I picked Chuck up at the airport in Tucson.

[panader0]

He had flown in from Oregon. I was living in Patagonia, a small beautiful little
town north of Nogales on a creek with two bars.
We had been friends for a long time with many experiences, including
psychedelics and more. This was about 1975.
He was telling me about sacred datura, from the Carlos Casteneda books.
We're driving south through the mountains and he says--"Look, there's
some right there."
So I pulled my pick-up over and we took a large plant, also called
jimson weed. A large green plant with huge white blossoms.
When we got back to my place we put a few blossoms in the oven.
When they were dry we smoked them. Nothing.
The next day we ate a couple of unopened blossom pods each.
Then walked to "downtown" Patagonia, a town of 600 then.
By the time I got to the bench in front of the Big Steer bar I was getting
off like gangbusters. I instinctively knew I was in over my head and
walked back to the cabin. I laid down on my mattress on the floor while
Chuck walked about ranting nonsense. His IQ was about 160.
I held the mattress with my hands while my mind went down a slide of
hallucinations, the strongest I had ever experienced. I was a bit scared.
I made it though the night and when I woke I went into the bathroom
and looked in the mirror. I had no irises, my pupils were fully dilated.
Chuck was nowhere to be seen.
My boss showed up to take me to work mixing mortar and setting
scaffold. I couldn't talk. He knew I was a mess and gave me a beer.
the solution for everything. After working a few hours and a few more beers
I came out of it and could talk.
When I got home Chuck was still gone. He was gone for two more days.
Then he was brought back to town by the sheriff. He had been in jail in Nogales,
having a psychotic episode. He said he thought I was with him the whole time,
but would hide when he tried to look at me.
I never did that stuff again.

[yesphan]

1. I had a friend that brewed some

tea from the pods and his description of what he went through solidly convinced me
NEVER to try it. I did eat a bag of buttons one night and that was one heck of a journey.
I love the Castaneda book btw.

[WhiteTara]

11. The seeds will make you insane

I knew that was one plant I would never never never imbibe from. The scent is intoxicating though.

[mr_lebowski]

2. Yeah, I saw someone take that Jimson Weed shit one time ... it's no joke, PCP-level powerful ...

And I know a couple others who tried it ... never heard ANY of 'em say they'd care to do it again.

Cool story though

[Kali]

3. I never liked what it did to your eyes/vision.

only ate seeds a few times, never a large amount. rather take other things.

[MuseRider]

4. I remember reading those books

and wanting to try that but never did. The closest I came was morning glory seeds. I was sicker than I had ever been before for most of a day and then I called into work sick for 2 days in a row. I knew where I was but that was about all I knew for a while. I am absolutely certain datura would have killed me!

[panader0]

10. Yeah

When the rains come (soon please) the wild morning glory plants vine up
the mesquite trees. About 100 seeds can send you away. But like all plant
based hallucinogens, they affect your stomach. Peyote, psilocybin or cubensis
mushrooms all cause a degree or discomfort or nausea at first.
But after you puke---oh boy....

[MuseRider]

13. We watched Disney movies.

That was fun.

[dawg day]

5. Beer, the universal antidote!

Smart boss.

[panader0]

6. He would slap his hand on the hood of his truck to hide the DTs

and proclaim: "Solid as a rock!"

[MLAA]

7. From one Tucsonan to another, whoa dude!

[panader0]

8. Not really a Tucsonan

I went to Rincon for one year (66) and lived there off and on a few times.
But now I'm about ten miles south of Sierra Vista on land I bought many years
ago. Tucson has grown so much. Not like it used to be. But what is.....
And lay off the datura!

[MLAA]

14. I moved to Tucson right after college in '82 and have always kept a home here.

Now retired and living here full time. It has grown so much since way back then and the traffic has gotten so bad. I sometimes dream of moving further south and live off the grid with a boatload of books and Netflix! 😉

[yardwork]

9. Jimson weed aka Jamestown weed.

Read what it did to early English settlers in Jamestown, VA.

[hibbing]

12. dang, that sounds pretty wicked

Glad I didn't have access to any of that in my younger days.

Peace

[UTUSN]

15. Pure poetry.

[panader0]

16. Thanks but I don't deserve it.

Just remembering.....