2C-B

What is 2C-B?

2C-B is a synthetic psychedelic drug with a light stimulating effect. In the Netherlands, 2C-B is mainly available as a pill and sometimes as a powder. 2C-B pills are usually thinner and smaller than ecstasy pills.

Effects

2C-B has psychedelic consciousness changing effects but also light stimulating effects.

The effect of a substance is determined by the properties of the substance itself, but also by the set and setting of the user. Here we describe what effects 2C-B generally has.

At higher doses, there are more hallucinatory effects. 2C-B has strong visual effects with intense colors, patterning on surfaces, distortions of objects and changes of faces. Also, perception by other senses is enhanced. Listening to music can be more intense.

2C-B disrupts mental processes (thinking, reasoning, etc.) less intense than LSD and psilocybine. It is considered by users to be ‘more controllable’. However, in high doses (from 20 mg), 2C-B can feel just as complicated as other psychedelic drugs.

Positive effects (negative) Side effects

Entactogenic

Strong sense of connectedness to others or your environment. You can connect more easily with others and notice less inhibitions than you might normally experience in social contact. For example, it may be easier to speak openly about the things that are bothering you.

Paranoia and delusions

Anxiety, paranoia and delusions (e.g. the idea that people are talking about you).

Euphoria, feelings of love

This substance can make you feel euphoric, like you are in love. You feel comfortable in your own skin and can experience things as pleasant more quickly.

Increase in blood pressure and heart rate

Due to increased cardiac stimulation, heart rate and blood pressure rise.

Laughing fits

Spontaneous and uncontrollable laughter, sometimes without anything humorous happening.

Dilated pupils

Due to an increased noradrenaline level in the body after taking certain drugs, the pupils become larger. The pupil size is influenced by many different processes. Increase in noradrenaline plays a role in some of those processes.

Altered sensory perception

How you perceive your environment changes, this can affect all of your senses. Sometimes, this could make it seem as if your surroundings differ from reality. More information about tripping and hallucinations can be found here.

Muscle cramps and muscle pain

Muscle cramps and muscle pain

Changes in perception of time

The passage of time could feel altered during ketamine use. Some parts of the evening fly by, while some parts feel a lot slower. When you are feeling comfortable, it can be nice that the feeling does not seem to stop. But if you feel uncomfortable, this can be a bothersome experience. So this effect can work both ways.

Increased sweating

In response to the increased stimulation and changes in body temperature, the skin will start to secrete sweat to cool the body temperature back to normal levels.

Sexually stimulating

Certain drugs can cause you to experience an enhanced sexual arousal. You feel more attracted to your partner or to others. For example, kissing can be extra pleasant and this experience can feel more intense than usual.

Dizziness

Dizziness

Energetic feeling

You have feelings of being energized. Sitting still is sometimes more difficult and this energetic feeling is often expressed through the urge to dance or move.

Nausea/vomiting

An uneasy and tense feeling in the abdomen, which may cause discomfort. Nausea often precedes vomiting.

Changes in thought patterns

You more quickly form logical and illogical associations, but your thoughts may also become more chaotic and confused. For the user, this could be either a positive or negative experience.

Teeth grinding

Grinding your teeth

Hallucinations

In hallucinations you perceive things that are not there. It really is an observation that seems to be real. For example, you may hear sounds (auditory hallucinations) or see something or someone (visual hallucination). This is in contrast to a change in sensory perception where normal perception is distorted. Think of a person’s voice that sounds higher or lower or a face that seems to have a big nose.

Hallucinations can be both desirable effects (with psychedelics) and unwanted side effects (with high doses of MDMA, or with being awake for too long).

Changes in thought patterns

You more quickly form logical and illogical associations, but your thoughts may also become more chaotic and confused. For the user, this could be either a positive or negative experience.

Head ache

Head ache

Dose and route of administration

2C-B can be both swallowed and snorted. Most people take 2C-B. Snorting 2C-B is fairly painful.

To find out how strong your 2C-B is, you can test it at the test service.

The higher the dose, the stronger the hallucinatory effects and side effects. Novice users should start with a light dose. If the effect turns out to be mild, wait at least 2 hours before taking it. This way you can discover for yourself which dosage is right for you.

Oral dose
Low 5 – 15 mg
Medium 15 – 25 mg
High 25+ mg

Duration

The effects of 2C-B usually last about 4-6 hours. The after effects can last a bit longer.

Risks

Little is known about the long-term risks of 2C-B. Presumably, 2C-B is not neurotoxic at usual doses and the long-term risks are in line with those of LSD and psilocybine.

Short term

Triggering a drug-induced psychosis

Frequent and high-dosage ketamine use can increase susceptibility to developing psychosis. During a psychosis, you may suffer from delusions, hallucinations, losing your grip on reality, and you could become very anxious. It becomes difficult to differentiate between reality and your thoughts. Your behaviour and thought patterns are often erratic and chaotic.

It is still unclear whether this can only be triggered in people who are already predisposed to psychosis, or whether regular drug use and an unhealthy lifestyle (e.g. little sleep) by itself can induce psychosis.

Using ketamine consecutively for days without sleeping, resting and eating exhausts your body, and therefore increases the risks of psychosis. Does someone in your environment react erratic and anxious? You can help that person by removing distractions (music, TV off for a while) and finding another environment where that person can get some rest. Speak calmly, be understanding and, if necessary, go outside together. Do not deny or confirm any delusions and if it does not get better, call a general practice centre. Medical staff are there to help you and can, if necessary, arrange a consult, write a prescription or provide care in another way.

Read more about psychosis in this article.

Experiencing a bad trip

You may be overwhelmed by the intensity of your ketamine experience. Such an experience can certainly be frightening for inexperienced users, and is called a ‘bad trip’. A bad trip, for example, manifests itself in confusion as a result of a dose that was too high. However, it can also arise because someone no longer has his/her thoughts under control.

In such a situation, it is important to put the person’s mind at ease. Explain to them that the situation they are in is a result of the drug and that things will be well again in a short time.

Give the person in question as much rest as possible, preferably in a familiar environment. Accepting the situation is often the first step a person needs to take to sit out the trip in calmer waters. Using hallucinogens when you are not feeling well or in an unfamiliar/busy environment increases the chance of unpleasant experiences during the trip and is therefore not recommended.

Read more.

Vasoconstriction (blood vessel contraction)

Stimulation of the sympathetic (fight-or-flight response) nervous system causes blood vessels supplying some organs to constrict, in order to increase relative blood flow to the muscles.

Overheating

Overheating (hyperthermia) can occur when your body temperature rises too high. Using drugs in a hot, humid, crowded environment (such as a club or indoor party, or in the sun at an outdoor festival) will raise your body temperature even further. Combined with intense, long, uninterrupted dancing, overheating can occur.

Early symptoms of overheating;

  • Headache
  • Confusion
  • Stiff muscles
  • Dizziness

These are all symptoms that can also fall under the “normal” side effects of a drug. If the body temperature does not drop, the following symptoms may also occur:

  • Shivering
  • Elevated heart rate
  • Pale appearance
  • Impaired consciousness
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting

If the body temperature rises to 40-41 degrees Celsius, the situation is life-threatening:

  • Breakdown of muscle tissue
  • Blood clotting throughout the body
  • Impaired functioning of kidneys and liver
  • Epileptic seizure

 

Depending on circumstances, overheating may also occur with “normal” doses of a drug.

Overheating is very dangerous and difficult to treat. Attempting to cool down, resting, and drinking enough water (no more than one glass per hour) is necessary to prevent overheating. Sweating is also an important way to cool down: by evaporating the sweat on your skin, it cools down slightly. But if the ambient humidity is very high (when condensate drops fall from the ceiling), sweat can’t evaporate well enough and therefore your body can’t cool down properly.

Long term

Psychological dependency

When someone has a psychological dependency, they are convinced that they cannot function without using the substance.

However, there is no physical change in body chemistry that would produce bodily side effects from quitting the substance.

Interactions

Combining different types of drugs can be risky and unpredictable. When you combine drugs you can have a higher risk of health problems. In the following paragraphs you can read about the effects and the risks of a number of combinations that occur frequently and also a about few that are extra hazardous. Also check our theme combining drugs.

2C-B and alcohol

Because of the 2C-B you have energy and you are less tired. As a result, you may feel the sedating effects of the alcohol less and you may have a tendency to drink more alcohol. Be careful, because this can cause an extra large hangover. So do not drink alcohol during 2C-B use or agree with yourself or your friends in advance how many glasses of alcohol you want to drink. This prevents headaches the next day and is better for your health!
It can also make the trip more vague. You have less control over the trip because of the alcohol. This gives a greater chance of a difficult experience.

2C-B and cannabis

If you smoke weed during a trip, it can make for a more intense trip. Keep that in mind. There are users who have later experienced that they relived certain trip effects while smoking weed, as a kind of vivid memory of a previous experience. This can be very scary and confusing. If you experience this, we advise you to stop smoking weed.
It can also suddenly change the direction or vibe of a trip. This new direction isn’t always positive. So before you smoke weed, think about whether it will improve the experience.

Laughing gas and psychedelics

If you are tripping and you take nitrous oxide, it can cause very intense effects. That can be fun, but it can also be so intense that it scares you. If you decide to combine, make sure you take the time and space for it. Find a quiet spot and sit or lie down.

Unity tips

Unity tips for using psychedelics
  • When taking a psychedelic for the first time, try to have your experience in nature or at home
  • Do you want to trip at a party or festival? Adjust your dose to be smaller than what you are used to.
  • Prevent nausea by eating something easily digestible at least 2 hours before taking your drugs
  • Make sure to always have a sober person (a trip sitter) around when tripping.
  • Pay close attention to the effects you experience: if you feel that they are too strong or unpleasant, ingesting vitamin C, dextrose or sweet drinks may help to alleviate this.
  • Do not fight any unpleasant feelings during the trip, but let yourself float on the flow of the trip
  • Do not combine psychedelics with other drugs (including alcohol) and medications. Cannabis in particular can greatly intensify and prolong the effect of psychedelics.
  • Make sure you are free from responsibilities the day after using, take some time to process the experience
  • Do not use psychedelics if you suffer from epilepsy or have a cardiovascular disease.

Unity tips for using drugs
  • When using a drug for the first time, take only a small dose to see how your body reacts to the substance
  • Only use drugs when you are feeling well
  • Use drugs recreationally, not to combat psychological issues like fatigue
  • Avoid using drugs if you have (had) psychological afflictions or if you have a family history of psychological diseases (such as depression) in your family
  • Test your drugs before use at a drugs-testing service
  • Make sure to prepare a good set and setting for drug use
  • Only use drugs sparingly. Keep track of your use over time.
  • Decide in advance how much you are planning to use over the evening, and stick to that. 
  • Do not combine drugs with other substances or medicines
  • Do not participate in traffic after drug use
  • Prevent infectious diseases; Use your own snorter/sniffer and do not share paraphernalia with others
  • After insufflating, rinse your nose well with lukewarm saline water (for example, by using a nasal spray or nasal douche)
  • Are you, or one of your friends not feeling well? Keep an eye out for one another, take care of each other and visit the first aid (if one is available)
  • Call 112 in a life-threatening situation
  • Eat healthy before and after drug use. In particular, foods with lots of antioxidants and vitamins (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, grapes, raisins, oranges, kiwi, broccoli). This is perhaps the most important tip! It can be difficult to eat during and after drug use, but make sure to try to eat something anyway. Eating well is a great way to reduce the hangover! If you can’t hold in solid foods, try juices, breakfast drinks, and smoothies.

FAQ

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