Just Say Maybe
Focus on Hallucinogens: This is a little gem I've held onto since my friends Ken and Glen mailed it to me as part of a care package when I was working in Alaska after high school. It's from 1991 and out of print but still in near-perfect condition. I wrote children's science books for two years but never wrote one as fun or useful as this. It explains to 9-year-olds everything from neurons to shamans. Rad!
It's basically a My First Reader version of D.M. Turner's The Essential Psychedelic Guide, minus the special section on how much ketamine to inject when you're on DMT and nitrous. The prose is lucid, but the pictures crack me up. Take the cover. Look kids, in a drug free zone, you can do all kinds of things, like play tic-tac-toe. Or even watch people play tic-tac-toe! And remember, friends don't let friends wear non-footie pants.
In some cases the book might be counterproductive: "Have you ever looked at yourself in an amusement park mirror? Look what happened to you! Now, try to imagine that the whole world looked that way to you." Awesome! Where can I get some?
The best pictures are in the chapter on LSD.
The text above this one reminds me of an Ali G interview with a drug expert:
Ali G: And what is its effects?
Guy: You can go paranoid, which means you think people or things are coming at you. It makes your heart race. Your blood pressure can go low, so you can feel a bit woozy sometimes. It’s got a lot of medical effects on the body.
Ali G: And is there any negative effects?
Ali G: Which is the type of acid that actually make you fly?
Guy: No acid makes you fly. Acid can make you think you fly.
Ali G: But ain't there one, cause me mate Dave said that he took this type, and he flew all around the room and then his mum told him to get some ciggies from the shop, and he actually flew there and flew back and was back in like five seconds or whatever, but he'd forgotten to buy ciggies.
This picture just makes me wonder what's wrong with this dude's friends. I mean, he's obviously flipping out about something, and they're just standing there waving at him with those shit-eating grins. Seriously kids, that is your brain on tic-tac-toe.
Hallucinogens are hilarious!
Posted by: | January 29, 2008 at 12:50 PM
do they address why my life is a downward spiral always spinning, spinning, spinning out of control i can't stop it!
Posted by: Mike | January 29, 2008 at 12:50 PM
Your brain on tic-tac-toe! ha!
Posted by: Ben | January 29, 2008 at 12:59 PM
You wouldn't be able to scan this entire book would ya? Sounds like pure class.
Posted by: maz | January 29, 2008 at 01:10 PM
OMG. Amazon has copies for A PENNY. I just got one.
Posted by: Librarian Lady | January 29, 2008 at 01:31 PM
An important lesson that hallucinogens teach us is that our senses and emotions are *always* fallible to some degree. That a small amount of a chemical substance can disrupt those processes can illuminate how those processes work normally. Some find this enjoyable, others don't, and to some this is dangerous. Don't trust your senses (completely), and don't trust the absolute truth that others try to sell you.
Posted by: Dr.Psilo | January 29, 2008 at 01:39 PM
Whats funny is that I think that is some of the most honest and accurate depictions of LSD I have ever seen in any educational material.
On the last page it should read "You can have a REALLY bad trip on LSD that will make you never want to do it again - so take mushrooms instead!"
Posted by: seth brundle | January 29, 2008 at 02:06 PM
NON-FOOTIE PANTS!!
Whenever in doubt when you face a new drug, always ask yourself "What would Dr Hunter Thompson do?".
Posted by: EdibleJesusBears | January 29, 2008 at 03:51 PM
Don't trust your senses , and don't trust the absolute truth that others try to sell you.
Posted by: jhon kaan | January 29, 2008 at 05:22 PM
Don't trust your senses (completely), and don't trust the absolute truth that others try to sell you.
Posted by: jhon kaan | January 29, 2008 at 05:28 PM
I once wore footie pants while on acid. I had to practically chew my whole leg off to get my toes free.
Posted by: mir | January 30, 2008 at 10:15 PM
LSD rules!!!!! I guess most of you have not and won't ever take it, but it's just a-m-a-z-i-n-g. trust me
Posted by: ccccc | January 31, 2008 at 04:02 AM
Ok this has nothing to do with the book but I think I might need to see that silver jacket in flames footage.
Posted by: marisa | February 02, 2008 at 02:13 AM
Wow, this totally brought a hidden memory out of my mind. I saw this book when I was little and it sparked my initial interest in LSD!
Posted by: t5 | February 02, 2008 at 12:31 PM
When I was nine years old, I sure wasn't taking LSD.
Posted by: | February 07, 2008 at 09:36 PM
Anti-drug literature can be very funny, especially when it reaches absurd zone to scare people off drugs. ;) And another funny thing is that it often has the opposite effects, I have known people who were very curious about psychoactives and were swallowing anti-drug leaflets one after another - even a totally negative description is aa good substitute of an actual experience? I have known people who became curious about drugs exactly from reading books which were meant to be scare stories...
Posted by: Nowhere Girl | February 19, 2008 at 04:20 AM
So funny... Please scan the rest of this book!! Being reminded of Ali G's comments - also hilarious!!... Pure class!!
Posted by: Supafly TNT | April 18, 2008 at 03:58 AM
Yo! the book......is very entertaining:)
Posted by: assssssss | January 01, 2009 at 06:10 PM
Halla-louyia!! the book is sooooooo cuuuuute and retarded,not to mention in a good way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)
Posted by: anu:) | January 01, 2009 at 06:16 PM