on saturday, a somewhat normal day for me, turned horrifying in an instant. i'll explain. my dad and i were visiting my mom and sister, and i hadn't seen a friend of mine for a while, so i decided we could spend a few hours together. well, once i got to his house we messed around for a bit, and decided to get another friend of ours and go get high. i hadn't smoked in about four months and so i thought, "hey why not?" well we smoked a few bowls out of a pipe and then we went to this other guy's house.

i knew him and the other two people in his house from high school, but i didn't know them that well. so anyway, we begin smoking, and by this time i already know i'm too high (i have to get back home to my mom's in a couple hours) but i continue anyway. after a few hits out of a bong, i see one of the other guys bring out a little packet of something. later on i found out it was "spice" or synthetic marijuana. anyway, it gets passed around and eventually comes to me. i take a hit and pass it. a few minutes later, my friends get up and begin to leave and follow. once we're out of the house, my eyes begin darting around. i then begin feeling weak and slump over onto my friend and he thinks i'm being stupid and laughs, trying to pick me up. but suddenly i'm on the ground and i black out.

this is where it gets scary. i begin to see lights and colors in my vision, and the best way i can explain it is kind of like i'm moving around in a kaleidoscope. i begin talking to myself in my head, but i can't remember much of what i said. at this point i lost touch with reality. i didn't know who i was or even what i was. all i knew was the world of colors and my own voice. then suddenly i see the 'real' world, staring down at my shoes as my friends lifted me up, though i didn't know it was real at the time. i remember thinking it was actually fake. anyway, i threw up, and my friends placed me (i think) on the grass and onto my side. i threw up several times while i was out of it, more than i can count. i continued to see the light show, and every time i heard somebody mentioned putting me on my side (eventually everyone came out of the house to see what was going on, and even though i was out of it, while my eyes were closed i could hear everything they said) i tried to yell "no!" because the light would go away.

eventually, as i began to slowly realize what was happening, and i got back in touch with the world, (when i opened my eyes anyway. i was still unconscious) i realized that i might be dying. i could literally feel myself getting weaker. what really scared me was the sound of my friends freaking out. i also remember praying secretly in my head that God would forgive me for my sins, because i resigned myself to the idea that i'd never wake up from that hell of confusion and colored lights.

eventually, after what seemed like an entire lifetime to me, i heard my friends panicking even more and yell that they needed to take me to the hospital. they lifted me into the back seat and i remember opening my eyes during the short car ride, and once we parked at the ER entrance i remember throwing up again and my friend say "oh s***" in a scared voice i had never heard from him before. i blacked out again, and barely remember the doctors rushing me through the halls on a gurney (sp?) and looking up at the hall lights, then the MRI.

when i woke up next my parents and grandma were hovering over me, scared and crying. they told me they loved me, and i could only answer with a nod. i fell asleep again and when i woke up next i was much better and many hugs, tears, kisses, questions, and lectures ensued. i have to take potassium pills for a while since i threw up so much, and when i got to the hospital, i was told i had a heart rate of around 165 bpm, which brought me dangerously close to having a heart attack.

so basically, i learned something another friend of mine, who i've known since 4th grade, told me once about drugs. "don't mess around with forces beyond your control. (any drug)" btw i helped that friend through his struggles with a drug addiction, and he's now clean.

but i basically wanted to tell everyone on the forum my story to, basically, stay away from drugs, even if it's just marijuana. it might seem safe, but you'll always be looking for a new way to get high or higher. and my friend did spice more than i did, and never had this happen to him. though after some research about the product, i found it's like playing russian roulette, because there's always a chance of what happened to me. i wasn't the only one who went to the ER. there have been hundreds of cases. i have hardly ever smoked weed as well, and this last, and i mean last, time i just wanted to try it again. the same thing happened as almost every time: i acted like an idiot, even before i smoked the spice.

so i'll end this painfully long post with this: i beg anyone my age or younger than me to stay away from drugs. especially stay away from drugs you know nothing about. it's a cheap thrill and it's fun but it IS addicting and it will lead you nowhere in life.

(btw, i'm doing fine now and am back to playing my guitar. i've even started developing a deep song about the whole ordeal, so at least some good will come out of it.)

-Jake

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"I don't care how good you are, how fast you are. You ain't good enough no lessin' you got the soul." -Hubert Sumlin

Hi Jake,

I'm glad to hear you made it out the other side of your drug use. Drug issues are not confined to youth and we have to be mindful about what we put into our bodies for as long as we are here.

Dennis Hopper passed away recently. He is a noted artist and kind of a counterculture hero. I heard an interview with him on NPR. He totally took the "glam" away from any drug use he ever did and basically said it was a dead end street.

Good luck to you, pal. Keep strummin'.

wow thanks or posting this jake. ive been clean and sober since oct 1996.
not 1 hit, not 1 drink.
now, it seems that the big guy above might have jumped it and saved you from wha you know was about to happen.
the question is, what are you gonna do for him now? you owe your life bro.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

thank you, and i know it isn't confined to youth. it's unfortunate that anybody uses drugs, for one reason or another. and i'll keep on strummin, trust me.



congrats on being clean, bro, that's something to be proud of. and believe me i've thanked the big guy many, many times since saturday. now, as for what i'll do for him, i gotta think about that.

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"I don't care how good you are, how fast you are. You ain't good enough no lessin' you got the soul." -Hubert Sumlin

[quote="j_rockr91"][ i'll keep on strummin, trust me.
/quote]

Good enough for me, pal!

yep i was fresh out of jail, so fresh i was on the jail steps.
i got down one 1 knee and told the man above if he watched over me i would never touch the stuff again, as that what landed me there in the first place, again. havent touched it since. hes kept his end and so have i.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Some of the jurisdictions in Maryland are working on out lawing what you call Spice. It is sold as a incense and gets around Fed and state laws. It is supposed to give the feeling of weed but you sound like you had a trip on something with a little extra sprayed on (PCP) A dipped blunt will do the out of body thing big time ,colors and general oowwwaaa!!!! You see anyone with weed or tobacco that has some yellow oil (pure stuff) on it look out it also can be crystallized or thicken (dark color) but don't confuse with H oil.
Stay clear of it my friend!!!!

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

Flakes can do it!!!! Hospitals used to see people often from smoking Flakes or Green tea thinking its just domestic.

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

they at least told them about the weed, but i don't think the incense. and i would have never done it by myself, but i'm worried for my friend, he smokes on his own every now and then and i'm pretty sure after this he won't ever try spice again but you never know. i'm going to ask him about it.

-Jake

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"I don't care how good you are, how fast you are. You ain't good enough no lessin' you got the soul." -Hubert Sumlin

always remember what we've learned, cherished it and live with it...

i hope this is a real turning point in your life for the better.
you'll get out of it what you make it. it's all on you, it's always been on you.
best of luck to you man

It wouldn't be the Spice that did you like that because thats just a cheap fake weed (very little effects). It is what may have been on it. Just dip a cigarette in pcp and your going on a trip my friend. In the 60's , 70's people would put it in oregano even. Plus it can make you freak out as a bad side effect!!!!

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

I've never used drugs. I don't even drink. I don't smoke either. I know some people that use(d) drugs, I am just not interested in it at all. I've never been. Maybe it's because I'm asthmatic, and am on steroids all the time as part of my treatment. But, I can't say I am a vice kind of guy. I did get drunk a couple of times though. With some friends a couple of years ago, but because I was/am not used to alcohol and to tell you the truth I didn't like it at all. I just don't like being out of control that way. And I don't like the feeling of being dizzy. Music is my drug, and it really can get you high!
But seriously, I am very glad you got out of it, and you're fine now!
Stay away from that synthetic products. It can make your life a lie. And I don't think anybody wants to live a lie. You're a smart man! Keep playing your guitar bro, and you'll be just fine.

Goran

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"If you're on a path that's beaten, it's not your path." Joseph Campbell

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

"All that is impossible remains to be achieved."
Jules Verne

www.stratcollector.com

Glad you heard the wake up call Jake. Courageous post. Good luck............ Mike

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

Mate it can just be down to the way you've reprogrammed your brain.

A friend of mine developed a machine for Glaxo Klein that tests the effects of drugs on the brain, the way they alter the receptors in the brain and what that causes in thought processes. She explained it to me as this.

Basicaly you can't undo whats been done, just learn to deal with the damage. You don't know when such damage/alteration will happen either.

I used to live on acid, drive, work, party, sleep, all whilst tripping. Didn't do any for a couple of years, the next time was my last. It really messed me up. What I did find also some time after was that I coudn't smoke weed. Dunno whether it was just modern (then) strains of super skunk, receptor damage or what. I just couldn't deal with it.

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No no and no