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Survey Provides New 2C-B-Fly Data
by Jon Hanna, Fire Erowid, and Earth Erowid
Nov 2008
Citation:   Hanna J, Erowid E, Erowid F. "Survey Provides New 2C-B-Fly Data." Erowid Extracts. Nov 2008;15:3-5.
2C-B-Fly Molecule
The first 2C-B-fly experience report was submitted to Erowid in October 2005, and since then we have published only 15 reports about this rare psychoactive drug. However, Erowid crew members were recently at an event where about 30 people reported taking 2C-B-fly. For most (if not all) of them, it was their first time consuming this substance. The Erowid crew recognized a unique opportunity to gather information on a compound for which very little human bioassay data is currently available. They whipped up a survey on the fly (as it were), asking those who had taken the drug to answer 14 questions. Twenty-six people completed the survey.

In response to a question asking how much they had taken, 21 respondents reported a dose of 15 mg (although one was careful to describe this as "15 mg ± 2 mg", as the scale used to weigh the material was only sensitive to ±2 mg). Four people took other doses:12 mg, 15-18 mg, 12 mg + 5 mg 65 minutes later, and 20 mg. One final respondent replied "1 dose?", indicating that they didn't know (or remember) how much they took. All but one person consumed the drug orally (one took it rectally) and everyone reported experiencing effects.

Although one individual reported feeling an alert of first effects after only 8 minutes, for 13 people it took somewhere between 20 and 60 minutes before effects were felt. Most of the remaining people first noticed effects by 2 to 2.5 hours, although for one it took 3 hours before onset. Several people provided a more detailed chronology of effects. For example, one noted mild effects were felt at 1 hour, stronger effects were felt at 2 hours with the addition of nitrous oxide, the peak was around 3-4 hours, and a return to baseline occurred by 11 hours. That same person's response highlighted an important way in which the hastily constructed survey was flawed: it failed to ask if and when any other psychoactive drugs might have been consumed along with the 2C-B-fly. Polydrug consumption is commonplace among some users, and in retrospect Erowid learned that such consumption had occurred with several individuals who took part in these 2C-B-fly bioassays.

The Erowid crew recognized a unique opportunity to gather information on a compound for which very little human bioassay data is currently available.
Duration of reported effects ranged from 4 to 12+ hours (with one person describing that primary effects were felt for 9 hours but that some effects were still felt until 20 hours following ingestion). A dozen people characterized the duration as 8 hours or less (with only three of those indicating 6 hours or less), while ten people listed the effects as lasting between 8 and 10 hours, and two said they lasted 11-12+ hours. One person did not respond to the duration question, and another vaguely remarked, "It lingered into the next day."

Questions 5 through 10 asked participants about the types of effects they experienced and provided a scale of 1 to 5 for respondents to circle. Responses to this format seem to indicate the degree to which psychedelic enthusiasts feel comfortable with non-conformity in answering questions. Nine out of twenty-six respondents chose, on one or more questions, to select a number between the provided options (for example, 2.5, 3.5, etc.). This suggests that offering more resolution (1-10 for example) might have been beneficial. It may also be necessary to give members of the psychedelic community more explicit directions to choose a number from the scale provided when picking an answer, since having clearly defined values makes statistical analysis of the data easier.

Best Effects
Effects offered by a number of people as the "best" qualities of the experience included: the visuals (6 people), open communication (6), body sensations/response (5), happiness (3), energy (3), a clean/smooth high (3), and mental focus (2). Some other effects mentioned as "best" included empathy, camaraderie, thoughtful repose, dreamy headspace, lack of stimulation, and the ability to sleep afterwards.

Worst Effects
Aspects of the material that were liked least by respondents included gastrointestinal distress (6 people), the slow onset of effects (5), inability to sleep afterward (3), headache or fuzzy-head the next day (3), lasted too long (2), and the effects kept coming and going (2). Other negative effects mentioned included feeling antisocial, an edgy come-on, difficulty functioning, and assorted body load issues such as stomach growling, muscle tension, and numbness.

Summary
It is clear that the survey itself, as well as the approach taken toward presenting the survey, were not ideal due to the circumstances. If a questionnaire is created in advance and discussed with participants before they bioassay a compound, greater attention could be paid during the experience to the sort of things that the questions address, allowing for more accurate answers.

Clocking the effects at regular intervals and noting specifically what time the compound was consumed would be helpful. With these 2C-B-fly bioassays, it is worth pointing out that most people consumed the drug late in the evening and stayed up all night, and this may have affected some people's biorhythms, making it more difficult for them to sleep once the effects had concluded.

Including a question about gender might allow insight into whether males or females are more likely to experience certain types of effects. Future surveys should always ask age and weight.

As previously mentioned, the biggest oversight in the 2C-B-fly survey was the failure to ask what additional drugs or supplements people may have taken before, during, or after they took the 2C-B-fly.

In these 26 people, 2C-B-fly produced a wide range of effects from similar doses. For a few people 15 mg was highly psychedelic, for others only moderately so. But overall, the large majority seemed to enjoy the experience enough to want to try it again.

2C-B-Fly Survey
  1. How much did you take?
  2. How did you take it?
  3.   (oral / nasal / rectal)
  4. Did you get effects?
  5.   (yes / no)
  6. How long did it take for effects to start?
  7. How strong were the effects?
  8.   (weak - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - strong)
  9. How visual was it?
  10.   (weak - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - strong)
  11. How heart opening was it?
  12.   (weak - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - strong)
  13. How much body load?
  14.   (little -1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - lots)
  15. How much did you like it?
  16.   (little -1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - lots)
  17. Would you like to do it again?
  18.   (no - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - yes)
  19. How long did it last?
  20. What did you like best?
  21. What did you like least?
  22. Describe:

 
Several weeks following the event, GC/MS was run on a trace residue of
the material, and it was found to be correctly identified and very pure.
5) How strong were the effects?
In response to the question about strength of effects, no one answered "1" (weakest) or "5" (strongest). Three people gave it a "2", two people gave it a "2.5", eight people gave it a "3", four people gave it a "3.5", seven people gave it a "4", and one person gave it a "4.5" (one person did not respond to this question). One respondent first answered using the Shulgin scale, and then converted that answer to the survey's format.
6) How visual was it?
Responses to the question about the level of visual effects ranged from "1" to "5", with the most common answer being a "3", and approximately equal numbers of people giving it a "2" and a "4". More people rated the visual effects as extremely low than rated them extremely high.
7) How heart opening was it?
Responses about the heart-opening character of 2C-B-fly also indicated that most people thought it had moderate empathic effects. Answers were clustered mostly around "3", with ten people considering these effects stronger than a "3" and six considering them weaker.
8) How much body load?
There was less consistency in answers to this question than for any other. Results were spread between reports of very low body load and fairly high body load. No one reported that the body load was extreme, while 31% rated it as higher than a "3" and 58% rated it as lower than a "3".
9) How much did you like it?
Almost 90% of responses scored 2C-B-fly as moderately likable or better ("3" or higher), with 60% rating it higher than a "3" on the 5-point scale.
10) Would you like to do it again?
This question resulted in the most unified response: 96% replied positively (giving a "3" or higher) as to whether they would like to try 2C-B-fly again, with 84% giving a "4" or higher, and 64% replying with a "5".

Flying: An Experience with 16 mg 2C-B-Fly#
by JetFuel
It was the spring when a large group of friends decided to try 2C-B-fly together. It took two hours to come on. My partner and I looked at each other at the two-hour mark and thought, "Do we notice anything yet?" It took going to our own room, without the stimulation of other people and loud music, to feel it come on. As we lay next to each other in the sweet quiet of our bed we had sensual interactions. We felt a gentle onset of closed-eye visuals taking over our inner space. Music was also enhanced, as we explored more of our sense of touch. After having sex, we joined the group again and noticed that, along with this substance being fun in a one-on-one setting, at this dose it is good for social interacting as well! My partner laughed and laughed as he talked to a friend. We carried on for hours in this manner. After about ten hours, people started coming down and going to sleep. It was a very enjoyable experience; it felt good in the body, and the next day we both felt great.

This is one of my favorite compounds. We did it again several months later at the same dosage. This time, three of us decided to conduct a new experiment: we insufflated 15 mg of 5-MeO-DMT eight hours after we had ingested the 2C-B-fly. We all experienced a "battle" of the two substances ten minutes into the onset of the 5-MeO-DMT. Two of us had to decide to surrender to the 5-MeO-DMT, and we had beautiful experiences of heart-opening fluidity, feeling the interconnectedness of the universe. The third person said that the 5-MeO-DMT was "a buzz kill". Although none of use would recommend this combination to anyone, we were happy to run the experiment and discover that these two compounds seem to fight for dominance -- at least they did for these three people. The 2C-B-fly came back after 25 minutes, and even after eating some food, the entire experience lasted for about twelve hours. The same good feeling in the body during the experience, and good feeling the next day, was repeated. I would love to have more such experiences with my dear psychonautic family. Two female friends say that they have had multiple orgasms on 2C-B-fly, so there is clearly more fun to be had!