[Archived Broadcast – 5 Months Ago]
Real Talk with Nina Kline – NetRadio Program
[Transcript]

NINA KLINE: We’re back from the break with Evie Brayer, author of Sinister Urges: Drugs, Crime, and Justice. We’ve been talking in-depth about various illegal substances, including pleasure drugs. We’re going to take a few calls now, starting with Bethanie who’s calling from Sonnet City. Do you have a question for our guest, Bethanie?

CALLER: Yes, I do. Uh, so, back in college I had a friend who tried Euphoria, and she had a really bad experience with how sensitive it made her body feel. I mean, instead of just being pleasurable, I guess she felt a lot of pain too. Is that common?

EVIE BRAYER: Hi Bethanie. We need to remember that everybody’s different and some people may naturally have higher or lower pain-pleasure thresholds. Typically, under the influence of Euphoria, a user’s sensitivity to pain will actually be dulled, since the pleasure receptors are kicking into overdrive and overriding the body’s other senses. They become hypersensitive to feelings of pleasure, to the point where even uncomfortable sensations may be gratifying. There’s even a number of incidents where people accidentally harmed themselves while on Euphoria because they didn’t feel pain, or the brain simply misinterpretation pain for pleasure, which resulted in injury.

KLINE: But, as you said, some people have radically different experiences.

BRAYER: Absolutely. Heightened sensations of pain while on Euphoria isn’t common, but there are a minority of users who may experience it. Rapture, a similar drug, is actually notorious in that regard. A large number of Rapture users describe feelings of pleasure being amplified but, often, they feel a greater sensitivity to pain.

KLINE: Really? I’m curious, then why do people use Rapture?

BRAYER: It’s a cheaper alternative to Euphoria and it’s stronger than Aphrosia. Also, some users prefer those intensified sensations, strange as that may sound. Disturbingly, I’ve even read reports of Rapture being used during torture—members of organized crime, third world governments, or terrorists would inject those being tortured with the drug to increase suffering.

Danger Zone One. Story by Midnight. Art by Salaiix.