“Detail from 1969 Collage:” Copyright 1969 00individual TLL
The Top Classic Fun Drugs of the ’70s!
Introduction
Back in the ’60s and the ’70s, the attitude of the free minds of the counter-culure toward drugs was of experimentation and then understanding.
The everyday mind-set was one of adventure, knowing that the slightest happening would be something much more after a morning bowl.
The dangers of drugs, while true to a certain extent, have been reported ad nauseum, so 00 will instead examine the other side of the coin, the side that can only be related by a ’60’s and ’70s ranking member of REPHR.
The Tribe, those individuals who gladly embraced the historic and extremely rare powerful vibe of the ’60s and the ’70s, is thinning out, and as humans, will eventually transcend.
So, time is of the essence as there are many special subjects to relate for whatever future that lies ahead, many historical subjects have been explored right here on 00’s site, but for now let’s not dwell on the negative side of the drug coin: Tails, no, this is from the positive side of the drug coin: Heads – how convenient, and appropriate.
Heads that survived the many-faceted drug experience knew that the establishment’s hype of the dangers of drugs were not so, when after an indugence of any psychedelic or mind-altering drug was experienced everything seemed clearer, lies were easy to spot, and new concepts were welcomed into the mind that had no place to go before the “Doors of Perception” were opened.
When the anti-drug so-called experts, who had not experienced the effects of drugs became the “experts”, was when the Counter-Culture and other free-thinkers realized that they themselves had more expert information and data and personal experience and therefore they were the experts, the pundits became a joke.
So, the Counter-Culture had the personal and cultural knowledge that the etablishment had yet to get a clue – “You can tell if Marijuana is in use because it smells like burning rope.” That right there is why for a few years, Heads, smart ones, were way ahead of the Law in knowledge and awareness.
It’s fascinating now when 00 looks back, that a unique bond, near telepathic, between members of the Tribe existed for real. For Heads there was an understanding and social link on a level that could only be achieved at a time when many like minds were attuned.
And to quote Hunter S. Thompson:
“There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning.… And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave.…
So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”
So now, here are
THE TOP CLASSIC FUN DRUGS OF THE ’70s!
“00 smoking O – ’70s”
OPIUM
Opium was a rarity among all dealers as most Opium was processed into the much less bulky and more potent and profitable Heroin and thus a more valuable commodity. So, Opium, at least in 00individual’s Tribal gatherings was rare, and in most cases reserved for special occasions.
Here’s what 00individual remembers from smoking Opium: A typical hit can be as lung-expanding as high-grade Hashish, so he took long controlled inhalations that matched the bubbling Tar Opium in the bowl of a long-stemmed pipe.
He then held his hit as long as possible to allow its essence to seep into his brain. As he slowly exhaled the bluish-tinged billowed wisps of smoke he simultaneously French-inhaled to retain the dank, rich taste of the dense, ancient, knowing.
At his point he felt that his brain could taste the Opium. Then a radiating sensation throughout his body soothed his soul and a dreamy sense of peace and love emanated from him into the surrounding environment.
And people wonder why people use drugs.
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“Rendition of 1970s Thai Stick with three strains rolled in hash oil tied with hemp.”
THAI STICKS
It was on the third night, or maybe second, of 00individual’s three nights in a row, front row center, Pink Floyd 1975 L.A. Sports Arena concert that he broke out some righteous Thai stick he had acquired in preparation for the rare momentous occasion.
Coming off the after-effects of the first night’s powerful hit of either White Lightning or Windowpane acid – it only took a few hits of dank Thai Stick to act as a catalyst to re-engage any psychedelic residue and transform it into high-intensity cannabis motivation. 00individual was psyched for another night of the Best Rock Ever: Pink Floyd. Historic!
00individual has been very fortunate throughout his life to have been provided with the ability to actually become heavily motivated from the assist of cannabis. Right On!
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ANGEL DUST / PCP
This was a big hit for most of 1970. In fact, for 00 and his friends ’70 was the Summer of PCP.
This was not your superhuman maniac PCP that was seen and publicised later, no, this was the original “good stuff” utterly peaceful – the “Rocket Fuel” strain came later and that was it for 00.
But the early original strain was great fun; goofy, spacey, tactile-intensive, sensory-distorting, time-warping, laughter-causing, life in a cartoon world mind-bender.
Here’s a true life 00 experience – told in first person:
It all started in the late spring of 1970 when I received a phone call from a fellow dope fiend. He said I needed to come over to Doctor Dean’s pad as he had some Pretty Cool Pot. Being that this was during the ever-evolving very fun period of drug experimentation, he needed say no more, I was there!
Once I arrived I went to the back room where I came upon a half dozen known fiends and was immediately offered a toke of a joint that was being passed around. I took a long slow drag of the strangely-tasting herb and inhaled deeply and before I finished passing the joint I was beginning to feel its effects.
I was slowly melding with the piano bench I was sitting on as it began to move up the side of the room’s wall. By the time the joint came back around to me I was half way up the side of the wall! This was too cool! I took another hit and a peaceful feeling of pure ambivalence overtook me, someone could have come over to me and asked for my wallet and I would have happily obliged, but I was in full control – other than being part of a wooden bench that was attached halfway up the side of the wall.
After some mutual giggling with the other fiends I somehow detached myself, then Doctor Dean told me he was going to Hawaii in a few days and wanted to know if I wanted to purchase some of his PCP stash, I said yes and thus began the beginning of a very memorable psychedelic spring and summer.
If interested the story contines in: EXPERIENCE TRUE PSYCHEDELIC TRIPS! MIND-BLOWER #1 – SUMMER 1970 PRETTY COOL POT
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HASHISH / HASH OIL
Always welcomed! Although a bit pricey for the average Hippie, these potent varieties of Hashish became available; Red or Blonde Lebanese, Afghani, Nepalese, and the smuggled-in from Hawaii righteous Primo Abdhouli #1.
Here’s a true life 00 experience: . . . then for a few nights straight at the Topside Room (00’s above garages pad), Krik, King of the Turn Ons and always generous with his stash, kept a small circle of friends pretty hallucinogenic.
00individual remembers vividly on one night when everyone was sitting on the floor and after several rounds of tokes it felt and looked like the whole room moved and slanted to the point that everyone would slide out through the doorway – and into The Void!
The floor leveled out and everyone were saved from slipping into another dimension.
After a couple nights of ritualistic smoking of this mind-bending Hashish 00individual became a somewhat out-of-body numbed artist at work. One day in the middle of the ongoing while-at-work cosmic hashish high hangover, 00individual got up from his drawing table to go use the darkroom and unknowingly jammed a #11 x-acto blade – that was situated at the edge of the table – right through his jeans and into his leg. It was only when the handle hit the doorway as 00individual walked through did he utter, OW! There stuck in his front mid-thigh was the blade handle surrounded by blood-soaked jean.
In some weird altered state 00individual attributed this incident to Abdhouli and thought that maybe he should stop the Hashish consumption and he did, for one night. And this abstinence made him realize something else – what was he thinking? This was Primo Abdouli #1 Hash! He hasn’t had any since! He was an unenlightened dope to skip a night.
This temporary lapse of reason never happened again, 00individual’s new motto was:
“Take an x-acto blade, but don’t take away a High.”
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MARIJUANA / CANNABIS
One of the main accusations against Marijuana use was that it was a “gateway drug”.
That’s the first offense, Marijuana is not a drug, it is a plant that grows unattended in nature.
The Second offense is that they say that it is a gateway drug – like it’s a bad thing.
Marijuana is not like it is now, back then it was a mysterious element that was forbidden, taboo, something that very few had experienced. And those who did, were privilaged to know things that the rest of society did not.
Sure, Marijuana was great fun, silly sometimes even, but there was the cerebral aspect, a since of knowing, a sense of an awareness that was not there before.
Marijuana broke down the ego, and revealed truths about oneself, as well as the real world.
Some of the high grade strains were: Maui Wowie, Acapulco Gold, Colombian Gold, Panama Red, Afghani, and the ever popular Mexican Dirt Weed – seeds, stems and all.
KIF
The trichome of Marijuana, a green powdery substance that falls from dry Marijuana, is high in THC and other cannabinoid compounds. Purchased in small vials, Kif was a treat and rarely available. Smoked straight like hashish or sprinkled on a bowl or dusted within a rolled joint, Kif was a tasty immediate high.
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THC
Unlike Reds of various types (Lily F40s!) and Speed (Bennies!) which were always available, THC: TetraHydroCannabinol, the active ingredient in Cannabis and one of the oldest hallucinogenic drugs known, was fairly hard to come by and was in the form of a decent-sized brown barrel-shaped tablet. Rare, but really good stuff!
ANIMAL TRANQUILIZERS / ELEPHANT TRANQUILIZERS
These were very similar in shape, size, and color as THC barrels and therefore were sometimes passed off as THC. The distinction was that with THC there is the hallucinogenic factor, with Elephant Tranqs it’s mostly physical – here’s a true life 00 experience:
A dealer 00 knew was working a coping saw on what looked like a huge cheese wheel, but it was a nice rich deep tan color, the same color as the hash he was smoking with another friend. This wheel was at least three inches thick in height and about six inches in diameter. As the thin blade was cutting through the hash, fine crumbles gathered at the base and Mike got up and scooped them into the bowl so we could fire up some more After another hit Mike gave me a short tubular brown “barrel” pill that was supposed to be THC. A few minutes later 00 attempted to get up off the couch when it felt like there were lead weights in his arms, butt, and legs – he couldn’t get up – he literally could not move his muscles.
Mike just laughed as he realized that it wasn’t a barrel of THC that he had given him but an elephant tranquilizer! He wasn’t falsely dosin’ – he had some of both and they looked similar.
So 00 just sat back, as he had no other choice, and let the psychedelic wave of righteous hash swirl around the room in an out of body experience with the sounds of cool jazz absorbing and passing through his tranquil body and mind as he explored the heavens. He enjoyed this altered-state until a while later when he was able to become ambulatory. Groovy!
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MESCALINE
Mescaline was a nice alternative to a full-blown LSD trip. Some may disagree, but because of the inherent spiritual vibe, Mescaline seemed to be a kinder, gentler psychedelic trip. But know this, Mescaline is a world-class hallucinogen and time-distorter – trippy events seem to occur on psychedelics – like attracts like – just ask Alice and Dorothy.
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PSILOCYBIN
A little less common than Mescaline to come by, this naturally occurring psychedelic is produced by more than 200 species of mushrooms.
Human usage of psilocybin mushrooms predates recorded history. Back in the ’70s Psilocybin was commonly taken in tabs or capped gels/pills.
Among 00’s fellow psychedelic adventurers Psilocybin was known as the Psychic Energizer, here’s why;
00 and three psychonauts entered Big Basin Redwood State Park and continued their “Hobo Hotel” accommodations with some more friends they knew in the town of Ben Lomond.
After fun greets of shared music and fine weed, their Brothers suggested they go hiking up a secret deep-forest ravine where they could find old relics like hand-made nails from an old logging mill area and if they ventured further up the ravine they could enter a fantastic “Hobbitland” with massive overgrown vegetation and trees – they would know it once they reached the “hole in the ceiling”.
As they got higher up the ravine – they got higher. Even though they had energy to spare, they would take “psychic breaks” and enjoy another small dose of the Psychic Energizer.
At some point on the trip, even though 00individual knew the whole environment around him was alive, he soon became aware of its intelligence and it was as if he was surrounded by a sentient web of vegetation and felt not as the alien but as a symbiotic member of their world. He felt accepted.
Was this due to a hyper-sensitivity in the plant world to recognize the “mushroom” in his system?
Was he registering enough symbiotic plant life to receive the “love” of the entire plant world that surrounded him?
The further they went up the ravine the more lush and seemingly larger the vegetation became – until they could sit on the huge moss-covered tree trunk roots as if they were big velvet sofas, wait, they were big velvet sofas!
Then as 00 looked around, everything became vibrant, detailed and the greens of the forest were so green they were almost blue and it was like they were in a cathedral with the towering trees supporting a forest ceiling. And then they realized that the trees had given way to a huge semi-circular stone mountain cave opening and just then they all saw it, the “hole in the ceiling” – they had arrived at the entrance to Hobbitland!
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PEYOTE / MAGIC MUSHROOMS
Another somewhat rare psychedelic, these were not readily available and therefore like Thai Sticks, Peyote buttons and mushrooms were considered for special times like concerts, forest explorations, or really anytime, as the organic high could become a trip unto itself. Wildly hallucinogenic and fun but came with the more than likely not so pleasant side efffect of the urge to vomit.
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LSD
By the early ’70s the Tribe had survived and enjoyed all of the rides at Drug World they experienced the ups and downs of Pharmaceutical Land, happily smoked Marijuana, Hashish, PCP and Opium on the Stoned Mountain Islands, ventured into the colorful forests and jungles of Entheogenic Land while tripping on Mescaline, Peyote and Psilocybin and then explored the empowering and stimulating thrills of Cocaine and the warm embryonic hip coolness of Heroin in Extreme Land – but it was LSD Land that had the scariest and most fun rides in the Park!
Here’s a quote about LSD from Albert Hofmann, the Father of LSD, from his speech on his100th birthday:
“It gave me an inner joy, an open mindedness, a gratefulness, open eyes and an internal sensitivity for the miracles of creation. […] I think that in human evolution it has never been as necessary to have this substance LSD. It is just a tool to turn us into what we are supposed to be.”
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COCAINE
Cocaine was Drug World’s “King of the ’70’s”. It was the first drug besides Marijuana to be embraced beyond the counter-culture. It’s popularity was insane, everyone did Coke – it became a staple across the board. While not cheap, cocaine really took off and the hedonistic Disco scene contributed greatly to its popularity and proliference across society to the point of Coke being trivialized as nothing more than “nose candy”.
Cocaine gave one a very uplifting sense of super exhilerating well-being – very addicting tho’.
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HEROIN
If LSD was the scariest and most fun rides in the Park, and Cocaine was Drug World’s “King of the ’70’s”, then Heroin was the icing on the Drug Cake.
Coming off the early-to-mid ’70s Cocaine Fun, 00’s Tribe had been doing Heroin for the past couple years, but they were responsible low-level non-shooting fully-functioning Psychonauts and just dug the whole inner warm and outer cool vibe.
Heroin proved to be the last entree on the Drug World Menu and contributed to the fact they had pretty much gone through everything on the Menu – many times. And rode all the rides at Drug World.
Regrettably, the thrill was gone for 00individual and Tribes across the Nations, not because of drugs, they were just the joyous vehicles they rode to get to this point, it was the daily disappearance of their world, a magickal place they loved to live in, a place where extraordinary events were experienced on a daily basis, a place that no matter where they were, it was home.
00individual turned on the car radio the other day and heard the end of Grand Funk Railroad’s I’m Your Captain (Closer To Home) with the chorus, “I’m getting closer to my home.” And suddenly the whole feeling of the Vibe was right there in those words. That’s what the ‘60s and the ‘70s felt like, everyday felt like getting closer to home – it was a good feeling – still is.
Well, that about does it for the Fun Drugs of the ’70s.
Historically, by the ’70s end, many of these fun drugs just disappeared from the drug marketplace. It was due to a gradual societal shift away from cultural experimentation, and mainly because of economics; drugs that produced a much higher profit dominated; Meth, Cocaine, and Heroin proved that there was no room for efforts in ancillary productions such as PCP, Thai Sticks, Kif, Hashish (Hash and Oil available now at dispensaries), THC, and Opium. Psychedelics took a hit, but are still available, but never again to reach the epic historical heights of the ’70s.
Those who lived the drug culture, to any degree, had their mind and soul altered to revelations that contributed truly greatly to society’s benefit and their own
As Terrence McKenna said, “Life lived in the absence of the psychedelic experience is life trivialized, life denied, life enslaved to the ego.”
This is so true, for once one experiences the psychedelic world, even through Marijuana, the ego is let go.
“Once your consciousness is raised, it can never be lowered.”
– Cereal Boxtop
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00individual sends y’all a rainbow volley of Psychedelic Spirituality.
00INDIVIDUAL 
