What happened the first time you took drugs?
Losing your drug virginity can be as exciting as losing your real virginity, but without the right preparation and planning it might not turn out the way you hoped.
GDS2018 #KnowYourDrugs
Can you remember the first time you took MDMA (Molly, ecstasy), snorted a line of cocaine or took a trip on LSD? Can you remember who you were with, where you were and what you were doing? Can you remember how you felt and what you were expecting? The thing about your first time is that it can be a bit like doing your first sky dive or rollercoaster, a weird mix of scary and excited as you realise you are entering the unknown. First drug experiences might also be particularly risky if you are on your own, take the wrong dose, are already under the influence of something else (usually and probably most dangerously alcohol), if it is the wrong place or the wrong time or if you do not know what to expect.
With Trump and Sessions backing Nancy Reagans mantra of ‘just say no’ (SAD SO SAD), GDS thinks it’s important to find out what people who said ‘yes’ instead were thinking and what happened to them. For same saying ‘yes’ that first time will be the first step to ruin but this is a rare outcome with over 90% never developing long term problems with drugs or alcohol (its higher or course with heroin, crystal meth and tobacco and when people start using in their early teens often due to other vulnerability factors like social disadvantage and mental illness). For others, saying ‘yes’ may the start of long and enjoyable relationship with drugs. For about 25%, according to GDS data – saying ‘yes’ to a drug will be a one-off thing never to be repeated (a bit like going to Starbucks).
Exploring that very first experience has rarely been a focus of drug research. In small studies, it can hard to recruit large numbers who have recently started to use drugs so they can remember with some accuracy what was going on at the time. For GDS – it’s easy. With over a 100,000-people taking part every year, and about 25% of those reporting last year use of MDMA, cocaine or LSD taking these drugs for the very first time in the last 12 months we can get unique access to how people lost their virginity in 2017.
Our hashtag GDS2018 #KnowYourDrugs taps into how important knowledge about what you’re taking is to help people have a safer more enjoyable drug use experience. This is never more crucial than on the first time you use. While people may be aware of the nice things a drug might do for them, many may have paid less attention to potential unwanted effects. Nausea, vomiting, gurning, sweating, and an overwhelming urgent need to poo (!), can all catch people unawares.
People talk a lot about the influence of peers when it comes to people starting using drugs. A lover, a mate, your best pals – people who you know and trust are often the people who open the doors to new ways of thinking and share their experiences. But if everyone is doing something for the first time – then what? Who takes care of things if someone has a bad time? Novice users of psychedelics often make sure they have a trusted person about – usually someone who knows about tripping to ‘babysit’ them – a trip-sitter (where the excellent website Tripsit took its name). These people will often ensure the person knows what to expect, is in a good frame of mind and that the environment is safe and familiar. But for other drugs people are perhaps less thoughtful.
Obviously, nothing you can do can guarantee you a good or fun time on drugs and nothing can reduce your risk of harm to zero, other than not taking drugs. And using drugs before your brain has stopped growing (early 20s), especially in your early and middle teens, can impact on your emotional, personal and cognitive development – we recommend that you grow your brain before you try to expand it. And remember the overwhelming majority of people do not take drugs. But for people who decide to use drugs there are things they and their mates can do to reduce the risk of harm. What people do and how they choose to do it matters so much. Your own behaviour counts. So, this year, for the first time, GDS will ask people who have used cocaine, LSD and MDMA for the first time in the last 12 months all about that very first time. The where, the why, the what etc. We hope the results will help us to share information to help people reduce the risk of people experiencing harm.
So, if you want to help us share the best information with people so they can be safe and happy please take part in the world’s largest drug survey now at https://www.globaldrugsurvey.com/GDS2018