Psychedelic Culture
New Paltz is an organism. The wiki is the brain.
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One of the most defining themes of New Paltz is in its culture of psychedelic exploration, through the use of psychedelic drugs and by other media.
New Paltz has been known for this feature for at least 35 years, and the use of psychedelic drugs in small groups for the purpose of augmenting academia is a crucial part of the campus and surrounding community in 2006.
[edit] Influences
Being a diverse place in a diverse set of ways, New Paltz has within its psychedelic culture a wide array of different influential icons - some of whose ideas congrue, some oppose, and most both.
[edit] Hunter S. Thompson
The ideas of Hunter S. Thompson are widely spoken of in New Paltz. What some call dystopian or myopic views of Thompson are seen and applied in New Paltz of very real critiques of the so-called "counter-culture" of the generation of parents of the current student body.
Strangely enough, Thompson's ideas seem to speak more to the younger generation than the older.
[edit] Aldous Huxley
Huxley's writings are assigned as class materials for some courses (anybody have a list of which ones?) at SUNY New Paltz. Huxley's ideas about politics, and particularly the movement of government toward making people feel comfortable with enslavement, fuel a portion of the young libertarian movement in New Paltz.
[edit] Alexander and Ann Shulgin
The writings of Alexander and Ann Shulgin have followed the MDMA culture to New Paltz, and are also closely associated with the Alex Grey following, which consists largely of music and art majors.
Although most of the Tryptamines and Phenethylamines in TIKAL and PIKAL have never been used in New Paltz, the knowledge of them is much more pervasive in New Paltz than in most college towns.
[edit] Alex Grey
The visionary artwork of Alex Grey is immensely popular in New Paltz, adorning the walls of dozens or perhaps hundreds of residence hall rooms.
The relatively close proximity of New Paltz to the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors has made ventures to it a regular occurance for some New Paltz residents. There is a regular group who attends full moon ceremonies at the chapel. Perhaps someone from this group could post to the talk page of this article and fill us in on the details.
[edit] Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary is less popular in New Paltz than might be expected. He is probably more celebrated by faculty than by students. However, his works not known to be assigned as classwork for any course.
One element of Learyism which has translated well into New Paltz is enthusiasm over technology. The technological readiness of the campus is slowly but steadily increasing, and the overall connectedness of the student body has far outpaced it. This represents a significant divide in the New Paltz psychedelic culture, as some have rejected the recent integration of social networking tools such as TheFaceBook in daily life.
[edit] Terrence McKenna
Terrence McKenna is widely respected and read in New Paltz, although his work is not known to have been assigned as course reading.
[edit] Materials
New Paltz has a wide diversity of psychedelic crowds, with materials to match.
[edit] Mushrooms
The most common trip in New Paltz is psilocybin, eaten in mushrooms which grow on campus and in local homes and which are brought from surrounding areas by students in a way similar to the commerce in Marijuana. Psilocybin Mushrooms are available in New Paltz on a constant, competitive basis.
Mushrooms are consumed in homes, residence halls, and especially outdoors. The beauty of the campus itself offers a great oppurtunity for an outdoor trip, with the tripping fields being the most celebrated venue.
[edit] LSD
LSD is much more available in New Paltz than in most college towns, though it is still unavailable at times. It is frequently available on and off-campus, in liquid or paper form.
[edit] MDMA
MDMA is probably the second most frequently used psychedelic in New Paltz, although some in the scene dispute its classification as such.
MDMA is most frequently used in houses in small rolling groups, and generally not used in a rave setting as in other college towns, although a small but tightly knit rave scene does exist.
[edit] Absynthe
Absynthe is used frequently in eastern European circles in New Paltz, with most of it being brought in from overseas. It is usually used in small groups at house parties. Although it remains illegal to produce, purchase or distribute in the United States, it is perfectly legal to possess and consume as it is classified as a food and therefore comes under the jurisdiction of the FDA.
New Paltz has also developed a subculture of "Absynthe Flippers," or folks who drink Absynthe while rolling on MDMA.
[edit] DMT
DMT is available occasionally in New Paltz.
[edit] 5-MEO-DIPT (Foxy)
5-MEO-DIPT was last seen on the campus during the Spring 2004 semester. The recent scheduling of the compound has made it difficult to get in its pure form, although it is frequently used as an additive in E pills.
[edit] Ketamine
[edit] Salvia Divinorum
Salvia leaves are available at Kontiki. The extract is available at Liquid. Salvia is typically used in homes or in dorm rooms. Its frequency of use in New Paltz is not well documented - it is not believed to be very widespread.
