Why I am looking at the floor?

December 17, 2010 5:14 PM

Wired 96.3's Ryder smokes salvia live on air [SLYT]
posted by ddaavviidd (41 comments total)

I made a video just like this about the evils of masturbation. I have a link here somewhere....
posted by cjorgensen at 5:17 PM on December 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

I'm so happy psychedelics are entering the public spotlight in a relatively positive tone.
posted by Taft at 5:23 PM on December 17, 2010

who had smoked Salvia once before, vowing to never do it again......

Same here. Ick. Imagine falling down a metallic elevator shaft. Forever.
posted by Big_B at 5:24 PM on December 17, 2010

The relevance of this is that Miley Cyrus was filmed smoking this stuff recently. Otherwise, this video is pretty lame.
posted by jabberjaw at 5:24 PM on December 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

Maybe I should have watched the rest of the video before saying that.
posted by Taft at 5:26 PM on December 17, 2010

Who knew doing drugs would cause kids to go on Canadian talk radio? Maybe Nancy Reagan was right all along.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:26 PM on December 17, 2010 [3 favorites]

I sorta like the idea of doing something you don't believe in so that you can convince others it should be illegal. There is a twisted double logic in there somewhere... "logic within logic"?
posted by greenhornet at 5:26 PM on December 17, 2010

This is some stupid shit.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 5:27 PM on December 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

Sigh. Salvia is just an unfun thing. Takes the recreational out of recreational substances. It's like someone going "I'd like to have a drink please" and then giving them a glass of Bacardi 150 and benadyrl. Blech.
posted by The Whelk at 5:28 PM on December 17, 2010 [6 favorites]

I blame the negative effects on that woman's commentary.
posted by gman at 5:28 PM on December 17, 2010

Great. They want to give everyone a "realistic' impression of what it's like to smoke Salvia by having some dude smoke it on the air. Thanks , real helpful!
posted by Liquidwolf at 5:28 PM on December 17, 2010

Every attempt I have made at smoking Salvia has been fucked up by how bad it tastes, I can feel my mind trying to slip away and enjoy it but HOLY FUCK THAT TASTES BAD keeps me grounded in reality.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 5:28 PM on December 17, 2010

a glass of Bacardi 150 and benadyrl

I love the nightlife, I like to boogie.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:29 PM on December 17, 2010 [8 favorites]

"I am really emotional right now." Give me a break. This is such a bullshit shock jock performance. And 20x is too weak to do much of anything at all, if I remember correctly. No one gets angry and throws a temper tantrum while on salvia. You don't "do" much of anything, really. You just lie down on your couch and don't say a word and explore the n-space mental architecture and then you reflect on it later and achieve a powerful intuitive understanding of the nature of the universe. Like most hallucinogens, it's only harmful if you don't educate yourself and be safe and respect the experience and the substance.
posted by naju at 5:29 PM on December 17, 2010

Ah, salvia. The cause and solution to all... what... the.... .. .. ......


Mommy.
posted by Splunge at 5:30 PM on December 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

Good god. Absolute bollocks. Proof positive that mediocrity is rampant. None of those idiots should be allowed anywhere near any media equipment ever again.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 5:31 PM on December 17, 2010

Usually, the purpose of the radio stunt is to poke fun at the people who think you shouldn't be allowed to do that stunt. This is an odd reversal.
posted by roll truck roll at 5:31 PM on December 17, 2010

And 20x is too weak to do much of anything at all

Are you insane? It's overkill. Even 6x is plenty strong.
posted by Liquidwolf at 5:32 PM on December 17, 2010

Oh sorry, you might be right Liquidwolf. It's been a few years since I lived in a state where it was legal. I think I did 40x, for what its worth.
posted by naju at 5:34 PM on December 17, 2010

Oh, FFS.

I've never done salvia and have no desire to. This doesn't mean that I get to tell other people that they shouldn't try it. I've had my own hallucinogenic drug experience, and I don't feel like having another one (right now).

Isn't it ironic how the jock disdainfully dismisses caffeine as being a drug? Donchya think?
posted by King Bee at 5:35 PM on December 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

This is how good things become illegal. A raving idiot who had a bad trip because he ignored the rules of responsibility. And he's making definitive statements to the public.
posted by Liquidwolf at 5:36 PM on December 17, 2010 [3 favorites]

I looks like salvia falls about halfway between pot and model glue.
posted by bonobothegreat at 5:36 PM on December 17, 2010

Like most hallucinogens, it's only harmful if you don't educate yourself and be safe and respect the experience and the substance.

Hey, I'm not anti-drug or anything, but, uh, this is just wrong. You can educate yourself all you want but if you have undiagnosed mental problems and drop some acid, it'll harm you. Just sayin'.
posted by incessant at 5:37 PM on December 17, 2010

I looks like salvia falls about halfway between pot and model glue.

It's good mind expanding stuff if you do it right. ( by that I mean : Not under flourescent lights in a radio studio on the air, at a party, while drunk , etc.)
posted by Liquidwolf at 5:39 PM on December 17, 2010

Fair enough, incessant. Marijuana is also harmful if you have undiagnosed mental problems.
posted by naju at 5:40 PM on December 17, 2010

The one time I tried it, I used 40x. By far the worst--and by worst, I mean least fun--drug I've ever done. Hated it.
posted by TrialByMedia at 5:44 PM on December 17, 2010

This made me so fucking mad; there's something so utterly crazy about the anti-drug hysteria, the desire to make this illegal because it gets you high, and for no other reason than an altered mental state is inherently evil, bad, and destructive. Not because it's dangerous- although they'll throw out trumped up bullshit "studies" and the like to try to prove it- but because this country and its mindless drone inhabitants are terrified of anything different or novel. The idea of altering one's mind outside of culturally approved drugs like alcohol, cigarettes, sugar, and coffee is seen as intrinsically "bad", and for no good reason. It's fucking insanity.

I personally have loved the few salvia trips I've gone on, and am livid at the thought of stupid people deciding they want to make illegal something I've happily and healthy engaged in, and is causing no harm. I know I shouldn't expect any better from stupid shock jock morons, but still... this kind of thinking is a psychic poison in our nation's collective mindset.

These idiots saying I should be put in prison for the possession or use of salvia, which is currently legal in most states including my own, is no different than putting someone in prison for going to church on Sunday. And I'd sure like to see that done as some pea-brained drive-time radio bit...
posted by hincandenza at 5:45 PM on December 17, 2010 [4 favorites]

This is the most idiotic thing I've seen all week. I love the conceit that we can tell the effects a drug is having on a guy by watching a video of him wandering a studio, much less listening to him over the radio. How do people not know this is silly? Crappy radio talk shows are not science. Salvia is idiotic and lame, but this video is on about the same level; and frankly if they're gonna outlaw anything, I'd rather it was radio shock jocks.
posted by koeselitz at 5:46 PM on December 17, 2010

Salvia is idiotic and lame,

Why do you think so? You must have a personal reason for that opinion.
posted by Liquidwolf at 5:50 PM on December 17, 2010

incessant: Hey, I'm not anti-drug or anything, but, uh, this is just wrong. You can educate yourself all you want but if you have undiagnosed mental problems and drop some acid, it'll harm you. Just sayin'

I don't know; I've certainly got undiagnosed mental problems (unless the TGS on Metafilter that hates my friggin' guts are all licensed psychiatrists), but I've done acid, mushrooms, salvia, pure MDMA, DMT, and ayahuasca, and other than the come down on LSD and mushrooms where I get introspective and depressive I've found that I'm often at my most happy and well-adjusted during and for some period after I've used these drugs. As I said in this comment some time ago, I believe my mental health and well being could be achieved more by a shamanic ayahuasca trip than by years of therapy.

Someone on the blue a while ago posted something on a drug thread that I wish I could find: that the most amazing thing drugs can teach you is the resiliency and gift of human rationality, that even after going bonkers on an acid trip, somehow our brains basically return to 'normal' and to this shared rational worldview of causality and communication.

This idea that drugs are evil, that hallucinations or trips are bad, or that people with mental issues are going to go 100% powderkeg if they do them (which is really part and parcel of the "One trip and you'll end up destroying your life!" anti-drug hysteria, such as the ridiculous orange juice LSD man story anti-drug warriors peddle), is the real problem. Even some well-known sociopaths/serial killers have historically used hallucinogenic drugs and it doesn't seem to have been the cause of or accelerant to their psychosis or evil behavior. And countless more use these drugs and return to basically their same mental state as before (albeit having had a powerful experience that can't help but make them contemplate their life and spiritual/philosophical beliefs).
posted by hincandenza at 5:56 PM on December 17, 2010 [3 favorites]

and by worst, I mean least fun--drug I've ever done

It's not a party drug. Depending on the experience, It might show you some things you're not ready to see, and it might reveal some things about yourself that you're not comfortable with. I don't think this makes it a bad or worthless experience, though. It certainly changed my life for the better.
posted by naju at 5:57 PM on December 17, 2010

HEY KIDS DON'T HIT YOURSELVES IN THE HEAD WITH A BALL PEEN HAMMER AND JUST TO PROVE IT HERE'S RICK WITH A BALL PEEN HAMMER HOW'S THAT HEAD DOIN' RICK NOW HERE'S MISTY WITH THE TRAFFIC AND WEATHER

I like drugs. I don't care to try salvia. I don't give a damn what other people choose to take. But I fucking hate talk radio stunts.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 6:06 PM on December 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

Every play Defcon? Well, at a certain point in the game, if enough nukes are launched over the world, the soundtrack changes to very, very minor-key ambient and the sound of crying women and children.

According to my ex-girlfriend, that was not the best music to hear coming out of the living room while smoking salvia.
posted by griphus at 6:06 PM on December 17, 2010 [3 favorites]

I've tried Salvia a couple times. For me it was really a short ride through wonderland with a very short entry and exit period. It's very interesting but not terribly "fun" and too short to really get into. I doubt very much that anyone can gain any useful insight by watching one random person take it (particularly this guy).

You can educate yourself all you want but if you have undiagnosed mental problems and drop some acid, it'll harm you

Everyone has mental problems, acid will highlight them for you. That's why it's so useful. People who have severe undiagnosed mental problems cannot be "set off", they have a condition. Certain situations will expose that condition and some will expose it beyond the persons ability to rationalize it. LSD can do that even at low doses, but that's just a reason to exercise caution not throw out the baby with the bath water.
posted by doctor_negative at 6:09 PM on December 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

OK, so the premise here is that it should be illegal because it can be uncomfortable? Because it's intense? For a few minutes? He was safe. He sat and babbled for a few minutes and didn't seem to be having a good time.

I've smoked salvia a handful of times, I might never smoke it again, but I found it on the balance to be pretty enjoyable and satisfying. Not fun, but nice in its own way. Yes for those 5 minute spans my safety was entirely dependent on other people. I didn't really do much of anything just sort of sat down and closed my eyes and saw things that weren't there. It wasn't enlightening, I was not transformed, but I got to experience something really, really, different from ordinary reality and I'm grateful for that. If I told you about my internal experience it would probably sound sort of silly, because I got to experience impossible things.

Salvia might be very bad for you. I doubt it and I doubt that it is likely that many people will do it often enough to experience those negative effects. I doubt it will ever become a societal problem, it is not for everyone, it is not something most people would want to do more than a couple times a year, and it lasts for a sufficiently short period of time and so incapacitates the user that it is unlikely that people who have no interest in the drug will have to interface with it or people using it at all.
posted by I Foody at 6:15 PM on December 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

I think they should try Jenkem next. Probably more suited to their palate.
posted by Dark Messiah at 6:15 PM on December 17, 2010 [3 favorites]

So we are all agreed, we are all sticking with Four Loko then?
posted by Keith Talent at 6:17 PM on December 17, 2010 [6 favorites]

I can't be the only one who was sitting here for a few moments wondering why anyone would smoke saliva.
posted by amyms at 6:18 PM on December 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

I get my best writing done under a balanced dosing of salvia. Prior to the point of hallucination, salvia is the ideal catalyst for bring about a deeply introspective state of mind. Whoever is against that wise sage hates thoughtfulness.
posted by TwelveTwo at 6:18 PM on December 17, 2010

So let me get this straight -- you can do drugs on the radio, but you can't be seen drinking a beer on the teevee?

Fucking CRTC...
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:21 PM on December 17, 2010

Having done a lot of various hallucinogenic plants, and pure chemicals as well, I finally can speak of something I know.

Salvia can be rather daunting to the first timer. First of all, most of the grades of salvia that you can buy, are rated by their strength. That strength number is generally decided by the people selling them. It has to do with extracting the active agents and recombining them with the natural leaf.

Normally, 1x is 1 times the potency of the natural plant.

Thus 35x would be 35 times the power of the 1x. In reality the people that sell it overstate the potency by a lot.

I've had 35x that was weak and 5x, in a particularly interesting instance, that was very powerful.

I would suggest that anyone who has no experience with powerful hallucinogenics passes salvia by.

Not only because the strength is such a variable, and it can be. But because as a plant substance, dosing is always, a crap shoot. That is always.

Sometimes you put a tiny bit into your pipe. You fire it up and toke it. One time you flame it longer, the next time even longer. One time you inhale it and exhale it. The next time you hold it in for a longer time.

The usual is 30 or 40 seconds. But by the time 10 seconds passes, maybe you just forget to exhale. Hey, it happens.

Once you are in the world of salvia your perception of reality is GONE. And I mean GONE. If you get enough in your brain, you no longer know that you are experiencing an altered reality. I don't know how to stress this enough. The drug reality is where you have been, forever. If it's fun, no problem. But let's face it, some people have bad trips. And if you are in a hell of recursive hells, you might not like it. Right?

So then your body might want to get up and run around. And if you decided to smoke a bowl in a China shop, you might flail around and break things. Or you could break your head.

None of what I have written so far describes what you experience with salvia. And that's for a reason. While there are shared experiences, there is no fucking way that my words can prepare you for what you will see, feel and think.

A few rules.

1. Don't do it alone.
2. Don't do it with anything else. Don't get drunk and decide that salvia is a good idea. Don't mix it with weed. Or anything. Even nicotine or caffeine. Trust me.
3. Have a sitter. A sitter is someone that doesn't mind watching you become a drooling moron for a short while. And is probably close to you, so that when you hear their voice, it will soothe you. Not some moron that feels like fucking with your head when you're in another dimension. And in certain instances they should be a bit stronger than you, to keep you from leaving your chair or bed.
5. Don't do salvia if you are prone to paranoia. This is very important. As well don't do it in an uncontrolled setting.
6. If any of this is scary to you, don't do it.
7. Don't do it and film it. Idiot.
8. Fuck, just don't do it. Leave a few fun drugs legal.

Disclaimer: All of the above is for entertainment only. Anything you read on the internet is suspect. All of what I wrote is bullshit. Do Not Taunt Happy Fun Ball. YMMV. Close cover before striking.
posted by Splunge at 6:28 PM on December 17, 2010 [1 favorite]