DOSE:

oral

MDA

BODY WEIGHT:

180 lb

Okay, this was a long time ago, but it was still utterly unforgettable. Coming after a number of positive LSD, Mescaline, and Mushroom experiences, the MDA experience - which had been described beforehand as similar, but somewhat shorter and with a more pronounced burnout afterward - was fascinating.

After taking the MDA at around 4:30 on a midsummer day, we - myself, a female relative, and a couple of male friends - had a 40-minute drive across a spectactular bridge to a lovely nature preserve. Onset of the effects began during the drive (which was accompanied by an excellent live Grateful Dead tape), as a feeling of euphoria, enthusiasm, and a general heightening of all the senses. I don't recall any stomach churning, but I suppose there was some, and the same sense of your body's ordinary functions shutting down as at the start of an LSD trip.

Sitting by a pristine woodland lake another hour later, we were into full-blown effects. For the most part, they were quite similar to an LSD experience, but with some interesting differences:

Extremely heightened closeness and intimacy. It was different from the sense of being swallowed by something greater than onseself that you often have in an LSD experience. I was still me, in control, and very verbal. Personality differences fell away, and I loved my companions intensely at that moment, thinking them the greatest friends I ever had.

(Unfortunately, I did get to try a sexual experience, but I can attest to those who say that MDA is wonderful for it. This was certainly the closest thing to an aphrodesiac drug I have ever personally experienced. I should point out that coke and 'ludes never worked for me: I'm far more into mind drugs, not body drugs.)

Part of this was do to a stunning auditory difference: Whereas on LSD you hear the entire universe in a great cacaphony - the wind in the trees, the dog barking a mile away, the planes flying by, the water rushing down the stream - on MDA, there was silence. The person you are speaking with is all you hear over a slight background hum, and their words are the central fact in the universe.

My response to LSD was always that it was a spiritual, mystical experience that included a chance to view oneself at a distance - I never did it just for the special effects. MDA seemed of a piece with this, if somewhat less intense. The mystery was present.

Hallucinations of a different type: In addition to heightened colors and an 'angular' sense of things seeming rather like a fisheye lens, there wasn't any of the usual 'melting' or 'strobing' effects. What there was - that I had never seen on LSD - was polka-dots. Floating before me in all different colors, uniform spots of about fist-size-at-arm's-length. Whoa...

We had plenty of energy (this is an amphetamine, after all), and had a pleasant walk. The visual effects remained strong, but there was never a loss of control or a difficulty in speaking (either technically, as in forming coherent sentences, or expressively, as in making myself understood).

After about six hours, we were well into the downward slide. Went home, drank a little wine and smoked a little pot to ease down. Eventually managed to eat something light. Was up most of the night, but eventually slept pretty well. I wasn't aware of being all that more burnt out the next day than I would have been after a full-blown LSD trip. (This was shorter, and a bit less intense, but thoroughly enjoyable.)

I never did MDA a second time - it never came my way again - but I treasure this memory as a very special experience. Truly, it seemed another wonder-drug, as worthy in its own way as the other powerful psychoactive drugs I have used.

In reading about the increasing use of MDMA (Ecstasy) in recent times, I have wondered how it compares to this MDA experience. (From what I have read here, it seems that MDMA is a somewhat less full-blown experience.) Despite my current middle-aged parent status, I can certainly see why the kids of today would enjoy such a thing, and how it could aid is partying and coupling... My MDA trip was one of the (you should excuse the term!) peak experiences of my youth...

Exp Year: 1979	ExpID: 2658
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Sep 11, 2000	Views: 39,214
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MDA (34) : First Times (2), Glowing Experiences (4), Sex Discussion (14), Small Group (2-9) (17)