna attract ridicule. Be honest with kids, and consistant, and they’ll sometimes listen. Sorry, **d\_m** , that’s how it is. man (my _thing_ fell off) george ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/43 "2004-08-20T23:36:22Z")
[Well, as long as nobody becomes an orange.](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/drugs/orange.htm) :rolleyes: Gods, why don’t the people who put these things together just use _real stories_, of the kind that _actually happened_? Don’t they realize that by making shit up, they only alienate their target audience and make it impossible for any message they might have to get through? **dougie\_monty** , you cannot defend what the schools are selling on a factual basis. And if you dress them up as “pious lies” or “necessary untruths”, I’m telling you right now that they aren’t working. I interact with high school-age kids on a daily basis and _none_ of them believe the DARE or other school-supported info. This is largely because they have drug experience and know what really happens, and they can smell the bullshit. Kids today are no different from kids in the 1960s-1970s, in other words. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/44 "2004-08-20T23:48:20Z")
Thanks, \*\*Derleth \*\*, I’d forgotten about that one. 😃 They were so _serious_ about it, too. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/45 "2004-08-21T00:45:16Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#): > > Liquid LSD can be found, and unfortunately people have come close to what is going on in the \*\*OP]/b]. The school I teach at had a very terrible experience with what is called "_ **Being Puddled** _. Loosly translated someone gets their hands on some liquid acid, pours a small amount in their hands and licks it up. The dose is massive. > > The girl who did this spent 3 days in her locked dorm room sitting in a stinking pile of urine and feces. People thought she was driven home so no one thought anything of it that her door was closed. > > She is living out her days in an institution. Now that is a scary story! So scary that I refuse to believe it without a cite. Something like that must have made the newspapers – what year did it happen? ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/46 "2004-08-21T00:46:00Z")
I read Hofman’s book. In it, he mentions that experimenters other than himself theorized that LSD-25 works by sharply dropping serotonin levels in the brain – serotinin being the “neurotransmitter” mentioned in several posts above. Interestingly, we now know that Prozac operates by jacking UP your serotonin levels, among other things. Makes me wish it was legal to experiment with LSD again, just to find out what the deal with the serotonin was… ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/47 "2004-08-21T02:33:37Z")
That Wiki link above…ah… LSD is most certainly NOT a 5-HT antagonist. Rather, it is a 5-HT receptor _partial agonist_, having a very high affinity for, but low efficacy at, a number of serotonin receptors. Hallucinogenic effects are thought to be mediated by the 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors. The reson you can’t trip shortly after taking a hit of acid is the target neurons, upon massive stimulation of the kind LSD can deliver, are greatly attenuated in function. Often, upon binding their ligand, cell-surface receptors are endocytosed and destroyed, and there are other mechanisms by which signaling can be attenuated after stimulation to maintain homeostasis. Overstimulation of the serotonin system can lead to hyperpyrexia and death (many a raver taking X will warn you to keep cool), and other nasty things, so the CNS has to cope somehow. Given the incredible ED50 of LSD, and its super-high affinity for 5-HT receptors, if it were a full agonist, the stuff would be incredibly lethal. Anyhoo, the post-synaptic neuron remains apathetic both to endogenous and exogenous signals for some period of time after tripping until new receptors are synthesized, and other attenuating mechanisms are also modulated. It’s interesting to note that other serotonin agonists or partial agonsists can cause “cross-tolerance” via the same mechanisms. SSRI antidepressants can make a person resistant to LSD. It’s also interesting to note that atipsychotics act as 5-HT2 receptor family antagonists (as well as dopamine-receptor antagonists, though it is thought that the atypical antipsychotics can be superior to the classic antipsychotics because their ratio 5-HT2 to domamine D2 binding affinity is greater, and hence they’re less likely to cause extrapyramidal side-effects). Yeah, LSD literally makes you nuts. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/48 "2004-08-21T06:10:44Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > **dougie\_monty** , you cannot defend what the schools are selling on a factual basis. And if you dress them up as “pious lies” or “necessary untruths”, I’m telling you right now that they aren’t working. I interact with high school-age kids on a daily basis and _none_ of them believe the DARE or other school-supported info. This is largely because they have drug experience and know what really happens, and they can smell the bullshit. Kids today are no different from kids in the 1960s-1970s, in other words. If you believe that schools’ drug information is deficient, don’t say so on message boards. Take it up with school boards, including this one. If my friend’s brother–who attended the same school I did–had better information than the school, why did he ingest LSD anyway? Because the “better” information is that substance abuse is OK? One of the things the teacher, within the school curriculum on Alcohol and Narcotics, told us, was that a man found out his son, in his late teens, was addicted to heroin. The man wasted no time: He bought his son a cemetery plot. I would have preferred that all parents give their kids the same kind of education my parents gave us. Unfortunately, all parents can’t do that. Perhaps people wanting to raise kids should attend special parenting classes, which would include how to teach your kids about substance abuse. [flame]Oh–and be sure to tell the DARE and DEA people how ignorant they are, and that substance abuse is enlightenment.[/flame] ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/49 "2004-08-21T06:44:40Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > If you believe that schools’ drug information is deficient, don’t say so on message boards. Take it up with school boards, including this one. Schools’ drug information being deficient is not a belief, it’s a fact – especially information you got in 1965. Taking it up with the shool board is not likely to do much good, though. Schools, like the rest of the country, have firmly bought into the “The only way to keep kids off drugs is to exaggerate the dangers hugely” method of drug education. Doesn’t seem to be working, alas. > [@dougie\_monty](#): > > One of the things the teacher, within the school curriculum on Alcohol and Narcotics, told us, was that a man found out his son, in his late teens, was addicted to heroin. The man wasted no time: He bought his son a cemetery plot. I guess the best treatment for heroin addiction – methadone maintenance – wasn’t really around in 1965. That’s too bad. Opioids themselves are actually quite safe – people can take methadone (or heroin, really) for their entire lives without suffering any ill effects, as long as it is under controlled medical supervision. The underground culture associated with _illegal_ opioid use is where the danger comes from – overdosing because the purity is unknown, using dirty needles, spending all your money on drugs and none on food and medical care and the like … that’s what kills people. > [@dougie\_monty](#): > > [flame]Oh–and be sure to tell the DARE and DEA people how ignorant they are, and that substance abuse is enlightenment.[/flame] The fact that DARE doesn’t seem to be working doesn’t imply that “substance abuse is enlightenment.” What’s that fallacy called … false dilemma? Yeah, I think that’s it. Heh heh … does this remind anybody else of that South Park episode “My Future Self and Me”? ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/50 "2004-08-21T06:57:34Z")
> [@chorpler](#): > > Schools’ drug information being deficient is not a belief, it’s a fact – especially information you got in 1965. Taking it up with the shool board is not likely to do much good, though. Schools, like the rest of the country, have firmly bought into the “The only way to keep kids off drugs is to exaggerate the dangers hugely” method of drug education. Doesn’t seem to be working, alas. > The fact that DARE doesn’t seem to be working doesn’t imply that “substance abuse is enlightenment.” What’s that fallacy called … false dilemma? Yeah, I think that’s it. > > Heh heh … does this remind anybody else of that South Park episode “My Future Self and Me”? I am sick and tired of people throwing up “South Park” to me. I can find more normal wasy to vent my bladder. And while you’re at it, compose a disquisition on why my parents were wrong to educate me on drugs. and compose an open letter for the woman I mentioned on how she is better off with her brothert dead. Think of John Belushi, Keith Moon, Anissa Jones, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Glenn Gould, Billie Holliday, Edward R. Murrow, Stymie Beard… ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/51 "2004-08-21T07:08:37Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I am sick and tired of people throwing up “South Park” to me. I can find more normal wasy to vent my bladder. Uh huh. That makes sense. Whatever you say, pal. > [@dougie\_monty](#): > > And while you’re at it, compose a disquisition on why my parents were wrong to educate me on drugs. and compose an open letter for the woman I mentioned on how she is better off with her brothert dead. > Think of John Belushi, Keith Moon, Anissa Jones, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Glenn Gould, Billie Holliday, Edward R. Murrow, Stymie Beard… It doesn’t sound like your parents educated you about drugs at all, beyond “Don’t do them.” While that’s good advice, it’s not education. And, you’ve said that your friend’s brother’s death was unrelated to his 30-years-previous LSD use, so what are you ranting about? Clearly, all of the people who have died from drug use would have been much better off either not doing them, or doing them in a more responsible manner. What’s your point? ---
**Author:** ![SnakeSpirit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snakespirit/32/7271_2.png) [@SnakeSpirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakeSpirit)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/52 "2004-08-21T07:37:29Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > [flame]Oh–and be sure to tell the DARE and DEA people how ignorant they are, and that substance abuse is enlightenment.[/flame] Have you been neglecting your medications??? ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/53 "2004-08-21T07:53:24Z")
> [@chorpler](#): > > It doesn’t sound like your parents educated you about drugs at all, beyond “Don’t do them.” While that’s good advice, it’s not education. > > And, you’ve said that your friend’s brother’s death was unrelated to his 30-years-previous LSD use, so what are you ranting about? > > Clearly, all of the people who have died from drug use would have been much better off either not doing them, or doing them in a more responsible manner. What’s your point? “Doing drugs in a responsible manner”? Is _that_ what you’re saying? Gimme a break! I made the allusion to Jenny in the movie _Forrest Gump_ because of her similarity to the man who died at 44–I’ll call him Alex Sanders. He had a series of problems and emotional reversals, according to his mother (who died the year before) and his sister. I venture the guess that if Alex hadn’t taken LSD, he might not have ‘graduated,’ in a sense, to more serious indiscretions. And I’ll thank you not to pass pompous judgment on my parents’ course of action when they told my brother and sister and me about drugs. It was NOT a ‘thou shalt not.’ They spent at _least_ one whole evening (complete with blackboard) telling us about things such as heroin and cocaine, addiction, and so on. (This was in 1958.) I must also point out that, although both parents smoked and my father (who died at age 66 from multiple organ failure) drank heavily, the three of us never engaged in drug abuse. I don’t smoke or drink, either. My former stepfather died about two years ago from lung cancer–inoperable by dint of his long history of alcoholism. So I know about the evils of Demon Rum. I would also venture to say that, given the results of alcohol abuse–quite well documented for millenia–I consider it foolish to aggravate this situation by following the same course with drugs. ---
**Author:** ![SnakeSpirit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snakespirit/32/7271_2.png) [@SnakeSpirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakeSpirit)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/54 "2004-08-21T08:07:31Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > “Doing drugs in a responsible manner”? Is _that_ what you’re saying? Gimme a break! > (…) > I would also venture to say that, given the results of alcohol abuse–quite well documented for millenia–I consider it foolish to aggravate this situation by following the same course with drugs. So, you are equating drugs with alcohol? (One of the world’s most destructive drugs!) Please give us your objections to: Marijuana: Opioids: Psylociben: SSRIs: Benzodiazapines: And your alternatives for people who have symptoms relieved by these drugs. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/55 "2004-08-21T08:24:13Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > “Doing drugs in a responsible manner”? Is _that_ what you’re saying? Gimme a break! Yes, that’s what I’m saying. It’s perfectly possible to use some drugs responsibly. It’s not even a question of opinion. People do it all the time. Methadone clinic patients, chronic pain patients, and even some recreational users (e.g., Ted Binion) can do it fine with opioids. I’m not saying _all_ drugs can be used responsibly – my research involves opioids specifically – but certainly there are ways to use most any drug that are less dangerous than other ways. > [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I venture the guess that if Alex hadn’t taken LSD, he might not have ‘graduated,’ in a sense, to more serious indiscretions. But that’s all it is – a guess. For that to be true, somehow the LSD would have to have made him graduate to these “more serious indiscretions,” whatever they may be. Not knowing the specifics, I can’t really comment on this case, but in my experience, the whole gateway drug hypothesis is usually a confusion of correlation with causation. > [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I would also venture to say that, given the results of alcohol abuse–quite well documented for millenia–I consider it foolish to aggravate this situation by following the same course with drugs. Well, depending on the drug, alcohol can have different (and potentially more dangerous) immediate and long-term effects. Alcohol is vastly more addictive and toxic than LSD, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/56 "2004-08-21T09:44:41Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > [flame]Oh–and be sure to tell the DARE and DEA people how ignorant they are, and that substance abuse is enlightenment.[/flame] Ignorant? How about [ineffective](http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/dare6.htm)? > [@](#): > > To investigate D.A.R.E.'s effectiveness, researchers looked at two similar groups of children: One group takes D.A.R.E.; the other does not. Then, researchers followed the children’s behavior for several years. Since 1987, studies – most funded by law enforcement agencies involved in the program – have been conducted at 20 North Carolina schools; 31 Kentucky schools; 11 South Carolina schools; 36 Illinois schools; and 11 Canadian schools. The results were similar. > > The 1991 Kentucky study, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported, found “no statistically significant differences between experimental groups and control groups in the percentage of new users of … cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, alcohol, marijuana.” > > A 1990 study funded by the Canadian government found “D.A.R.E. had no significant effect on the students’ use of any of the substances measured… They included: tobacco, beer, pop, marijuana, acid, Valium, wine, aspirin, uppers, downers, heroin, crack (cocaine), liquor, candy, glue and PCP.” > > To make sense of the various studies, the Justice Department hired the Research Triangle Institute of Durham, N.C., to conduct a statistical analysis of all D.A.R.E. research. > > A preliminary report from the RTI – analyzing eight studies involving 9,500 children – says D.A.R.E. has “a limited to essentially non-existent effect” on drug use. > > D.A.R.E. did have a positive effect on children’s knowledge and attitudes about drugs, the report says. It also added the social skills needed to say no to drugs. > > But even on these measures, D.A.R.E. didn’t do as well as other drug programs, including local classes taught by teachers and students. And seriously, who here has said substance abuse is enlightenment? Can you name one person, quote one post? Or are you just tossing out strawmen? ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/57 "2004-08-21T14:05:27Z")
> [@](#): > > So I know about the evils of Demon Rum. _MMmmmmmm Demon Rum_ ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/58 "2004-08-21T21:13:54Z")
> [@Snakespirit](#): > > So, you are equating drugs with alcohol? (One of the world’s most destructive drugs!) > > Please give us your objections to: > > Marijuana: > > Opioids: > > Psylociben: > > SSRIs: > > Benzodiazapines: > > And your alternatives for people who have symptoms relieved by these drugs. I don’t think it’s necessary for me to discuss each of these specifically. Suffice it to say that _any_ substance can be abused. I also refer you to an old book titled _Try and Stop Me_ written by journalist and publisher Bennett Cerf in 1944, specifically the chapter titled “Sweet Are the Uses of Publicity.” I mention this because I sense that your argument so far has been a thinly veiled sales pitch to sell ME on drugs. Read the chapter and you’ll have at least one answer to why I will not buy your encapsuled snake-oil. (If you can’t find the book I’ll key up the article on a file and e-mail it to you.) ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/59 "2004-08-21T21:48:54Z")
You know, school just started up, and I’m starting up with a totally new district. I’ve been working my butt off, and taking work home every night. I had a really, _really_ rotten week. Do you know what got me through it? The fact that I have had really, really rotten weeks before. The fact that ALL new jobs suck. The fact that ALL public schools are more or less chaos the first week. In short, I have come to terms with the fact that sometimes, life sucks. And you deal with it, and in time, it sucks less. Sometimes, if you’re doing things right, it does not suck at all. Teens, in particular, need to learn this lesson, because being a teen is a remarkably rotten experience. Sometimes, it’s REALLY, really rotten. Like when your first girl dumps you, or you get pantsed in the lunchroom in front of God and everyone, or… well… general teenage _weltschmerz_, you know? This is why drugs are so frickin’ great when you’re a teenager. One doobie, and you’re free of all that. No more _weltschmerz_, no more problems, no more hurtin’. Life does not suck when you’re stoned, no matter how much it sucked when you lit the joint. …and that is where the bullet meets the bone. Will the child grow up, and learn that when you’re stoned, you’re really not competent to deal with stuff, and that the weed is no more than a temporary anodyne for your poor hurtin’ self? Or will it become a more or less permanent fixture in your life for long enough to damage your short-term memory? Or are you just gonna be a stoner forever? THIS is my objection to drugs. You can pretty much substitute any chemical you like for “marijuana,” and my objection would be the same. Does this mean that drugs are evil? No, not necessarily. It may well be possible for some of us to do them responsibly. Then again, many of us can’t even use alcohol, aspirin, gasoline, automobiles, or chainsaws responsibly, especially in various combinations or all at once. I mean, I’m sorry if your brother OD’d on drugs. Really. But I think if MY brother died in a car accident that was his own fault, I’d be asking a lot if I started a crusade to make people quit driving cars. We’ve been trying for years to make people quit doing drugs, and we have not succeeded. People are doing drugs, and they are GOING to do drugs. It’s a reality. Deal with it. All we can do is figure out how to minimize the consequences, to individuals, and to our society. We can attempt to _manage_ drug use and abuse as best we can, because it isn’t going to go away. I haven’t seen the episode of “South Park” in question, so I will not comment on it. Sometimes, drug education is at fault. Sometimes, it is not. I got lots of drug education when I was a kid. The problem with it was that parts of it seemed pretty far-fetched to me (including parts that turned out to be true), and, most importantly, the people telling me all this stuff about drugs had never _tried_ the drugs in question, and were operating _entirely out of secondhand knowledge_, often from questionable sources. Especially the Government. I mean, Nixon was the Government back then, and look how HE turned out, right? I was told that Diane Linkletter ate some bad acid, thought she could fly, and leaped out a window. Several movies I saw seemed to back this up; people always seemed to be getting weird ideas when they used LSD. On the other hand, LSD sure looked like a lot of \*fun. \* Who are you going to believe? The Man, or someone in the drug culture who’s been there, has no reason to lie to you, and says it’s all harmless? (And yes, don’t flame me, I KNOW the Drug Culture Guy has ulterior motives – he wants to sell you dope, or worse – but your kids don’t necessarily know that. And sometimes stoners DON’T have ulterior motives. They just wanna turn you on, is all…) There is such a thing as effective education about drugs, sex, birth control, and even adulthood, sure. But “just say no” ain’t it. And neither is “Believe, or die.” I’ve never seen a drug abuser (that is, an abuser of illegal nonprescription drugs) who didn’t get his start by hooking up with the drug culture. I do not believe in the concept of “gateway drugs.” Believe me, smoking dope for a while does not suddenly give you the idea that you need to try heroin, or that you suddenly need to score some acid. That’s a myth. But hanging out smoking dope with guys who also like to drop _acid,_ now… …and if any kind of drug education is going to work, it’s going to need to consider the drug CULTURE, in addition to the drugs themselves. And durned if our government has ever had any idea what to do about clashes of culture. Hell, look at our foreign policy. We don’t have a friggin’ clue. It starts at home, folks. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423/60 "2004-08-21T22:19:26Z")
> [@Master Wang-Ka](#): > > This is why drugs are so frickin’ great when you’re a teenager. One doobie, and you’re free of all that. No more _weltschmerz_, no more problems, no more hurtin’. Life does not suck when you’re stoned, no matter how much it sucked when you lit the joint. > > … > > THIS is my objection to drugs. You can pretty much substitute any chemical you like for “marijuana,” and my objection would be the same. Fine. I substituted it with ‘LSD’. Your motives fall apart. You’re already crazy if you think people drop LSD _to escape_ from their problems. If anything, you can’t for long. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-happen-if-i-ingested-1-pound-of-lsd/260423.md?page=4)