Drugs

INTRODUCTION

Just as technologies of body alteration are common on Puzzlebox, so are methods to redesign mind and thought. The sheer ease of tampering with nature's design has corroded any taboos the locals might have otherwise had about the sanctity of the unaltered mind. (Of course, there are exceptions, like the sober Victorian Retrotech Collective.) Most of the drugs available in the Mess are safe -- and those which are not, are dangerous by design. [ From the web page ]

Drug usage within the culture of The Mess is so profound, common and widespread that it deserves its own discussion. Many, perhaps even most, entities are still partly-to-mostly biological or emulate biological processes to sufficient degree that they can, and do, get intoxicated, stoned, hammered, blotto, entheogenic, or otherwise out of their minds on a regular basis. For those insufficiently meat-like, there are such vast arrays of memetic, informational/viral and 'other' forms of mind-stimulation that the same effects can usually be achieved.

Despite the unimaginably huge variety of drugs available to the denizens, some of the most common ones in play are actually quite ancient and familiar. This may be due to the fondness a great many Mess denizens have for Terran cultural references, biologies and/or neurological formats.

There are several headings to look under for various drugs:

• Recreationally Popular - The traditional goods.
• Unusual or Medicinal - This stuff changes you.
• Digital Intoxicants - Your electronic friend.
• Psychic Preparations - It's all in your mind.
• Metapharmaceuticals - Keeping it UnReal.
• Minor Variation - Variations on previously-explored themes.

Or, for quick alphabetical reference, the whole shebang: Pharmacopedia

CHARACTERS/FACTIONS WITH SPECIAL RELATIONSHIPS TO DRUGS

• Helix
• Diafeara
• Flyte
• Phoenix
• D
• Valentin?
• Trilogee - Hooray for reality breakage!
• Sel
• Lysette - Breaks Gravity around her en masse when high! Also, caretaker of the Heliquary, so it hardly goes to say..
• Godge - give him some two-four and he's a happy horsey.
• Corliayne's embedded personality Alfe is both a user and a producer of psionic drugs, which is just as well since neither conventional drugs nor software drugs affect Corliayne.
• shinsei - Addict and proud. Playful enough with new chemicals to make variations on pre-existing themes.
• Tweek - Amphetamine powered rabbit, extraordinare.
• 16 - Draconid assassin who stifles all of his emotions with a constant flow of chemicals.

RELATED ENTRIES

See also: Tasp, Wireheading

OOC: Camilla said she preferred one long page rather than having this broken into subpages. What does everyone else think? - Echo

Perhaps bring one-line summaries of the items under each category here, and have the full description in subpages? Compromise. - Corliayne

Most of these drugs only have a few lines of description anyway, or take more than a one-line summary to understand. - Echo

How about a compromise, above? The Pharmacopedia is handy! -Kalki

Excellent. Except that now, whenever someone adds a drug or variant, they have to put it in two places. - Echo

Okay, it's not working. I'm gonna make the Pharmacopedia into an index, rather like this page's table of contents, except it's by drug instead of by category. That oughta make it easier for someone to add to it when they come up with something new. - E