How do we distinguish whether or not we should drink alcohol; and how much we should drink if we do? 

You may be thinking, well I want to black out and that is the point?:

We find it vital to know what kind of high or escape you are craving. It's important that you both think about you future week's plans, your health, and your mental health. Everyone wants to party extra hard sometimes, but you don't want it to go so far you or someone else gets hurt. There are ways to prepare your body and your mind for drinking. 

So how do I determine how/ if I should drink?:

A lot of the bodies reaction to alcohol will depend on how much you have consumed to power your body that day, so eating a healthy meal even just at some point prior to heavy drinking will improve the effect it has on the stomach.  If you can get a hold of an electrolyte drink to either drink prior to, with, or after you are drinking, this precaution can keep your body in check through a potential hangover. 

After you consider these factors, ask yourself about the environment of the alcohol you're consuming. If you think there is any chance it cuold turn into an unsafe situation, then it's best to keep this in mind as you drink. Keeping your senses aware fo your surroundings, can be vital to calling out any unsafe behavior around you. This doesn't mean you can't still have a good time, it just means taking extra precautions. 

Lastly, am I staying the night where I am drinking, or am I in need of a ride home/designated driver?: 

As every parent, teacher, and vetted partier will say- a safe & trusted designated driver will always be the most vital piece to a safe night out. If you are using a ride share, make sure someone knows where you are, or is riding with you. Our hope is to help you avoid a situation where you find yourself in an unsafe place, without a designated driver, or a way home. Of course if you live in the same area as mobile family members/ friends, this would be the time to call them. Regardless of how upset you think parents or loved ones will be, you alive & safe should always be their priority. If you feel as though you are in a situation requiring more help, there is nothing illegal about calling the cops to help you out of a dangerous alcohol situation. Especially if you have any reason to suspect that you (or a friend) has consumed anything more than alcohol (date rape drugs). These drugs can make people very sleepy to the point where they cannot stay awake or go in and out of coherent speech. 

ALWAYS check with your doctor to see if any of the medication you take regularly or medical history indicates that drinking heavily could seriously impact your health. Drug interactions are REAL, and Alcohol is one of the most common interactions. 

We wanted to include this section for a little bits of tricks and tips for handling a friend, yourself, or someone you don't know who make be experiencing the effects of Marijuana/Cannabis unpleasantly. This begins in knowing that you are never 'so high' that we can't help our friends around us. Check out about looking out for laced marijuana/Cannabis as well if you are feeling incapacitated from the the smoking event. Contact Emergency Medical Services if you have any friends or you are have adverse effects from smoking marijuana. If it's your first time ever smoking, make sure to have something to drink while smoking (water/electrolyte preferred) . If you experience an unpleasant high, make sure you let someone you trust know, do things that comfort you, and avoid stressful situations. Sometimes this can be hard to do, but it's important to listen to your body and mind in these situations. 

It's important to also look out for laced Marijuana/Cannabis. Because Marijuana/Cannabis is typically smoked, bad people can put in smokable products on to it such as LSD, Cocaine, & PCP. This isn't to scare you, but to say that you should always inspect the marijuana you are provided with. You can look foir granuals and things that don't look like regular Marijuana/Cannabis, and don't be afraid to ask questions about it and where it came from. If you are with the right people they should be willing to share with you general information on it's origin- if of course they are aware. 

While you might think getting into trouble will be worse, but it never will be if you call timely and tell the truth. Often times when you do something to stop a situation from going bad, people will kindly take that into consideration. The EMS are not the police, while police may show up you can choose not to speak with them. It's important that you let the EMS know everything necessary for them to treat you or a friend. Regardless, always take safty precautions. One of these precautions will alwasy be to have narcan or NALOXONE on you at all times. Regardless of what drug you thing you are doing, having Narcan will be able to save someones life or aid in that process if they come in contact with opioids unknowingly. 

When it comes to laced mushrooms there can be several substances to look out for. LSD is the most common powder, which is put on to (hopefully edible) mushrooms and sold to give people a 'tripping' experience. You can get LSD testing strips, but they are often qiuite expensive. Many people will grow their own in a controlled environment, or find someone who already does, to ensure the state of quality in their psilocybin experience. 

Colorado and Oregon are the first states to adopt decriminalization and research on psilocybin for mental health purposes. It has been well supported by research on Treatment-Resisstant Depression, and other anxiety related disorders. However, this is all supported by medical teams and done in controlled environments, with full comfort of the patient taken into consideration. 

 It is important to remember that the history of Psilocybin goes back to our Aztec and South American communities. It was first isloated in a lab by Albert Hoffman, who also discovered and isolated LSD (Acid). This was the beginning of the modern history of these hallucinogens; native communties have known about the medicinal parts of the land for much longer than colonial Europe and America.