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The Pinnacle of Reason
Amphetamine
Citation:   Gundy. "The Pinnacle of Reason: An Experience with Amphetamine (exp4463)". Erowid.org. Dec 26, 2001. erowid.org/exp/4463

 
DOSE:
T+ 0:00
30 mg insufflated Amphetamines (powder / crystals)
  T+ 5:00 30 mg insufflated Amphetamines (powder / crystals)
BODY WEIGHT: 220 lb
As these words appear in front of me on my computer screen on this cold winter morning, I am experiencing the last remnants of my first amphetamine high, accompanied by the grand finale of Ravel's Bolero erupting from the stereo. Ok, so it's a predictable choice of music, but some pieces/tunes are sufficiently immortal to withstand extensive playing... but I digress. Yesterday, which would be New Year's Eve, a good friend of mine threw a party at his newly-acquired house, and it progressed in accordance with the Norwegian drinking-tradition, that is to say the All-or-Nothing-routine: Drink infrequently, but when you've first decided to, consume until you reach a massive stupor.

Now,it so happened that early on during the party, which consisted of about 20 people in the proximity of my current age of 19, some friends of mine planned to go do some lines of amphetamine, or Pepper, which is the slang of choice here. I had been pretty ill earlier on, and decided to take it easy. So at roughly 22pm I had consumed five or six beers, and didn't plan to drink more than about twelve in total, which doesn't really do much for me (yes, I am quite a big guy, in perfect accordance with the common view of Norse people... it's no fun being a stereotype). For some reason which I can't quite discern, although it might have had something to do with my joy at recovering so quickly that morning from a mother of all migraines plus a nasty fever, I proposed to chip in.

Three of these friends and myself proceeded to do a line each of about 30mg in cover of the bathroom, and we used a crummy dance-cd cover to snort from. I really got that junkies-hidin-from-tha-law-type sensation, and it was kinda quirky and charming, aside from the bitchin itch in the nasal cavity. We then joined the party with perhaps a slightly exaggerated attempt at being inconspicuous.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect, seeing as my experience with drugs is somewhat limited; I've smoked hash about a dozen times and taken mushrooms twice, the latter being the defining experience for me, but alas I fear I have little to add to the many glorious descriptions of this masterpiece of nature. Suffice to say I enjoyed it tremendously, and it fulfilled all my criteria for the proverbial 'heaven on earth'. Consequently, I kept comparing the two as the amphetamine kicked in. Therein lay my major error, for I soon discovered the opposite nature of these substances; in contrast with the 'shrooms incurring an intense one-on-one with your abstract and subconscious self, I now, after half an hour, felt as if every person and object withheld some special meaning, and that my altruistic discerning of as much of this meaning as possible was my singular purpose.

But, intriguing as this was, I was still waiting for some major effect to kick in. It wasn't until after a couple more hours and the rest of my beer was gone that I realized that the amphetamine's constant plateau of heightened awareness, as opposed to uncontrollable emotion and generally annoying everybody, was the desired effect instead of a stepping stone. I had been waiting for a shift in my perception, but I had not only kept my normal perception, and cancelled out the drowsing effects of the alcohol, but infact gained an entirely new dimension to my sensory skills which, it finally dawned on me, lay entirely at my disposal to play with.

The main difference from standard reality lay in the fluidity of which time moved. It was as though I was in an untouchable zone that moved me around, both physically and spiritually, with the precision and grace of a talented ballerina, as opposed to the lumbering and clumsy movement of regular time. No evil could touch me in this zone; while not completely euphoric, it was a sense of complete acceptance of any events that might occur.

And the dialogues, oh man! I felt like Oscar Wilde as I postulated and jested my way through the crowd, coming up with instant sarcastic and otherwise witty remarks that I never would have even touched upon normally. Again comparing it to mushrooms, I understood that while the rantings one so definitvely believe to be the only true knowledge on a 'shroom trip generally aren't worth recalling(I taped one of the trips, and it was really lame), this was really quality stuff from a much more than sober mind. In regards to the mixing with alcohol, I am uncertain what effect this has on the amphetamine-high, seeing as this was my debut. However, I sort of got the impression that the alcohol neatly embellished the effect of the drug, without compromizing it.

The zone continued for about five hours, and was rapidly wearing off at the sixth. So at 04am, I repeated the bathroom operation with my friends, and as the party wore off I joined one of them in retreating to his house, where I had a riveting conversation with his father, a prominent politician. I could explore every angle of a subject, and decide how to lead it in order to incur the optimal psychological effect. I don't mean to say that I was brilliant or anything, just that the process of choosing words was extremely satisfying, and no matter how trivial a topic was, I found everything genuinely fascinating. I stayed until morning, when I found it best to head for home. The remnants of the Pepper wore out in a nice straight curve. I haven't slept yet, as of 11am.

In retrospect I think that, pleasant experience as it was, I'd do good in restricting the eventual further use of amphetamine to as rarely as possible, preferably never. Although I have felt no urges as of yet, I am aware of the alure of escalating the use gradually without noticing it until you have crossed the line. It's more of a elixir of mental focus than a drug, really. And it cannot be stressed too much that this is not an encouragement to use it; I make these kinds of choices on a basis of learning what I can about any drug I plan on using, and my own relation to it, and then decide if the ride is worth the risk.

Norwegian out.

Exp Year: 2001ExpID: 4463
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Dec 26, 2001Views: 104,316
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Amphetamines (6) : Large Group (10+) (19), First Times (2)

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