Recreational Substances

A Hefty Preamble

Skip this part if you just wanna see images and stuff

The thought first occured to me while visiting a friend in Seattle of April 2015. I wanted to make a chart that plotted some of the world's most widely used recreational substances (of which we will call rec-subs for brevity), but do so in a visually enguaging way. I was also going through a phase where I was enamored with 19th century woodcuts and Victorian depictions of greek mythology and wanted to encorporate that somehow. I mean that's the era when the British were on fire; colonies accross the globe, Social Darwinism was weilded wontonly, and science was setting the stage for the 20th century. I realize after I typed that and with the hindsight of history that the previous statement sounds a bit forboading, but nonetheless! I liked the air of certainty and confidence the medical and scientific illustrations of that time exuded and somehow wanted to capture that in the piece I was pondering.

The next thing I wanted it to say was that certain rec-subs were...lesser than others in a philisophical sense. As in certain substances triggered very base level, reptilian brain, instincts that simply hit the pleasure button or stimulate the brain into unfocused hyperactivity. While others seemed to promote high level, human brain, concepts that embued people with empathy and bridge gaps in understanding of themselves and of the universe. And of course, to support this statement I would need some good ol' scientific rigor! After a little wikipedia action I more or less had a pretty good list of the most widely used (or currently popular) rec-subs out there. What populated my list was...

Alcohol

DMT

Caffeine

Heroin

Salvia (Salvinorin-B)

MDMA

Cocaine

Psilocybin Mushrooms

LSD

Tobacco (Nicotine)

Marijuana (THC)

Meth

Ketamine

Barbituates (Downers)

MDPV

Mescaline

Needless to say it covered a spectrum of substances that are everyday to us and others that are considered by the law to be no-no illegal. As you might be guessing, I would have to take every substance on this list... for science! Well you'd be wrong, sorry. I did the next best, and subsequently more boring approach by creating a survey on SurveyMonkey that asked people about thier experiences on the mentioned rec-subs. I linked this survey to a few appropriate subs on Reddit (r/drugs, r/psychonaut, r/drugstashes) and a blast on Facebook. At the end of a two week period I had raked in 55 participants, wooh! I was extatic and flattered people would actually respond. I made sure to read them all. By the end of this review I realized I had done this whole affair haphazardly. The survey only asked two questions; "Out of this list of drugs how many have you used before," and "Describe your experience while under their effects." While the experience was the most important data to me, I neglected to get dose amounts, check if they had taken the rec-subs alone or mixed with others, etc. So to bring some data with more quantifyable substance, I spent quite a bit of time on Erowid. A friend had pointed me to this site and said it would be the best bet as their "vaults" had all the peripheral data I needed as well as more detailed substance experiences. Seriously, its an awesome site. Thank you Erowid!

At this point the data supported my general hypothesis more or less. Substances that occupied the low level (reptilian/brain stem) were heroin, cocaine, tobacco, alcohol, caffeine, Meth, and barbituates. Based on the experiences, these rec-subs simply hit pleasure centers, gave a basic or accute boost in hyperactivity, enhanced the desire for sex, or in many cercumstances, just dulled the wits. Mid level (sapien/limbic brain) were marijuana, ketamine, MDMA, MDPV, and salvia. These substances expanded or deconstructed perspectives and concepts, promote understanding and empathy for others. And lastly, high level (human/cerebrum) rec-subs were LSD, DMT, mescaline, and psilocybin mushrooms. Many accounts stated these substances allowed people to uncover and reveal insights about themselves and the universe that changed them for the rest of their lives.

So I guess the TLDR version of this whole preamble is that it was a fun project. With other projects, a day job, etc it took around nine months. I wanted to make an art piece that was both visually engaging and also informed those that looked at it, but while being a little enigmatic about how it tells you that information. I hope I succeded. If you managed to read my rambling up until this point, you are a marvelous human being and thank you for taking your time to read :)

*Note: I'm paraphrasing ALOT when it comes to my findings. I understand that experiences vary widely with dosage, physiology, and metabolism from person to person. This was a fun little project and as much as I'd like to make a full scientific investigation into this area, I've got a day job and other projects going. I am also aware that many rec-subs of what I listed as mid and high level can also have negative and potentially damaging effects. That is why I do not promote the use of these substances lightly. It is always advised to go in with the right frame of mind, a balanced understanding of yourself personally, and an inquiring mind.