On Being Stoned

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Charles T. Tart, Ph. D.

Chapter 27. Age, Sex, and Educational Level

AGE

BECAUSE MOST RESPONDENTS were young, only two age ranges could be used for analysis purposes, namely, those younger than 25 (72 percent of the sample) and those 25 or older (28 percent of the sample).
Overall, the age variable was not particularly significant. Twenty-three analyses were significant at the .05 level, where about 19 would be expected by chance; and 5 were significant at the .01 level, when 4 would be expected by chance. None were significant at the .001 level. This may result from the restricted range. Thus many of the differences summarized below are probably artifactual. These differences must be regarded primarily as possible guides to further research, rather than as solid findings.
Table 27-1 summarizes significant differences in frequency of occurrence of 18 various effects, and Table 27-2 summarizes 10 significant differences in minimal level of intoxication. General frequency of occurrence data is also presented in the usual type style code.

MALE AND FEMALE

Forty-nine percent of the respondents were males, 27 percent were females. The rest could not be classified because of a clerical error that omitted the sex blank on some of the questionnaires.
Overall, the sex variable was not very significant. Twenty-five analyses were significant at the .05 level when about 19 would be expected by chance, and only one was significant at the .01 level, when about four would be expected by chance. The differences summarized in Table 27-3 and 27-4 should be taken only as guidelines for further research.
Overall frequencies of occurrence are coded in the tables by the usual type style convention.

EDUCATIONAL LEVEL

Seventy-two percent of the users were in college or had a bachelor's degree of some sort. Twenty-one percent were in graduate school or had advanced degrees (M.A., M.S., M.D., Ed.D., or Ph.D.). These are the College-educated and the Professional groups, respectively, in our analysis. Seven percent of the users were in various educational level groups too small to be analyzable.
Educational level was a significant background variable. Thirty-four analyses were significant at the .05 level instead of the 19 expected by chance, and 11 at the .01 level, rather than the four expected by chance Thus many of the differences summarized in the following two tables are potentially replicable findings as well as guides to research.
Tables 27-5 and 27-6 summarize significant differences in frequency of occurrence and minimal level of intoxication, respectively. General frequency of occurrence data is preserved in the type style code.
Although it is risky to comment on the overall patterning of results when a fair number of them may be due to chance, there is a general pattern of the College-educated having more sensory enhancement types of experiences.

TABLE 27-1
AGE AND FREQUENCY OF VARIOUS INTOXICATION EFFECTS
CATEGORY	INTOXICATION EFFECT	SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL

Older users (25+) more frequently experience:
Hearing	AUDITORY IMAGERY MORE VIVID	.05
Social	OTHERS HAVEN'T NOTICED I’M STONED	.01
Aftereffects	HARD TO GET ORGANIZED NEXT DAY	.05

Older users (25+) less frequently experience:
Vision	AURAS AROUND OBJECTS	.05
	THINGS IN PERIPHERY LOOK DIFFERENT	.05
	HALLUCINATIONS	.01
Hearing	QUALITY OF OWN VOICE CHANGES	.05
Paranormal	[a]OOBE's after starting to use marijuana	.05
Body	BODY SEEMS VERY HEAVY	.05
	PAIN MORE INTENSE IF CONCENTRATED ON	.01
	GET PHYSICALLY RESTLESS	.05
Thought	ABSORBED, ATTENTION MUST BE FORCIBLY GOTTEN	.05
Memory	SPONTANEOUSLY RECALL THINGS LONG FORGOTTEN	.05
	REMEMBER LESS OF WHAT IS READ	.01
Emotion	FEEL EMOTIONS MORE STRONGLY	.05
Control	EASILY SIDETRACKED ON TASKS	.05
	COMPULSIVE DESIRE TO GET HIGHER	.05
	POOR CONTROL OVER FANTASIES	.05
Miscellaneous	FEEL WORLD IS IN BAD SHAPE	.05

[a]Not coded as to frequency of occurrence by type style. (See Chapter 10.)

TABLE 27-2
AGE AND LEVELS OF INTOXICATION FOR VARIOUS EFFECTS
CATEGORY	INTOXICATION EFFECT	SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL

Older users (25+) must be more intoxicated to experience:
Body	PAIN MORE INTENSIVE IF CONCENTRATED ON	.05
Control	COMPULSIVE DESIRE TO GET HIGHER	.05

Older users (25+) need be less intoxicated to experience:
Body	LOSE AWARENESS OF BODY UNLESS STRONG STIMULUS DEMANDS ATTENTION	.05
	LOSE CONSCIOUSNESS OF BODY, FLOAT IN LIMITLESS SPACE	.05
	SENSE OF BALANCE ERRATIC	.05
Thought	Prolonged blank periods	.01
Memory	WORSE LONG-TERM MEMORY	.05
Control	INHIBITIONS LOWERED	.05
Identity	MERGE WITH CONTEMPLATED OBJECT OR PERSON	.05

TABLE 27-3
SEX AND FREQUENCY OF VARIOUS INTOXICATION EFFECTS
CATEGORY	INTOXICATION EFFECT	SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL

Males more frequently experience:
Paranormal	[a]Multiple OOBE's	.05
Body	BODY GETS NUMB	.05
Social	STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY COMPANIONS	.05
Control	CAN COME DOWN AT WILL	.05

Females more frequently experience:
Vision	VISION BLURRY	.05
Touch	OBJECTS SEEM HEAVIER	.05
Paranormal	[a]OOBE's per se	.05
Space/Time	TIME PASSES RAPIDLY	.05
	TIME STOPS	.05
Body	AWARE OF HEART BEATING	.05
	MOVEMENTS EXCEPTIONALLY SMOOTH AND COORDINATED	.05
	SENSE OF BALANCE ERRATIC	.05
Thought	Prolonged blank periods	.05
	SKIP INTERMEDIATE STEPS IN PROBLEM SOLVING	.05
Memory	GOOD MEMORY FOR PERIODS OF INTOXICATION	.05
Emotion	GIGGLE A LOT	.05
Control	Body parts move by themselves	.05
	CAN'T COME DOWN AT WILL	.05
Identity	MORE CHILDLIKE, OPEN TO EXPERIENCE	.05

[a]Not coded as to frequency of occurrence by type style. (See Chapter 10.)

TABLE 27-4
SEX AND LEVELS OF INTOXICATION FOR VARIOUS EFFECTS
CATEGORY	INTOXICATION EFFECT	SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL

Males must be more intoxicated to experience:
Hearing	SYNESTHESIA	.05
	MORE AWARE OF INTERNAL ORGANS	.05
Body	BODY GETS NUMB	.01
	BODY FEELS SMALLER	.05
Memory	FORGET START OF SENTENCE	.05
Identity	EVENTS BECOME ARCHETYPAL	.05

Females must be more intoxicated to experience:
Control	CAN COME DOWN AT WILL	.05

TABLE 27-5
EDUCATIONAL LEVEL AND FREQUENCY OF VARIOUS
INTOXICATION EFFECTS
CATEGORY	INTOXICATION EFFECT	SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL

Professionals more frequently experience:
Control	CAN COME DOWN AT WILL	.01

College-educated more frequently experience:
Vision	SENSUAL QUALITY TO VISION	.05
	PATTERNS IN VISUALLY AMBIGUOUS MATERIAL	.05
Touch	SURFACES FEEL ROUGH, INTERESTING	.01
	NEW QUALITIES TO TEMPERATURE	.01
Body	HYPERAWARE OF BREATHING	.05
	BODY FEELS LIGHT	.01
	PAIN MORE INTENSE IF CONCENTRATED ON	.05
	BODY FEELS SMALLER	.05
	PHYSICALLY RESTLESS	.01
Social	HARD TO PLAY ORDINARY SOCIAL GAMES	.05
Sex	CLOSER TO SEXUAL PARTNER, UNION OF SOULS	.05
	NEW QUALITIES TO ORGASM	.01
Thought	ABSORBED, ATTENTION MUST BE GOTTEN FORCIBLY	.01
	LOSE MENTAL TRACK OF TASK BUT FINISH IT ANYWAY	.05
Memory	WORSENED LONG-TERM MEMORY	.05
	GOOD MEMORY FOR PERIODS OF INTOXICATION	.05
Control	EASILY SIDETRACKED	.05
	COMPULSIVE DESIRE TO GET HIGHER	.05
	POOR FANTASY CONTROL	.05
	GOOD FANTASY CONTROL	.05
Spiritual	IN TOUCH WITH A HIGHER POWER	.05
Miscellaneous	WORLD SEEMS IN PRETTY BAD SHAPE	.05
	MORE INVOLVED IN ORDINARY TASKS	.01
	INNER FANTASIES AS REAL AS NOCTURNAL DREAMS	.05

TABLE 27-6
EDUCATIONAL LEVEL AND LEVELS OF INTOXICATION
FOR VARIOUS EFFECTS
CATEGORY	INTOXICATION EFFECT	SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL

Professionals need to be more intoxicated to experience:
Vision	Colors get duller	.05
Touch	OBJECTS SEEM MORE MASSIVE	.05
Space/Time	AIR, SPACE TAKES ON SOLID QUALITY	.05
Body	MOVEMENTS AWKWARD, UNCOORDINATED	.05
Miscellaneous	SOME INNER TRIPS SEEM COMPLETELY REAL	.05

College-educated need to be more intoxicated to experience:
Hearing	SPACE BECOMES AN AUDITORY SPACE	.05
Touch	SURFACES FEEL SMOOTHER, SILKIER	.05
	SURFACES FEEL ROUGH, INTERESTING	.01
Space/Time	DISTANCES SEEM SHORTER	.05
Body	LOCATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS CHANGES	.01
	AWARE OF HEARTBEAT	.05
Social	TALK MORE	.05
Sex	Need sex less	.05
	BETTER LOVER WHEN STONED	.05
Thought	Prolonged blank periods	.05
Memory	CONVERSE INTELLIGENTLY DESPITE FORGETTING START OF WHAT I SAID	.05
Control	EASILY SIDETRACKED	.05
Sleep	EASY TO GO TO SLEEP AT BEDTIME	.05
Aftereffects	HARD TO GET ORGANIZED NEXT DAY	.05
Identity	MERGE WITH OBJECT OR PERSON CONTEMPLATED	.05

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On Being Stoned

Charles T. Tart, Ph. D.

Chapter 27. Age, Sex, and Educational Level

AGE

MALE AND FEMALE

EDUCATIONAL LEVEL

Chapter 28

Contents | Feedback | Search | DRCNet Library | Schaffer Library

The Psychedelic Library | Book Menu | Table of Contents