What Goes Up Must Come Down #
What goes up must come down? In the case of most drugs this is broadly true. Perhaps a better description of this phenomenon is that when you take these drugs, you are borrowing from the future, repayable sometimes with interest; meaning that the comedown and aftermath reverse-compensate for the up and the high.
I would stress that this does not apply to all drugs. Many psychedelics and dissociatives, for example, are immune to this tendency to some extent or another. However, it does apply to most of the common street drugs, such as cocaine, speed, heroin, alcohol and MDMA.
I have given this aspect a great deal of thought over the years, to the point of attempting to create graphs for certain compounds. I gave up on this idea due to the various levels of subjectivity and the difficulty with precision. However, a generic graph might look something like this:
Some drugs may have a gentler dip with a much longer tail (a very slow recovery), whereas others flush relatively quickly but can have a very deep initial hangover. Some can have an extraordinarily high peak, whereas others have a gentle elevation and lengthy period of contentment. There exists, of course, everything in between.
The main point I would make here is that a drug experience covers the whole period, not just the incline and the peak. A typical alcohol binge, for example, will usually deliver a few hours of semi-euphoria, followed by a sedated fuzziness, a hangover in the morning, a day of being under the weather, and perhaps another day (or more) of feeling under par.
When a drug of this type is selected for use, it is important to consider the entire picture, and not be carried away via anticipation of the early part of the ride. You are signing-on for its entirety, come what may: be sure that this is what you actually want.