Hi, Ivy Astrix here. I saw some of my work referenced here so figured I’d pop in and do an AMA. I did harm reduction at Vibecamp 1/2, and Vibegala 1/2. Happy to answer what I can as long as it doesn’t violate confidences or isn’t in service of personal grievances.
GHB is one of many date rape drugs that people also consume recreationally, and yeah i’m not sure why they love it!
ket is definitely the drug of choice in the SF social scene, and wrt psychedelics I think there is not a lot of care put into them / some really childish perceptions of them, the Michael Vassar / Leverage situation is a whole thing but assuming it’s as described, ie he was encouraging people to use drugs to ‘hack’ their own brains it creates a really bad situation wrt consent
honestly i think there’s just a lot of untreated mental illness which gets idealized, adding psychedelics on top of that is not a great idea
it shares some of bits of appeal with alcohol and benzos. some people also use it to ride out stimulant comedown, or at least to catch some sleep after stimulant use, and this goes for regular stimulants of amphetamine type but also for ketamine (and psychedelics. not sure how much crossover is out there, but it might be a different type of user). i heard that it also has some anabolic effect, but using it for pre-workout would be unwise
i don’t know what kind of approach to workplace drug testing is/was out there, but ghb/gbl is a combination of being rather polar and having no chromophore which all else equal, means that its detection is harder/different compared to other drugs, and being metabolized quickly and also being formed naturally at low levels, which means that detection window is short. ghb lacks groups that typically react with reagent-type tests and instead custom-made strip tests are needed, or lab testing
there also might be general mindset that they’re so rational, that it’s impossible for them to use drugs in harmful ways (famous last words). some people just think of it as an another tool in their toolbox, and figure out that something is wrong only when they wake up strapped to a bed, with half of their face burned and iv line attached, in a psych ward two countries over, if ever
Young, confident men (like Internet Libertarians) and sheltered men (like wealthy tech workers and investors) often convince themselves that rules don’t apply to them because they can prevent any mistakes with their big beautiful minds, whether that is investing or substance use or firearms safety or kink protocols. Sometimes they get a Darwin Award but other times they hurt other people.
I am glad you are in a healthier place now, breaking away from Rationalism communities can be hard.
That’s really the best way to put it. The Sequences / Rationalism are based on an assumption they lead to a superior way of thinking (that Rationalists are better than normies), and most of the problems are downstream of that.
random memory time!
I recall one of the people from the original rave generation here (ZA) once telling me about them taking GHB in combination with something else (I forget what), with a positively-framed comment of “it makes you feel like your eyes are aflame” — never understood the appeal, especially for that. so much so I’ve never even wanted to look the compound up on psychonautwiki
the rest of your remarks wrt goings on over in the bay area echo impressions I’ve gotten from things. kinda surprised to hear ket is that big - any idea how recent it is? I wonder whether it came about following from the findings around ket as a positive treatment for depression?
I think it’s definitely downstream of SV’s brief love affair with psychedelics (publicly), ket clinics for depression, etc.
I didn’t really start attending parties there until 2022 but I think it’s been the nose candy of choice for that set for a while.