Seems like SWIM missed the "golden era" of RCs (ie a few years ago). It almost seems like any "company" wanting to do "research" these days either a.) gets ripped off or b.) pays high prices. Is this just part of the "game"? Like is this phase one, do all "researchers" start at this level? At what point to you discover better sources? Is it all just experience?
There are expensive vendors, some a worth it and others are scams. The key is to find the right one for what you're looking for. If you find something, check it on undrug.org/vdb There are a few out there that have unbelievable prices and are top quality suppliers. Good luck on your search!
I was lucky enough to start researching about a year or so before operation web tryp. There are still websites just as good as the pre web tryp days, but they are hard to find. But in three months I have compiled a list of about twenty or so fairly decent vendors so it is not that hard. I wish I knew how to make these chemicals that would answer all my problems. I have read Pihkal and Tihkal but it is really just above my head.
I must say, I've been researching the scene since before foxy was scheduled and I've seen so many chemicals become available in the past few months its crazy! IMO the golden age is now. Yeah the DEA may be getting ready to schedule half of the good shit but oh well, that never stopped anybody before... Seriously meth, cocaine, pot, etc are much more closely watched, and so much more obvious but they are all hanging out on every hood corner in the US. -MOR
I bought my first RCs from very expensive vendors (first from South Africa, then from Switzerland (when the drug policy there was still very liberal), later from a well-known vendor in Hong Kong), then discovered cheaper vendors on the web and now I have made some private contacts, which provide me with lots of interesting chemicals for a very low price. Yes, it is indeed somehow part of the game. The more experienced you get (and the more time you invest), the more you´re likely to meet other people with the same spirit. I´ve had some very good experiences visiting psychonautical gatherings and congresses (look for my other threads about this topics). I´ve not only met a lot of interesting people there and shared experiences with them, but I also made some contacts, which have turned out to be really helpful. People who are just out for the next and faster kick will never make these contacts. And imho, they deserve to pay the high prices! Even more: I thinks it´s good, that the high prices limit the amount of substances they can consume. But serious and responsible researchers will sooner or later ascend to the circles, where really interesting stuff is available for reasonable prices and will use it, to make themselves become a little better, a development, which can be a benefit for society too!
And this is good! Sorry to say that (and I don´t want to be preaching), but as long as we don´t have a drug culture and most people cannot handle drugs safe and responsible, we need the authorities and their rigidity, if the situation shall not get out of control. A society on drugs is a weak society, because it looses the ability to develope. Most of the important cultural breakthroughs of mankind were somehow connected to the use of certain drugs (I may just mention the Eleusian Mysteries in ancient Greece (approx. 550 - 380 B.C.); the ideas gathered there have lead to the first democratic society in the history of mankind and were the germ-cell of ancient philosophy, which lead to almost all natural sciences. Here the drug - Alkaloids very closely related to LSD - was consumed in a very complex ritual, and all new ideas and experiences were discussed later, to seperate the good things from all the rubbish, a drug trip can mentally produce), but always in a controlled setting. The drugs were taken on very rare occasions and people prepared very carefully for that. Also don´t forget the shamanic use of drugs. The medicine men of the Indian tribes in North and South America used lots of mystical plants, but they were responsible with them and their knowledge and always cared for a safe and proper setting. And they only gave the drugs to others, if they absolutely had to (they themselves were initiated to drugs by their teachers (shamen as well) in a very special setting far away from the tribe; but giving a drug to someone, who didn´t know what to expect was always a risk). It´s the same thing with shamen in Africa, Asia and everywhere else in the world. Even in Europe, the local Shamen (witches and druids) used the regional psychedelic plants (like Datura, Atropa or even Cannabis (yes, this plant was originally domiciled in Central and Eastern Europe and came to the Middlle and Far East not before 4,000 B.C.)) for rituals and also as a medicine (research recently showed strong evidence, that shamen north of the Alpes knew how to treat chronic pains with Cannabis already in the time of the Roman occupation (1st century A.D.)).
