"We've now reached the point where the stuff you can buy over the counter is stronger than anything you can buy on the street." - Dennis Leary THE DXM ZINE Issue 2. December 1997. A Symposium of Articles Pertaining to DXM Use. (c)1997 Jeff Sothen Please visit our IRC channel on EFnet at #Dxm. Official #Dxm Web page at http://phun.dreamhost.com/dxm. Edited by Gravol, with article contributions by fellow DXMers. Disclaimer: The authors of this zine do not condone the use of Dextromethorphan in any way. This text is simply used as an informative guide to issues relating to Dextromethorphan use and should be used for entertainment purposes only. We are not responsible for any actions taken by anyone reading this text. CONTENTS 1. Letters to the Editor 2. DXM...The New Wave (by Anonymous) 3. Extrasensory Perception (ESP) and DXM (by Gravol, William White) 4. DXM Withdrawal (by Anonymous, William White) 5. My Third Trip (by Ackers) 6. The Trip From Hell...Punderson Manor (by Gravol) 7. The Effects of Smoking on DXM (by various authors) 8. Material Data Safety Sheet on DXM (by Wanman Enterprises) 9. The Doors of Perception (by Gravol) 10.LSD vs. DXM (by varous authors) 11.My Experiences with DXM (by DeeXMan) 12.DXM Writings (by Gravol) 13.DXM Drug Culture and the Future of DXM Use (by William White) 14.Beware of Bromide Poisoning (by Anonymous) 15.DXM Extraction...A Method That Works (by Buzzed) 16.Moron of the Moment...And My Response (by William White) 17.Tips for Downing Cough Syrup (by various authors) 18.Info on Ordering Pure DXM Powder (from compiled information) 19.DXM Music Reviews (by Gravol, Jason Rudolf) 20.Various DXM Sources (from the PDR for Non-Prescription Drugs) 21.Various DXM Internet Sites 22.Various Trip Reports (from Internet reports) 23.Credits/Zine Information LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Listed below are a few letters received after the publication of the first issue and the editor's response. >From godfather@parrett.net: Great job on the e-zine, I especially liked the part on "paranormal" activity. I have also had experiences sort of like that. Not with lights or electricity, but with something to do with extra senses (ESP seeming things) and even things that have moved slightly when I REALLY concentrate on them. Most people (and I at first) told me it was just an over-acting imagination (and on DXM, imagin- ation can sometimes be indistinguishable from reality in some forms). This may be true, or they could of just been very small vague hallucinations (which is practically imagination anyway). However, I still think that there is some- thing strange about these "coincidences" simply because it has happened to much to be considered coincidence in my book. Oh well, no-one will ever know most likely. Also, I totally agree with your evaluation of Delsym. I have actually gotten to almost 3 bottles over a few hours (not quite there, after 2 bottles, even the nice orange like flavor gets a bit sickening, so probably i'd list it at more like 2.5 bottles or so) and have still not gotten the effects I have gotten per say off 700-800 mg of pure DXM. Well, anyway, probably sick of reading my rambling, so on to the real point of this letter. I enjoyed reading this and would definitely like to continue to do so. However, I was wondering if you would still be able to send a few copies through e-mail. My parents have caught me numerous times with other drugs, and even though its unlikely they would open, or find out about the zine sent through the mail, I don't really want to take the chance. Even though I have a 3.5 GPA, and have no "behavior" problems at home, school or with friends, they are "worried" about my drug use, and think that I've just started in the past 6 months or so, and they believe that I will start going down hill soon. This is ridiculous, considering I've been using some types of drugs for the last 5 years or so, but they are still looking for anything the can to justify sending me to a program for "friendly" drug treatment. I know from close friends that especially the "friendly" part is bullshit and I really don't feel like ending up in that jail (which is practically what it is from what I've heard). I feel quite sure that it would be the end if my parents were to find out about me "tripping off of cough syrup" and they would defiantly think I needed help when I'm not even using "real" drugs. Sad but true to people who just don't get it. Anyway, now after I have unloaded a bunch of crap that you could probably care less about, basically I just would like to know if I could get it through e-mail still. If not, I understand, but I figured it would hardly be much of an inconvenience considering you must be making it on your computer anyway, and you don't even have to print it. - Diamond >From the Editor: Diamond: Thanks for the compliments on the zine. As I said, this is just the begin- ing and I am expecting continued success and exposure with this symposium. I agree with your viewpoints on ESP and the fact that it is hard to disting- uish imagination from actual paranormal effects. I have explored a little into ESP in this issue as you will later read. As far as the zine being distributed via e-mail, I am all for it but it is difficult to do at the moment since I have very limited Internet access. However, I am hoping some individual(s) will take the liberty and good fortune at displaying each issue on their web page for others to download. Currently, Phunistle has a page up at http://phun.dreamhost.com/dxm/zine but last I knew it was down. I should eventually have permanent Internet access so if worst comes to worst I will post the zine on the Internet then, after I move to Florida early next year. Thanks for your interest! - Gravol >From ramen@asu.edu: Thanks, I found it both entertaining and informative. -Dave Benjamin >From the Editor: Dave: Thanks for the good review. I will be sure to keep up the interesting aspects of these articles. -Gravol DXM...THE NEW WAVE by Anonymous I was unloading the truck in the warehouse of a store where I work one day when I came across something interesting: a shipment of Coricidin Cough & Cold, containing 36 boxes of 24 bonus packs. That's almost 26 grams worth of DXM. I gave some out toa friend who I quickly got hooked on it, who in turn gave it out to his friends in a different city and before I knew it he had a lot of people wanting it. I also gave some Coricidin pills to another guy at work who also liked the experience, but before I could give him any more he ended up getting fired. Pretty soon my order from Wanman Enterprises came in...50 grams worth. I started selling pills to a new guy at work who in turn got a bunch of people hooked. I soon found out from him that half of one local high school was already hooked on Coricidin. I couldn't believe my ears... this stuff was spreading like wildfire. And I knew the pure stuff would go over 10 times better than Coricidin because 1) it doesn't have the antihistamine Chlorphenaramine Maleate that Coricidin does and 2) it only takes one capsule to fuck you up. I'd buy some St. John's Wort, empty out all 60 capsules and load those up with the DXM powder. Worked like a charm. A few days later I started noticing a trend in our store: boxes of Coricidin Cough & Cold would just sell out in a matter of days. One particular night two kids got busted by our undercover security officers for stealing Coricidin (the wrong type I might add). Soon after that we got a new shipment in of the Cough & Cold variety so I decided to try something new: I put in slips of paper with my phone number in the remaining 6 boxes on the shelf (yes, the other 30 boxes had sold in a matter of days). I did this to see if anyone would take the clue and give me a call, knowing that I knew about the new fad. Sure enough, the next night all 6 boxes were gone. Later that night I got a phone call from a guy who said a friend of his bought a box which had my number in it. We talked about all the recent Coricidin thefts and I was amazed at how huge DXM was becoming in this Ohio town of roughly a quarter million people. Meanwhile, I let my old school buddies try some of the pure stuff and they in turn got a shitload of people hooked. We're talking about popular guys and girls who only smoke weed and trip acid occasionally were going berserk for this shit. All my closest friends are now taking DXM and the market for selling it locally in pill-form looks extremely promising. We can buy a gram for less than two dollars, and resell it for as much as ten dollars. That's five times the profit! We had a few close calls while driving under the influence of it but all- in-all everything's going over great. You may think it's just low-lifes on this drug, but it's not. It's everyone from hot chicks to popular guys at high school. The stuff has spread so much already that it's just overwhelming to think about, and all this is just at the local level. The future of DXM is as wide open as the great blue sky. Virtually un- limited, cheap supplies available to only a limited few who really know about the stuff and a world full of people just looking to get off on it. I know you may be skeptical of it, but don't be. It's the fastest growing drug there is, and it'll eventually spur publicity, so that's why I'm remain- ing anonymous. I even hear the letters DXM are carved in the pavement in front of the Radio Shack in the plaza where I work... EXTRASENSORY PERCEPTION (ESP) AND DXM by Gravol, William White Many people have reported weird incidents of heightened psychic abilities and ESP while under the influence of DXM. True ESP tests can only be conducted while using special cards containing pictures of a triangle, square, wavy lines, circle, and a cross. However, I urge you to try with a simple deck of 52 playing cards and see if you can come up with any interesting results. These tests may become redundant at times and it's very easy to get bored and just start guessing and not really using ESP to achieve results, and I caution against this. You should concentrate on each card, and while special ESP cards are prefered, I am giving directions to try with an ordinary deck of cards. Please use extreme patience and concentration while testing or it won't work properly. 1. Take and shuffle all 52 cards and sort them one-by-one face down into 4 piles (Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, and Clubs) while concentrating on what they are. 2. Flip over the cards and count up all the cards that you placed in the correct piles and divide by 52 and change to percentage. 3. Repeat several times and calculate the overall percentage correct. 4. Repeat this test both while sober and under the influence of DXM and record the results. If you do this properly please forward all results to me and I will publish them in a future issue (see my address at the end of the zine). It should be noted, however, that ESP seems more like something that occurs from a coincid- ence on DXM rather than a concrete testing of its presence. I would also like to share something interesting that's been happening lately after regular DXM use: psychic dreams. Most of these "psychic" dreams occurred while under the influence of DXM as I was coming down from a night's trip. Perhaps just strange coincidences, they've included: dreaming I ran out of gas while driving to work the night just before I actually did; dreaming of being in a particular store and then after arriving there the next day, suddenly remembering the dream I had about it the night before; dreaming about getting fucked up on whipits the day just before I went out with friends and did it. There have been many more weird coincidences in dreams but I don't remember them now. All this has also happened over just a week's time of daily DXM use. The dreams seemed no different or clearer than normal dreams, just a little easier to remember the following morning, but most of the time I don't remember the dream until after I do the thing that I dreamt about. Very weird. Below I included an excerpt from William White's excellent DXM FAQ on the subject: A few people have reported "Psi" phenomena such as ESP (extrasensory percept- ion), clairvoyance (psychically seeing distant places), and the like. Tele- kinesis doesn't seem to be reported, although a few report that, while under the influence of DXM, they felt like they could slightly influence the laws of probability. All of these can be safely explained as simply drug-induced delusions, although there has been to my knowledge no formal research on the subject. It is possible that ESP and related phenomena (with DXM use or without) exist but occur entirely randomly, or only when not being observed critically. Since repeatability, and invariance under observation, are the foundations of science, it may be that questions about psychic phenomena will never yield entirely to science. At this point it becomes a matter of faith. One interesting factor which does differentiate ESP from other paranormal phenomena is that while most paranormal experiences occur more often during heavier geomagnetic activity, ESP occurs more often during decreasing geo- magnetic activity. The true believers would probably argue that the geomag- netic field is interfering with ESP; the skeptics would most likely suggest that "ESP" is just a consequence of similar thought patterns leading to similar conclusions, and that the geomagnetic field may be capable of inducing noise into the system. As you can see, White's analysis of ESP also coincides with mine in regards to the belief that ESP cannot really be directly tested, it is only something that results from coincidence. Below White comments on the Cosmic Coincidence Control Theory, or the Cosmic Coincidence Central, as he puts it: Everyone take a deep breath, we're about to jump off into the deep end. Many people who have frequently used DXM or other dissociatives begin to develop consistent contact with "aliens" (with all due skepticism, these are probably elements of one's subconscious mind that have taken on characteristics of independent consciousness). Regardless of the cause, one particular subset of these aliens seem to have surprisingly consistent behavior and intentions. Here, basically, is the message that can be pieced together from dissociative users. There are numerous groups of entities or aliens, but two in particular are relevant. One group, the "helpful aliens," are attempting to guide humankind towards societal and spiritual progress with the ultimate intention that we come so far advanced that we can leave behind the earth (and possibly the physical world), and join a vast, intergalactic federation of other races. In order to keep us from blowing ourselves up or slipping into societal chaos, these helpful aliens do what they can to keep us on the right track. However, there are limits, either by some sort of convention or law, or by the nature of noncorporeal existence, to what these aliens can do. For example, they probably can't show up in big motherships and announce peace on earth; they can't suddenly make all guns and bombs disappear. They seem to be able to influence human progress only by means that appear as coin- cidence, such as fortuitous events, sudden insights and inspirations, luck, and that sort of thing. Some people have suggested that these "helpful aliens" are bending some sort of "law" by helping us out, and they can only do it as long as it can't be absolutely proven that they interfered without progress. Then there are the "not-so-helpful aliens." Not necessarily evil, but totally unconcerned with our race, and unconvinced that we are worth the trouble of helping. Some would say that they view us as we view ants, and would have no qualms about exterminating us if they felt it wise to do so. They too are restricted to operating primarily through coincidence. Some people have developed surprisingly complex theories about these aliens and their goals and methods. Sometimes the aliens give their names. One person was contacted by an alien named Calsutmoran who said he was from "very far away" (pers. comm.), and explained the Cosmic Coincidence Theory. What is surprising is that someone else, who had never heard this story, also reported contact with an alien of the exact same name... In conclusion, I will reverberate what White has said, that I believe there's a part of the human mind that we don't really understand, that may be receiv- ing and transmitting information in ways we do not recognize. Nonetheless, as many people believe, the "truth is out there," and we might as well take advantage of trying to find it. DXM WITHDRAWAL by Anonymous, William White I wasn't sure but I pretty much figured I was addicted to DXM. Afterall, I was doing it almost every night in the form of Coricidin Cough & Cold. Sometimes I'd do up to 25 pills (750mg) at once...other times even more. I'd also mix it with pot & LSD (whenever I could obtain it) and eventually cigarettes & coke. Well, I started having the problems most users get with frequent high plateau trips - problems like mood swings, depression, etc., plus on top of that the drug was becoming less and less enjoyable. Eventually it to to the point where I couldn't take DXM without puking. So I stopped. Or at least, tried to. The first few days were fine. Still felt a little bit of the DXM but I was pretty much returning to normal - then all of a sudden it hit. Nightmares, about anything from the end of the world to ghosts to killers and stalkers coming after me. And in the daytime I'd develope slight headaches - very, very annoying. I'd be fine one minute and the next feel light-headed and queasy. It was getting to the point where I HAD to take DXM just to get rid of these effects. Finally I decided enough was enough. I was going to stay off the drug, no matter how bad the nightmares got. Well, needless to say they grew worse and became much more intense, the headaches much more frequent, and I started to develop sinus problems along with a feeling of just being physically ex- hausted and not wanting to do anything. Depression also set in. I'd say it took a good 2-3 weeks of pure Hell to get past these effects, but they DO go away - it's only a matter of time. Once they were gone I was finally back to normal - for the first time since I started taking DXM. The sober reality I was now experiencing was not like the sober reality during the withdrawal symptoms - I could actually live life again on a regular basis and feel per- fectly fine, full of energy, etc. - just as I had always been before I started taking DXM. But, you know me...I eventually got back into DXM when things got a little slow and boring, so I started up again with Coricidin until I experienced some rather unpleasant effects from the antihistamine, so I switched to syrup and eventually to pure pwodered form. And that's where I'm at right now. As long as I do DXM on a regular basis (every 2-3 days) I'm fine... full of energy, physically fit, emotionally stable. But if I stop taking it, I start to develop the nightmares and physical stress again. I know it'll event- ually go away if I stay sober long enough, but I want to still trip DXM. So instead of doing it every week or so I'm forced to do it on a more regular basis now because of the DXM withdrawal. This is what William White has to say on DXM withdrawal, taken from the FAQ: Withdrawal from occasional DXM use is almost certainly not dangerous, and in fact any "symptoms" felt are probably just "jonesing" - the same sort of withdrawal "symptoms" felt with marijuana, television, sex, etc. At this point it's a matter of willpower more than anything else. Once tolerance has built, withdrawal has the potential to cause more serious problems. Mild tolerance to DXM is probably no more dangerous than mild tolerance to alcohol (tolerance at the level of "being able to hold your liquor"). Withdrawal may produce boredom and mild anxiety, but rarely anything more troubling than that. One person reported a curious withdrawal effect which has also been noted upon cessation of SSRI antidepressant therapy. Whenever moving his eyes, or upon any sudden change in sensory input, he experienced a sudden, momentary dizziness and altered consciousness. Ginko biloba, exercise, and sleep were reported to all help with this. Beyond the mild tolerance level, things could get rapidly worse. There is evidence that significant NMDA upregulation can occur and many of the symptoms of opiate withdrawal may occur via a similar mechanism. The good news is, studies generally haven't found any significant evidence of brain damage from heroin withdrawal, so withdrawal from DXM probably wouldn't be much trouble. The bad news is, heroin withdrawal isn't particularly enjoyable. Interestingly, one person who developed addiction and tolerance to DXM also compared the withdrawal symptoms to those of heroin (although DXM never produced any of the positive effects of opiates in this individual). These symptoms included watery eyes, stuffy nose, gooseflesh, muscle spasms, in- creased pain sensitivity, nausea, anxiety, and depression. Furthermore, the individual eventually began to develop some of these symptoms even while using DXM. This is definitely something to avoid. If you happen to develop a significant degree of tolerance to DXM, it might be a good idea not to quit "cold turkey" (all at once). Build down slowly over a few weeks, and avoid all other drugs in the mean time. One person who had been using DXM twice daily reported no withdrawal symptoms after decreasing the dosage 10% per day, and stopping at 180mg. This should prevent any excitotoxic rebound. On the other hand, given the research from Olney et al, it may be better to go ahead and quit cold turkey after all. Some research casts doubt upon upregulation of NMDA receptors with blockade, and if so, then there may be no danger of quitting DXM completely without tapering down. To be honest, there is evidence on both sides, and the best advice I can give you is not to get into this situation in the first place. If you do manage to develop a DXM addiction, I wish you the best of luck, and I think your best course of action would be to see a physician. Since most medical authorities are ignorant of DXM's psychoactive potential, it would probably be advisable to treat it as an addiction to any other dissociative (ketamine or PCP). Sorry for bombarding you with all this information, but perhaps you've had a similar experience? MY THIRD TRIP by Ackers Early friday morning I had my third DXM trip. Wow. I took 420mg in 14 gelcaps. I can't believe I managed to swallow all those fuckers. About an hour and a half later it hit. Man, did it hit. I'd say this was definitely a second plateau trip. I felt much more numb than previous trips. Anything that required me to move was a challenge. Walking to the bathroom especially. I started to really feel the dissociative effects here. I fell in and out of what I will call Innerspace. I felt a new universe envelop me, but not my body, just my consciousness. Very cool experience. I would always come back after a bit, though. CEV's (Closed-Eye Visuals) were there too. A few times I imagined a room, or object and they became very real and 3D, almost as if I could step into them. Very wild visuals. Unfortunately towards the end of the trip, the sun was coming up and it was hard to keep light from intruding. Need to make some opaque goggles or something. Sixteen Horsepower sounded really cool. One thing I noticed was that the peak seemed to end rather suddenly. I opened my eyes, and after that I could no longer get the visuals or dissociation as strong as they were. Still felt numb and happy for hours afterwards. Talking to Alison that morning was fun. I don't think she's as eager to try it as I thought. She was rather surprised when I told her I had tripped again. I think she still considers recreational drugs evil and bad. Oh well. Her loss. Next trip I think I will do 600mg. This should bring on some fully dissociative effects. Have to wait awhile though. Finals and vacation coming up. Maybe while I am on vacation, who knows. I must try lucid dreaming and astral projection more. DXM seems to be a shortcut to get to Innerspace, but it is not without its side effects. Perhaps I should try to acquire some ketamine. Must experiment more with this state of consciousness. THE TRIP FROM HELL...PUNDERSON MANOR by Gravol Punderson Manor sits atop a large hill overlooking eerie Punderson Lake, all surrounded by dense woods and a vast nothingness named Punderson State Park, about 35 miles east of Cleveland. But it is more than just the frightening experience of this English-style tudor mansion that caught my attention...it is also the fact that it is haunted. There are hundreds of sightings, but some of the more notable include a teenage girl who drowned in the lake in 1977 and was seen slowly walking back out of the water covered with seaweed a few weeks later by a band of gypsies who knew nothing of the original drowning. The girl walked a few feet on the shore of the lake, then returned to the dark and murky waters and disappeared. And then there were three night employees of the lodge finding a large man, fingers twitching, hanging by a noose that disappeared somewhere near the ceiling of the Cherry Dining Room, and being so horrified at this gruesome sight that they all three remained in shock at the foot of the winding staircase watching the apparition until sunrise. After reading about the park in Haunted Ohio II by Chris Woodyard, and paying a few visits to the ancient place, I finally decided to get a room and crash there with four other friends for the weekend - and with a hefty supply of DXM. The day I arrived, Friday, only one friend was with me...Jake. The other three would arrive later that night. I waited down in the lobby for some time, then I overheard a man at the front desk talking to an employee: it seems that at 2am the previous night his lights, television, and faucets went on and off, scaring the hell out of him and his wife...and he happened to be staying in the room just across the hall from ours. I went back upstairs and hung out with Jake until finally well after dark my other three friends arrived: Mike, Jeremy, and Steve. The first night was spent smoking a lot of weed and being on moderate doses of DXM. Jeremy ended up passing out, which left us four to roam the dark house alone. The night desk clerk downstairs looked like a vampire from The Lost Boys, which scared my friends, but he agreed to take us up into the Tower (which has been shut off from the public for years). Upon ascending the narrow staircase he warned us of a large bat that makes its home up there (he was very serious in everything he spoke of and refused to go up without a large flashlight to beat the thing with in case it attacked him). I was al- ready developing a nice speech impairment from the DXM and my friends were quite edgy, especially since it all appeared to be dreamlike. Well, actually, this dream seemed more likea nightmare as every minute passed. The Tower was dark and abandoned, littered with old lodge supplies and furniture. It was also rumored that the guy who built the lodge hung himself up here, but there's no substantial evidence to that. Anyway, we were all exploring the dismal place when the vampire-guy inadvertently (or so we thought) opened up a small closet door while mumbling to himself, "What's in here?" He shined the flashlight beam inside it. My friend Mike stood back in utter shock. Inside was an old dusty mirror and written on it was "GET THESE DAMN KIDS OUT OF MY HOUSE"... Mike later told me he had read it and seen his own reflection just at the same time and it drove him over the edge of sanity and into sheer terror. To me, it wasn't that big of a deal... I tried to stay mellow. Our little midnight tour commenced and we found ourselves back in our room with a passed-out Jeremy trying to come up with new things to do. I think at one point we went down to the Game Room (adjoining the basement on the new side of the manor) and played with a large keyboard that seemed to fascinate Steve the most. The Game Room was vast and open, surrounded half by windows peering into the nearby woods and half by a brick wall which masked the basement on the other side. We later jumped out of our hides at a strange sound from the other smaller adjacent arcade room, but that was most likely just a pinball machine beeping away. We eventually retired back to our room, lit a candle in front of a mirror, listened to the radio and just talked while we came down off the trip. It seemed like hours went by, and I remember just as the first hint of daylight shone through our tiny window, the candle wick burnt to its last breath and distinguished into a smoky haze. The night was over. That morning Jeremy and Steve decided to go back into Akron (a good hour's drive) and do some catching up to do with their friends while Mike, Jake and I all stayed behind. That day we explored the surrounding woods and lake, finding some interesting contraptions and shelters built with tangled branches but nothing too obscure. After our winterland escapade we retired back inside, bored. Went down to the Game Room and was messing around with the pool table. Suddenly someone comes walking in... I couldn't believe my eyes - a beautiful waitress/employee no older than 17 who was assigned to dismantle some chairs from a previous night's meeting (you see, lots of companies reserve board rooms and the Game Room for their business gatherings). I no longer remember her name, but we all four talked a great deal... she mentioned how people were different and stuck up at this place and how she attended a local high school. We invited her up to our room later on after she got off work and she said she'd see about it (she was quite shy). She eventually had to leave as to not get in trouble. To us, it was the only warm moment spent in this eerie mansion... and it truly was the last time all of us actually enjoyed a good laugh, a good conversation, and a beautiful hostess, while outside the windows snow gently fell and caressed the surrounding fields and woods. You see, it was as if the place was be- coming increasingly evil towards us... everyone from employees and guests to the house itself. Let me explain... Mike and Jake were already reporting to me weird looks by lodge employees and other people inside the lodge... and even moody attitudes brought against us as if we were outsiders. Perhaps it was the DXM playing with our head, but I highly doubt it. Twice, we had heard very strange things: once, while coming in from outside, Mike and I ascended the front steps and heard someone talking from the kitchen portion of the manor - it was just an ordinary conversation that I knew we had heard wrong (we could barely even make out what was being said up until that point) - but that's just it - we both heard the same im- possible thing: "You're gonna die." We just looked at each other after it was said and began to say "Did you hear tha..." That was all it took and I knew Mike had heard it too. And again wihle walking up through the narrow hallway in the old section of the manor (by our room) Jake and I overheard a conversation from behind a closed door which we passed (from the same room coincidentally that the guest had reported strange occurrences to the front desk clerk) - this time we heard "You're dead." And if that wasn't enough to drive us insane, while we were back in our room the TV shuts off by itself as I'm sitting on the bed watching it. I was the closest to the TV and remote and I know it shut off by itself. We turned it on again without a problem. By this time we were all beginning to get scared, but the worst was yet to come. Most of us came under the impression that we were drawn together here for a reason... it was destiny. I've never felt such a strong feeling of fate in my life. We felt as if we were unlocking the hidden mysteries of our life in this old manor. It was truly amazing to say the least. I am going to conclude our little hellish experience below, and I'd like to say that everything I write is the sole truth, so help me God. Jeremy and Steve came back that night. We told them about the girl we met down in the Game Room (which they thought we were lying about) and we took a drive to the nearest town, Newbury, to sort of get away and find some more Coricidin. We also got pretty high from smoking lots of pot in the car. Of course, all the stores were closed and we were out in the middle of nowhere (nothing but dense woods and hills surrounded this part of Ohio) so we decided to head back. As we returned back down that twisting road of Route 87, I remember the sky to this day... it looked dark and hellish, with little hints of red towards the horizon (the sun was going down) but other- wise a deep bluish-black shroud of death... and our destination being the House of Hell itself. We got back and made due with the DXM we had. Jeremy, however, was going to go back later that night down to his college dorm because of classes the following Monday and having to study for a test. We were all five chilling in the room and had just come out of the bathroom with a mild DXM buzz from smoking more pot when Jake reached down on the floor to pick up his sweatshirt but instead held up a pair of ancient-looking keys that looked like they belonged to a medieval English dungeon. He later told us it was as if he "just reached through some dimension and grabbed the keys and brought them back into this dimension." To this day not one of us knows where they act- ually came from. Then to make matters worse the phone in our room rang once. Then dead silence. I could tell Jeremy was starting to question what the hell was going on, and he wasn't even on DXM. Plus Jeremy never was afraid of any- thing supernatural. Some time passed after trying to figure out where the keys came from and then Jake said "maybe it's a sign that we're going to jail - "... Just then there was a knock on our door. What the hell! I personally thought it was the cops, but I didn't know what to expect... nobody knew us up here! I was closest to the door, so they made me open it. I couldn't believe my eyes as the door swung open... It was the brown-haired girl that we had met down in the Game Room and she had brought her blonde-headed friend. We all talked a while and she explained how they got our information from the front desk and ended up trying to call up here, but changed their mind and decided to come up instead. But I could tell that Mike and Jake were past the Point of No Return when it comes to being deathly afraid on DXM: Mike (who works in construction) was on the bed face-down with a pillow over his head mumbling how he wanted to go home. The girls eventually went down to the Game Room to play some pool and invited us down but we had to ditch them. Most everyone was too fucked up to leave the room. Mike was begging Jeremy to take him along back into town that night, but in the end he stayed and Jeremy left. We tripped hard that night. Still in shock over the turn of events that Mike so perfectly put: out of our control. We were on DXM and it seemed that from the time Jake picked up those keys there was no control left. We were at the mercy of what brought us here to begin with... fate. I remember the next morning, Sunday, and abandoning the room and sneaking out because of long distance calls we had made on the phone in the room and just the overall feeling of being watched. It was like escaping from a haunted house.. actually, that's exactly what it was. I was the second-to-last one out. As I creeped down the spiral staircase, I could hear the overture from Phantom of the Opera playing on the player piano next to the bar. I never felt so good to get out of anyplace in my entire life! We got out alright. And that's all that mattered. It was such a tremendous mindblowing, earthshattering experience that for the next few days I'd just stare off into space and go into trances every few minutes at just remembering what happened up there. That weekend was not just an experience... it was an epic encounter of pure terror in the eyes of DXM itself. If you would like more info on Punderson Manor or its hauntings, please write to me and I will be glad to pass along any info. THE EFFECTS OF SMOKING ON DXM by various authors Many people have reported interesting effects while smoking on DXM or the day after a DXM trip. One user reported how he could bring the trip back after smoking weed the day after a DXM trip. My friend Bob also reported being able to bring the trip back after smoking just a regular cigarette the day after. Many people have said that smoking on DXM is also a mindblowing experience, and one person stated how just a single cigarette floored him during a DXM trip. Here is what three people had to say on the effects of smoking and DXM. Loonus: Funny you mention it... I tripped two days ago on a high third plateau dose and pretty much slept through yesterday but today noticed some funny post-trip effects... smoking hand-rolled smokes, which I've always thought of as having a higher concentration of nicotine (that might have something to do with it), I noticed a strong (real strong) headrush and felt like I was tripping again for about a minute...now I've smoked cigarettes for about seven years and never felt like that before! Still, as I write, every time I light up I get a real lightheaded feeling , not as strong as before but definately not like the usual nicotine buzz... kinda strange... as far as smoking cigarettes while on DXM....it sucks. Hamish: I have done DXM once and it was ok. So i smoked some pot and wow, it was awesome. Heaps better. I didn't feel as though i was really enjoying the dxm until i had the pot, it brought it to a completely new level. Timothy Clark: I've gotten to the point where I detest tripping on DXM without smoking pot with it... It immediately brings down any nausea I might possibly have, and it drives the high into the stratosphere. I especially like smoking a fat joint around each of the peaks. Awesome experiences! So there you have it. According to quite a few people, you haven't had a really intense DXM trip until you at least smoke cannabis on it. And nicotine the day after has been known to bring back the effects of the DXM. Be sure to report your experiences with smoking and DXM! MATERIAL DATA SAFETY SHEET ON DXM by Wanman Enterprises WANMAN Enterprises assumes no responsibility for your use of this product and assumes no liability for loss of life or damage done by the misuse of this product. Listed below is information that was supplied on the Material Data Safety Sheet from Wanman Enterprises. This information will come with your order of pure DXM from Wanman. The information provided below is compiled from internal reports from pro- fessional publications. IT IS FURNISHED WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. It is intended to assist in evaluating the suitability and proper use of the material in manufacturing and in the implementation of safety pre- cautions and procedures. Dextromethorphan hydrobromide, monohydrate ****************************************************************************** MATERIAL: Dextromethorphan hydrobromide monohydrate FORMULA: C18H25NO-HBr-H2O CHEMICAL NAME: Dextromethorphan hydrobromide monohydrate; 3-Methoxy-17-methyl- morphinan (9a, 13a, 14a), hydrobromide, monohydrate; d-cis-1, 3, 4, 9, 10, 10a-Hexahydro-6- methoxy-11-methyl-2H-10, 4a-iminoethanopentanthrene, hydro- bromide, monohydrate; d-cis-1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 10a-Hexahydro-6-methoxy-11-methyl- 4H-10, 4a-iminoethanopentanthrene, hydro-bromide, monohydrate DOT HAZARD CLASSIFICATION: Non-hazardous DOT SHIPPING NAME: Not regulated ********************* PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES *********************** APPEARANCE: Off-white crystaline powder BOILING POINT: Not known pH: 5.2 - 6.5 (1% in water) ODOR: Slight MELTING OR FREEZING POINT: 122 - 124 degrees C SOLUBILITY IN WATER: 1.5% at 25 degrees C ********************** FIRE AND EXPLOSION INFORMATION ************************ FLASH POINT: Not known SPECIAL FIRE FIGHTING PROCEDURES: Must wear NIOSH/MSHA approved self-contained breathing apparatus and protective clothing. Cool fire-explosed containers with water spray. UNUSUAL FIRE AND EXPLOSION HAZARDS: Products of combustion are toxic. As with most powdered organic compounds, dust explosions may be possible. ************************ HEALTH EFFECTS INFORMATION ************************** PRIMARY ROUTES OF ENTRY: Skin contact, inhalation, eye contact, ingestion EFFECTS OF OVEREXPOSURE: Ataxia (loss of muscle coordination), excitement and motor activity changes. Allergic reaction is possible. OVEREXPOSURE MAY AGGRAVATE EXISTING CONDITIONS: Hypersensitivity to material. EMERGENCY AND FIRST AID PROCEDURES: Eyes: Immediately flush eyes with running water for at least 15 minutes. Hold eyelids apart to ensure rinsing of the entire surface of the eyes and lids with water. Get immediate medical attention. Skin: Wash affected areas with plenty of water, and soap if available, for several minutes. Remove and clean contaminated clothing and shoes. Seek medical attention if irritation develops. Ingestion: If swallowed, immediately give 3-4 glasses of water, and induce vomiting by placing finger or blunt object on the back of victim's tongue. Give fluids until vomitus is clear. DO NOT induce vomiting or give anything by mouth to an unconscious or convulsing person. Get immediate medical attention. Inhalation: Remove from area to fresh air. If not breathing, clear airway and start artificial respiration. If victim is having trouble breathing, give supplemental oxygen, if available. Get immediate medical attention. ************************* REACTIVITY INFORMATION ***************************** STABILITY: Stable HAZARDOUS DECOMPOSITION PRODUCTS: Thermal decomposition may produce toxic vapors/fumes of hydrogen bromide, organic materials, and oxides of carbon and nitrogen. INCOMPATIBILITY (MATERIALS TO AVOID): None known. ********************* SPILL AND DISPOSAL INFORMATION ************************* STEPS TO BE TAKEN IN CASE MATERIAL IS RELEASED OR SPILLED: Caution! If wet, floors may become slippery. Wear appropriate protective gear and respiratory protection where dusts or airborne particulates of unknown concentrations may be generated (self-contained breathing apparatus preferred for large spills). Carefully shovel spills (avoid generating dust) into appropriate containers for disposal. To remove residue, wet with water, absorb with sand or vermiculite and place in compatible container for disposal. Keep out of sewers and open bodies of water. WASTE DISPOSAL METHODS: Dispose of in compliance with all Federal, state and local law regulations. Incineration is the preferred method. ************************** STORAGE AND HANDLING ****************************** PRECAUTIONS FOR STORAGE AND HANDLING: Keep containers tightly closed until used. Do not contaminate drinking water, food or feed by storage or disposal. Solutions are particularly stable between pH 4 and 5.6 ************************** TOXICOLOGY INFORMATION **************************** TOXICOLOGY: Oral TDLo (child): 30 mg/kg (central nervous system effects) (SAX) Oral LD50 (rat): 350 mg/kg (RTECS) Oral LD50 (mouse): 165 mg/kg (RTECS) Subcutaneous LD50 (rat): 423 mg/kg (RTECS) Subcutaneous LD50 (mouse): 153 mg/kg (RTECS) Intravenous LD50 (mouse): 34 mg/kg (RTECS) ***************** MISCELLANEOUS AND REGULATORY INFORMATION ******************* FEDERAL LEVEL REGULATIONS: Sara Title III Sections 311/312 - This act requires reporting under the Community Right-to-Know provisions due to the inclusion of the following components of this material in one or more of the five hazard categories listed in 40 CFR 370: Chemical Name: Dextromethorphan hydrobromide, monohydrate CAS Number: 6700-34-1 Hazard* Categories: A * The five hazard categories are as follows: F=FIRE HAZARD; S=SUDDEN RELEASE OF PRESSURE; R=REACTIVE; A=IMMEDIATE (ACUTE) HEALTH HAZARD; C=DELAYED (CHRONIC) HEALTH HAZARD THE DOORS OF PERCEPTION by Gravol On May 4, 1953, when Jim Morrison was nine years old, Aldus Huxley drank down a glass of water containing mescaline crystals (mescaline is found in peyote). For Huxley, it was like "...what Adam had seen on the morning of creation." In the spring of the following year he published a small book about the experiencce, The Doors of Perception. The title was borrowed from an obser- vation of William Blake (18th-century poet): "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite." Huxley's book sold steadily to a new generation anxious to change the mind set of the fifties. In the early 1960s Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert of Harvard University began publishing their research into the effects of psychedelic drugs. Within a year, LSD (lysergic acid diethylamid) from the Swiss pharmaceutical company Sandoz, and from home labs on the East and West coasts filtered onto college campuses. Before October 1968 possession and ingestion of LSD might have been considered dangerous, but it was perfectly legal almost everywhere in the United States. Jim Morrison had used the drug early and often. A close friend of Morrison's, January Jansen, states: "I can honestly say that anytime we took drugs, he never went into it mad, or out of an argument. They weren't used as an escape... they were used more as a research vehicle, looking for something new, something different. "I remember the time after we had the concert at The Hollywood Bowl (July 5, 1968) and then came back to an all-night ongoing party at the office. After that we went across the street to the two rooms we had at the Alta Cienega. And Jim said, "Did you bring what I asked?" I had. "We emptied seventeen caps of mescaline sulfide needle crystals in one pint of orange juice - one for me and one for him, and we got loaded. In fact, three days later, we were still peaking. I was completely down off the stuff until after 6 days later." But more often than not, Morrison enjoyed LSD. He'd often eat it like candy throughout the summer months in the mid and late 1960s. One point I'm trying to make is that LSD created its own culture back in the sixties - it was still legal, many people were taking it to go on "psychedelic journeys" and it inspired such great artists as Morrison and others of his time. What many people don't realize is that DXM has its own culture here in the 1990s and will someday probably be remembered like LSD in the 1960s. After all, DXM is still legal, and people that don't know much about it isn't going to interfere or even realize their is a culture - this lets DXM use in itself grow very rapidly in small social groups of people, much like acid did back then. DXM is a still relatively new drug when it comes to experimentation and research of its psychedelic effects. LSD is very old and studied, and most of any LSD culture is thought of as the West, the late sixties, and psyche- delic rock. LSD today has also come under a lot of scrutiny and you can't have people walking around freely in social groups doing it without attract- ing public attention. But with DXM you can because those who don't know about it most likely will just laugh it off if they ever heard that you can "get high off of cough syrup." For those of you who think DXM is inferior to LSD, I beg to differ. You just haven't given DXM enough time to prosper, and you obviously haven't yet read of some of the great influences DXM has made on our culture - I haven't even read of it yet, but I'm sure I will within 20 years. It's impossible for the trend that DXM is causing not to make an influence somewhere down the road. It's not like LSD became an overnight sensation either. Now, back to the doors of perception. I've taken both DXM and LSD before at the same time and they seem to accent each other. On one particular morning after a hefty DXM/LSD trip, I remember having a rebirth - from that point on (or for at least that week) I understood things I never thought comprehendible before. William Blake's words were so clear to me: To see a world in a grain of sand Or heaven in a wild flower To hold infinity in the palm of your hand Or eternity in an hour. I could look at one thing and understand a universe of knowledge. I think it is totally beyond words... you just have to feel what I mean. DXM had opened up my doors of perception... I perceived infinity. The way the world truly was. And I continued to understand long after the trip was over... that's how I know it wasn't just another crazy drug-induced idea. Perhaps drugs are the only way to make you understand this, but I believe this concept of infinity is very true, with or without drugs in the world. That's why drugs for me was a case of experimentation, not just an escape. In closing, if it weren't for the early pioneers in the sixties with LSD and the psychedelic culture, there may not be such a great interest in DXM today as a psychedelic, and I believe DXM should be revered for more than just something that gives you a buzz... it makes you see... it opens up your eyes and lets you see the world as it truly is. Metamorphose. An object is cut off from its name, habits, associations. Detached, it becomes only one thing, in and of itself. When this dis- integration into pure existance is at last achieved, the object is free to become endlessly anything. - Jim Morrison LSD VS. DXM by various authors You lay spread out on the vast carpeted floor while the bright rays of the afternoon sun come beating down on you. Your mind fries. Somewhere off in the distance Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata is playing in a chorus of your thoughts, which are soon trampled down by insights of the universe, infinity and a glimpse into your own insanity. Many people feel LSD far outweights DXM because of trips like the one above. But times are changing, and so are drugs. Would you rather have your mind frying or at ease? You can't fully judge either drug until you've tried them both and have had a good experience. To me, LSD is a great trip but I wouldn't want to be on it as often as I am on DXM. For one thing, LSD has a three day tolerance and you'd have to take twice as much to get off on it during that time span. However, DXM you could take on a daily basis and trip just as hard each time. That's only one example of how much the two drugs differ. Below is how four people feel about the comparison of DXM and LSD. Then following that is an actual scientific comparison of the two drugs. Keep in mind this is just their opinions and your actual experiences and feelings of either drug may vary. Tom: Would you rather sleep with a pillow or the window open? If your just looking to get high and see shit DXM is fine; LSD is a lot more work mentally, but can be far more rewarding. I'd rather throw up peyote and not get off than barf and retch after drinking Robo and get off on it. Worse heaves than a Singapore Sling/Peppermint Schnappes hangover. Diamond: I think my favorite would definitely have to be DXM, while LSD is a totally different and enlightening experience, its a whole different type of trip. People keep saying DXM will make you see shit, but LSD is what you should do to get a more "spiritual" experience. Either I am strange, or these people have obviously not had a high 3rd or solid 4th plateau dose. These have always been for me much more spiritual and enlightening than any acid dose I've taken. Also, many people who say LSD is much better than DXM, are the people who just don't like DXM because either 1) they still rule off DXM as "Not a real drug", or 2) simply had a bad experience because they drank syrup. I started on syrup, and I know many people who are committed to taking syrups, and they don't bother them. In my opinion, any serious DXM psychonaut (I'm not even sure if I can consider myself totally one yet) should order the pure powder, which makes several more advances above LSD, with the unbelievably low prices and reduction of most or all of the side effects of syrup or pills. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I think people should give DXM more of a chance and maybe even start off with the pure powder, because it will reap more rewards, and you will respect it much more when you're not leaning over losing the syrup you just took to the porcelain god. And TRUST me, at a high dose, DXM is far from "laughable effects" compared to acid and shrooms. Its a much more powerful drug in many respects, and will most likely (arguable, but in my opinion) give effects that will make LSD look like a sissy drug if taken right. Pepperdyne: Something interesting that most people don't realize is the relative age of the user when they first venture to dabble in either variety of hallucinogenics. LSD is something a majority of drug users take relatively early in life, just due to it's innate ease of procurement, whereas DXM is something that it usually takes a little while to find out about. In my instance, I'd done LSD over a hundred times in a year, the same year that I thought that Marilyn Manson was cool, was still scared of high school, and did not have a driver's license. But I discovered DXM at the end of my senior year, and continue to use it now, deep into college and a stoic career in a highly rigid office environment. The point being that it was so enlightening, to the confusion I was feeling upon graduating high school, breaking up with a long-time girlfriend, and many failed creative ventures, that it in the truest sense of the word changed my life. I would rather pay for a DXM trip than take LSD for free... Loonus: I think DXM needed somewhat of a "mature" or "seasoned" tripper in a way....I personally, having a lot of experience with both acid and robo, am glad that I didn't find out and mess around with DXM until I had plenty of acid trips under my belt and I could handle a high third plateau DXM dose. Just coincedence that it worked out that way, I suppose, but nonetheless that's my opinion. I purposely have not meant to be biased to DXM in the above posts, but those are the only people who replied on Usenet to the original question, and trust me, there were plenty of people in the newsgroup who preferred LSD, they just should've spoken up. And now for an actual comparison of LSD and DXM, in case you are not familiar with one or both. Methods of Ingestion. Both drugs are taken orally. While LSD has been known to absorb through the skin, DXM on the other hand has to be swallowed. Neither sniffing nor smoking really works for either drug, and injection is an unnecessary route. Principle Medical Uses. LSD was developed by Sandoz Laborities (the same company that makes Triaminic and TheraFlu today) in the 1940s to help assist in mental disorders, but was soon banned in nearly every country it was used in. As of today, there are no medical uses for LSD. As far as DXM, in the past five years, research, especially centered on NMDA receptors, has un- covered more and more medical uses for DXM. Some of these include: diagnostic uses (predicting lung cancer susceptibility, etc.); neuroprotectant uses (prevention of brain damage resulting from excitotoxicity, as an anticon- vulsant, etc.); for chronic pain (enhancing the painkilling ability of opiates without adding to the side effects, etc.); for drug addiction (prevents and even reverses tolerance to many drugs such as cocaine, nicotine and alcohol, treatment of withdrawal symptoms of heroin, etc.); for disease and miscellaneous conditions (treating shingles, herpes pain, some chronic neurodegenerate diseases such as Lou Gehrig's Disease and "Mad Cow" Disease, the treatment of mental retardation and Parkinson's Disease, preventing tissue rejection in transplants, the possible treatment of lung and other cancers, etc.). So as you can see, the medical benefits of DXM far outweigh those of LSD. Desired Effects. Both LSD and DXM desired effects include increased sensory awareness, euphoria, altered perceptions, hallucinations, and insightful experiences. However, since DXM is not only a hallucinogen but also a dissociative, many people take it for its painkilling and numbing effects, along with relaxation and to induce out-of-body exper- iences (as discussed in the next issue). Short-Term Side Effects. As far as both drugs are concerned they can cause dilated pupils, nausea, emotional swings (more so with LSD), paranoia, jumbled thought process (very hard to concentrate on DXM), impaired judgment, anxiety, panic reaction and with DXM impaired vision, speech, and perception. Also with DXM is sluggish motor coordination, hangover, drowsiness (though actual sleep is difficult), and in some cases an itching sensation and constipation. Overall. LSD also fits in with mescaline (peyote) and psilocybin ('shrooms). These are typical hallucinogens. DXM however is a morphine analog and similar to other dissociatives like ketamine (Special K), codeine, and even PCP. Like many people put it, it's like a combination of being drunk (alcohol), stoned (cannabis), and tripping (LSD), though the trip is much different and the intoxication is without the mental confusion often accompanied with alcohol. So there you have it, I hope this has helped you see a clear comparison of the two drugs. MY EXPERIENCES WITH DXM by DeeXMan Ok so you want to know my experiences with DXM. First off I'm 23, Been doing DXM for about a year and have done it over 120 times! I found out about it not over the Internet but from a friend Ethan. We were talking about tripping and stuff and he said he tripped off of cough syrup! At first I didn't believe him but he described it and he had never lied to me before. I was also with a friend named Peter...we talked about it a little and dropped the subject. Two weeks later we were going to get acid but the guy never showed and we where next to the Supermarket so said "What the Hell, lets try it. We remembered Ethan said he drank and 8oz bottle of Robitussin DM. So we made sure we got this kind. We looked at the back and it said: Active Ingredients - Dextromethorphan HBr and Guaifenesin. So we thought Dextromethorphan...DXM...it sounds right so we brought two bottles and went home. All excited we were gonna trip on somethong new we opened up the bottles and took a gulp. UUUUGGGGGGGG! How can someone drink this??? So then foolishly we mixed it with tons of sugar and coke. That made it worse. Well I drank the whole thing and my friend drank about 3/4. We felt some of the effects right after drinking it but not much. About an hour past and I really felt good...my friend was upset and tired of waiting fell asleep though (his weight was 180 pounds while I weighed 130 plus I drank 1/4 more than him). In the morning I told him about my experience and he didn't believe me so later on that day we brough two more bottles and this time he and I drank the whole thing. Well then he believed me. We drank bottles for a couple of weeks (once every friday) until we (or should I say I) found Drixoral Cough Caps (no longer available). He was scared to take them even after I showed him the active ingredient Dextromethorphan HrB. He being stubborn decided to look it up on the Internet and we found William White's super, excellent, and well-done DXM FAQ (http://www.frognet.net/dxm). We found out about plat- eaus and dosage amounts and which different kinds of syrups we could buy. It was really cool. So we did DXM for months doing only drixorals and sometimes both. We usually took 20 drixorals. Later on he started to take on 8oz bottle of Robo Max and 10 drixorals while I took the same but 5 drixorals less. One day he convienced me to take the same dosage as he BIG MISTAKE! I had a 4th plateau trip and the most terrifying experience of my life . I literary thought I was gonna die. But that didn't scare me 'cause a week later I did it again. That same day we discovered "Floating!" What's floating you say? Only the coolest thing to do while on DXM. Ok I'll explain: We where listening to music and fooling around with his strobe light he pointed it at me to bug me and I closed my eyes to ignore him. It was all colorful and I though cool...but nothing new (it happens with acid and cannabis). Well I sat there with my eyes closed and I started to see the colors going to the music then all of a sudden I felt like I wasin with the colors and felt like i was floating through psychedelic worlds of happiness totally disconnected from the outside world about a minute into it I stood up and yelled "Cool!" Curiously my friend said "what," so I told him he tried it and it worked for him too. That night we spent the whole night floating and floated on every trip from there on. It rules. If you want to try this get a strobe light (if you don't have one download this program Flasher. It turns your computer into a strobe light. Listen to some fast cool music, turn off all the lights (except the stobe), and sit or lie down so its no more than 4 feet from your eyes and close your eyes! You'll float to the music! I had one more bad experience...I drank one 8oz bottle of Robo Max and decided to take the Drixorals later on...Again bad mistake. I took 15 Drixorals 'cause I forgot the amount I took earlier so it totalled 1311 mg of DXM. About ten minutes afterward we got some weed from a kid i'll call Robbie. Well we smoked about 6 bowls. When I got up everything looked like daytime for about 5 seconds. It was about 1am and we where outside but it looked like 12noon. Well that scared me and then I went to walk foward but started walking sideways...I was fucked up. It was like my brain was sending my body wrong messages. When I talked I stuttered a lot. For some reason I yelled out that the weed was laced with heroin and that I was gonna kill Robbie. My friend tried to calm me down but it didn't work. We went inside and my friend lied me down (he picked me up and carried me inside cause I couln't walk correctly). When I lied down I felt my heart beating at about 180 beats per minute...I don't know if it was that fast but it sure felt that way! My life flashed before my eyes and I thought what it would be like to die. It was the most terrible and most helpless felling of my life. That night was the worst of my life. After that I didn't do DXM for about 2 months until my friend convinced me to do it again. We did it again and it was fun and we still do it (once every Friday). I am a lot more responsible though. The best trip was when I took 1 8oz bottle, took 5 tabs of acid, drank a cup of shroom juice and smoked 5 bowls. Well I can't expain it in words alone all i have to say it was the best feeling of my life. Also we almost all the times we tripped did a ballon of Nitrous Oxide...it rules. Try it but be careful. Well thats it kiddies, I can't type all my experiences 'cause my fingers will fall off. If you have any coments, suggestions, experiences, or anything else you want to share just e-mail me at DeeXMan@hotmail.com. DXM WRITINGS by Gravol Many people have expressed interest on poetry and other writings while composed on DXM, so I have included in this article a sample of stanzes I composed throughout one week of heavy DXM use. If you have any writings or poems, please send them along - I'll be including the work of other DXMers in future articles - this is just to start out this section of the zine and provide an example to go on. Please note that I was heavily intoxicated on a mild dose (400-600 mg) of DXM when I wrote these, and concentration on anything at that point is extremely difficult. Sunlight fields aglow Flowers in bloom, Crystal rivers flow. The Mind wanders from afar Guided by a waning star. This is now and it is true By afternoon's light I'll spend with you. Beneath a great oak upon a hill Until all is quiet, all is still. We'll watch the sun dash down Deep beneath the clouds Leaving a trail of brazen beauty Across the sky, for you and I, Until tomorrow is found. ... Insanity wreaks her golden cloud Over all the world, like a shroud. You sink down deep within Ever present faces grin. ... We swam under golden moonlight Caressing the soft beast beneath us. Rippling tides, the tears you hide Washed away in the night. ... So aimlessly showering The heavens overpowering Rain falls upon us from high above I've never had a greater love. ... As twilight grows dim And stars come to shine You find yourself thinking of him Much like a crime. ... What if it were to snow in Mexico? Upon the fields, up high and low. Leaving a white blanket of chill Frozen delight, to let people know That Winter's not forgotten you Nor has it changed avenues. It grows, encompassing a town so small So much tonight, a star must fall. And when it does, what will take hold? A triumph so great, a night so cold. And when we gaze upon that sky So many generations will wonder why, Why did it ever snow in Mexico? That is something we will never know. DXM DRUG CULTURE AND THE FUTURE OF DXM USE by William White There are, I think, four factors which have combined to keep DXM out of the public eye and limited to subcultures: 1. Only about one-third of people who try DXM enjoy the experience enough to repeat it. 2. The public is unaware of DXM, and most people are skeptical of the idea of getting high off cough syrup. 3. Many people who traditionally use DXM do not, in general, discuss their use outside of their social group or clique. 4. Medical authorities are either ignorant of DXM or unwilling to discuss it, either professionally or with the general public. As a consequence, when someone uses DXM and does enjoy it, and tells his or her friends, many will dismiss the idea, and among those who try it, most won't repeat the experience. In tightly-knit social groups, both clusters of friends and larger subcultures, DXM use may expand to saturate the group (and involve from 30% to 60% of the group, as near as I can tell with my limited data). However, members outside of these cliques and groups do not typically hear about DXM, or if they do, they aren't willing to try it on the suggestion of someone who is obviously outside the social norm. As far as the silence of medical authorities goes, my hunch is that at some point (probably when Romilar became popular as a recreational drug) the medical authorities and manufacturers of DXM-based preparations realized that they had two choices: take DXM off the market, or convince people they couldn't get high off of it. They took the latter approach, getting rid of DXM-only pills and leaving cough medicines in which DXM was combined with other ingredients. The majority of users decided it wasn't worth the effort gulping down cough syrup (and possibly vomiting due to guaifenesin), and the public remained ignorant. I believe a sort of threshold has been passed in that DXM use has now entered the mainstream of drug users. I suspect its use will continue to rise until either it is taken off the market, or it reaches a natural plateau. DXM is not, in my opinion, addictive enough to explode into popularity like cocaine, amphetamines, and heroin; instead, I suspect that, like most psychedelics, it will be popular among a limited number of people who will use it for a year or two and then stop. Fortunately DXM use does seem to be self-limiting, as the pleasurable aspects of its use decline and annoying but harmless side effects increase with time. I don't think DXM will be taken off the market entirely; instead, it will probably be restricted to preparations containing other ingredients. My guess is that guaifenesin will be used, since it induces nausea with overdose. There will still be DXM enthusiasts willing to tough out the nausea, but most people, I think, will be unwilling to repeat the experience and unwilling to suggest it to others. The worst possible response, in my opinion, would be to add acetaminophen; while it would stop DXM use, it may do so at the expense of numerous deaths. My greatest fear is that some "pop news" show will become aware of DXM and decide to do a feature on it. I have no desire to bring awareness of DXM to the overall public; I suspect that teenagers across the country, looking for a cheap buzz, would rush down to their nearest drugstore, buy a bottle of cough syrup, and take it without adequate knowledge of dosage, drug interactions, or side effects. DXM would probably be pulled from the market, and people with an actual need for it would be worse off. While many DXM users would of course stop using it, some would probably turn to ketamine or (even worse) PCP, attempt to find DXM "on the street," or find worse drugs to use. If you really want to limit the use of DXM, the best response would be to consider those who are using it casually. Serious psychonauts are not, in general, using DXM on a regular basis, or if they are, they are at least aware of the risks. However, many young people who use DXM are simply looking for a cheap high. There are very few drugs which provide a cheap high and carry a low risk; the safest among these is marijuana. And more than one young person has told me they have used DXM because marijuana is illegal. You can draw your own conclusions. BEWARE OF BROMIDE POISONING by Anonymous I had just gotten off the phone with a fellow who had mentioned that his friend got bromide poisoning from taking too much DXM. I didn't think too much of it, just how it'd probably never happen to me, and I downed a hefty amount of DXM. Soon, about the time the DXM effects were kicking in, I noticed a very uncomfortable feeling in and near my stomach - soon I became very "out of it" and fever-like. I began having to spit up this foamy substance - filled the bottom of a shoebox with it. Very disgusting. I lapsed in and out of reality and could not even sit up - not because of the dissociative effects of the DXM, but because of the feeling in my stomach. I thought for sure I was going to die. Hours passed and I remained in a fetal position clutching myself, but when I'd look at the clock I would go into shock at just finding only 2 minutes had passed. I hardly even noticed the effects of the DXM. At first when everything was kicking in I had closed my eyes and got the most intense visuals of my life. Everything was composed of little blue dots that swam in motion. But soon I paid little attention to the mindblowing things I was seeing with my eyes closed. By the end of the night - literally hours later - the effects began to subside and I could once again stand up, though my stomach still felt very sick. This had been at least my 5th second plateau trip in as many days and I suspected bromide poisoning, but couldn't be sure. Since the form most people take is Dextromethorphan Hydrobromide, it is obviously possible to ingest too much bromide apart from the actual DXM - common sense told me this, so I looked in William White's FAQ and it said this: Although some authors have suggested the possibility of DXM-induced bromism, actual blood tests have revealed little danger to occasional users, even with large doses of DXM. Daily use might lead to a dangerous buildup. Notable symptoms of bromide poisoning include headache, irritation, slurred speech, psychosis, weight loss, hallucinations, and an acne-like rash. Bromism can cause irreversible brain damage. I'm not completely positive it was even bromide poisoning, but I figured it is a viable threat so that's why I'm still warning you about it. I waited 2 days later before I tripped DXM again. In fact, I was tripping every other day without any serious effects until recently, when I again began spitting up stomach content (it seemed like my gag reflex was screwed up because it was hard to actually vomit) - the best I can describe it is the stuff from your stomach slowly oozing up your esophagus and having no choice but to keep spitting it out. Perhaps I've reached my limit for the positive experiences of DXM, so I'm going to wait at least a week before trying it again. Has anyone had any similar experiences? DXM EXTRACTION...A METHOD THAT WORKS by Buzzed A friend of a friend tells me this works pretty damn well! This method is also known as the Agent Lemon extraction method. DXM EXTRACTION The Materials: 1. Dextromethorphan containing cough syrup. DO NOT get any that contains active ingredients such as Guaifenesin or acetaminophen, only get the kind that has DXM and alcohol in it. At the levels you'll be drinking those items could be fatal! Get two 4 oz. bottles. 2. Ordinary Household ammmonia (clear, not lemon or some other scent). 3. Lighter Fluid ("Red Devil", "Zippo", or "Ronsonal" are good ones. Be sure to test different brands to be sure they're ok to use. Take a small drop and let it evaporate from a glass plate or mirrorand be sure it evaporates with no residue. 4. Citric Acid (lemon juice workes fine). Equipment: Some containers and flexible rubber tubing to use as a siphon. Fish tank hose is fine... Concept: Prepare ahead of time a solution of the citric acid in water. For two bottles of syrup (4 oz each) use 3 tablespoons of lemon juice in 8 fluid ounces of water. Add ammonia to DXM. DXM converts from hydrobromide salt to freebase and precipitates out of water. Since it's now nonpolar it wants to go into a non polar solvent. Now you add a nonpolar solvent and shake hard. Free base goes into solution in solvent. Let the solvent float to the top (it doesn't mix with water). Physically separate the layers. Now the DXM is in the nonpolar layer, mix that with the acid and shake well. The DXM converts back into the acid salt (since lemon juice has citric acid in it, it makes DXM hydrocitrate). This is cool because the DXM is practically pulled across the oil-water interface by the hydrogen ion gradient Now you throw out the oil layer, and the DXM is now acid salt in the lemon juice. Boil it for a few minutes on the stove or in the microwave, stir it good, so any volatile solvent that remains will evaporate. You are left with "Agent Lemon" or "DXemon juice", A highly concentrated product, which is superior to cough syrup -- if you really wanted to, you could probably boil away the water -- with no danger, since the amount of solvent is almost nothing, and get a crystaline product that might be cut with anhydrous citric acid. Step-by-step: 1. Put 2 (4 oz.) bottles of cough syrup in a jar with a good water tight lid (a mason jar or something). 2. Pour in a lot of ammonia. Excess is not a serious problem. An ammount of ammonia about equal to the syrup volume or more is good. 3. Stir. 4. Add about a 1/2 inch thick layer of lighter fluid on top of the ammonia cough syrup mixture. 5. Seal it up and shake the hell out of it. At least five minutes or so. 6. Let the organic solvent layer separate, it will float to the top of the water (the lighter fluid now contains the dxm). 7. Use a siphon to separate the layers. Fill the siphon (your flexible rubber tube) with water, and while pluging one end with your finger plunge the other end into the water/ammonia layer (the pink junk under the lighter fluid). 8. Hold the free end of the siphon below the other end of the siphon, and let go of the end. Let the liquid drain into a jar. Throw the pink watery/ammonia crap out. 9. If you want to minimize the amount of water-ammonia-cough syrup inactive ingredients, add more water to the lighter fluid, shake it up again, let it separate and siphon again. You can do it three or four times to be sure you get all the ammonia out. When done you should only have the solvent layer left. 10. Now mix the solvent layer with the citric acid solution (lemon juice). 11. Shake the hell out of it for 5 minutes or so. 12. After that, let it settle. It takes a few minutes to separate. Wait. 13. Next stage. Use the siphon again, Be a little conservative and don't let any solvent get into the siphon, so leave a little water layer below the lighter fluid. Toss the lighter fluid out and save the lemon juice portion (it now contains the DXM). 14. Boil the lemon juice (on an electric stove or burner) on low heat for a while, the theory is that if there's a little bit of solvent there, it will boil away. 15. Transfer to a snapple jar or something equivelent and refridgerate it to help it cool off. Once cooled off, drink it! It tastes bitter as hell so (dxm is bitter tasting) you may want to boil as much of the water away as possible so you won't have to drink so much of it. Maybe even add some sugar to it or something. Effects: Expect to start to feel the effects about an hour after drinking it. After about hour two, you're gonna be buzzin big time! Effects last about 6 to 8 hours... MORON OF THE MOMENT...AND MY RESPONSE by William White Since I've started listening for comments on the FAQ, I've received five negative comments out of about 820 (at last count) total, for a percentage of about 0.6%. Recently I got my fifth negative comment from someone who indicated the comment could be made public (oh goodie!) but didn't offer any return address so I could respond to him/her. So, instead, I've chosen to present the original comments and my arrogant, flaming, self-righteous response. Here is the original feedback: Thursday, September 25, 1997 >From Parent of the 60s You sound like a bright person except your thinking is very narrow. My 15- year-old son researched this drug via your FAQs and was so intrigued he thought he'd try it. Did you forget that children have access to this information? I don't believe all the garbage about using psychedelics to expand one's mind. Psychedelics are used to escape from reality, period. You're deluding yourself and others if you state otherwise. I find it very sad that you can't bear to face your reality without the mask of drugs. Your mind and this world is an incredible experience without distorting it. I'm very angry that you use the Internet to push your ideas to vulnerable youth. That expression "friend's don't let friends drive drunk" applies here. What you do to your body is your business. Your "well-meaning" FAQs only serve to bolster your own delusions. Get some professional help and stay out of peoples' lives. To be responsible for even one death is horrendous. How do you sleep at night? I know how...you probably drug yourself into a mind- expanding stupor. And here is my response: Uh oh. Why is it always the so-called "parents of the 60's" who are so against drugs? Let me emphasize the so-called part. The influencial people of the 60's, the ones who actually started the movement rather than just jumping on the bandwagon because it was the cool thing to do, seemed to have a different opinion about drugs than this particular individual does. Abbie Hoffman, in Steal This Urine Test, for example, points out that the chief error in drug use in the 60's was letting bad drugs (speed, heroin) drive out the good (psychedelics, marijuana), and offers "no regrets" for the drug use of the 60's. Yes, narrow thinking would certainly explain my interests in neuroscience, Martial arts, Zen, religious philosophy, existentialism, Western European Medieval history, electronics, computer science, pure mathematics, and what- ever else I decide to study tomorrow. I suppose it didn't occur to you that your son could have just as easily found any of the plethora of other DXM and psychedelic websites out there? Or from his friends, or whatever...Don't get me wrong, I said plainly and clearly in the FAQ, I've said it before, and I'll say it again, kids shouldn't do drugs, they just don't have the life skills or the experience to handle them or get the most benefit from them, psychedelics especially. And I'm sorry your son decided to reject my advice on that subject. But I'd still rather have a thousand people doing DXM safely than one person drinking a bottle of Nyquil and ending up dead. Believe me, if someone came up with a method of keeping kids out of my neck of the woods, I'd be all the happier. Besides, ever been to that big building with all the books in it (you know, it's called a library)? If you look you'll find all sorts of books on how to burn down buildings, make pipe bombs, over- dose on over-the-counter drugs, and the like. The Internet is not a play- ground, it's a forum which was intended for the use of mature adults, and I'm one of those who thinks kids have no business being online without either parental guidance or the skills to interpret what they find. I also never claimed DXM would expand your mind. It can have a variety of effects, some recreationally enjoyable, some enlightening, some eerie, some downright unpleasant. I try to present the entire picture, point out all the range of experiences DXM users have. I don't believe in showing only the negative about drugs, kids are too smart for that. And as far as reported DXM use goes, the only drugs I've taken in the past year or so consist of caffeine, nicotine (ick), and a beer or two about once a month or less. No, you don't need drugs to have an enlightening experience, you can get the same effect from years of meditation. And you never get something for nothing; all drugs take with one hand as they give with another. But if you understand this tradeoff, they can open the door to worlds of detail, thought, philosophy, etc., that you never noticed before. Once the door is open, it's your responsibility to go through - without drugs, I might add - to see what's in there. And I suppose you'd like to bring up that using drugs is a lot different from rock climbing. Well, sorry, it's not. Both involve taking risk to life and limb for a chemical reward and the subsequent changes in outlook and understanding they might provide. Personally I think rock climbing is a bit better, since it's likely to get you some exercise (Lord knows we need it in this country), but you get my point. As far as being responsible for deaths, last time I checked the only published deaths from DXM consisted of two, both before the FAQ came out. One was an intentional suicide. If you know differently I'd love to hear about it. But in the mean time you might want to consider the very real risk of death that comes from using DXM without adequate knowledge or preparation, from a variety of mechanisms including acetaminophen overdose, drug interaction, and simply not knowing how much to take. At least I have the balls to admit I'm just ranting here and not trying to present a coherent argument (not like I'd ever change your mind, and if that's all you can muster in the way of an argument you're not likely to change mine either). No, I sleep quite well, thank you very much, and yes, it does worry me that in taking on a responsibility to tell the whole story about DXM someone may get hurt. But the other alternatives I had would have left me feeling like dogshit. So that's my rant for the day. See, I don't really mind when people offer constructive criticism, and I don't even mind when people try to present a rational, well-thought-out argument about why the FAQ is, or might be, having a negative effect on society. Yes, it has brought DXM out of the darkness where people can see it, but since when has keeping anything in the darkness ever helped society? If anyone has used DXM because of the FAQ and gotten in trouble, then I am truly sorry, but I've tried to make it quite clear that DXM is not a happy-go-lucky flowers and dancing bears drug, it's a powerful dissociative which can really fuck you up if you aren't careful... TIPS FOR DOWNING COUGH SYRUP by various authors Ahhh... the nasty taste of cough syrup. Some people gag at just the mere thought of four ounces of thick red gooey syrup oozing down their throat. Listed below are some tips at how a few people handle taking syrup. Rhoda Taylor: Try putting some in a big mug of coffee... it makes the coffee barely bareable but much better than straight cough syrup. It works, I happen to be drinking some as I write this, and the coffee doesn't taste nearly as bad now as it did when I started. This is my third time doing DXM and I think I could get to like this... Mad Hatter: I always take it one shot at a time, swallowing the shot before it hits my tongue, and washing it down with a bunch of lemonade. No problem whatsoever. Jaime Coplan: First, take a sip of water. Be sure, no matter what you do, not to smell the cough syrup...it'll make you want to gag! Then , take about 5-6 fast, deep breaths then plug your nose and drink all of the cough syrup without unplugging your nose. Immediately drink the remaining water in the glass. Then drink 2 more full glasses. Now, with your nose still plugged, coat all of your mouth with toothpaste and then exhale slowly through your mouth and nose. Minty fresh! Hope this helps some of you. It sure beats swallowing Coricidin pills in my book anyday! :) INFO ON ORDERING PURE DXM POWDER from compiled information Currently, there are many DXM suppliers that will ship to private individuals. They do not condone recreational use and will only ship for research purposes. Listed below is some basic information on them taken off the Internet. For a more precise review of these suppliers, see Issue 1. Wanman Enterprises: Prices 50g......$100 100g.....$180 200g.....$325 500g.....$650 1Kg.....$1000 All prices include shipping and handling. Shipping Will only ship to the US, Canada, and England. I ship all orders within 24 hours (Sundays excluded). USPS Priority Mail (2-3 day). Address WANMAN Enterprises 7620 Vance Rd. Kernersville, NC 27284 Please send money-orders or certified checks. Please enclose a letter stating that you want x grams of DXM. Internet Contact unclesid@geocities.com for more information. Sunset PH: Prices 15g..........$45 30g..........$75 50g..........$99 The price includes shipping within the US only. Shipping We accept international orders by payment of an international money order only. International orders must add US$5 additional for shipping. Address SUNSET PH. PO Box 180684 Austin, TX 78718-0684 USA Please send us an email with your address before you send your money so we can have your order prepared beforehand. Internet Contact sunsetp@usa.net for more information. Biogenesis Laboratories: Prices 10g..........$60.00 50g..........$90.00 100g........$160.00 200g........$300.00 Forms of payment accepted (in most currencies): cash (not recommended), bank draft, postal order, IMO, SWIFT transfer, Western Union, Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Diners Club. All prices include airmail delivery to anywhere in the world. Biogenesis also sells ketamine HCl: 10g..........$235.00 This includes postage. For legitimate researchers only. May be illegal to purchase if you live in the United States...please check state laws. Shipping No information known. Address Biogenesis Laboratories PO Box 1329 Sedgefield 6573 South Africa Fax: 27-44-883-1007 Internet Visit their web site at http://www.pix.za/biogenesis/. Orders can be emailed to biogenesis@pixie.co.za. Chemical Resale of Santa Barbara: Prices Check their web site for their current prices, since they tend to change from time to time. Shipping No information known. Address Chemical Resale of Santa Barbara 6 Harbor Way Suite #171 Santa Barbara, CA 93109-2353 Internet Visit CRSB's site at http://www.sb.net/wirehead. Orders can also be emailed to wirehead@sb.net. DXM MUSIC REVIEWS by Gravol, Jason Rudolf Gravol wrote: Here are some of the more mainstream groups. I enjoy these every bit as much as I enjoy techno on DXM. Group: Beastie Boys Album: Paul's Boutique Info: This is the only rap I can stand. Very good album, the music tends to fuck with your head while tripping...just the way I like it. Group: Beastie Boys Album: Some Old Bullshit Info: Has some good takes - Egg Raid On Mojo, Cooky Puss, and Beastie Revolution - a nice change from mainstream Beastie Boys. Includes some harder rap than usual for them. Group: The Beatles Album: Abbey Road Info: The best Beatles album. I wasn't much of a Beatles fan 'til I heard this album. After Octopus's Garden the whole album begins to get a little far out, and by the end of I Want You (She's So Heavy) I nearly have an out- of-body experience every time I listen to it - truly what I call a mental/ full-body orgasm! Group: The Beatles Album: Let It Be Info: Also a great Beatles album - includes Across The Universe, Let It Be, and I Me Mine - sounds superb on DXM! Group: The Doors Album: Box Set Info: A brand new release, lots of previously unreleased Doors stuff... wide variety (even includes some classical)...not what you'd expect the Doors to sound like, but very soothing to the senses. Morrison's poetry is phenomenal, and in this box set you get a heaping helping of it. Group: Jimi Hendrix Album: The Cry Of Love Info: Nice Hendrix album...includes a lot of the less popular pieces...I know listening to some of the same popular stuff over and over can get annoying, so if you like Hendrix and are looking for something new, try this. Group: Jimi Hendrix Album: Electric Ladyland Info: I've heard many good reviews of this as a tripping album, and had the same positive experience when I listened to it. It flows more like an album than just a collection of hits. Very good album. Group: Kraftwerk Album: The Mix Info: My favorite Kraftwerk album. The music and sounds have a very soothing effect...it's more than just electronic sounds...actually has music and some robot-like voices singing. Group: Led Zeppelin Album: Led Zeppelin 1 Info: Their original album, but still very good. Zeppelin is neither the best nor the worst to listen to on DXM, but their older stuff is the best to trip out to, especially Dazed And Confused and How Many More Times. Group: Led Zeppelin Album: Physical Graffiti Info: An OK album, the first side is the best. Once again a good album to trip to if you like classick rock. Includes Kashmir. I've heard the No Quarter album is also good to listen to. Group: Pink Floyd Album: Relics Info: Very old, classic Pink Floyd. Not like their new stuff...I like this better, though the stuff from the 70's was their best. Interstellar Overdrive and Careful With That Axe, Eugene are great to trip to on this album. Group: Pink Floyd Album: The Wall Info: An all-around good album to trip to. You might enjoy the movie version more, though. This is also pretty long and can be slow at times, but it keeps a constant theme and attempts to tell a story...maybe better for LSD, since things can be very easily forgotten on DXM. My other favorites include Scott Joplin (ragtime piano), lots of classical, Pink Floyd's epic songs Echoes and Atom Heart Mother Suite, John Lennon's Imagine, and Neil Young. Look for more reviews in the next issue. I'll try ot hit on the rock scene, while ZMalloc reviews mostly techno/ambient stuff. If you'd like to con- tribute to these reviews, please let me know. Please look for ZMalloc's reviews in the next issue. Sitting in for him in this issue is Jason Rudolf and his review on Muslimgauze. Rudolf is the artist of the cult book Waterlight and has an upcoming CD called Narcolepsy in Town Square soon to debut. For a complete Muslimgauze review check out Jason's book Mirror & Hammer Works Book 1, and for more info try http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Park/3897 on the World Wide Web. And now for the review: When one country invades another, it is usually punished. However, according to the band Muslimgauze, Israel has gotten away with a breach of every human rights there is and is continuing to do so. After every significant political event usually caused by Israel Muslimgauze responds. Muslimgauze's intentions are to clearly convey outrage over injustice, and to get others to examine what is going on in the Middle East through the medium of their music and political cover art. The main solo musician behind the ethno ambient, experimental band Muslimgauze is Bryn Jones. His decision to make music came from the Israel invasion of Lebanon, Gaza, and the annexation of the Golan Heights in 1982. He has since then released some 40 albums. When asked if Jones is a Muslim, he responded, "I'm non religious. It just brings so much trouble. If other people believe then it's up to them, but it's not for me. You don't have to be a Muslim to appreciate their situation." Jones resides in Manchester, England, and has never been to the Middle East. He claims that he can't visit an occupied land until it is free. Looking at the totality of what Israel has done, Muslimgauze expresses complete animosity toward the state of Israel and its people. The future state of the Islamic world should be Palestines' freedom restored with Jerusalem as the capital. He also sees a complete displacement of the entire state of Israel. "The sooner the better. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have taken Israel on while the P.L.O. talks. They are funded by most Arab states I should think. Most certainly Syria and Iran." There is an early CD entitled The United States of Islam. This seems to hint at a common unified Arab-Asian military alliance against the West. Whether something like this will ever happen is unlikely since they all have their own political interests. Muslimgauze doesn't see this alliance as likely or the conflict in Palestine as being resolved any time soon. They plan on continuing to make music until it is. The name Muslimgauze refers to the hijab Muslim women wear. The overall sound of Muslimgauze is a very rhythmic, hypnotic ambience. Quite often traditional Middle Eastern performers and Arabic voices are accompanying the music. As always, Muslimgauze recordings are inspired by significant political events in the Middle East. Muslimgauze's experimental music is hard to identify with just a single track and must be taken in as a whole. Small doses of Muslimgauze can be very effective, but its not very likely to hear many single tracks that work well on the radio. Other than Middle Eastern themes Muslimgauze is completely isolated from the musical world. They have been influential to many musicians, but they don't listen to other peoples' music. It is almost impossible to review the band's music and not respond to the powerful pro-Palestinian covers. The following are some of the albums that I would recommend to those not familiar with Muslimgauze. Iran: Iran, which is Muslimgauze's first CD, was influenced by the politics of Palestine, Afghanistan, and Iran. Where as his new work seems much more dedicated to extremist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah. Not surpris- ing, since this is a very dated CD I haven't been able to find any reviews on it. There is quite a bit of text inside, but unfortunately it's all in German, however it does have some impressive photographs. The first two tracks seem most menacing with an incessant drumming fading in and out. The third track Intifadah is a mysteriously gorgeous piece. There seems to be four versions within the same song, ending finally with very natural elements. In regards to the Hussein regime's stance toward Iran, Muslimgauze had this to say: "I support Iran, so when he (Hussein) attacked Iran I was hoping he would get beat. But the West gave him arms so that he could beat Iran which he didn't do and he came back to haunt them." Salaam Alekum Bastard: Some people I talked to agree that this is one of the best Muslimgauze releases. The songs are more distinct, but flow together. A pretty violent release over all. There is also a shortened version of the Hebron Massacre that is a pretty intense buildup of agression. However, if it is able to be found, I would recommend checking out the Hebron Massacre CD. Zul'm: This CD is possibly a high point in Muslimgauze's career. I find this innovating CD very ethnic-sounding, almost as if many of these tracks are traditional Middle Eastern themes. Perhaps part of the reason is the guest musicians Said Nasser on Arabic percussion and vocals and Zorawar Singh on Indian percussion and vocals. Also there are additional keyboards by Mark Lawrence, which gives this release an even higher trance-type sound. What is really nice about certain songs is that it's hard to tell where the traditional music ends and where the Western music begins. "Zul'm" is derived from the name "Zulkifl," the Muslim prophet whose name means fate. This CD was dedicated to Palestinians killed in Kuwait. Infidel: This hypnotic release broadens Muslimgauze's audience. This is a very appealing remix CD that originally captivated my interest in Muslimgauze. A great jumping-on point for those who are interested in the techno-industrial scene. There are some incredible danceable remixes that maintain the feel of the original song. Five of the remixes are of Infidel from the album Citadel. Fakir is a stripped-down version, that originally appeared on Zul'm and Salaam Meca is a previously unreleased track from Intifaxa. And the CD ends with a totally mellowing track called Intifaxa. There are a few other CDs worth mentioning as being highly recommended: Hebron Massacre (limited to 2000 copies), Vote Hezbollah, Occupied Territories, and Drugsherpa. These are most of the Muslimgauze CDs that I have heard enough about to recommend. Muslimgauze is an incredibly fascinating band that is made even more interesting by their strong support for groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Islamic Jihad. Palestinians have had everything taken from them. These groups are nationalists of a nation that does not yet exist. These people are striving to be in control of their own lives. Muslimgauze helps bring information forward about their struggle. - Jason Rudolf I hope you have enjoyed these reviews as much as I have; in the next issue we will also be including films that are fun to watch on DXM. Until then... VARIOUS DXM SOURCES from The Physicians' Desk Reference for Non-Prescription Drugs Note: Acetaminophen is very deadly. DXM products which contain this substance can kill very easily. The original list contained products containing Aceta- minophen but in order to shorten the list we have taken those products out and included all other DXM-containing products. Included below are 47 non-prescription medications containing various forms of DXM. Listed are the active ingredients, any relative notes or cautions, and a rating of the medication. Ratings are based on the amount of DXM in the medication and if any harmful ingredients are available. Ratings range from one * to 4 *'s, with no *'s being the worst rating; if something is rated with no *'s, you should avoid taking it, probably because of the presence of Acetaminophen in the medication or very low amounts of DXM. 1. Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Cough Medicine by Miles Consumer Active Ingredients (per tablet): Aspirin 325mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 2mg, Phenylpropanolamine Bitartrate 20mg, DXM HBr 10mg. Notes: In water the aspirin is converted into its soluble ionic form, sodium acetylsalicylate. Rating: * 2. Alka-Seltzer Plus Night-Time Cold Medicine by Miles Consumer Active Ingredients (per tablet): Aspirin 500mg, Doxylamine Succinate 6.25mg, Phenylpropanolamine Bitartrate 20mg, DXM HBr 15mg. Notes: In water the aspirin is converted into its soluble ionic form, sodium acetylsalicylate. Doxylamine Succinate is an antihistamine. Rating: ** 3. Benylin Adult Formula Cough Suppressant by WARNER WELLCOME Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 15mg. Rating: ** 4. Benylin Expectorant by WARNER WELLCOME Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 5mg, Guaifenesin 100mg. Notes: Guaifenesin may cause nausea in high doses. Rating: * 5. Benylin Multisymptom by WARNER WELLCOME Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 5mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 15mg, Guaifenesin 100mg. Rating: * 6. Benylin Pediatric Cough Suppressant by WARNER WELLCOME Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 7.5mg. Rating: * 7. Buckley's Mixture by W.K. Buckley Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 12.5mg in a sugar-free base. Rating: ** 8. Cerose DM by Wyeth-Ayerst Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 15mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 4mg, Phenylephrine HCl 10mg, Alcohol 2.4%. Rating: ** 9. Cheracol-D Cough Formula by Roberts Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 10mg, Guaifenesin 100mg, Alcohol 4.75%. Rating: * 10.Cheracol Plus Cough Syrup Multisymptom Cough/Cold Formula by Roberts Active Ingredients (per tablespoonful/15mL): DXM HBr 20mg, Phenylpropanolamine HCl 25mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 4mg, Alcohol 8%. Rating: * 11.Children's Vicks NyQuil Cold/Cough Relief by Procter & Gamble Active Ingredients (per tablespoonful/15mL): DXM HBr 15mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 2mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 30mg. Rating: * 12.Coricidin Cough & Cold Tablets by Schering-Plough HealthCare Active Ingredients (per tablet): Chlorpheniramine Maleate 4mg, DXM HBr 30mg. Rating: *** 13.Cough X Lozenges by Ascher Active Ingredients (per lozenge): DXM HBr 5mg, Benzocaine 2mg. Rating: * 14.Dimetapp DM Elixir by A.H. Robins Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Brompheniramine Maleate 2mg, Phenylpropanolamine HCl 12.5mg, DXM HBr 10mg. Rating: ** 15.Dorcol Children's Cough Syrup by Sandoz Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Pseudoephedrine HCl 15mg, Guaifenesin 50mg, DXM HBr 5mg. Rating: * 16.Drixoral Cough Liquid Caps (No longer available) by Schering-Plough HealthCare Active Ingredients (per softgel): DXM HBr 30mg. Rating: **** 17.Drixoral Cough + Congestion Liquid Caps by Schering-Plough HealthCare Active Ingredients (per softgel): DXM HBr 30mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 60mg. Rating: ** 18.Novahistine DMX by SmithKline Beecham Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 10mg, Guaifenesin 100mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 30mg. Rating: * 19.PediaCare Cough-Cold Liquid by McNeil Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Chlorpheniramine Maleate 1mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 15mg, DXM HBr 5mg. Rating: * 20.PediaCare Night Rest Cough-Cold Liquid by McNeil Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Chlorpheniramine Maleate 1mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 15mg, DXM HBr 7.5mg. Rating: * 21.Pediatric Vicks 44d Dry Hacking Cough & Head Congestion by Procter & Gamble Active Ingredients (per tablespoonful/15mL): DXM HBr 15mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 30mg. Rating: * 22.Pediatric Vicks 44e Chest Cough & Chest Congestion by Procter & Gamble Active Ingredients (per tablespoonful/15mL): DXM HBr 10mg, Guaifenesin 100mg. Rating: 23.Pediatric Vicks 44m Cough & Cold Relief by Procter & Gamble Active Ingredients (per tablespoonful/15mL): DXM HBr 15mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 30mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 2mg. Rating: * 24.Robitussin Cold & Cough Liqui-Gels by A.H. Robins Consumer Active Ingredients (per softgel): Guaifenesin 200mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 30mg, DXM HBr 10mg. Rating: * 25.Robitussin Maximum Strength Cough Suppressant by A.H. Robins Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 15mg. Rating: **** 26.Robitussin Maximum Strength Cough & Cold by A.H. Robins Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 15mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 30mg. Rating: ** 27.Robitussin Pediatric Cough & Cold Formula by A.H. Robins Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 7.5mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 15mg. Rating: * 28.Robitussin Pediatric Cough Suppressant by A.H. Robins Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 7.5mg. Rating * 29.Robitussin-CF by A.H. Robins Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Guaifenesin 100mg, Phenylpropanolamine HCl 12.5mg, DXM HBr 10mg. Rating: * 30.Robitussin-DM by A.H. Robins Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Guaifenesin 100mg, DXM HBr 10mg. Rating: * 31.Sucrets 4-Hour Cough Suppressant by SmithKline Beecham Consumer Active Ingredients (per lozenge): DXM HBr 15mg. Rating: ** 32.Sudafed Cough Syrup by WARNER WELLCOME Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Pseudophedrine HCl 15mg, DXM HBr 5mg, Guaifenesin 100mg. Rating: * 33.Triaminic AM Cough and Decongestant Formula by Sandoz Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 7.5mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 15mg. Rating: * 34.Triaminic Nite Light Nighttime Cough and Cold Medicine for Children by Sandoz Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Pseudoephedrine HCl 15mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 1mg, DXM HBr 7.5mg. Notes: In a palatable, grape-flavored, alcohol-free liquid. Rating: * 35.Triaminic-DM Syrup by Sandoz Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Phenylpropanolamine HCl 6.25mg, DXM HBr 5mg. Notes: In a palatable, berry-flavored, alcohol-free liquid. Rating: * 36.Triaminicol Multi-Symptom Cold Tablets by Sandoz Consumer Active Ingredients (per tablet): Phenylpropanolamine HCl 12.5mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 2mg, DXM HBr 10mg. Rating: ** 37.Triaminicol Multi-Symptom Relief by Sandoz Consumer Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): Phenylpropanolamine HCl 6.25mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 1mg, DXM HBr 5mg. Notes: In a palatable, cherry-flavored, alcohol-free liquid. Rating: * 38.Vicks 44 Dry Hacking Cough by Procter & Gamble Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM HBr 15mg. Rating: ** 39.Vicks 44d Dry Hacking Cough & Head Congestion by Procter & Gamble Active Ingredients (per tablespoonful/15mL): DXM HBr 30mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 60mg. Rating: ** 40.Vicks 44 LiquiCaps Non-Drowsy Cough & Cold Relief by Procter & Gamble Active Ingredients (per softgel): DXM HBr 30mg, Pseudoephedrine HCl 60mg. Rating: ** 41.Vicks 44e by Procter & Gamble Active Ingredients (per tablespoonful/15mL): DXM HBr 20mg, Guaifenesin 200mg. Rating: * 42.PediaPressin Drops by Quintex Active Ingredients (per drop): Pseudoephedrine HCl 15mg, Guaifenesin 50mg, DXM HBr 5mg. Rating: * 43.Scot-Tussin Sugar-Free DM by Scot-Tussin Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM 15mg, Chlorpheniramine Maleate 2mg. Notes: This contains pure DXM, not DXM HBr. Rating: ** 44.Scot-Tussin Sugar-Free Cough Chasers Lozenges by Scot-Tussin Active Ingredients (per lozenge): DXM 2.5mg. Notes: This contains pure DXM, not DXM HBr. Rating: 45.Sucrets 4-Hour Cough Suppressant by SmithKline Beecham Active Ingredients (per lozenge): DXM HBr 15mg. Rating: **** 46.Suppressin DM Caplets by Quintex Active Ingredients (per caplet): DXM HBr 15mg, Guaifenesin 200mg. Rating: * 47.Delsym Extended-Release Suspension by Fisons Active Ingredients (per teaspoonful/5mL): DXM Polistirex. Notes: DXM Polistirex is equivalent to 30mg of DXM HBr. Rating: **** I also have some information on DXM sources available in Europe. One user who lives in Italy said he used Fluprim by Roche (which should be available all over the European community). It contains 300 mg of DXM per bottle of lozenges or syrup and 327 mg per box of tablets (each box contains 20 tablets), and DXM is the only active ingredient. He also mentions Vicks for Dry Cough but it only has 150 mg per bottle of syrup and has a very nasty taste (not recommended). Also, some users in the United Kingdom pointed out Vicks Vaposyrup, which contains DXM and guaifenesin, and Robitussin Dry Cough. The other ingredients in the latter are ethanol, disodium edetate, sodium benzoate, and amaranth (not sure if these are active or inactive ingredients). If you have any information on any other DXM cough preparations please let me know and I'll include them in this section. VARIOUS DXM INTERNET SITES Listed below are various Internet sites containing useful information on DXM. The DXM FAQ - highly recommended http://www.frognet.net/dxm/contents.html The Third Plateau - highly recommended site http://third-plateau.lycaeum.org The DXM Appreciation Page http://www.ugmadness.com/Ledderson/DxM/ EROWID - DXM Dosage http://www.erowid.com/entheogens/dxm/dxm_dose.shtml The Lycaeum - DXM http://www.lycaeum.org/drugs/synthetics/dxm/ Infomed Drug Guide - DXM pharmacology http://www.infomed.org/100drugs/dextfram.html Experiences in using DXM as a smart drug http://www.damicon.fi/sd/dxm.exp.html Home of the DXM calculator for Windows http://advicom.net/~chris Dextromethorphan in the treatment of a child's epilepsy http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/1000/trdextr.htm Hyperreal's Dissociative Page http://www.hyperreal.org/drugs/psychedelics/dissociative/ Big Fun Glossary - gives an idea of the DXM drug culture http://atlas.comet.net/~gus/bigfun/ Deja Vu - Confessions of a Robo Tripper http://www.wideawake.org/robo.html The Dextromethorphan Defense - what to do about drug tests http://gema.library.ucsf.edu:8081/Originals/SAEMabs/z.abs63x2.html Medline - search this for studies done with DXM http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/ BURR Online - Abusing Cough Syrup article done by KSU college students http://www.burr.kent.edu/cough/cough.html DeeXMan's Dextromethorphan Page http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Venue/3391/dxm.html The Happy Place in Your Brain...DXM Stuff http://www.kelani.com/null/null.html Usenet - drug newsgroups on the Internet alt.drugs hierarchy, rec.drugs hierarchy, talk.politics.drugs DXM EFnet IRC channel #dxm homepage http://phun.dreamhost.com/dxm DXM EFnet IRC channels - DXM chat IRC channel #dxm VARIOUS TRIP REPORTS from Internet reports Listed below are a few of the more interesting trip reports we have come across floating around out there on the Internet. Dosage and other relative information are given when available, and we made no attempt at correcting grammatical errors, so read at your own risk. Enjoy! D. P. (male). 900mg I went down to the lake one Saturday morning and took a few boxes of Drixoral cough liqui-caps. Invited some friends along, but nobody could come with me, so I took ALL the little motherfuckers. I walked along the side of the lake for a few miles, not feeling any major effects yet. Then, suddenly, it hit. I felt very dizzy, and very out of place. I couldn't walk so I sat down on a park bench. It was foreign... here I was on a park bench in some strange place, with everything spinning around me. Cars hissed by on Lake Shore Drive, seem like some kind of deadly monster, or dangerous presence. I was very confused; decided to walk back. It was hard to walk when everything was twisting in strange directions, but I made it all the way down to where there was a tree in the sand. (I'm not sure if there really WAS a tree there, but at the time there seemed to be). Walked down to the tree and collapsed beneath it. Look- ing at the sky thru its branches, the cars seemed very far away. It was some- how very comforting... the sky, and sand, and tree, and me...everything else seemed distant and unimportant. Wanted to stay there, but after a while (minutes or hours - sense of time totally gone) I got up and went on. A mile or so further I sat down on a rock looking out on the water. The patterns of the light on the water were endlessly fascinating, and when I closed my eyes I vividly saw a field of flame, wild naked girls running thru it, somehow unharmed by the flame because they were just a part of the flame, and I was a part of the flame, and everything was unified in the flame. When I opened my eyes, all I saw was water... after a while of experiencing the fire world and the water world I got up and decided to crawl home. I was very paranoid of getting hit by a car but somehow I made it. Realized I was getting dehydrated (which might have been causing some of the delirium) so I drank something. Then I sat down on the couch... and realized that maybe I wasn't on the couch at all, I was still on the rock on the beach and this whole thing had been a very strange hallucination. For the next few hours I was sure that's what was going on, and kept expect- ing to open my eyes... Finally things returned more or less to normal. later that night there were some kind of weak residual visuals (fireworks)... who knows? Maybe I still AM on that rock... P. L. (male). 900mg; friend (male). 600mg Around 9 PM I took 30 drixorals, around 900 mg. My friend, T, took 20, which is 600 mg. I was experienced, he was not. 9:30: The power goes off! It's a really intense thunderstorm, even for Texas. The lights (and my computer, which was playing Acid Warp) shut down. My sister calls T and I into her room to watch the thunderstorm. I start to realize I am a bit fucked up (like stoned on pot.) 10:00: T and I retire to my room again. Am I tripping now. I leave the window open so I can watch the beautiful lightning... let me tell you that is a trip on any drug! I have a perfect little tripping environment set up. My friend T is visiting me from out of town, and he is sleeping in my bed. I am laying on a few blankets on the floor. I have a CD player, a stack of Hendrix, Beatles, and THE GRATEFUL DEAD (emphasis to show that this is the all-time great tripping band) and a really good set of headphones. Also I have a journal and a few pens. I decide to start writing down random thoughts. After checking to see if T is tripping or not (he isn't) I turn out the light and put in Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland. Oh my god. If any of you aren't experienced with this album, GET IT. It's availible on a CD reissue with good liner notes. By the time the actual song "Electric Lady- land" came on, I was on the upswing of my trip. Since I was on a rather large amount of DXM, let me tell you I was flying. Literally. I closed my eyes and entered a new universe of Jimi. I started on a tall cliff overlooking a craggy valley. The sky was a deep purple. I took a single step off the cliff and dropped many hundreds of feet. Eventually my fall turned into a gentle swoon and I soared up over "Electric Ladyland." Believe me words fail to describe exactly what I saw and did, but it is comparable to what I have read about DMT: you enter a different universe. Once again, your mileage may vary of course. I won't write out exactly what I was thinking about to each track on EL, but the climax was the Rainy Day/1983/Moon Turn the Tides/Still Raining suite. This is in some ways the opposite of Electric Ladyland because instead of flying over purple mountains, I was swimming in the deep blue ocean. I explored a shipwreck on the bottom of the ocean. In the sunken ship was a door. I opened the door and saw my old friend Matt whom I was semi-estranged from. We had a reconciliation and I started crying (in real life). T turned on the light and asked me what was wrong. I said nothing, I was just going over some issues in my past (this is described as the primary effect of a high DXM dose, so beware if that's not your thing...) I asked him if he was tripping yet and his eyes got very large and he just nodded. He started waving his hand in front of his face and basically just looking stunned. You see he had never smoked pot or done any other drugs than (a large amount of) alcohol. So this was an entirely new, and pleasant, thing for him. He was listening to a "trip mix" that I had crafted for him of a lot of Grateful Dead and Beatles. I opened my journal and scrawled (it's hard to write on DXM) something to the effect of describing what had just happened. Then I went back into the dream. I finished exploring 1983 (the ocean) and listening to the rest of Electric Ladyland. Of course a lot of stuff "happened" in between that but I won't cover it here. I put in the White Album by the Beatles and affirmed the reasons why I have listened to them for so many years. The White Album is another must- have, BTW. It seems to fit roboing so well, because it is at times harsh and at others gentle. The imagery of the lyrics and music are conducive to tripping. I guess this is why it's considered Psychedelic... Dear Prudence is a fantastic song. Later I listened to Europe '72 by the Dead. Like the images of the Beatles from A Hard Day's Night, the Dead have a very carefree fun image in my mind. In other words they are a bunch of guys (and gals if you include Donna) that you would just want to hang around with. Well, that's what I did. :) During "Sugar Magnolia," I got onstage with the band and played guitar and sang along. Bob and I were trading licks. (I had sort of "become" Jerry Garcia.) T later reported to me that during "Crazy Fingers - Drums - The Other One" (which I put on his tape) he was the audience, meaning the ENTIRE audience, and the Dead were shining their music on him. Later he got picked up and passed around the audience (like crowd-surfing) which turned into the ocean. During "Truckin/Prelude/Morning Dew" I was walking around the Sierra mount- ains (my home growing up) watching the trees and listening to the birds. My friends were there, and each one had an alter ego in the band. In other words, I was Jerry, T was Mickey Hart, my friend Scott was Bob Weir, etc. We all just had fun and walked around in the forest. I listened to a lot of other music (I didn't get to sleep until 5 the next morning) but this gives you an idea what a lovely and beautiful trip I had. DXM is a wonderful drug. T. M. (male). 1020mg At some point I was sitting in front of my computer with the lights out and I thought to myself, "I'm going to create another person." I closed my eyes and concentrated real hard. Then I opened them and looked to my right. I was surprised to see myself sitting there. I looked at myself and said, "Hi!" Then my other self looked back at me and said, "Hi!" Then I bugged out. :) Anonymous. 1100mg We had just gotten back from a football game, and we decided to stop at the drug store on the way home for some tussin. I was with 3 friends, Joe, Eli, and Matt. We got back to my house, and me and Joe started drinking. Eli just wanted to smoke, so I hooked him up on my vaporizer. Matt is a straight edge, so he just sat watching us. I finished off 12 oz, and Joe had about 6. He's much less tolerant than me, so that put as at the same level. I noticed the effects in 30 min. I have discovered, that unlike most other drugs, DXM comes on quicker if my stomach is full. NO idea why this happens. I started to feel very drunk. Joe has described the initial effects of DXM "I feel like I'm so drunk, that if I had drunken alcohol, I'd be dead". I was quite dizzy, and the room was spinning slightly. Getting up and moving around was initially an effort, but it also felt GREAT. I had a great urge to dance to techno music. We decided to go take a walk around and have a cigarette. We got up, and walked out, with incidentally, my parents and younger sister all home and awake at the time. We got back and I felt that I was starting to peak. It felt A LOT like acid in may respects. I had just received a package from my girlfriend in Cal, and when I opened it up, she spilled all over the floor. What I actually think this was, was me recalling a whole lot of memories about her at once. So many, and so intense, that I forgot they were memories, and thought that she was actually there with me. This happened later, with two other people we knew. They actually seemed to be in the basement with us for a very long time. It also seemed like we were traveling in time, by what I think, was both of us recalling memories of the past so intensely that it seemed like reality. VERY cool. After a while Matt and Eli left, and me and Joe just hung out. We kept entering this trance, where we would stare at each other and say very strange things like, "Enter the Seventh Gate, where the nexus ends", and at the same time, make strange hand motions. At one point, this trance was so powerful, that we had to avoid looking at each others faces, or else it would happen automatically. Many times I felt as if I understood the nature of the uni- verse, and the secret to life. For this reason, it was like acid. No halluc- inations though. These effects continued for several more hours. Music was cool, like usual, and had the effect of freeing our minds from our bodies and allowing them to walk on the astral plane. We put in some techno and just tranced for a while. At about 3 am (we took the stuff at 9) we decided to go to sleep. I had problems falling asleep, and it was a little scary but only for a second. I had this problem, that if I tried to fall asleep, I would suddenly hear jazz music playing loudly. VERY loudly. It was more real than normally hearing music in my head, and it sounded just like it was coming out of my stereo. After I have no idea how long, I eventually drifted off. The next morning I felt just fine. Lots of fun. T. M. (male). 1560mg + cannabis [Note: Another long description, characteristic of the fourth plateau.] It was an interesting experience to say the least. I had been going through some of my old Amiga disks and came across the game 'Lemmings' and popped it in the drive. I started from the very beginning (since I no longer have any idea where the sheet of paper is that I wrote the level codes down on when I first played it a few years ago) and alternated swallowing Drixorals and smoking bowls in between levels. (I never realized that that game would be so much fun when stoned!). Later, I washed down the Drixorals with some syrup and decided to logon and send my buddy some email. This endeavor didn't last very long as I soon found myself floating in a pink space with planets in beautiful pastel colors around me. My dorm room and everything in it were completely nonexistent. I've roboed several times before and NEVER have I had visuals like that WITH MY EYES OPEN. Always I see things around me and only interpret them differently; it's not until I close my eyes that I completely lose myself. The closest I have come to that in the past was when I was tripping on 1260mg and I thought I was in a forest. But then my desk and computer were in the forest with me. This time I had no connection with this world whatso- ever. When I came out of that hallucination I decided the email thang just wasn't going to happen - can't type if I can't see the keyboard! So I went over to my bed to smoke one last bowl. I was lying on my stomach and looking out the window. For some reason I got it into my head that I was a cat. This didn't bother me.. felt perfectly normal in fact.. I thought I had always been of the feline persuasion. Some time later (It's really hard for me to put the events of that night together.. There are a lot of gaps in my memory and what I do remember I just remember as events without any kind of time stamp on them) I was lying down listening to music and I had another full blown vision like the pink space one... oh boy, this is gonna be hard to describe.. hummm I was no longer in my body - I was just a consciousness floating in space - and I was looking at a spiral. It was like a spring but instead of each loop being circular, they were perfect squares. This square spring extend out to infin- ity in both directions. Each square loop was flat on the top and bottom and thick.. as if someone had cut a square spiral out of paper and pulled it out. The loops were divided into sections and each section was a window into another reality. I was looking at a portion of the spiral that had the window to this world. Each window opened onto a different part of my exist- ence: moving down the coil, the window adjacent to the one I was looking at opened onto the world of my life before this one and the next window after that revealed my life before that and so on. Likewise, moving up the coil, the window adjacent to the one I was looking at revealed the my next life after this one and the next window after that revealed one more life and so on. So, up were my future lives and down were my past lives.. The next thing that happened to me I'd like to mention because it was rather scary. Normally, I use the music coming through my headphones as that one last thread of this reality. I know that no matter what happens, if I can still hear music then (a) my body is still alive and functioning proper- ly no matter what I may think and (b) I will always be able to find my way back; there's no possibility of getting lost. It's like a security blanket. I had been looking at a large blue shape that was a sphere with a concave trench dug out around its equator and there were movies playing inside the trench that I was watching (I can't for the life of me remember what they were unfortunately). Suddenly, everything stopped and.. oh man, here we go again.. I felt myself falling into the very fabric of the universe. As I was falling I had the vague notion that I was dying. It didn't bother me at the time and I was curious so I reached out further with my mind. It was like I was growing smaller and smaller.. I shrunk down past the subatomic level. And as my mind reached.. outward?..inward?.. downward? I dunno.. I touched something. Unfortunately I only retained part of the feeling and nothing more.. but I remember being overwhelmed. I really wish I could remember more of it. Any words I could use to describe what I felt just don't seem to correctly de- scribe it.. a surge of energy and a feeling of 'correctness' like I actually belonged somewhere for once. Anyway, the full meaning of my earlier thought of death sunk in. I was sure I had died and I felt that if I stayed there any longer I'd never get back. I pulled myself away, which was no easy task because I didn't want to leave.. it felt so good there.. so right. But once I made that initial move, I started racing back faster than I had come. I found myself floating above my body and looking down at it. It was then that I realized that I wasn't hearing any music.. In fact, when I thought about it, I couldn't remember hearing any music during that entire trip.. my security blanket was gone and I freaked out. In a frenzy I forced myself back into my body and with some difficulty managed to open my eyes. I could hear the music once again but this was little consolation since my body was cold.. felt like I had been lying out- side with my clothes off. And I couldn't feel any part of it.. not even the familiar beating of my heart (yes, I know this is normal for robo but I was in a big paranoia fit at the time and the MJ wasn't helping). I tried to reach over and feel my heart, but I only got my arm a few inches off the bed before it feel limply at my side. That did it.. I was really scared now and I was sure that my heart had stopped and if it hadn't yet it was real close to it and I only had seconds left on this earth. I decided my only chance at survival was to try and get my body moving to keep my heart stimulated. I gathered up all my willpower and with one big effort managed to sit up. I pulled the headphones off, got out of bed and started jumping up and down.. Then I did some push ups.. I did those push ups like a wild man; thinking that if I stopped, my heart would stop and I would die. Eventually I calmed down enough to think, "if you can do all these push ups, your body must be all right." So I sat back on my bed and just for peace of mind I checked my pulse (by this time I had come down enough that I could accomplish this task.. still had to close one eye though because of that double vision). It was at a low 47 bpm.. and I had just been exercising not too long ago! my body was still cold and numb but 47 is a good healthy pulse rate (my norm is around 52-55 resting) so I had a cigarette and then went to bed. The next day I woke up late.. late enough that my vision was back to normal. But my body felt weird. felt all tingly all over like there was a layer of helium just under my skin. And when I walked I felt like I was sloshing around inside it. I went outside and everything was new to me. The world engaged my senses like never before.. sight, smell, hearing, touch.. it was pure sensory overload. I passed by a group of people and a wave of energy hit me that nearly knocked me to my knees. This happened several more times but each time it was less intense until I could stand next to someone again and only feel mild sensations within me. It is now 5 days since then, and my body still feels different. My over- active senses have managed to return to normal, but I still feel like I'm sloshing around in my body.. even now while I'm sitting down. And I still have that helium feeling only it's no longer all over my whole body at once.. it's localized to various areas and those areas are constantly moving around. I played some vball and it doesn't seem to affect my coordination.. in fact I feel that I can use my body better now than I could before (a good thing too 'cause I've gotta play away games in Reno and Chico this weekend.. I'd hate to have to explain to the team that I can no longer play ball because I roboed to hard and fucked my body up!) I wasn't expecting this to turn out to be so long.. but I just had to share this experience.. I couldn't keep it to myself any longer. I hope I didn't bore y'all too much! A. P. (male, age 18, 82kg). 600mg Everything seemed like a dream and I honestly think I was dying. I was walking around in public and most people seemed like inanimate objects. I was definitely on a higher astral plane than them, although I didn't look down on them in any way. they just ignored me completely though. I walked past a chapel and saw two guys. although there were many people around, I knew that all three of us were on the same plane (later, I even heard them mention using acid so I was right). I wanted to talk to them but was afraid to and so quickly walked away to the drug store which was a mile or two away in my bedroom slippers to buy more DXM (at this point I was not yet completely gone). I was very dizzy and the sea legs had just hit me. (Before my walk, I sat in the sun and enjoyed the light-headedness. My body felt very light). By the time I made it to the shopping center, it was just like being a ghost. On the way, I knew I was dying but it was very pleasant. My soul gradually dissociated from my body and the world seemed so strange, uncertain and mysterious. I remember seeing a leaf blowing in the wind and I knew that it and I (along with everything else) were really the same thing. Near the end, however, my hands and arms started to tingle a lot (the same feeling that you get if you wake up after having slept on one of your limbs), my face and neck were getting paralyzed, my heart was beating very fast, and I was having severe robo movements. Added to all this, it was getting harder to move but I was at McDonald's by myself and had to get home. I kept thinking, "I have to call my friend, I have to call my friend" (who I had told about my plans). My life started to flash in front of me and for a second I saw myself from the outside (although I think it was just my image). This was all very freaky. I knew then that I was really dying. Everyone in the restaurant (and everywhere else) was acting as if I were either normal (unlikely) or already dead (invisible). Everything seemed like a series of pictures (flanging) and I got on the bus. Excuse the incontinuity, but life lost its linear character and so its hard for me to remember this in a linear fashion. About then, I kept on thinking about significant people from my past (one in particular) and his (not the person I finally called) image and then mine flashed in my mind. I had a strong urge to call him and say good- bye. I wanted to share with him (and everyone) my insights on life and I was aware that I was closing one chapter of my life and starting a completely new one. I then realized that I had to get out of McDonalds while I could still move. I had just taken 60 mg more. Then, all my religious insights vanished and my panic began. I waited on the bus for a long time. After I was on it, I then felt trapped, scared, very dizzy and sick. We stopped at a busy stoplight next to a motel. I went to the front of the bus and asked to be let off, she first said no but I told her I was really sick and she agreed. 5 seconds later I puked three times in front of all these cars and rushed into the motel's men's room. I threw up some more. I was in a cold sweat and felt very sick. the room was dizzy and if I hadn't been already familiar with the place I wouldn't have recognized it. I sat for about 5 or 10 minutes and then robotically walked back home, where I called my friend, who was an absolute blessing. I told him everything and soon started to come back, although I could only lie down and was breath- ing very heavy with a fast heartbeat. My experience was horrible (except for the brief insights) and I'm truly convinced that the DXM high is identical to dying. Anonymous (male, age 19, 55kg). 600mg A few weekends ago, none of my friends were available to do anything, so I decided to try some DXM. I had eaten about 4 hours before, and had a Super Big Gulp, but I was bored and had time to waste. I bought a package of generic DXM liquicaps (the Smith's store in Arizona sells 10 30mg tablets for $1.49), and took them. I waited for over an hour, and I could feel no effect. I figure this is probably because my stomach was full. So, I went to the store. I bought another 10 tablets, and took them. With both packages, I took a total of 600 mg DXM, which was probably a bit too much for my first time, and my weight (120 lb.). I watched TV for a while, and I began to feel a bit different. I walked up to go to the bathroom, and I walked like I do when I'm drunk. I returned to my room, and watched some more TV. By now, it had been over an hour since I finished my second package of tablets. I sat in my room, and began to look around. Where was I? I looked around and the room seemed to be so foreign to me. It was like I had stepped into someone else's room in a different location entirely. I just stared at a cardboard box on the other side of my room. I began to get very confused, very disturbed. Who am I? What is happening here? More confusion. About 2+ hours into the trip, I began to forget who I was. I had to ask myself, and strenuously think, "who am I?" It took me a while, but I was able to say "I'm C." and I figured out who I was. But it didn't seem like me. I could think of who I was, and say who I was, but I didn't feel like that person. I lost track of time. I lost track of what was happening to me. I wanted to know what happened to me. It was like I somehow got into a different dimension, with strange things going on in my head, and I didn't know what. "WHAT IS HAPPENING?" I soon figured out that I had taken something called DXM, and that was the cause of my confusion. But it was bizarre. I went to my bed to lay down to sleep. I fell asleep. Then, I was flying in the air - actually, I was being suspended by my shoulders. I was being lifted up in the air by my shoulders, and it was dark out. I was lifted over buildings. The buildings were really simple (skyscrapers). I opened my eyes, and I wasn't flying. I closed my eyes, and I was being suspended in the air again. Then, I was going down a slide. But it wasn't like an ordinary slide at a park, it was like a slide in a totally abstract world. Everything around me was black and grey and maybe there were a few white lines around. But I was in this strange world, and I couldn't stop myself from falling down this slide. I was on my stomach, and I kept falling down, and down. It was really disturbing. I woke up after feeling this. I had to think who I was again. I had to think what was happening. I was out of control, and I didn't like all the intense hallucinations, since they were more than visual, as I _was_ being lifted in the air, or going down the slide. I didn't like any of this at the time. I got to sleep again. I felt something warm, then hot in my chest. I grabbed the garbage can sitting next to the bed (how convenient) and puked. And puked. And puked. And puked. But it didn't really bother me at the time, I was so far out of reality that it didn't feel that bad. I just wanted to puke it all up so it could stop. I went back to bed. I slept most of the next day, and didn't feel well at all. Repo Man (male). 1050mg When I was stationed in Korea, we could buy these little yellow pills over the counter that we only knew as Romilars. We had no idea what they were and because the people selling them to us wanted to keep the mystery up (I guess so we didn't just go to another store and order whole caseload of them) they just gave them to us in little paper bags. Anyway, if we ate about 70 of them, we would get so absolutely wasted we were literally walking around in our universe for 8 hours or more at a time. Really a beautiful feeling where you lose your peripheral vision and space expands and you have very vivid, very solid looking hallucinations in 360 degrees. Your entire reality changes, BUT your minds alertness doesn't disappear. i.e.-you never THINK you can fly or anything. You are able to deeply enjoy music and cheap b-grade horror movies are INTENSE!! Shit, I stayed up ALL NIGHT once watching The Evil Dead II over and over and feeling like I was in the movie. --- Credits: I wish to thank everyone who contributed with the articles in the zine, along with both people from the #Dxm IRC channel. Also everyone from Usenet who helped with newsgroup postings and of course my girlfriend for her patience once again in the creation of this month's zine, which took an extremely high amount of work to finish. -Gravol Last Issue: DXM and Creativity - Streetlights and Other Electrical Phenomenon - The Nightmare of Coricidin - Recipe for Getting Pure DXM Powder - Delsym...A Whole New Trip - DXM is Here to Stay - Schering-Plough's Reply to a Consumer Complaint on DXM Abuse - An Ode to DXM, and many more articles. Next Issue: An in-depth look at how DXM can induce out-of-body experiences, along with some interesting facts on astral projection, plus much, much more! Due out in January 1998. Special Note: If you'd like past issues, simply mail me $2 per issue to cover postage and I'll send them out to you immediately. Also, please be informed that I am moving to Florida within the next few months... St. Augustine to be exact. I will give you my new address whenever I get it, but for now it is still safe to mail to the address at the end of this zine, and should be for up to 6 months after I move (because of forwarding). If you'd like to contribute an article or any information to the DXM Zine, simply mail to the address below. The Zine for now is free, but any contri- butions to reduce the tremendous cost of postage would be helpful in maintain- ing its free distribution. Thank you and have a Happy New Year! Jeff Sothen 2550 Connecticut Ct. Uniontown, OH 44685