DOSE:

smoked

Opium

(tar / resin)

BODY WEIGHT:

140 lb

This experience occured about 10 years ago, and it provided just enough of an opiate experience to provide insight into these dangerous drugs.

I was in university at the time, and by then had a pretty broad range of drug experiences including LSD, Cannabis, Triazolam, Alcohol, and pscilocybin. I had always intended to avoid the rapidly addictive drugs like morphine, heroin, cocaine and opium and had I known what drug I would be smoking that night, I would have declined.

I was invited to a party by a friend, and this party was out of our usual social circles. He had met a woman at a bar and she invited him. It was in a rather small apartment and there were only 8 or so people there. We were sitting in a small, dimly lit room and the mood was quite mellow. The woman brought out a pipe and began to load it up with a brown substance. Nobody mentioned what it was, and I assumed it was just Hash. The pipe went around and I took several hits. It didn't taste like hash, or smell like it. Expecting to get a hash high, I was surprised to discover that I wasn't getting 'High' at all. I commented that the hash was kind of weak and was informed that we were smoking Opium.

They looked concerned, but I didn't care and told them so. As a matter of fact, I felt decidedly tranquil and sober at the same time. Unlike the highs I was familiar with, Opium seemed to leave the thought process intact, as if at baseline. But it had a profound effect on emotion. It ELIMINATED it. I had no emotion at all. Not happy. Not sad. Not nervous. This lack of emotion left the mind clear. I was perfectly content to stare at the wall and be blank. Most drugs provide escape from reality by altering the perception of it. Opium provides escape from it by removing all concerns about it.

I didn't notice any strong physical effects. No buzzing, no spinning or dry mouth. As a matter of fact, I felt completey capable of doing complex tasks like driving. It wasn't the deceptive confidence of alcohol, but the true, intact baseline ability to do those things. Stripped of emotion and anxiety, I could concentrate better on the tasks at hand. Perhaps at a higher dose this ability would have been impacted.

The woman mentioned that she had been binging on the stuff for two weeks by then, and that she didn't think she could stop. The tranquil, emotionless feeling lasted for perhaps 6 more hours. There is a definate comedown though. I began to feel a pain in my lower back and a low grade headache. Most frightening however, was an urge to do more. It seems so gentle and mild, that it was hard to belive that this drug generated millions of 'opium fiends' over the years. It is hard to imagine that something so mild and gentle can wreak utter havoc with your body after a short while.

It's deceptive.

Exp Year: 1995	ExpID: 36619
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jul 28, 2007	Views: 39,148
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Opium (63) : General (1), First Times (2), Small Group (2-9) (17)