Story Time: Psychedelic Drugs

S t o r y T i m e : P s y c h e d e l i c D r u g s

These stories are the experiences of individuals. We do not promote the use of drugs! Use at your own risk, KNUS claims no responsibility for your actions! If you would choose to do so, inform yourself in advance. The website of The National Institute on Drug Abuse (www. drugabuse.gov) or www.verywellmind.com provide articles on what you should know before using hallucinogens.

10 People have long made a connection between Alice going “down the rabbit hole” and psychedelic drugs. Alice even takes a bite of a mushroom, which is supposed to make her grow taller or shorter. For a lot of people, this is a clear reference to the use of truffles. Psychedelic drugs, like truffles, have the ability to take you on a trip “down the rabbit hole”, just like Alice. These are the experiences of two of my friends who have taken truffles. • Shanna de Caluwé Experience #1 “I’ve done truffles a total of three times. Each time was a completely different experience. It’s a great experience in my opinion, although the last time it went a little less smoothly. This was after I ate McDonald’s, which was very stupid as it is recommended to do truffles on an empty stomach to prevent sickness. This was exactly what happened to me. I was staring at the walls the first fifteen minutes, waiting until the nauseous feeling would go away. On the inside was too hot, on the outside was too cold. Sitting wasn’t nice, but my body felt too heavy to stand. Fortunately, this feeling quickly disappeared. I felt like painting, so that’s what I did for the whole evening. The colours flowed beautifully in and around each other, as if I had an extra sense that experienced colours differently. When I looked outside, the grass was lit up, almost neon-like. The light from the laptop shining on my friend’s face was enchanting. We sat like that for a while, painting and listening to music. Music was also a different experience. It is much more beautiful and artistic. We danced, which was nice. You are hyper-aware of everything: sound, colour, but also of your own body. It feels like you are one with your surroundings. After a while, we decided to go to bed. When I laid down, I noticed that it was not a good idea to do it so quickly, but I still tried to sleep. It was pitch black. I had such enhanced senses that I even experienced the dark more intense. It seemed to swallow me up and after a while I started seeing vague figures. Afterwards, I would say they looked like Furbies, or a brightly colored version of Jabba the Hutt. Then, everything just got worse. It didn’t matter if I had my eyes open or closed. There were colours everywhere and everything was circling around me. The colours and shapes were pounding. They penetrated my head. It felt really discomforting. Apparently, my friend couldn’t sleep either. When we turned on the light, the Furbies disappeared immediately. We ate a jar of applesauce, as eating sweetness weakens the trip. This helped and when I went back to bed, I immediately fell asleep.”

Experience #2 “The first time I did truffles was in the centre of Amsterdam. Me and two friends decided, very spontaneously, to do 15 grams of truffles each. After we bought it, we tried to find a place where we could go to the bathroom, so we could eat the truffles there. It took about 30 minutes for it to kick in. My heart was beating faster and my body felt different. At first, I was a bit paranoid. Everywhere I looked, I saw people with yellow jackets, which freaked me out for some reason. The next stage was laughing. I could not stop smiling, no matter how hard I tried. Then I got really emotional. I started seeing the beauty in everything I laid my eyes upon. I remember taking a picture of my friends and I just started crying because at that moment, it was the most beautiful scene I had ever seen in my life. Throughout the trip, my senses were sharpened. Colours were intensified. Whenever people walked past me, it felt as if I was part of their conversation for a second. My friend’s hand felt like silk while my other friend’s hand felt like alligator skin. Because of this intense feeling, we often stopped on our way back home to fully take in our surroundings. People were also putting up Christmas lighting all over the city, which looked magical. This is actually the best way to describe my trip: magical.” “I started seeing the beauty in everything I laid my eyes upon. I remember taking a picture of my friends and I just started crying because at that moment, it was the most beautiful scene I had ever seen in my life.”