Pubdate: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 Source: Mcgill Tribune (CN QU Edu) Copyright: 2005 The McGill Tribune Contact: http://www.mcgilltribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2672 Author: Melissa Price E-RESOURCES: NOT JUST FOR RAVERS ANY MORE Whether to drug or not to drug is your decision, but if you decide to experiment, please make sure you're informed. Research and compare sources-don't rely on others' experiences. If you do, you may end up dead, annoying, or like my friend's old neighbours, who evidently misunderstood some slang and spent an afternoon puking after trying to smoke their front lawn. Here are three Web sites dedicated to all things drug-related that give you the facts-without the bullshit. Erowid: www.erowid.org The most extensive drug resource on the internet, Erowid is devoted to "documenting the complex relationship between humans and psychoactives." The cache of information here is astounding. There's an info stash for every drug with any measurable psychoactive effect on humans, from nutmeg to methamphetamine to 1.4-butanediol, providing pictures, effects and dosage information, as well as personal accounts of use. Besides that, there's an equally massive archive of information about drug laws, the achievement of non-chemical altered states, the scientific mechanisms of drug action, the history of psychoactive chemical us and so much more. It's awesome. The Good Drugs Guide: www.thegooddrugsguide.com I'm not sure whether the "good" here is in reference to the drugs or the guide; I'll refrain from comment on the former, but the latter is certainly accurate. This UK-based site is less frighteningly comprehensive than Erowid, but it delivers, straight-up, on the chemicals that the average person is most likely to be interested in. They've got a complete "mixing guide" for every drug they list, a move that will hopefully stop so many people dying from doing speedballs-coke 'n' heroin cocktails, for the less debauched. On a happier note, the GDG also has a neat article section where you can find out about famous people who were drug users (King George V, I'm looking at you) and how LSD was isolated. Lycaeum: www.lycaeum.org This site is to Erowid as Vanilla-Filled Chocolate Sandwich Cookies are to Oreos. It's solid, but sort of annoying to navigate and no where near as informative. If I were you, I'd go to The Drug Slang Translator (www.brunching.com/drugslanger.html) instead. Using the White House's drug policy site as its slang dictionary, the Translator will reveal the hidden pro-drug messages in Web sites all over the internet! I like to translate pages from CNN.com, to laugh at the fact that the US president's name is, it seems, slang for "Heroin W. Marijuana". Hah! - --- MAP posted-by: SHeath(DPF Florida)