Do I use drugs? Yes. Not extremely frequently. Maybe, one substance once a month. No regulars as of lately. No regular drinking/smoking either.

I definitely think drugs should be used cautiously in general, and not everyone should try every substance. If you have any conditions which might be exacerbated by drug use, you should definitely abstain, as a rule.

Drugs, any drug, in my opinion, are okay to use; so long as they are ENHANCING your life, not taking away from it, or becoming CENTRAL to it. I also always test the drugs I acquire prior to ingestion (test kits are like 20 bucks for marquis, mecke, mandeline, so why the hell not?)

Drugs I have tried, in the order I have tried them, with my age of first trying them in parenthesis:

Alcohol (16) (pretty basic starting point for most). This is the drug I've had the most unpleasant experiences with, which, I contend, is my fault, not the drug's, but still, I avoid this one if I want to feel altered. If I just want a light buzz, sure.

Tobacco (16) (in the form of hookah/shisha) : pretty pleasant little head rush from smoking for a while, but pretty lame compared to

Weed (17) : Smoking weed was immediately more appealing than either tobacco OR alcohol, but I have a gnarly tolerance (not from use; I mean I have to smoke loads even if I've taken a year off). Smoking "medical" quality tends to get me high for 1/2 an hour or so after I blast a bowl. Too much redosing. Edibles are cool though. Very nice, social drug for me. Usually no paranoia.

MDMA (~18): Crazy fun first experience, gurning, the whole 9 yards. Rolled with my (then, to-be) girlfriend, and we had a blast. Euphoria, empathy, gurning, the whole 9 yards. Not a very strong urge for me to do this in public though, again, I prefer it in small groups of friends.

2C-B (19): Very cool and light first psychedelic.

DOC (19) : Was trying to get LSD, got some DOC instead. Very speedy and fun high, not super interesting though, only tried it the once.

2-FMA and Adderall/Amphetamines (19) : Used a bit for my final semesters of college. Very functional drugs, with very little euphoria for me. I do see how if they had any more euphoria, this drug class (stimulants) might be "too good" though.

MXE (19): My first dissociative. Very weird and variable for me. In low doses, like a “better” drunk feeling, in high doses, very weird and largely unpleasant. A definite melancholy.

Shrooms (19): Very strong first trip (5g's). Knocked me on my ass, and while it was overall a positive experience, it was also my first time having any "negative" thoughts during a trip. These helped me to fix some thing about myself, I feel.

LSD (the real stuff) (20): 5 tabs the first time, another very intense experience which left it as my favorite substance. Less stoney than shrooms, great length of the experience (unless you have something to do, then it's a drag to schedule).

Mescaline (20) : I had the extracted alkaloids, dosed around 560mg, and had a very good time. Softer than LSD, but after this experience, I think it is tied for my favorite.

4-ACO-DMT (20): Very similar to shrooms, felt identical to me (and what limited research there is suggests it is just the same as mushrooms anyway), maybe a little "cleaner". Easier to dose than shrooms.

5-MEO-DMT (20): Termed the "power" to DMT's "Glory". I was very hesitant and cautious with this drug, and never got the full experience I don't think. Mostly insufflated, and I did not have a vaporizer pipe.

Kratom (20): A very, very, mild and mellow substance. I hesitate to include it is was so mild.

Ketamine (21): Interesting, more of a "sideways" compared to "ups" "downs" or "psychedelics", though definitely similar to MXE and LSD, I would say.

Future use:

AL-LAD

AMT

DiPT

DOT (Aleph)

DMT

DXM

GHB

LSA

LSZ

The rest of Shulgin’s “magical half dozen: 2C-E

2C-T-2

2C-T-7

As I have said, I'm a fan of LSD and Mescaline the most so far. I've only tried LSD 3 times, and mescaline once. Most of the other drugs are once/twice. None are repeated frequently, ever. Strong stimulants (Meth, 4-MAR) or strong opiates (Heroin, Oxycodone, Fentanyl) scare me too much to try. I think they are definitely over-hyped in terms of danger/addictiveness (science backs this up), but I have no desire to "tempt fate" with these substances at this time. Substances which can be used safely, which enhance social situations or which put me in a novel mindstate are interesting, and recreational. I think they have broadened my thinking to a certain degree.

After my initial interest in drugs, I wound up switching my major to neuroscience, I graduated with that degree in 2014. I did a small original research project involving ketamine as a treatment for depression in a rodent model as part of my graduation requirements.