DOSE:

insufflated

2C-T-2

(powder / crystals)

BODY WEIGHT:

125 lb

I found the 2-ct-2 at a music festival on BC’s Vancouver island. It was the last day of the festival, and a bunch of us were sitting by our campsite on the beach late at night, making music and sharing the last of our food. Often times, strangers would come by and join us around our fire.

Previously that night, two of my friends had taken something they thought was ecstasy, but turned out to be much more psychedelic. We were talking about what it might have been, throwing around names like 2-cb and 2-ct-7. One of the strangers that had joined us heard our conversation, and asked if any of us would be interested in 2-ct-2. I perked up right away; I hadn’t yet had a chance to try any of the 2C family, and this seemed like a golden opportunity. The guy was willing to sell a lot of it for very cheap, as he hadn’t enjoyed it.

“I took some, threw up, and fell asleep for twenty hours, man,” he said. My friend that was originally interested in getting some with me instantly decided not to, but I knew enough about 2-ct-2 to know that this guy’s experience wasn’t the norm. We didn’t have a scale available, so he eyeballed out a full quarter of the gram that he had. 250mg of 2-ct-2 for an unbelievable price; I couldn’t believe my luck!

Another friend of mine and I intended on trying it when we got back to the city. I was visiting from out east, though, and our busy schedules and limited time meant this didn’t end up happening, and the 2-ct-2 came home with me. It sat in my closet for a few weeks, as I didn’t have a proper milligram scale and didn’t have access to one. Unfortunately, a slew of incredibly positive experiences with drugs gave me an insane confidence with them, and one night after having a few drinks with some friends, I decided, “What the hell, I’ll try just a tiny amount!”

At least I think that’s what I decided. I don’t actually clearly remember the actually point of dosing. I’m pretty positive I snorted it, as I do remember that painful feeling in my nose. I also remember thinking that I would try just the very tip of a key, so I don’t think it was even a lot. That’s the part that scares me. I could have easily taken a lot more then I should have. The most common dose of 2-ct-2 I have seen is 20mg ingested, 10-12mg insufflated. That’s really not a lot of material. In my alcoholic haze I could have easily taken way too much, which would have had serious repercussions for my health, and my life. I can’t stress how stupid it was of me to do this without measuring my dose properly. ALWAYS MEASURE YOUR DOSES, especially when dealing with chemicals like 2-ct-2 that aren’t very well studied.

[Erowid Note: Two samples of powder (even of the same chemical) with equivalent volumes won't necessarily weigh the same. For this reason, eyeballing is an inaccurate and potentially dangerous method of measuring, particularly for substances that are active in very small amounts. See this article on The Importance of Measured Doses.]

With that being said, on to the experience itself. I apologise that I don’t have a proper timeline. I think the approximate time I took the chemical was 4:30 in the morning.

I was listening to Helios, an incredible ambient artist that I have been listening to for years, and who I’ve often reached for when having solo experiences with Ketamine. As I came out of the alcohol haze and as the drug really started to kick in, I was blown away by the sounds coming from my small desktop speakers. My roommates were sleeping on the other side of the wall, so I brought the speaker close to my ear so I could hear better. Saying that my mind was blown isn’t quite enough - I was, for some time, completely consumed by the music. I use a program that tracks what I listen to and puts it together in a chart, and according to my history I listened to almost the entirety of one of Helios’ albums. So, I was probably in that world of being completely absorbed into the music for fourty five minutes, maybe an hour.

The first visual that I remember was staring down at the tiny, orange led light on the speaker. It seemed.... not brighter, but more unreal. It had an energy behind it that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. I looked around, and the small leds on my computer, and my charging cell phone also had that same powerful glow. I looked around at my surroundings, and found them... not transformed, but strongly and vividly enhanced. I think this is the moment where I realised just what I had done. I didn’t expect an experience like this. With a huge rush of elation, I finally understood what psychedelic really meant. My world had taken on a new meaning, at least visually. At some point during the experience, I went to the bathroom to throw up. I remember the sensation of vomiting, but I don’t remember actually going to the bathroom. Apparently I did make it their, as my roommate asked me the next morning if it was me that had thrown up and missed the toilet. I suspect it was around this time, as at this point I was still in quite a haze.

At some point, I realised that the music I was listening to wasn’t quite what I wanted. It was nice, but it was too simple and quiet. I needed something with some power behind it... but I couldn’t piece together in my mind what it was that I wanted. I was quiet upset by this, and walked around my room a bit trying to jump start my brain. I would get distracted briefly my little things. Somehow, and I don’t remember doing this, I put on the movie Across The Universe; a musical constructed from the music of the Beatles. Aha! The sixties! Hippies! Acid! I knew this wasn’t quite acid, for one thing I was coming more and more out of the foggy alcohol head space, and realising I was actually quite in my right mind. Tripping, but without a total mindfuck. The music, though, was a lot more appropriate for what I was feeling, and the movie gave me something bright and colourful to focus on. Interestingly, the images on the screen weren’t being warped or changed very much.

The objects in my room, however, were a different story. They weren’t transforming into other things, but I was seeing them in a whole new way. I have a bright blue plaid shirt that was on my floor, and the colour and the pattern on it made it seem electric, almost like it was vibrating. It was one of the most intense things in the room, aside from the leds on all my electronics. My duvet was like a big marshmallow, and throwing it around was an amazing, joyful experience. I actually burst into laughter and had a huge surge of childish glee at that. While playing with it, I pulled the sheets off of my bed. It had a diamond quilted pattern, and sitting on the far end of it I had a ludicrous sense of perspective, like the pattern was reaching far away from me.

My body felt amazing through all of this. I loved the touch of my clothes on my skin, and taking off my shirt and placing my hands on my body was very pleasurable. It was like how my body feels on ecstasy, only much more intense.

At one point during the movie, I looked down and saw a small amount powder had spilt on my desk. It was lit by the glow of one of the leds on my laptop, and I was so startled by the level of relief. I’ve heard people describe things on psychedelics as being “more than 3d”, and that’s exactly what it was. In my (better than before, but still) confused state, I thought somehow that some of the powder had absorbed into my skin, and that’s why I was so high. Were that the case, I didn’t want to just brush it off of my desk with my hand, so I ventured into the kitchen to get a washcloth.

Walking through my house was another experience entirely. It was about seven o’clock at this point, and the sun had come up. I had the blinds drawn in my bedroom, so it was still quite dark. Being in the light, things looked a lot more normal, and I realised just how altered my mind was. I had a brief moment of difficulty trying to turn the tap on, so I could wet a cloth. Shortly I successfully returned with a wet washcloth and wiped the offending material clean, taking the time to carefully pack away the bag with the rest of the powder. The process of doing this placed a note of paranoia into the experience, and I stopped enjoying it as much. I walked around my room a bit while listening to the music from the movie that was still playing. I had quite a lot of energy on this substance.

I finally placed my laptop on the ground by my bed, and layed down to watch the rest of the movie. Towards the end, the music gets a lot more aggressive, with more distortion and trippy effects, and my mind was absolutely loving it. I stayed there, wrapped in my marshmallow duvet, until the movie ended.

By this time, the sun was fully up, and my room was not quite as much fun as it was in the dark anymore. However... I was still pretty high. I didn’t really feel like I was tripping, and I was quite tired. I put my laptop back on the desk and tacked out a very quick message to the friend that had wanted to try the 2-ct-2 with me. I tried browsing around the internet for a while, but eventually abandoned that as useless. I put Helios back on, and lied down. At this point I was definitely coming down, so there were no closed eye visuals. I did feel like I was floating along with the music though while I, slowly but peacefully, drifted to unconsciousness probably around ten am.

When I woke up around 4pm, I felt a little weak, but was surprised at how rested and normal I felt. I also was able to eat easily. I often have a hard time eating a lot the day after I take ecstasy, so this was unexpected and wonderful. I ate a lot that day, and slept normally around midnight that night.

Total estimated length of experience: Five hours. It felt like much longer, though.

Additional thoughts and summary: The experience very quickly went to a definite +3 on the Shulgin scale. Through the first part of the experience, my stomach felt very tight and heavy. This was when I was in my most dazed and confused, and still definitely under the effects of the alcohol as well as the 2-ct-2. I knew that vomiting was something to be expected. I don’t think I would have had as much of a problem getting to the bathroom (or aiming!) were it not for the alcohol. Having drank before hand, I feel, really added to my confusion and disorientation. During the whole experience, including while I was sleeping, I had a very subtle feeling of everything being pulled up behind me and to the right. It was very gentle... I would describe it like the world very slowly spinning in that direction. It wasn’t unpleasant.

Until the spark of paranoia (brought on by thinking I had absorbed more of the substance into my skin) came on, I felt very happy, even joyful. I wish there had been someone with me to laugh, clap, make jokes and talk to. I would love to take this substance with someone and go and play with a frisbee, or run around the grass, or even sit and look at beautiful things. I often had a strong urge to laugh.

I am very glad I had this experience. If I had really taken far too much, I could have been seriously hurt. I haven’t forgotten this. I haven’t found any reports of people dying from taking this chemical, but I very well could have been the first. It was insanely irresponsible of me to try the drug without properly measuring it, AND while drunk, but I survived it and learned a lot.

In the week now since the experience, I have had a greater feeling of being aware of the world around me. Textures, contrast, colours, all seem much more magical and rich to me now, even though they don’t really look any different. I’m a lot more excited to make art then I have been in a while. I’ve started painting again, just little paintings, and I’m writing down a lot of ideas for new installations and performances.

The movie, Across the Universe, is really a movie about America in the sixties. It is a movie about drugs, sex, love, music, political expression, and fighting against the powers that be. Watching the movie and listening to the music of the Beatles while under the influence of this drug really hammered into my head just how ground breaking and amazing that period of time was. The Hippies really were (and are!) trying to make a new way to live, through love. Not love as an action, but love as a way of being. I absolutely was that sort of love during almost all of the experience. I didn’t have many strong revelations during the experience itself, but my integration period has really opened my eyes to things that I knew in my mind, but didn’t really “get.” I will finish this report with a quote by Osho, who really says it best.

“I love, because my love is not dependent on the object of love. My love is dependent on my state of being. So whether the other person changes, becomes different, friend turns into a foe, does not matter, because my love was never dependent on the other person. My love is my state of being. I simply love.”

Exp Year: 2010	ExpID: 86919
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 22
Published: Oct 4, 2010	Views: 7,792
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
2C-T-2 (53) : Glowing Experiences (4), Music Discussion (22), Therapeutic Intent or Outcome (49), First Times (2), Alone (16)