Some pills in a man's hand. Photo by Westmacott/AlamyStock Photo
On a Saturday night in a north London club, 26-year-old Mo swallows a pink pill with a mouthful of Red Bull. Within the hour, he's dancing uncontrollably. Though the euphoria swelling through his body is similar to what he'd feel after dropping ecstasy, the lights above the DJ – which trail on and on, as if reflected on water – indicate that he hasn't taken MDMA, but 2C-B, a hallucinogenic drug available on the dark net that has found a captive audience in the UK's clubbers. Advertisem*nt
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Mo and the people he rubs sweaty shoulders with have more drugs available to them than previous generations, but also belong to a cohort where harm reduction knowledge is high and day-long hangovers are made untenable by weekend shifts, freelance work and the need to self-start. Advertisem*nt
Photo: Alchemy / Alamy Stock Photo
A 2C-B pill costs about £7 on the darknet – though if you buy more, like Mo, it obviously costs less – with 20 milligrams a typical dose. Despite being known as perhaps the most painful drug to snort, 2C-B powder is also available; snorting hits harder and faster, with effects fading quicker. A normal pill come-up takes about 45 to 75 minutes, while the peak lasts two to four hours and the comedown one to two. Advertisem*nt
"2C-B has been described as a cross between MDMA and LSD," says Mo, "and I can see why people feel that way, but I personally feel it's closer to LSD – a shorter-lasting version of LSD with a more manageable headspace, which makes it suitable for clubbing. The body high has all the classic symptoms of hallucinogens: increased sense of touch, tingly fingers on the come-up and lights seem brighter and more vibrant."As with every hallucinogen, there's an undercurrent of paranoia to some 2C-B trips that can leave the user feeling at odds with their surroundings. At one point, Mo stops dancing and puts his soaking-wet T-shirt back on, before looking around confused. He also checks his phone and sees it's much earlier than imagined; the sense of time passing quicker is another effect of 2C-B.Regardless of the prevailing narrative among users, then, 2C-B does come with its negatives. Like MDMA, the drug affects heart rate and the central nervous system, and people occasionally experience headaches after large doses. Watching Mo sweat, it's also clear that potential for heatstroke exists, so staying well hydrated while raving is essential.Moreover, 2C-B has been linked with serious brain injury in one woman; however, dose and purity weren't known. The lethal dose of 2C-B also isn't known – yet users on Reddit have reportedly taken hundreds of milligrams without life-threatening incident, though some did incur hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD), meaning they experienced the effects of 2C-B long after it left their systems. Generally, doses above 15 milligrams can be intense, while ones over 25 – where OEVs become more frequent – are occasionally frightening.Though part of the same family of compounds, 2C-B isn't the same as 2C-P, the more dangerous drug implicated in the death of Louella Fletcher-Michie at Bestival in 2017. Unlike 2C-B, 2C-P has a history of overdoses dating back to the early-90s – although Fletcher-Michie was the first recorded death – and today is sold by just one darknet dealer. However, it's still available on the regular internet as a research chemical from legal sites aimed, in theory, at scientists.As another wave of euphoria hits, though, and Mo begins dancing again, those negatives are so far from his mind that they might as well not exist.
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