Overview Article
Successful people use recreational and illegal drugs.
This is not to say that every successful person is an illegal drug user, but you might be surprised to hear that some are. Yes, there are some people out there that have careers, college degrees, families, clean records, and who also use illegal drugs.
According to the article, “Many people use drugs- but here’s why most don’t become addicts,” written by Paul Haynes, Honorary Professor on Drug Policy at the London school of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, “most people will either pass unscathed through a short period of experimentation or learn to accommodate their drug use into their lifestyle, adjusting patterns of use to their social and domestic circumstances, as they do with alcohol.”
Only small subsets of individuals actually become addicts and this is based off of more than just the drug itself. “In short what determines whether or not drug use escalates into addiction, and the prognosis once it has, is less to do with the power of the drug and more to do with the social, personal and economic circumstances of the user,” Haynes said.
This is not common knowledge due to illegality, society’s general skepticism on drugs, and the creation of stereotypes of conventional drug users.
For example, LSD is illegal, but there are people who use it socially and remain an active and contributing member of society.
“You know, people talk about the ‘gateway,’ marijuana even being a gateway drug, to a place where you can no longer socially do it. I’ve known a fair amount of people over my life who have recreationally used and have had no problem” says Tim Hand, the Director of Larimer County Community Corrections.
“A chemical that can put false illusions, hallucinations, in front of you, you really can’t predict yourself as much with that kind of a drug than you could with cocaine, but I think people can do it,” Hand said.
The following articles highlight one of four specific drugs as well as the stories of one or more ‘social users’ of the drug. The drugs to be analyzed in the following articles are cocaine, hallucinogenic mushrooms, LSD, and research chemicals.
For the purposes of this article, ‘social use’ is to be defined as the use of a drug that is less than once per week and more than once every six months for more than two consecutive years.
Recognition of this drug culture is important because it doesn’t conflict, but rather supports the connection people have with each other and their experience in everyday life.
Cocaine
The names in this article have been changed to protect the identities of those interviewed.
David Smith shoots baskets on a warm Wednesday afternoon before his shift as a bar tender and manager of a popular Fort Collins bar and restaurant.
Smith graduated from Florida State University in 2014 with a degree in Business Marketing before moving to Colorado. He spends a lot of his time snowboarding between work shifts and also takes time to fly to New Orleans to spend time with family and friends on his days off.
Another activity Smith engages in once or twice every few months for the past two years is the consumption of cocaine.
“Cocaine is kind of social, like smoking weed when you’re with all your friends, but in a way more ridiculous fashion,” Smith said.
Cocaine is an illegal stimulant with addictive properties, which is derived from the South American coca plant.
He enjoys the energy it gives him to stay up at night with friends or to spend a day on the slopes.
“Maybe a little sniff before I go snowboarding, but I wouldn’t make it a routine or try to use it like coffee. It’s just a little too intimidating for that,” says Smith, “the only time I’ve ever done it by myself was when this kid gave me some for free and I would drive up to the mountains early morning and take a couple bumps before I left at like five in the morning to get me on the road. That was only once or twice.”
Smith has tried other hallucinogenic drugs, but as he gets older, has grown to prefer the control he has under the influence of cocaine rather than the way he feels under the influence of other drugs.
“Cocaine is like, it’s like painkillers, you know? This is going to sound ridiculous, but it’s a more mature drug [than hallucinogenics] to be doing. You know, you don’t see too many people acting all crazy and shit on cocaine or like painkillers, but like if someone was on Molly or LSD, you could clearly tell that they’re on Molly or LSD,” Smith said. “That’s the good part about it too, is that it’s fun to do. I feel like Scarface.”
Addiction is something that Smith has thought about and plans to avoid by limiting his consumption.
“I mean I’m sure I have an addictive personality, but I feel like, you know, it’s just one of those things you could get by if you’re just smart about it. It’s not like I’ve ever done enough coke to where the next day I was like, ‘Man, I wish I had some more cocaine!’ You know, it’s more like one and done. I’m addicted to coffee, probably psychologically addicted to smoking weed, and definitely addicted to alcohol, but no, cocaine is too scary of a drug. Which, I mean, it’s probably better than drinking as much as I do, but it’s just so socially acceptable to be addicted to alcohol compared to cocaine,” says Smith as he holds up a Jack Daniels bottle filled a third of the way as a makeshift water bottle.
“I’ve personally never met anybody who has a serious problem. I know two kids who went to Boulder who do [cocaine] more than anyone I’ve ever met, but they also work hard and make a lot of money,” says Smith, “You’ve got all these fat people walking around eating cheeseburgers, heaven forbid some athletic kid does some coke every now and then.”
McKenzie Maynard graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2014 with a degree in psychology and a teacher’s license.
Since her graduation, Maynard has been working as a part-time kindergarten teacher in Denver. She enjoys her school and working with the children, but also finds time for ‘extracurricular activities.’
“I did cocaine a lot in college and I still occasionally do it every couple of months,” says Maynard. “I like to be able to go out with my friends. It’s the thrill of it. I like that I’m able to stay awake and enjoy my time, and yet I’m still completely aware of what’s going on in my surroundings."
Many people that Maynard associates with use cocaine recreationally and socially to unwind and connect with each other, but only partake during relaxation time. Maynard and her peers put their responsibilities first, which allows them to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
“It seems pretty common amongst the people I hang out with and it’s something that is easy to get for me. I can get it pretty much whenever I want to, but I don’t get it that often because I have other shit to do,” Maynard said.
The kindergarten teacher doesn’t worry about addiction due to the fact that she takes time to get her other priorities done and because she doesn’t use cocaine enough to worry about it.
“For me, I have a hard time understanding addiction because I am so driven that I just don’t let drugs impact me to the point where it would interfere with my day to day life. It’s also about moderation in that way because it’s not like I’m going to do it everyday for a month and then, you know, I wake up and I’m addicted. I would never want to get to that point,” Maynard said.
Cocaine is useful to those who respect the power it can have on an individual and who choose not to abuse that power. Many people smuggle and buy cocaine illegally and uphold personal morals while managing jobs and schooling.
LSD
The names in this article have been changed to protect the identities of those interviewed.
An aspiring musician, Marriot Hotel host, and barista, Jon Sturgis is a hard worker who enjoys occasional acid trips with numerous friends to relax and recuperate during weeklong hiking treks into the Utah backcountry.
‘Acid’ is a common name for LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), a synthetically created hallucinogen whose effects last 8-14 hours once ingested orally. Called ‘a trip’ the effects of LSD are so potent that the user feels false physical sensations and can see things that aren’t there. The drug alters the mind and body during consumption.
“I’ve never had a bad trip,” says Sturgis. “It’s always been really fun. It’s definitely different than mushrooms because mushrooms can be really weird because they make you sick, almost. But with acid, it’s just a snap of your finger and you’re like, ‘Well, I’m high on acid!’”
The experience on acid differs between person to person and an atmosphere that can be positive for one person, could be completely different for someone else. An item that might affect one person, might not affect another whatsoever. It’s difficult to keep track of orientation and locale while on LSD, so Sturgis and his friends choose to have what they call ‘acid buddies’ while they are under the influence. These acid buddies are meant for safety purposes. They entail someone who is sober and can spend time helping the person under the influence to have a good time while paying attention to surroundings, location, and other important factors.
“Acid buddies are awesome. Every time you do it, you have your acid buddy. They’re pretty much like your helping hand while you’re going along, just in case. When you do it in the backcountry, you don’t want someone just wandering because your body is altered, your mind is altered, and the desert all looks the same. Even though you only have to go up or down the canyon, you still don’t always know. Your buddy is there so you have two people, two heads on your shoulders, to know which way. Also, if you have a bad trip, that person is there to help you through it and to make sure that you’re OK. If anyone [is on LSD] and wants to go walk around, you can just be like, ‘Hey, where’s your buddy at?’ We try to take it as safely as possible, I guess,” Sturgis said.
LSD is not only dangerous once ingested, but the process to obtain the drug is worrisome as well.
“[Acid] comes from a daisy chain of drug dealers. You always know someone who knows someone who’s either got to know someone who makes it or someone who knows someone who makes it…hopefully it’s not too long of a chain,” Sturgis said.
Acid can be cut with other substances to make the product less expensive for the dealers and distributors.
Sturgis has used LSD a few times, and although he has enjoyed all of his trips, one experience in particular stood out among the rest.
“My favorite experience on acid, there’s many of them, but it would have to be with the ukulele. I could not play the strings because I thought they were snakes, and I hate snakes! So I was just kind of trying to play it and it was warm out and the ukulele had been in the sun so the strings were kind of a little more loose and so they were way bendier than usual, and I was high on acid too. When I played it, it kind of, like, slithered around my finger. It kind of triggered something. I was just looking away from the ukulele," Sturgis said.
Sturgis graduated from Colorado State University in 2015 with a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Organization and Innovation Management.
Research Drugs
For Nick Morris, drugs helped make him successful. After graduating from the University of Colorado Boulder, Morris started interning at Fearless Unlimited, an ad agency specializing in natural foods.
While attending school at the University of Colorado Boulder, Morris organized a group called the Psychedelics Club. This club received funding by the school for young adults curious about drugs to learn about them and how to take them safely. The club did not promote the use of drugs, but rather gave people a safe space to talk about them openly.
“I ran the Psychedelic Club at CU Boulder… we had a symposium where we had an bunch of people from all over the country fly out to talk about psychedelics. We got $7,000 from the university to put it on, which was pretty sweet.”
When it came time for his interview with Fearless Unlimited, he talked about his campaign work through the club and that experience got him the job.
Morris has also worked with research chemicals, such as 1P-LSD. Research chemicals are drugs that have not yet received approval from governmental regulatory authorities. Generally speaking, 1P-LSD is the exact same thing as LSD, except for a one-molecule difference. This means that the drug is technically legal and can even be purchased online.
An act called the Federal Analog Act says that anyone can buy these drugs legally with the intent to do research on the drug. Once a person buys them with intent to consume the drug, the drug takes on the full illegality of the parent drug.
“I don’t know too many people who actually research [the drugs they buy online]. The people I associate with just want to take them for the effects, but there are people out there who are doing legitimate research. It’s hard because you can’t get federally funded to do that research, so everyone researching is doing under-the-table research,” Morris said.
According to an article by CNN’s James Griffiths titled, “This is your brain on LSD, literally,” researchers are starting to make headway in regards to learning about LSD and the effects on the human brain. This could lead to positive drug advances in regards to depression and PTSD.
Basically any drug you could think of that’s mainstream, there’s a chemical variation of it. So 1P-LSD in an analog of LSD, there’s also AL-LAD, which is another analog of LSD, there’s ETH-LAD… I can just list off a bunch… They all have slightly different effects on the brain.”
Getting these chemicals from the mail might be even a worse idea than from getting LSD from some random drug dealer on the street.
“It’s definitely sketchier to buy these chemicals from the mail, from these random research companies, because even though they are only one molecule off, it could still have different effects on the brain physically that you might not know about, so people are generally betting off the fact that even though LSD is a lot more researched and it is generally safe for the mind to consume, as long as you aren’t doing it all the time, taking the analog could have effects that haven’t been researched. So, you could get brain damage from it, and people don’t know that.
“I think anyone would rather take LSD than 1P-LSD, but a lot of people think it’s easier to obtain it [online] so they don’t care as much. It’s basically assumed that it’s going to be the same thing, but there is that very small chance,” Morris said.
Morris is using tactics that he’s learning at Fearless Unlimited to organize groups across the country to from a national safe-space to talk about psychadelics.
“I am turning the [Psychedellics Club] into a nonprofit organization. We have a few other chapters across the nation that other people have wanted to start, so I am now micromanaging several groups around the nation and we’re forming a giant base to spread the word and have a safe place to talk about it…It’s all about safety and we’re creating a discussion page where people can talk about their really intense experiences that they had and not feel judged about it.
“[Psychedelics] are definitely one of those things that inspires you to do things and to go out and achieve. If you’re in a rut in your life and are unsure of what to do, like a crossroads, it helps you to access your subconscious thoughts.”
Mushrooms
The names in this article have been changed to protect the identities of those interviewed.
Zach Prior is a recent Geology graduate of Colorado State University and is currently working in his field for the Federal Government and Park Service.
Prior started eating hallucinogenic mushrooms at age 16, and has taken them more than 15 times since then.
“I did them a few times in high school, but then got into trouble for them and didn’t do them for a while.”
Known as a ‘bad trip,’ mental stress and outside causes can cause the mind to receive hallucinogenics poorly. This leaves the consumer in a bad state of mind, and can even be dangerous for their well being physically and mentally. Prior experienced what the dangers of eating hallucinogenic mushrooms entail one night in high school.
“When I got in trouble, that was a bad [trip] for sure. My friend and I took them; we were being dumb in high school and it was going pretty well, it was going pretty strong,” says Prior. “We were at his house and we were both 17 at the time and his mom was downstairs and asleep. We were being dumb and we did them while she was home. We were up in his room, just have a good time, and we were painting on the wall, which was awesome.
“We decided that we wanted to go outside, then he got all nervous about going outside and his eyes got all wild. I was like, ‘Wait, hey man, we don’t have to go outside,’ but he was already halfway down the stairs. I could tell that he didn’t even, like, recognize me. He went outside and I followed him out there and I couldn’t find him in the backyard. I started walking around the yard looking for him and I started hearing these voices, but I couldn’t recognize the voices and the stars were vibrating and everything was morphing and warping around me.
“I did a lap around the yard and walked back to the patio, and there my friend was, just sitting there in the chair soaking wet. Apparently he had rolled around in the grass or the sprinklers or whatever. I asked him, ‘Can you move? Can you go upstairs?’ and he’s just like, ‘Nooo,’ just like moaning. I couldn’t understand him at all. I thought we'd just wait it out right here. I had my hands and saw teeth and tentacles. It looked like hell to me.
“…Eventually his mom came outside because his dogs were barking and she found us out there. She asked him to let the dogs out or turn off the sprinkler or something like that and he didn’t respond…He was completely limp and soaking wet and cold. His mom started freaking out and asked what was going on I told her we took mushrooms and she freaks out and calls 911.
“While she did that, I’m trying to talk to my friend but his eyes were rolled back in his head and he can’t respond at all- completely in another world. I thought he was dead because he was cold and limp. I picked him up and carried his corpse inside- what I thought was my best friend’s dead body.
“Then the ambulances and cops came and started working on him. The cops asked me what we did and if there was any more of the mushrooms. I got them and handed them to the cops and the paramedics to figure out what was wrong with them, to figure out if they were poisoned, to fix it.
”In hindsight, that’s a terrible idea because that’s what actually got me in trouble was actually having them and handing them to him, but I was just trying to help.
“They shoved some tubes and stuff in his nose and they took my blood.
“My friend was actually fine. I don’t want to say he woke up, because he wasn’t asleep, but he like started looking around and stuff. He was just in another world. As a precaution, they made me go in an ambulance too to the hospital.
“Turns out nothing was wrong with him. Physically he was fine, 100%. All he needed was time.
“I ended up getting a year probation for that. Luckily, I wasn’t 18 yet so I couldn’t get charged as an adult. I did get a felony still for it, but it’s expunged now.”
Stressful situations, like the fear of being in close proximity to parents, can cause the user to have a bad trip. Any type of bad influence has the power to ruin a hallucinogenic trip. Being in a happy state of mind can make all the difference and can negate some of the dangers associated with drugs.
Prior's experience is a great example of how drugs can be dangerous. He says he didn’t take mushrooms for a long time after that, but has since started using them again in safer places such as out in nature and with more friends. He has had other bad trips, but has avoided the law and thoroughly enjoys the effects of mushrooms still.