I would like to point out, however, that page after page about the basics of different drugs does not make a magazine, it makes a textbook. I'm not saying that is what the magazine will end up becoming, I'm just pointing it out. There are only so many "common" drugs and you should probably try to limit the amount of overview type articles to about 2-3 per issue.
You have a very good point. I do want it to cover the whole gamut of drug classes though, with at least an article in each. That way, all the different kind of drug users can have a reason to read it...I mean, a hippie isn't going to want to read about how to shoot smack into yr neck while hanging upside down from a jungle gym, but they
will want to hear DMT-induced psycho babble. We'll just have to address that issue as it comes up, see what articles we get in for the issue and how it looks set up & what not...But trust me, I will keep this in mind.
News articles, whats going on in the drug world, politics, and editorials are all great ideas.
Definitely, especially on the stuff that doesn't usually get reported, and goes above and beyond the shit you'll see in high times or what have you (not saying they don't have some good articles but...)
Maybe once we get close to publishing we can find some online headshops to act as sponsors. Just include a banner or some of their more popular items with the price and the url of their site. If we started off the ad space at really cheap rates then we're bound to get a few companies who don't mind dropping a couple bucks for ad space. Then once it gets more popular we can get serious about finding sponsors. Its not just about money either, having ads makes a magazine look much more realistic/official. In video games they put ads on the sides of buildings and stuff, not for the ad revenue, but because its realistic; we're used to seeing ads. Even if you don't get anyone to pay for ads, I'm sure some companies would be open to the idea of some free ads just as we're starting off.
Yeah, hell yeah. I was also thinking of doing something like, putting up ads for different related organizations for free, and hoping that they'd reciprocate. Like Erowid, MAPS, dancesafe, etc..
As far as articles, I'd like to see some more obscure stuff.
d00d, so do I. This first-edition list is only so people can get a general idea of some basic articles that they can get in.
A few things about nootropics would nice, stuff like DMAE or Piracetam. You could have a random side box that quickly talks about L-tyrosine and adderall, or another about preventing the neurotoxicity of MDMA with magnesium supplements, or perhaps something about reducing the comedown of MDMA by pre/post loading with 5-HTP. People love these types of quick facts. Put them in a separate box which is a different color so they stand out, then you can flip through without reading every little thing.
Its the random little facts like "drink grapefruit juice before DXM" that people love. So just as a general notice, make sure to have lots of shit like that.
Had that exact same idea. I think I'll start a new thread so people can throw out suggestions for the kind of facts that could go into a general "The More You Know" kind of gig.
As far as history articles, it might be cool to have a running theme. Cover years 1950-1960 in the first issue, 1960-1970 in the second issue, ect. Just an idea.
Yeah, that's how I was planning to do it for the drug war. Start off with like the 1900's-1940's, then take it a decade at a time afterwards.
As far as history articles, it might be cool to have a running theme. Cover years 1950-1960 in the first issue, 1960-1970 in the second issue, ect. Just an idea.
shoot dang, good idea. +1
Another thing you can keep a running theme with is legal highs. Maybe a page in each issue that talks about a different legal way to get high. Title the section "This Month's Legal High Is......" and then below it write "nutmeg" and next month write "dxm" and so on. Nutmeg and dxm are shitty examples, but you get the idea. There are so many legal highs. Nutmeg, DXM, Salvia, Kratom, Kava Kava, Diph, Benzedrex.
Also a good idea. Although we might have to be careful how we word it, or people could say we're telling kids to get high off of things that aren't labeled for human consumption, or something...
Another idea might be to review different legal buds. Lots of sites like
http://www.legalbuds.com/ sell legal cannabis replacements. If someone had the disposable income to buy a few different legal buds and reviewed them with a structured system (5 stars for taste, 2 stars for high, ect) that would be pretty cool. Though you would probably end up spending a few hundred bucks on shitty fake weed, so I doubt this idea will be taken. Nevertheless, its worth mentioning.
I dunno...I think that money could be much better spent. XD
It might be nice to not focus only on getting high. We could have a section about alternative medicine like St Johns Wort for depression, Valerian Root for sleep disorders, and Hoodia for appetite suppression. Sure, most herbs suck compared to real drugs, but someone people like that stuff. You can't make every article appeal to every drug user. This is still drug related, and it also shows that we're interested in more then just getting high.
Which is why I want a damn good portion of it about more arcane subjects like tolerance/harm reduction, potentiation, etc etc. Have some articles on drug-induced disorders like HPPD (maybe two people write an article each on it, one being "HPPD IS BS" and the other "HPPD BLOWS ITS 4 REAL"), Serotonin Syndrome, LOLTWACKED syndrome, etc...
This post got a lot longer then I planed. I have lots of ideas, but not the initiative to do most of them.
Don't worry man, I have like nothing else to do so this is pretty much my prime focus. As long as it has support from the community I'll keep 'er engines runnin'.
I think one of the most important things is to not be afraid to tell someone that their article/photo/whatever is shit, but that's up to you.
I have no problem telling someone that they need to, um, improve...
Thanks Rizzo for putting all this effort in!
<3
