
The Trip Planners: The Unusual Couple Behind Erowid - Hooke
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/23/the-trip-planners
======
cryoshon
Erowid is great, and I've made use of it many times in the past. I think the
real strength of Erowid is in the "experience vaults" where you can really get
a lot of high-quality subjective information that can help guide your choices.

The safety and legality information is useful also, of course.

~~~
benbreen
Aside from their more practical value, I've often thought that the Erowid
experience vaults would make a great jumping off point for a short story
collection or novel. There are so many memorable stories and voices buried in
there (many quite sad, of course, but others that resemble a 21st century,
anonymous version of gonzo journalism, like the witches doing intravaginal DMT
or the hardy soul who combined crack and MDMA at Disney World).

~~~
joshschreuder
Any chance you can link to some memorable stories? There's such a huge
collection that having a curated list might be interesting to read.

~~~
Adlai
First, the one mentioned in the parent:

    
    
      https://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=26033
    

And a couple skimmed off the all-time best[1]:

    
    
      https://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=31722 (Nitrous Oxide)
      https://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=17787 (Mushrooms)
      https://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=104336 (Ibogaine)
      https://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=96838 (Methoxetamine)
      https://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=68367 (Sensory Deprivation)
    

Obligatory honorary mention:

    
    
      https://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=68111
    

[1] - It occurred to me that I selected predominantly positive, or at least
'wonderous', reports. Dig around and you'll find some that are less so.

~~~
joshschreuder
Awesome, thanks for taking the time, I'll have a read.

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steveklabnik
The "Erowid Recruiter" Twitter account Markov-chain mashes up Erowid plus
reciter emails.

It's quite wonderful.

~~~
dflock
[https://twitter.com/erowidrecruiter](https://twitter.com/erowidrecruiter)

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iaw
I feel like the strength of Erowid stems from it's non-judgmental stance.
There's no encouragement or discouragement towards any substances, they just
try to convey the knowledge that is available about psychoactive substances.

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arfmancomes
Erowid is on the slow side. Which is good.

Other resources:
[https://psychonautwiki.org/wiki/Main_Page](https://psychonautwiki.org/wiki/Main_Page)
Tends to be faster to get new drug info up. I feel like their effects are done
better, since you can click on them.

[http://wiki.tripsit.me/wiki/Main_Page](http://wiki.tripsit.me/wiki/Main_Page)
Part of an IRC chat room that promotes harm reduction and helps with bad
trips. They have data on drugs the fastest.

An example would be MXM which has a page on tripsit, but not either of the
other two.

~~~
Synaesthesia
There are other forums too on the net if you want information on the latest
RC's, bluelight of course, just googling too. Erowid is still the best for
good quality reports and information on well known drugs.

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dave2000
"Any such person will likely know of Erowid, as will most toxicologists and
many E.R. doctors"

Uh...

"Any such person will likely know of "the pub", as will most policemen,
judges, a&e departments, robbery victims, battered wives and children...."

~~~
oofabz
I'm friends with an ER nurse. Her and her coworkers read Erowid to learn about
the street perception of drugs, like what is becoming popular, what risks are
the public aware of, what dangerous mixtures are people trying, etc. She
mentioned the site to me once and was surprised that I had heard of it, since
I don't work in medicine.

~~~
cryoshon
I am glad to hear this. Erowid probably saves a lot of lives due to their
encyclopedic coverage of "research chemicals" alone. If medical professionals
can use Erowid as a step-off point for treatment, people could really be
helped at the bleeding edge of drug use/abuse.

