questions - nothing illegal intended, just curious

[Jaeda]

It's been ages since I've posted here, or anywhere else for that matter. I've been so busy with offline life that it isn't even funny.

My kids are grown now and it's great actually being able to talk to them as adults. We've covered a lot of different topics/subjects, including "the old days" compared to "nowadays" and there are some questions that I can't answer, even if I did a web search. So I'd like to ask here - incase anyone knows from what they've heard second-hand and such. Of course no one here would be involved in any of these things firsthand because no one here would be involved in anything illegal. But it's not illegal to ask and it's not illegal to pass on hearsay or information that isn't going to cause anyone any harm.

Anyhoo, some stuff we've talked about is the "back in the day a 'dime bag' was a 'dime bag', not like what people anticipate nowadays. Back in the day, a 'dime bag' would cost one ten bucks and one could get 5-10 'joints' out of it depending on how dry it was, how seedy, and how much 'stemmage'. Nowadays a 'dime bag' costs what a 'quarter' did way back when and it's nowhere near four ounces." That's just an example. Then we talked about other things that grow. And it spawned the question of how much 'magic mushrooms' cost fresh or dried and by what price? I can honestly say that in all my years I never knew anyone that grew or sold 'magic mushrooms', and so I'm certainly clueless now since I just don't 'travel' in such circles. That question actually arose when we read about a certain 102 year old "forefather" that passed away recently and we began discussing hallucinogens (that spelling doesn't look right to me) and the "father" of LSD dying after living a very long time even by modern standards. We also saw a movie, whose title escapes me at the moment - the story/movie began in Texas (Galveston) and then moved to Mexico, and in one scene the mixed group of young American men "hooked up with" a Mexican lady-bartender and her cousin, and some of them were eating what appeared to be dry (rather than fresh) 'magic mushrooms' that they had acquired in Mexico. I'm sure they are sold readily in many countries. But at what sort of price USD?

Then we moved onto topics about living kidney donors in I believe it is the Phillipines and how a law has been passed to disallow non-citizen kidney transplant recipients from living, non-related donors vs. donor kidneys from organ-donor-deceased persons. Basically the grey market of transplants being nipped in the bud because poor people are selling single healthy kidneys from their own body to people with money from other countries that go there to try and beat the waiting lists that exist for compatible organs from whatever country they are citizens of. Without coming right out and saying it, the ban is intended to keep people in need of a healthy organ from taking advantage of people in another country without a pot to pee in - an exploitation of sorts.

Anyway, just wondering out of sheer curiosity and absolutely no intention of being involved in anything illegal, what is the - is this the right wording? - "street value" on any given type of mushroom that qualifies as being "magic mushrooms"?

Feel free to post a reply here, or PM me if you don't feel comfortable responding in the open forum.

[adidas]

i heard of someone purchasing some at 15 usd a "dose" of 2-3 grams, but don't know if that's the official price of if he was taken in by someone

[Anonymous]

"Magic Mushrooms" are usually refering to Psilocybe mushrooms (containing Psilocybin).

I've seen prices from anywhere from $15 an 8th all the way up to $45 an 8th.

8th = 1/8 of an Oz or 3.5g.

It's best to grow them or hunt (wild collect) them yourself.

Of course there is always Trichocereus cactus too.

[senorsalvia]

Senor spent the first 2/3 of his planetary sojourn in the northern U.S... Not a place to easily acquire 'magic shrooms'...  Once, in '70, he was pleasantly suprised to find the fungal delicacy available as a dried and powdered offering... Back in 'da day, when good Sunshine, Berkely Blood, and clean windowpane were available readily for $2 USD a dose;  the shroom powder was going for $10, and was gone in a heartbeat never to return...  Senor thinks this to be a classic example of the basic 'supply and demand' situation...  Senor now resides in the Southeastern US and sees shrooms being offered for sale on a regular basis, although he has noted most 'natives' have gotten tired of them, or otherwise don't appreciate them, and don't partake.  Seems to be the 'newbies to shrooms that keep 'da bus' running........  Current pricing seems to be heavily inflated, as in $20 USD for a decent journey...... :shock:

[Stonehenge]

The organ transplant idea is interesting. On one hand, the authorities are trying to stop "rich" people from taking advantage of poor people. "Rich" meaning most of the middle class in this country. Is there another side to the issue or is it straight forward like they present it to us?

Being poor in a third world country is almost as bad as being in prison in this country. At least here in prison you get 3 squares a day, a roof over your head and, I've heard, exercise equipment, access to a library and so on. Some people commit crimes just to get off the streets.

In a poor country you have to work all day for perhaps $1 or equivilent unless you are lucky enough to have one of the better jobs. Poor people there can't even get the bad jobs most of the time. They sleep in the streets and beg or prostitute themselves just to stay alive. Even then, they often don't make it and die from exposure or violence. There is a lot of crime down there and if you are poor, you are often the victim of it.

$20,000 is an awful lot of money to someone like that. To give up a kidney, be sick and recover for a few weeks or months, and then be rich, sounds excellent to many of them. Should they be denied the chance to make that decision? Are we our brother's keeper or just big brother in disguise?

If it was legal, they could pass laws requiring the donors to get follow up treatment, perhaps a few months of room and board and maybe some financial counceling so they don't blow it all at once.

[Anonymous]

In a poor country you have to work all day for perhaps $1 or equivilent unless you are lucky enough to have one of the better jobs. Poor people there can't even get the bad jobs most of the time. They sleep in the streets and beg or prostitute themselves just to stay alive. Even then, they often don't make it and die from exposure or violence. There is a lot of crime down there and if you are poor, you are often the victim of it.

$20,000 is an awful lot of money to someone like that. To give up a kidney, be sick and recover for a few weeks or months, and then be rich, sounds excellent to many of them. Should they be denied the chance to make that decision? Are we our brother's keeper or just big brother in disguise?

You answered your own question, they get robbed, I read about one lady who sold her kidney being told she would receive $2000 dollors, they only gave her $700 and basically told her to fuck off.

[Stonehenge]

If it was legal they could pass laws saying the donor must get free room and board for life along with a stipend like maybe $20 a month instead of a lump sum. That plus free medical care for a year would be very attractive to poor people.

[Anonymous]

I totally agree with that stoneh.

[suicybe]

if i met you the mushrooms would be free, unfortunately
the street value is anywhere from $12.5/g - $14.2/g for dried psilocybe cubensis

[suicybe]

Seems to be the 'newbies to shrooms that keep 'da bus' running........  

whats da bus draggin around here for? cant help yourself?!
-nice one!

[Jaeda]

Kidneys (and other organs) and Food of the Gods... in retrospect, it's a rather ironic combination in a thread.

Brother's keeper vs. Big Brother? Honestly, the only difference I see between the two is "individuals" vs. "the establishment"... as a species, in general, we have a terrible tendency for meddling.

Someone mentioned a cacti... indeed, if such a specimen joined me, I would be happy to tend it, though I've not partaken... I seem to get wrapped up in the relationship of 'tending' (the husbandry) and enjoy the reward of simply having a botanical 'companion'... not so unlike a friend, only knowing where they're always at (or should be at any rate - lest they grow legs and walk off). I'm still finding my groove with cacti and succulents though and amongst the most commonly available, non-listed, it's still anyone's guess whether any given species will survive at my hands or not. Sometimes it takes me awhile to find that groove - where something will successfully grow for me relatively 'easily' (meaning where I'm not fretting day and night about its condition).

There appears to be (even taking into account the different eras, if you will) a fair bit of variation in pricing in respect to the original inquiry. I'm sure some of it is also geographically effected. I know it certainly happens with other things. Heck, could certainly 'see' it just by comparing the price of a gallon of whole milk. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy the cow. (for the record, I'm seriously considering a Miniature Jersey) At any rate, newbies keeping the bus going.... there's a thought.

Depending upon what a newbie is new to... newbies generally scare me or at least have me take several steps back and then give a wide berth. While I will not get on a zealous soapbox proclaiming any given path all right or all wrong, deep down I do feel that everyone I have actually met in the past, oh let's just say 15 years, that has had an interest in something that I could generically categorize as spiritual or even esoteric, have been "flakes", "frauds", or were so far off from my perception of what constitutes 'good reason to be on the path' that I chalked them up to little more than novelty seekers... and regardless of their experience (if they ever went there in the end), entirely too much like tissue paper... readily moved by the wind of whim onto another path.

Sometimes I contemplate the paths most common to those in my general geography... alcohol (beer, whiskey - or high-priced lousy tasting concoctions) is probably the biggest/most widely used "around here"... I've lost count of how many people I know or am aware of having DUIs OR if they haven't been caught, still practicing driving while under the influence of alcohol. I can't seem to develop a 'taste' for alcohol though. I like my Mezcal, don't get me wrong... but it's not something I could ever partake of on any sort of regular basis. The second most common 'around here'.... oo, tough one... pills? meth? crack? I see a lot of people who mix it all up - along with the alcohol being a staple of what they ingest along their chosen paths... I can't say that I understand it. I don't. I wish I could say that what I know/see or hear about through the grapevine were that "reefer" was second-running in the list, but old-fashioned "pot" seems to be just that... "old-fashioned"... read about plenty of "big busts", but don't hear so much about the individuals... are they a dying breed? (I'm waxing quasi-philosophical, I do apologize...)

Of course, I wonder why so few people even attempt to grow their own vegetables in-season for that matter - even if they never do any preserving for future use, even if they only eat fresh. I guess for most 'around here', whether it is vegetables or intoxicants or spirituality, it must seem easier (even if not as good) to go out and pay the going rate to buy it off a shelf, from behind a counter, in a bottle, or boxed up and in lieu of a ribbon or a bow, with a steeple on top... spirituality in a can or a bottle or a building....?

6 billion people, and sometimes (most of the time?) it feels like such a lonely world... I spend a lot of time with the critters and the botanicals. Maybe too much?

Right now, I'd probably seriously consider 20K for one of my kidneys... this economy sucks and I'm none too happy about the worldly state of affairs much less those in the U.S. If I weren't broke, I'd immigrate and naturalize to a different country myself... at least somewhere where I didn't feel so... well, the way I feel. I'm perhaps just being pessimistic though. It's been a suck-year and I've experienced (still dealing with...) some truly horrible things happening to people I care about and there being no "justice" even for those that were/are wholly innocent victims. I see a country where spirituality can be purchased, along with forgiveness, for 10% of your income and GMO veggies cheaper than organic, where people don't turn the other cheek but instead a blind eye in order to preserve their sense of status or maintain a standard of living that is far from poverty albeit not 'rolling in it', and a country where there are states where the penalty - IF it even goes to trial - for a child molestor who has violated (without penetration and no DNA evidence) is equivalent to the penalty for "allowing a dog to run at large".

Would I sell a kidney in order to fund moving to a place marginally 'better' than this? Food for thought.