University of Alaska Fairbanks - Denali Yearbook (Fairbanks, AK)

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This same user admitted one time when he had almost lost touch. He smoked Hashish (Turkish pot, much stronger than marijuana) and almost forgot that he was a human being. My visions were so beau- tiful I couldn ' t or didn ' t want to come back. LSD takes much longer to work into your system. You take a dose and then have to sit around for it to take effect. For this reason it is not uncommon to take theacid(LSD) and then smoke pot to start the high out. When taking LSD, a buddy system is employed. It is best to go with someone even if you are an exper- ienced user, and it is imperative for the beginner to have an exper- ienced person to show him the right way. Acid visions are muc h more vivid and wilder than those of pot. For every noise I heard, a color simul- taneously flashed in my brain, and before. It was like having a screen inside my head on which these colors flashed so rapidly at times it mad me dizzy. Though some experts on drug usage and in psychology disclaim the fact that masterpieces can be created during a high, users feel that it is entirely possible. The thoughts you have and the colors you see and could duplicate while high would never occur to the normal mind. A person can definitely become psychologically addicted to pot, just as to cigarettes or alcohol. However, there is no physical craving as In the case of heroin or opium. There are five or six known cases on campus of people who smoke at least four times a day and stay up all the time. Why? You can function quite well while high, and why come down when things are better when you are up. The University in group who use the stuff regularly are a tightly knit bunch. It ' s not that we look down on the other students so much, but we have definite common inter- est which we must protect, so for safety and security we stick tegether. Unless the interested or curious know someone who will supply them, it is almost impossible to get hold of the stuff. The pusher, or seller, as known in other places, does not exist on campus. There is more of a share and share alike society. If I have a large supply, I ' ll sell it to a buddy, but I don ' t run around trying to sell it. Word gets around as to who has it and who has a supply coming in. Interested parties know who to see. Once an in is extablished, it is easy to get hold of anything from pep pills to LSD because they are all present within the group. They are all there if you want to try them, but no one cares if you just want to smoke and not try anything else. They may suggest a different high to you, but never force or egg you to take it. Drugs do exist on campus, and in a greater amount than last year. Pot reportedly has been smoked in campus Johns, on campus lawns and in campus dorm rooms. It ' s fine until some one with a good nose comes along said one smoker. A jar labeled experiment --Do Not Touch sat in a campus refrig- erator. Its contents--LSD. There are an untold number of straights on campus. These are the Joe College crewcut and tie people who try drugs a few times for an experiment, then give it up for various reasons. I could see no future in it or I had no reason to continue. These also include habitual users who don ' t associate with the long haired crowd. Where they get their stuff is a pretty dark secret claims one co- ed. I know pretty much what goes on, but I couldn ' t tell you. Either they have their own supply, or one of the bunch sells it quietly. 29

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CAUTION: These cigarettes may be hazardous to your health 28

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Use of drugs is definitely not limited to the students. Reports from users list at least 25 faculty mem- bers who have or do use the drugs. Of which about ten smoke regularly at the present time. Few of the U of A drug users consider themselves hippies. A hippy is a self-proclaimed individ- ual. Flower power--what a bunch of hogwash, scoffs one girl, I wear beads, sure, but I strung them my- self at a party when I took LSD, and I ' m proud of the fact. One curly beard said Some of the things Leary said hold water, but they don ' t affect me. I don ' t feel I ' m rebelling against society so much, I just like to go up. There are numbers of drug users in Fairbanks proper, where the pusher is more prevelant, and on Ft. Wainwright with its migrant population. The college crowd, as a rule, does not associate with these other groups. One man related an incident when two high school girls were at a college party. After we smoked a couple of joints one of the teeny-boppers just cracked. We couldn ' t quiet her down or make her sit still. All we need is for her to start blabbing to all her friends or, heaven help us, her mother where she went and what she did. It really ruined the evening. In his book Nightmare Drugs, Donald Louria, MD claims that there is a definite lack of ambition and drive among drug addicts. Campus users admit this lack of ambition. Few of us hold steady jobs. A hippy (self-proclaimes) says I ' m happy, why worry about tommorrow, and when I ' m up nothing seems too important or pressing anyway. Some of the drugs are scarce in the Fairbanks area, mainly due to unavailability. Everything is here or can be gotten in a short time. I don ' t know of any college people on the hard stuff right now, says one acid head, But there have been, during the summer, and I personally know of two fellows on base who use heroin. Some pills are available locally I can ' t tell you from where. The rest are mailed in or brought in by travellers. Some LSD is manu- factured here. Marajuana is usually received in bulk form and then cut down here. The average smoker doesn ' t know what he is getting, nor does he care as long as it works. An indi- vidual once received some 12% pot. It is usually only 6% or so. He had to cut it down before using it or selling it. The user would smoke it like it was the usual stuff and could have endangered himself. 30