Where's the option for "I used to take it A LOT but not at all now that I have a job, wife, and kid" ?
My experience is a bit like Trobinson's, except I liked it, and value many of my experiences.
In college I used to get liquid, $100/100. Cheap enough to just give out drops at parties. Hell of a good time.
And so many sheets... egads... dozens and dozens and dozens of blotter types, say nothing of actual hits taken.
Oh man, acid and shrooms and pot. Never mix these three with vodka, unless you are in a field and can run around in a circle yelling, with your shirt off, and not have anybody be overly concerned.
Reading Finnegans Wake was never easier.
I fully groked freshman physics only after dosing.
Me and my buddy were both Chem Engineering majors, we used to dose the day before any major Organic Chem exam. Part of the studying process. Organic is pretty easy, not much math involved (compared to our hardcore classes) and mostly it's about SHAPES and CHARGES of molecules.. easy stuff to grok when the molecule in question is about 2 feet high and glowing, right in front of you, and you can feel those big pi-orbitals with their negative charges just prickling your skin...
Hey, what about PCP? Don't ever overdose on that, but if you do, remember: I got my sanity back, and so will you. Pretending to read helped for a few hours, once I got over the fact that I couldn't distinguish between when I was pretending and when I was actually holding the book. I sure wish my dumbass friend had not freaked and called an ambulance. Pretending to be straight while the paramedics talk to your buddy is highly disconcerting. Thank god I did not go to the hospital with him. He had the crappiest time imaginable. Though they did pump him with drugs and more or less brought him down. Which I guess was good. For him.
I am no less sane than I was before I started. I think.
Can't say the same for some of the people I knew back in the day, of course. I never took more than 1, maybe 1.5, hits at a time. I think that is a big reason why I am not f---ed up permanently.
My friend Mike did an experiment on himself -- he took 1/4 hit 4 times a day for a few weeks. He said he didn't feel high, but eventually he realized he was acting so strange it was time to stop. Like when he did a Shining "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", but all over the library table, and with the phrase "ATTENTION COCKSUCKERS: THE WHITE ZONE IS TEMPORARILY INSANE"
As for procurement, I used to meet contacts at Dead shows. I went to actually see the Dead once. The other few times I went to make contacts. I also used to know drug dealers. Not friends with dope, I mean, pro purveyors of drugs of all sorts. Just a matter of working up the weed chain to the guys who you might ask for other stuff, too.
I'd definitely dose again someday, under perfect circumstances, but not something I'd actively plan.
Maybe if I ever wind up on a luxurious tropical island off the coast of Australia again. That would be good.
In a nutshell:
* if yer a newbie, or it's acid of unknown strength, start with 1/2 a hit. you can always take more in an hour or 2 if the plateau ain't weird enough
* for the love of god, don't have any specific responsibilities that day. Plan your day around your trip, not your trip around your day
* don't even try talking to your parents, teachers, uptight friends, or anyone else who may not approve of your activity
* don't take more when you're coming down. Your body and mind need rest
* get outside! especially among natural surroundings. That can to wonders to heal your brain. So can exercise.