Hello! Welcome to another episode of Trip Report!
Ever curious to know what taking a certain drug feels like? Ever intrigued to see how a specific substance would affect you, but scared you might get addicted or damage your mental and physical health? Well, great! Here at Trip Report, we try them for you! After doing excessive research and taking everything into safe matters, we are prepared to give you the experience you've always been curious about, but never had the desire to act on. Trip Report brings you all the details and questions that you've had piled up in your brain for all this time.
In today's episode, we'll be exposing North America's hidden drug problem. A problem that has gone unnoticed for far too long, and needs to be brought to the attention of teenagers experimenting, along with safety precautions for parents dealing with a child using.
When most people think of psychedelic or dissociative drugs, usually LSD or mushrooms or ketamine come to mind. However, a less known drug has been abused by kids for many decades now—DXM (Dextromethorphan). Or, as edgy teenagers would call it, Robo Tripping.
Jeremy writes on Trip Report: Won't ever forget the first time I did DXM. I was with a friend and our original plan was to pick up some MDMA from our dealer, but he happened to be out of town. My friend suggested that we go and try "Robo Tripping." Just like most people, I wasn't familiar with the substance, but being the druggie I was in high school, I obviously had to try it. Wow...never had a high quite like that before. It was so difficult to explain, but for the rest of my sophomore year I continued to abuse it, until I had to call it quits. Good times, but eventually I just grew out of it, and it's probably for the better.
DXM is an OTC (over-the-counter) cough suppressant that anyone can purchase in North America. In other words, literally a twelve-year-old kid can walk into any Pharmacy and purchase this stuff. This is far easier than getting your hands on alcohol or weed if you're underage. The fact that the government has yet to make this a prescription-only substance goes to show a great lack of awareness, or ignorance, of how serious this situation is.
Typically, DXM comes in either capsules or cough syrup to treat colds and flues. But if one takes a larger dose than usual, or exceeds more than the recommended amount, they can experience a very strange, euphoric, and sometimes horrifying trip.
Dextromethorphan abuse comes in four different plateaus, usually the scale that teenagers use to measure out their dosages of the trip they are about to take.
First plateau: 100–200 mg. Lower doses of DXM can often produce feelings of euphoria and energy. In social situations, one may feel very talkative and positive. It's important to note that DXM is by no means a stimulant drug. Only in lower dosages will a user feel this kind of energy. In higher dosages, one may not even be able to stand up and walk, like they are heavily drunk, which we will talk about more later on in the episode.
Michele writes on Trip Report: My first DXM trip was quite something. Originally when doing research on the substance, it was highly recommended not to use it if you were prescribed medications from a doctor, especially SSRIs. I had a small bottle I had bought off a friend, but couldn't muster up the courage to try it after what I read. Having said that, one night I was having a rough time, and I just said fuck it. I quickly chugged the bottle and hoped for the best. About an hour and a half later, I began to feel a euphoria building within me as I rested on my bed, eventually reaching the first plateau. It was very hard to describe, but I specifically remember a trippy thought about my friend walking on stilts—the tall ones that people walk on in the circus—and it made me laugh.
