Newsgroups: alt.drugs
From: an40496@anon.penet.fi (Holden Caulfield)
Date: Fri, 26 Nov 1993 22:55:37 UTC
Subject: Re: Desirable Blotter Adulterants


From: Nathan.Bowen 
Subject: Desirable Blotter Adulterants

> Nathan.Bowen  writes:

>        A few acquaintances of mine have been known to say things 
>about how their last hit of acid had "too much strychnine," or to 
>say that one shouldn't let acid sit around too long because "it 
>decomposes into rat poison."  It wasn't too difficult to dispell 
>those rumors, at least among the reasonable folk.  However, a few 
>other myths about adulterants haven't died out.
>
>Another says he can get it laced with heroin.  A few people believe 
>they have taken blotter laced with PCP.  In general, this all 
>sounds _very_ unlikely to me, but my stand is based on intuition 
>and a sense that there's just not enough capacity on a square of 
>blotter for significant "lacing" with anything other than LSD.
> 
>        Does anyone have any references to respectable studies done 
>on this subject?  I don't need strychnine information, it's the 
>"desirable" adulterants that I'm discussing.  Some people _want_ 
>their acid "laced with speed", or heroin, or PCP.  I don't doubt 
>that there are several different strengths of blotter going around 
>this area.  I would even believe that there are batches in 
>circulation that are composed, in some amount, of other LSD-related 
>compounds.  But I find it hard to be genuinely worried about 
>finding blotter that's been dusted with PCP.
> 
>        Any and all information you can provide would be appreciated.


A reference: "The Physician's Guide to Psychoactive Drugs" by David E. Smith
and Richard Seymour.  I had it out from the library  here recently and can 
provide ISBN or publisher if necessary.  David Smith is the editor (and 
founder) of The Journal of Psychoactive [previously Psychedelic] Drugs, and  is
also the founder of the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic, and pioneer of the talk- 
down method of treatment for LSD panic attacks, and is not likely to be 
propagating scare stories and urban legends (However, there are a number of 
minor mistakes in the book that really shouldn't be made by someone who knows
what they are talking about, for example, "ketamine" is listed among the other
names for PCP, without the fairly important clarification that this is a 
different chemical, albeit with similar effects.)

Anyway, they say DOB, 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyamphetamine, is potent enought to 
be used in blotter form, and has been found in blotter form.  The blotters
are described as "golden tiles"- a yellow and white checkerboard design, and
"golden eagles"- a yellow bird on green background, something like that. 
I don't recall the area where these were found (or if that was in the book), 
the book was published sometime in the early eighties.  By the way, I   
can remember all this off the top of my head because I had read on this 
group that only LSD is active enough to be put on a blotter, so by buying 
blotter LSD you didn't have to worry much about substitutes or adulterants,
and so I was very interested when I read about blotter DOB.  

However, the effective, typical dose that Seymour and Smith quote is 1-5 mg.
5 mg sounds high for a blotter, would 1 mg be plausible?  I think 1-5 mg also
agrees with what I've read elsewhere.

It seems to me that someone selling blotter DOB might pass it off as LSD,   
simply because LSD is known and accepted.  I believe the duration, and  
probably other aspects of the trip too are different from LSD, but the effect
is LSD-like in a general sense, or so I read.  I would imagine that an 
inexperienced LSD user could take DOB and not know the difference.  Maybe 
DOB is fairly desirable on its own anyway.  However, there is a very       
undesirable side effect, vascular spasms, I forget the details, but it's 
very bad.  I can't remember if this is the result of normal doses or 
very high doses.  Something about one case involving a death ( I think, 
but I'll look the book up and get the details as they give them) , another 
involving amputation of legs.  I have read elsewhere that if the problem
had been correctly treated at first the amputations would have unecessary.
One of them was aware it was DOB, the other thought it was LSD.  
I would imagine that people aware of the potential for vascular spasms would
probably not knowingly take DOB.