DOSE:		oral	Alcohol - Beer/Wine	(liquid)
		oral	2C-I	(pill / tablet)

In about June 2003, a batch of little white tablets embossed with a little ‘i’ found their way into Britain. They were smaller than ecstasy tablets, and from what I hear, more expensive. Most people were selling them as 2CI. Through never having tried 2CB, though always wanting to, I made sure I was in the right place to purchase a few of these little white things. I paid eight pounds a pill, which was a rip-off as they had only cost a pound the previous week and they were exactly the same.

Me and my friend took one each at a party and we had both drank a few beers beforehand. I am sure I felt a little spacey after a few minutes, but it took about 40-45 minutes before there was any discernable effect. Me and my friend were sitting in the back garden, which was dark because it was about half ten at night. I kept seeing people in the corners of my eye, and it was quite difficult to suppress the urge to turn around and look, even though I knew nothing was there. I walked to the end of the garden to urinate and was nearly overwhelmed by the faces and people that seemed to be coming out of every bush, flower, or dark space. I saw meanly embraces of people kissing – nothing sinister – and all the people I saw were people that were at this party. When I sat down it was as if I had been covered by a blanket of hallucinations, and these got progressively stronger until they peaked about the 1 ˝ - 2 hour mark. The effect of the drug oscillated between intense and calm, and this lasted for about two and a half hours. Short term memory must have been impaired as it took me most of the night to become aware of this cycle.

The drug was nothing like LSD, though it resembled this more so than MDMA, or in fact anything else I had taken. There was a bodily feeling similar to LSD that was a minor irritation occasionally, but it was in no way as dominant. With LSD there is a twisting sensation that often corresponds to my thought/emotions, and this causes me to become fixated about what I am going to do next, or necessitates for me to walk about for hours on end. 2CI was not like this; it lacked the lassitude of both mushrooms and acid, and I was quite happy to sit in exactly the same place all night, laughing at peoples’ characteristics and self-induced drunkenness. The visuals were intense and pretty much the most noticeable effect of this drug, but again they were different in structure to those induced by LSD or Psilocybe. There was that characteristic ‘fuzz’ on every surface one comes to expect under the influence of psychedelics, but there were not the constant sizeual Lilliputian-type distortions, where peoples’ faces contort and objects appear to be fluid like water.

Again, unlike with acid or mushrooms, there was not the cascade of fractal patterns on every visible surface, or the morphing of textures that coincide with the twisting sensation within. The colours were also a little toned down then with acid, and the images tended to just appear and then disappear, rather than constantly evolving. At one point I went into the house, which was my first encounter with bright light. I realised just how much I was hallucinating by how strange everyone looked. Some peoples’ faces looked odd but there was no movement in them to decipher why they looked that way. I also couldn’t understand why only some people’s faces looked different. The music sounded excellent; it was distorted in beautiful ways that gave it depth, and was similar to how LSD distorts music (the track that was playing was ‘Gimmie Shelter’ by The Rolling Stones, which is an excellent acid track!)

There was not a euphoria attached to this drug but it did tend to make me laugh a lot, which was why it was so enjoyable. It also had the potential of making music sound incredible, which coupled with the visuals, make the experience very desirable. There was not the anxiety of LSD or mushrooms when things got intense, or the inability to get comfortable, making this a very potentially popular recreation drug. The duration of the effects was ideal (somewhere between 4-5 hours), and it fitted the party atmosphere well. It was without any doubt, one of the best experiences I have ever had.

Despite this there were some potentially dangerous aspects to this drug, in my opinion. I do not know if this was my reaction to it, or simply the reaction of the drug itself. There was certainly a loss-of-ego in parts, normally when things got too intense. I would simply switch off for second or two, and it was not in any way unpleasant. However, there was an incident where I acted very out of character whilst temporarily ego-less, and I will explain it to you.

It was about an hour and a half into the experience, and I had not at this point become accustomed to the drug. I was sitting on the edge of my seat, cowering slightly from the visuals. Two girls came over and took advantage of my inebriation, stroking my head in their arms and babying me. This was not what I wanted; they were invading my personal space and over-stimulating someone who was already over-stimulated. However, it was not threatening and the mock-maternal affection was almost comforting until someone else joined in. Now I am not homophobic, but I am a little more reluctant to accept tactile affection from a man – especially from this particular guy (I think he is secretly gay and uses certain situation like this as vehicles to express his like for me). So he has joined in with these girls. Then I hear:

‘What the fuck! I was just trying to give you a hug – what the fuck are you doing?’ I suddenly become aware I am striking this guy. I am now standing up and this guy is cowering ‘I was only trying to give you a hug mate!’ he says. I lower my hand which is raised for another attack and apologise. I did not even remember standing up, I just found myself in this position – it was as if someone had switched off my ego and turned it back on again several seconds later. It is understandable why I unconsciously lashed out as he had invaded my personal space to a degree that was threatening, and I acted defensively. However people invade my space all the time, in much more threatening ways than this, and I have yet to find myself suddenly attacking them with no memory of how it started. That night I also lost my temper with a girl who was just being totally unreasonable, and although I was justified, I would not have normally said anything. I certainly would have avoided the situation if I was tripping!

I did not have those transcendent moments like on acid, where everything seems to make perfect sense and I feel completely united with the cosmos. It definitely lacked the spiritual side of both acid and mushrooms, not that it bothered me at the time. Perhaps if I had been on my own in the countryside things would have been different, I suspect so. This was the first time I had taken it so I can not be certain of anything. Despite the absent qualities that both acid and mushrooms have, 2C-I was certainly more fun and appealing to take at a party, and I hope to try it again. However, I would imagine the temporary loss-of-ego could be dangerous to certain individuals in certain instances. Perhaps the loss-of-ego aspect could be exploited in psychotherapy? I would be interested to compare 2CI to 2CB; perhaps 2CI is just a paler version of its bromide companion?

Exp Year: 2003	ExpID: 35046
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Apr 5, 2005	Views: 16,238
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2C-I (172) : First Times (2), Large Group (10+) (19)