Drugs/Popular

RECREATIONALLY POPULAR DRUGS

These drugs are often older, more traditional types. New forms are discovered or created on a regular basis as newer generations experiment with everything they get their manipulators on.

• Alcohol

Never goes out of style. The robust physical endurance of most Mess residents is combined with the evolution of mechanisms and medical technologies that have dimished alcohol's more dangerous side effects and addiction profile. Though not as widespread as some other intoxicants, it deserves an honorable mention for the fact it is still in use even when so many other options are available. Particularly popular among Eisenstimmen.

Here's an interesting method of ingestion: the [AWOL machine] (Alcohol WithOut Liquid) - Echo

• Blue Lightning

"It's a fairly powerful hallucinogen with a relaxing, stare-at-the-pretty-lights sort of effect... chemically structured so that the least bit of stress will drop you out of the trip, so no bad experiences. It's more cerebral, although I'd say it's pleasant." - XOR

"Blue Lightning. Great. Get to know the number 27 on an up-close and personal level. For an hour. Trapped in a kaleidoscope. Drunk. As six different people at once." - OR

Comes in capsule form. Has been known to make people mildly suggestible.

• Cannabis

From genetically pure varieties of the ancient sativa and indica plants to n-th generation hyperevolved, semi-sentient dope that WANTS to be smoked, the wacky weed is, without doubt, one of the most popular intoxicants in use. The historical connection between pot and Art? appreciation (especially music) is probably one factor responsible for the drug's popularity in the Art-saturated Mess. Whether this is a temporary fad or not remains to be seen.

• Chutzpah

Inhibition inhibitor. Comes in a largish, blue pill, about as hard as rubber, dissolves slowly in the mouth. Can be chewed on for a long and mild buzz, or swallowed for the harder hit. Some do both. At the same time. Comes in several purities and strengths.

"Great stuff. It's like a pure shot of confidence. Don't worry, this is the milder stuff, so you won't go screamin' into the night naked. You gotta' build up to that level." - shinsei

• Generic Hallucinogens

There is no one type that is King, but overall, light-to-moderate strength hallucinogens are sufficiently popular that they get one big group mention. Ones which cause the user to see colorful visual distortions or generally add sensory 'depth' to activities such as sex, music and dancing are commonplace, and often invented out of whole cloth on the spot.

• Joypad

Joypad makes people into happy robots. Its effects include "strobing" of consciousness, selective amnesia, extreme suggestibility, literalism, monotone speech, and the breaking up of time perception into "packets." Small doses allow the subject's core personality to remain intact and leave considerable free will; large doses induce trance-like command automatism. It's not difficult for an unwilling user to resist the effects, but since the drug is also a powerful euphoriant it can be very difficult to remain unwilling. Memories of a Joypad trip are intact but dreamlike.

• Music

If you don't believe this can have an effect on your mental state, you haven't heard what happens when the musically-inclined denizens of the Mess start jamming. Lingering physical effects are few, but synaesthetic experiences and guided hallucinations are extremely common.

• Nymin

Temporal sense affecting drug. As Einstein once said: "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity." Nymin just swaps the effect, making pleasurable times stretch out and painful ones pass by briefly. Very interesting when mixed with traditional stimulants.

• Quasi-Opiates

As with alcohol, these drugs have evolved over time into forms that, while 'safe' and not physically addictive, are no less potent than their ancestors. The Heliquary is especially infamous for having an atmosphere constantly saturated with these substances, as a way to encourage peaceful behaviour among the patrons. Old-world opium, complete with addictive qualities, is one of the few indulgences the VRC allow themselves in moderation. (It was fairly popular to use on children to keep them still for those long-exposure photographs.)