'Anderson Live' Explores Drug Trend 'Smiles'
Thursday, November 29, 2012 10:01AM
Anderson and co-host Lisa Ling explored a dangerous new drug trend called "Smiles," a synthetic drug with unusual and unpredictable side effects, including hallucinations, erratic behavior and even death.
Anderson speaks with Kirk, a teen who videotaped himself taking "Smiles" before posting it online to educate others before they take it. Kirk explains, "The reason I make the videos is to inform others about the proper dosages and so they know what they're getting."
Debbie, a mom who recently lost her son Christian, 18, to "Smiles," says she thinks what Kirk is doing is "horrible." (Christian's photo is below.)
Elijah, a 17-year-old who also took "Smiles," died the day after Christian.
Filed Under: As Seen On The Show
Comments
I am a retired law enforcement officer. I dealt with people for years who were hooked on various drugs the most prevalent was Methamphetamine. After ingesting the poison for a period of time, it changes the whole person. Poisoning the brain permanently. I know this drug well because I have a son who may never be the same for the number of years he has been abusing meth. I don't believe that Smiles is any different, just a different poison. I was disappointed that more information was not given on this drug and its effects. The young man who sat there and constantly tried to defend his stand on Smiles, lost his defense totally. But what was most important about him was his demeanor. He was either high on your show, or it was the outcome of taking a drug for longer than his body could tolerate and his brain was permanently fried. It was very obvious to many people who viewed the show that the boy was stoned!
How sad that there is just one more illegal drug we have to worry about. The chain reaction from these hallucinogens is horrific. People who take them will stop at nothing to get their next fix.
I was outraged with that young man and his attitude about this powder called SMILES!
I love your show Anderson, but you were too easy on that kid!
Anderson, Shame on you for your ignorant behavior!!!
All those that have not tried any of this stuff or researched it are just clueless and should shut their uneducated mouth up until they know what they are talking about.
Let me clear the smoke in this room about the reality of 2C-I, aka smiles. First of all 2C-I has been around for a while now, it was first synthesized by Shulgin in 1991. So it's not some drug that has just gotten to market.
Also when Anderson kept mentioning that you don't even know what you are getting. Meaning there is no standardization. First of all people buy herbs all the time on the Internet and at health food stores that don't have any standardization for the active ingredients. Also the people that make these drugs these days are increasingly wanting to make a legit product for there customer base. Also we can buy drug kits to find out what is in our products.
Hardly nobody talks about when Tylenol causes 26,000 hospitalizations and nearly 500 deaths annually, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Why don't we ban Tylenol and make criminals out of those that use it for the same reasons that we have banned medical marijuana patients use marijuana? Hypocrites......
The fact is, there are going to be deaths even from normal drugs and many people die or get serious conditions from these legal drugs. Yet some how when it comes to anything that can alter your consciousness, they are like, lets ban it. It reminds me of the angry mob mentality of someone has to pay for my son or daughters death. So they go out with this mob mentality that something or someone has to pay. But that is not how justice should work in this case. If your offspring decided to take it. They would have to be street smart enough and responsible enough to make sure that they researched it enough, and got a good source. If they researched it, then they should know how to take it. So if they did that they should know that they need a good set, and setting. They would also need a good sitter. Also even if they did die, it would then have to be weighted statistically to see if this case is a rare event or if this is a common thing. I'm betting that most of the time statistically speaking these deaths are insignificant to the benefits these drugs can bring medically to people. Your always going to have a small amount of deaths from different things. I even heard about someone that died from drinking too much water in a competition.
As far as that lady Theresa getting livid and angry about Kriks videos, well she obviously must not know that meth is much different than 2C-I. I would call meth a typical drug. While I would call 2C-I an entheogen or a psychedelic. Psychedelics are generally much more safe than what I would call drugs like meth, cocaine, and the like. Also I would imagine that when buying meth you are probably guying from guys that are not as professional as buying from someone selling 2C-I, since 2C-I takes more of a professional technical background to make. And good for you Theresa for giving up meth, meth will never shine in the light of 2C-I.
In the end you people need to educate yourselves.
A good independent resource is here. http://drugscience.org.uk/ Anything by David Nutt is really good and totally independent.
Peace.
I really dislike the way that kirk was treated on the show. Yes drugs are illegal and often made and controlled by gangs it does not mean you cant know what is in them and where they come from. More and more there are plenty of drug maker and supplier that conduct themselves as legitimate businesses and take pride in themselves in the quality of the product they produce, and if you do your research you can find reliable drug dealers. Second most adolescent kids don't use drugs because they are depressed or need to escape something. and in most cases your kids wont become withdrawn or become less involved. some of the most intelligent and academically successful people I know are use drugs recreationally, not just students but also esteemed professors. people i know use drugs just for the fun of it, and for teens in a lot of ways its easier get that alcohol and its effects are more discreet than alcohol. Although i do agree to truly be positive, informative and harm reducing, kirk would have to present a more all inclusive presentation of drugs and their possible affects, the high and the low that comes afterwards as well as the possible legal and medical consequences. however the way that he was addressed during the will not have positive effect. although anderson said many times that he wasn't trying to demonize him our drug users, he did just that the whole segment was extremely biased. alot of time kirk was cut off by anderson or the other guest and not able to answer questions fully. overall i feel that the segment was not going to be complete and unbiased and genuinely exploratory of both view points it should not have been aired at all.
about the drug "smiles" ... there is alot of people that have died from these drugs and my heart goes out to all theses peoples families but that guy that had videos on the net about his trips you shouldnt corner him about it because he is trying to educate himself and others. how many people have died from alcohol and cigarettes and thats legal people ARE gonna do it and try new things the same as drinkng at parties you kno whats in that and what it will do but ppl still die from it. marijuana is illegal but everyone knows what that is and its a natural thing and has NEVER killed anyone drinking and smoking kills people EVERYDAY. so maybe should talk more with your teens about that...
This is utterly repulsive and it makes me want to vomit. These people seem to think that NOT talking about these drugs will somehow make things better. Like somehow less kids will die from psychedelics if there is no information available on them. What Kirk is doing is extremely important. Nothing he has done has caused the deaths of ANYONE. In fact, if the people who have died on 2C-I or other psychedelics had watched one of Kirk's videos (or another trip report, etc.) they probably would have thought twice about what they were doing and how MUCH they were doing.
And people need to STOP accusing Kirk of advocating drugs. I have seen most if not all of his YouTube videos and I don't think he has made ONE video where he hasn't said that he does not recommend anyone use psychedelics or other drugs. He has always said that caution is extremely important.
The point is that research chemicals may not be as safe as other drugs like coffee, or cannabis, etc, but it's much better to have people like Kirk spreading truthful information about them so if someone DOES decide to try it they know what they are getting themselves into. Trust me, the people who HAVE died from psychedelics are almost always people who had no idea what they are doing and did ten times more of the drug than they should have. I hope one day that people will look back at Kirk and say that he was right for doing what he did. He's extremely brave for doing this. If you've actually bothered to watch his videos you would know that he is very intelligent and he knows what he is talking about. He had to have known what he was getting himself into by going on this show.
So please, if you don't know anything about psychedelics, do NOT offer your invalid opinions, ESPECIALLY if you have never tried a psychedelic. Do your research first. Then you would realize that for every one person who has died on 2C-I, there have been over 1,000 people (who KNEW what they were doing) who had their minds expanded and lives changed for the better. Psychedelics, when used thoughtfully and knowledgeably, are life-changing substances.
How come you're a bad person who wants to kill the children with drugs kirk? Huh? How come? The way they treated you upset me, Anderson would rather use his studio audience to publicly shame you than have a real discussion. He points out over and over the problems with how it can be hard to know for sure the sources and contents of psychedelic drugs, he is making a powerful argument for "legalize regulate educate", he just doesn't know it. People are too emotional to talk about these issues sensibly. I don't know how to contact you or reply to you directly, but if you read this, I hope it encourages you a bit to know that I think you're doing the right thing.
I am the person that went on the show. First of all I can give a flying **** less what people think of me. I never used psychedelics because it was the "cool" thing to do, I used them because they allowed me to access parts of my mind that I couldn't access normally. They helped me turn my life around and put everything in perspective. Sure I had some bad times on them but I look at it for what its worth they were learning experiences. To all the people that look down on me for my past decisions to USe psychedelics you can kiss my ass. If you've never done them than you have no room to talk because you obviously know nothing about them or the states of altered awareness they allow you to explore. As stated in the interview I no longer use psychedelics. And I've never encouraged anybody to try drugs (even tho I believe everybody should have the right to experiment with their own consciousness). Keep believing everything your media tells you america. Go back to sleep and let your government run your lives.
I'm twitchy and fidgety too, does that mean I am on drugs too? No. Psychedelics can have life-long effects on users, both positive and negative. I guess nobody bothered to actually listen to this kid, Kirk. I guess nobody's ever heard of a drug testing kit either.
People with the "tell kids to say no to drugs and life will be all sunshine and lollypops" mentality should keep dreaming.
I watched your show yesterday morning while taking care of my 87yr old disabled grandmother. I was livid to see this guy making videos to show kids how to use drugs. I have been clean from meth for 8yrs now and I was a very heavy meth user. You NEVER know what are in the drugs and as Anderson pointed out yesterday there could be rat poison and other substances mixed in with the drugs. Even though the guy said he was no longer using I could tell he was still on some form of drug. He was too fidgety and he was unable to REALLY hear what he was saying....Love your show and try to watch it every morning. If I can not catch it I DVR it! Keep up the excellent work!
Reading most of these comment and hearing people boo Kirk have had me banging my head against a wall. So much ignorance and so many misinformed people demonizing a guy who is trying to make sure that something bad doesn't happen to the next kid who WILL try an entheogen in their lifetime, probably in their youth. Kirk is not promoting drug use. But people will do drugs as long as they both are around. This is evident in the millions of (North) American's who risk arrest and prosecution by possessing anything from marijuana to more powerful substances such as 2C-I or "smiles" (who the **** calls it that?) every day. Knowledge is the most powerful tool, and through education, maybe the next kid that tries an unregulated substance might have a better chance if he knows that you can buy a drug testing kit to test for what it contains, or takes a proper dosage in a good set and setting instead of hurling themselves into mental anguish or at worst, death.
The war on drugs is anti-productive. It is detrimental to the youth.
If you don't think that its' possible to learn anything from psychedelics, than you are just terribly closed minded.
Regulate and educate. ...Or just be naive and keep living in a fantasy.
(PS, I dont do drugs either..............anymore.)
We must work together to ban this substance and empower our youth to just say "no"
Legalize, regulate and educate. This conversation is futile as new designer drugs will be created faster than they can outlaw them.
When drugs are illegal they are deemed cool and kids want to try them. When they are legal they stop. eg: Cigarettes.
should not have ever mentioned the name of the website to legitimize them.
did you here what that kid said...."He stopped taking drugs because he felt he had learned everything he could from them"...is it me or was that the dumbest statement ever....they call dope for a reason....learn from it.... here tell him this "that the people who sold it to him bought a new car...a house... and sent there drug free kid to Harvard with the money they make from imbeciles like him...