National Geography Drug series

I had a great deal of respect for this show, that it pretty much sticks to reality, but Their little thing about LSD was simply a series of lies. Do they have to do that in order to SHOW these drugs and scrupulously avoid looking like they condone them? "taking lsd is like russian roulette, you never know, you could die" "I know people who have taken lots of LSD and they are only one step up from vegetables". They are using a policeman who overdosed - he claims he took 60,000 mics. He also claimed that if the nurse hadn't given him valium (HOURS after he came on) that he would have died. I don't know of a single incidence of a human dying on an overdose of LSD - I believe the LD50 is around 40 MG per kg in mice. Why do they represent a stupid cop as an "expert" simply because he arrested some people for LSD and happened to injest a big dose.

No but at that dose you would think he would have a sever case of Serotonin syndrome

I just finished watching the ketamine episode. That show makes me wanna cut out through the desert with Raoul Duke.

timeismoney1 said:

No but at that dose you would think he would have a sever case of Serotonin syndrome

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Years later he claims he can't read. I don't buy it.

Are you guys watching the series in the states? i can only find the crack episode here in the u.k.

grobofotwanky said:

I just finished watching the ketamine episode. That show makes me wanna cut out through the desert with Raoul Duke.

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I havn't seen the K episode, I thought I had seen them all. I am in the states.

I had watched the K episode the other night as well.

I just watched the hallucinogen episode. I too am skeptical about that cop's story. Perhaps some other chemicals used in the synthesis of LSD got into the guy's system, leaving him impaired. But hey, I'm biased

He was also exposed in an awful manner and locked in some horrible childrens hospital room. Not exactly the best set and setting.

It's all hearsay. I wouldn't blame National Geography for an individuals opinion. He is a cop he's suppose to say that. Now a leading scientist would present a whole different story, with actual facts proving otherwise.

I'm skeptical about it as well, but I'm quite certain he really believed he was going to die. He's a DEA agent, he would have flipped the hell out on any dose. Let alone what could have absorbed in a lab through an open wound on uncovered skin (why there was any exposed skin baffles me though). I'd bet his belief that he was going to die from the horrible poison was enough to cause him to seize.
In the same episode there was the straight laced Texan guy who takes mushrooms for his cluster headaches. He hates the way tripping feels, just not as much as he hates the clusters. I could see him flipping out hardcore if he was on a hefty dose.
Overall I think it's an outstanding series that is very objective. And some of the people they profile are awesome. The guy from anypositivechange.org is awesome. He's commitment to saving lives is inspirational. Its tragic that there are so few places that allow Narcan to be distributed to opioid users. It should be everywhere. It should be available OTC and free at every needle exchange. Not only does it save many lives, but from a purely financial perspective it costs a lot of money to treat an OD in the ER. How many $2.69 bottles of 10mL of naloxone could be purchased with the savings from a single prevented OD. And when someone's ODing seconds count and 911 takes minutes. That's potentially the difference between someone making a full recovery and someone dying or suffering serious brain damage from lack of O2 in the blood.
Needle exchanges save money in the same way. An addict will use a used rig if they can't get a clean one. How much does treating a stage 4 AIDS patient for a year cost? How much does running a needle exchange for a year cost? I'm guessing much less than treating even a few patients with fullblown AIDS.

I agree with the narcon guy Duck. Still, it seems to me that NatGeo is going through a lot of trouble to not seem as though they are condoning drug use. They have to continue to claim that this drug or that is dangerous in the extreme when in many cases it is not that way at all.

Well i think psychedelics can be extreme. Look at all the cases of people who couldnt handle themselves and dont know how to react to "tripping"

they get locked up and shit. Research, time and knowledge must be made before one embarks on a psychedelic quest

Back then LSD was much a sacrament as H20, it went hand in hand.

It was a movement. Some used it for transcendence, and some abused it. The horror of the fact is that the Government used it, saw its power, and condoned it because it enraptured individuality and creativity. Everyone has an agenda. Obscurity is eventually hollowed out to show truth!

timeismoney1 said:

Well i think psychedelics can be extreme. Look at all the cases of people who couldnt handle themselves and dont know how to react to "tripping"

they get locked up and shit. Research, time and knowledge must be made before one embarks on a psychedelic quest

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It is the most extreme, however, the series tends to have the unitiated viewer thinking that all non-"theraputic" will almost invariably lead to death or insanity. Anyone who does not reflect for a few moments "if they are so horrible to endure, why are they ever considered recreational"? Will come away believing that use of mushrooms, for example, will lead invariable to a living hell. I get a kick out of the gentleman who takes mushrooms for his cluster headaches - he must endure 6 hours of hell (or so the show made it appear) in order for him to avoid headaches for a couple of months.

His famly - loving as they are - condoned his use of an illegal substance but rather than interact with the man, rather than see to it that his experience was as enjoyable as it could possibly be, they stayed away and worried for his safety. Had the man decied that if indeed he must visit this realm and quit fighting it (it was obvious that he white-knuckled the entire thing. I almost suspect that he seeks to punish himself "If I must take this illegal substance that the law claims is dangerous and bad for me, I had better not have a good time, I had better not use this opportunity to explore and enrich my life". The man claimed that the day after he took the mushrooms he felt whole, relaxed, envigorated - I got the impression that he attributed that to his knowing that he would be headache free for two months - we all know the reason for his afterglow, his serenity, was the experience itself.

lastly though - there are several on this site who suffer from cluster headaches and they have indicated that only a barely perceptable dose was enough to stave off the headaches. I wonder if the man has tested lower doses.


And of course, it being a small segment of an hour long show, my observations could be as full of shit as I am.

Private Research. The Government wouldn't use it resources to investigate the medicinal value of LSD and other indole creatures. They abandon research a long time ago. M.A.P.S is the leading frontier for research and have plenty of funding sources to do so.