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Impression and Random Notes
2C-B, MDMA, & Ketamine
Citation:   Morninggloryseed. "Impression and Random Notes: An Experience with 2C-B, MDMA, & Ketamine (exp24551)". Erowid.org. Jun 17, 2003. erowid.org/exp/24551

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DOSE:
T+ 0:00
  oral 2C-B
  T+ 0:00 32 mg oral 2C-B
  T+ 0:45 120 mg oral MDMA
  T+ 0:00 26 mg oral 2C-B
  T+ 3:00 100 mg IM Ketamine
BODY WEIGHT: 150 lb
I first came into contact with 2C-B back in 1993 when a few acquaintances I knew had obtained some tablets and were selling them as “nexus”. I was only told that the drug resembled a mild form of LSD, and that the experience lasted for only a few hours. I saw a few people high on it, and they all had very big smiles on their faces. This “nexus” was very intriguing to me but I didn’t want to pay the twenty dollars that was being asked for a single dose of something that was only supposed to make me trip for a few hours. I figured it was not worth my money and kindly declined the offer. It would be a full ten years before I came into contact with the material again.

Being just a seventeen year-old at the time I had never heard of 2C-B, or of the vast world of psychedelic phenethylamines. I knew that mescaline (nature’s own phenethylamine) was in a different chemical family from LSD and psilocybin, but I did not know that mescaline and this “nexus” stuff were closely related chemicals. I certainly did not know that the two had somewhat similar effects. I probably would have bought a dose had I been aware of this. Mescaline had always been on top of my “psychedelics I want to try” list. Anyway, since that time 2C-B has become available to me again, and I have tried it in varying dosages ranging from eighteen milligrams on up to thirty-six milligrams. I have also mixed 2C-B with other substances and had fantastic results. Here are a few of my personal thoughts on 2C-B…

I would characterize 2C-B as a psychedelic that seems to focus primarily on sensory and emotional themes, often mixing the two so that explosive visual experiences can produce intense and overwhelming (and usually positive) emotional responses. The perceptual changes 2C-B produces can be extraordinarily colorful and detailed at the right dosages. Although I did not find it quite as visually impressive as 2C-E or 2C-T-7, it nonetheless alters perceptions to a degree of virtually indescribable beauty and intricacy.

All objects become geometric in appearance, the surfaces of which become covered in a colorful and velvety sheen, and everything tends to move in organized “wavy-like” fashion.” Colors become very intense and “alive.” I find this material very “warm” in that it seems to produces states of empathy towards others. There is definitely a positive mood push to it though not to the extreme degree of MDMA.

In my experience, 2C-B’s physical effects are relatively gentle in comparison to other synthetic psychedelics, especially other phenethylamines, which I have tried. There is an initial rush of body-energy that is somewhat stimulating, but 2C-B still feels “smoother” than any of the other 2C-type psychedelics I have tried. After a few hours, the drug becomes less stimulating and the experience becomes rather relaxing. On all the dosages I have tried, except for the eighteen milligram trip, I have experienced what I call a “tummy rumble” in the beginning. This basically is just a sense of mild nausea that never progresses beyond being mild, and it tends to go away in a short amount of time. For me, this is a very easy substance for my body to handle.

2C-B is also a short-acting material, which I really like. By the one and a half-hour point the drug reaches its peak, and by the third hour I am already well on my way down. Generally at the sixth-hour, little remains of the trip except for some lingering visual effects and maybe a little residual awareness in the body. That is my favorite part of 2C-B. This drug’s effects are already ending when some of the other phenethylamines I am used to would be just be beginning to hit their peak.

This feature makes 2C-B the perfect psychedelic to take at a concert or other event where you may have responsibilities a few hours later. There have quite a number of concerts in the past where a psychedelic would have been perfect, but because I was the driver I had to abstain. With 2C-B, I feel it will be safe to take at a concert so long as one didn’t have to operate the car for a good five or six hours after the event starts and the dosage was kept on the low side. By the way, let me make it perfectly clear to anyone reading this that I am not endorsing or recommending 2C-B for concerts or for any other use. I am merely demonstrating ways in which I find the drug useful.

One thing 2C-B is severely lacking in (in my opinion) is the depth I’ve seen in other phenethylamines such as 2C-E and, to a lesser extent, 2C-I. I find 2C-B very entertaining and I can see it being great for couples to spend the afternoon in bed exploring each other’s bodies. But as far as being a tool for introspection and personal contemplation, I think 2C-B comes up a little short. That is not to say one can’t have deep or profound moments on 2C-B of course.

Indeed I can think of a few unforgettable experiences of beauty and profoundness that I have experienced with the drug, but it takes some work to reach those states. With other materials such as 2C-E and 2C-T-7, no work was ever needed in my experiences to have a magical trip of great importance. These chemicals seem to have that magic readily available and accessible. But with 2C-B, you have to seek those deeper states of introspection out. You have to look for that depth. It is there, but I have found it not always readily accessible. It takes some work to get to that deeper level with this drug.

One moment of beauty and clarity that really sticks out was a trip on thirty milligrams of 2C-B. About three hours into the trip and I went outside and watched as the night sky opened up showing me the great heavens above. Instantly I dropped to my knees and started praying intensely. Only my words seemed to come from outside of myself. It was as though my sub-conscious, or maybe some force beyond myself, was making the words come out. My prayers almost became mantra-like. The whole event lasted about five minutes and I felt so clean and renewed after that.

Another profound moment occurred on April 9th 2003, which was one of the last days in the major fighting of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I had taken twenty-four milligrams of 2C-B and for some reason I had flipped on the television (which is odd because I hate watching TV while I am tripping.) I witnessed some of the heaviest fighting I have ever seen in my life. Maybe the effects of the 2C-B significantly amplified the impact of what I saw, but none-the-less it was intense and disturbing.

I then spent the rest of the evening contemplating the pros and cons of war in my head and just trying to make sense of it all. I did some very heavy thinking. Watching that took me to some dark places in man’s history, but I am glad I visited those places because I felt as though I got a lesson on whom we (man in general that is) really are. Without the good and bad of humanity, man would no longer be man. We would lose our humanity. When we progress to a point where wars are no longer a necessary evil, then we will cease to be humans and we will have evolved into something else.

I woke up the next day to see happy Iraqi’s dancing in the street over the toppled statue of an evil regime’s leader. It brought a sense of great hope to me. Of course I don’t think anyone can say the war was ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for at least another decade because that’s when we will know if the USA really brought the Iraqi’s their much-deserved freedom. These things take time and do not develop overnight. It took nine years before US troops were able to leave Japan. And look at that country today! But I will keep politics out of my trip reports. Back to 2C-B.

So far, I find 2C-B is much more useful when it is combined with other materials. When I mixed thirty-two milligrams of 2C-B with one hundred-twenty milligrams of MDMA, it resulted in the most impressive, enjoyable, rich, and voluptuous musical experience that I have ever had in my entire life. Somehow under this combination, I heard extra harmonics (of both higher and lower octaves) being produced so that what I listened to sounded richer than I had ever heard it. I remember listening to the Velvet Underground, and I actually thought Maureen (the VU’s female drummer) was singing along with Lou Reed. It took me a while to realize it was only the trip.

The emotional effects, and subsequent release of this emotion in the form of both laughter and tears from the combination was so strong, the experience was actually painful at times though it felt healthy to feel this pain. The emotions were so strong it felt like electricity was flowing through my body. 2C-B and MDMA was a very beautiful experience, but I found that it produced too much residual stimulation. I was still wide-awake eleven hours after I took the combination, even though I was not tripping anymore. It also seemed more suited for daytime, and I regret not saving the occasion for when I could have been in the mountains seeing all the beauty nature has to offer. Oh well, there will just have to be a next time.

The mixture of twenty-six milligrams of 2C-B with one hundred milligrams of ketamine was even more amazing and is much harder for me to describe. I hate to use the word ”religious” or “spiritual” to describe a psychedelic experience, but those are completely accurate and valid terms for what happened. Taking ketamine on top of 2C-B took me out of my body, out of my life, and out of this Universe. I seemed to be everywhere at once experiencing everything at once. I chose the Grateful Dead record “Aoxomoxoa”, and that recording seemed to create and take me to a world of its own. I felt reborn after the experience and free from past regrets and mistakes. The hands of the universe touched me, and then life started over and I was given a “clean slate.” That is about all I can say of the experience. There are no words to describe where my mind really went or how I felt. Some things are better left unsaid anyway.

Both experiences were quite incredible and way beyond words any conceivable words. I have yet to explore lower dosages of 2C-B (below eighteen milligrams) mainly because I think the experience would have little to offer me except aesthetic and sensual enhancement. A low dose is most likely good for a walk in the park or for making love, but I doubt one would get much in the way of introspection or personal insights with such small doses and that is what I look for most in a psychedelic.


Conclusion:

I find 2C-B a highly enjoyable psychedelic that is not only easy to the mind, but is also very easy on my body. My only complaints is that it seems more suited for recreational purposes and aesthetic appreciation than deep psychedelic (mind expanding) work. As I said before, it is possible to get whatever you want from 2C-B (including a very deep and profound psychedelic experience) but sometimes it takes a little work. I prefer materials that are able to get one deep into the psyche and subconscious without all the work that comes along from trying to use 2C-B for this purpose. I’ll still take 2C-B every once in a while, but despite its highly regarded legend, it is not my favorite. Personally I think the substance is a little overrated. Great material yes, but overrated.

Exp Year: 2003ExpID: 24551
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jun 17, 2003Views: 31,420
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Ketamine (31), MDMA (3), 2C-B (52) : Various (28), Retrospective / Summary (11), Music Discussion (22), Nature / Outdoors (23), Glowing Experiences (4), Combinations (3), General (1)

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