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Soma
SOMA/MIO RELAX: The Soma Coma, or Knocked Out in MiamiBy
Bill Landis
Soma is the American manufacturer’s brand name of the drug carisprodol.
It’s also known in Europe under its Spanish name, Mio Relax. Soma is a
muscle relaxant derived from the sedative Miltown (meprobamate). To
understand Soma’s origins, impact and chemical structure, a brief glance at
Miltown is necessary. Miltown
was an infamous tranquilizer used in 1950s America. The stereotype of
the “Miltown man” businessman in gray flannel suit and jaws clenching a
pipe is a very Eisenhower-era American image. This type of chap would
take amphetamines to get started in the day and some Miltowns over cocktails
at night to relax in his suburban house with wife and two children. The
drug was also promoted for women. One advertisement showed a young child
with a building block about to smash his Mum and then the Mum contentedly
quiet and smiling after her dose.
The use of Miltown waned with the competition of barbiturates like Seconal and
Tuinal. Since all these drugs could be employed in suicides the
barbiturates were eventually subject to greater governmental control, and
doctors began prescribing more benzodiazapine tranquilizers like Valium in
lieu of Miltown. Miltown is a very strange psychotropic with strong
painkilling overtones. It can lead to mental distortions of reality
combined with intense physical relaxation.
A derivative of Miltown, Soma seems to have isolated the muscle relaxant and
some of the mild mentally euphoric properties of its more dangerous
progenitor. It originally gained popularity in the 1970s during the
Quaalude/Mandrax era, when rock concert attendees had a marked preference for
relaxant, de-inhibiting drugs.
Soma also gained popularity in areas like Florida and California, where the
climate is physical yet sluggish by nature. It is synergistic with
alcohol, and many Floridians and Californians drink a lot in the tropical
climate. Notorious drug taking individuals, such as the Florida country
musician Gary Stewart, have had periods where they were consuming as many as
twenty Somas a day.
However, there is a far lower overdose threshold to Soma, and it can prove an
enormous help in kicking gear. Is Soma addictive? After its
approximate four decades of existence, no one seems to have a definitive
answer. The major factor with opiate using individuals is that Soma’s
effectiveness starts to wane with frequent usage, more than a habit that
builds. Unlike Miltown, which can cause withdrawal seizures, stopping
Soma abruptly has merely caused muscle aches and mental dysphoria.
Since it remains in many parts of the States a simple prescription that any
general practitioner can write, and not a controlled substance, Soma got the
reputation of being an easy pill to obtain. In caught on in areas like
Florida rife with doctors hesitant to prescribe narcotics. Any
enterprising pain patient or junkie savvy enough to euphemistically refer to
their kicking symptoms could obtain a prescription. In reaction to this
Florida has classified Soma as a Schedule IV substance – one with a low but
existent potential for abuse. The
drug continues be prescribed without the controlled substance stigma in most
of the States; and is even available over the counter as Mio Relax in Spain.
It has a huge following among customers of internet drug companies. Some
customers order Soma through legitimate American “ops,” although others
opt for the cheaper prices from international ops like Europecare in Gibraltar
or Masters Marketing in the United Kingdom. Many of these medicine-heads
enjoy what they call the “soma coma” – a deep knockout after taking
three or four Somas after a day filled of imbibing narcotic pain medication
and tranquilizers.
Soma in its traditional form contains 350mg of the drug carisprodol.
Soma Compound is actually 200mg of carisprodol combined with aspirin;
basically half Somas or “Soma light.” Soma with Codeine is 200mg
carisprodol, aspirin, and 16mg of Codeine; because of the Codeine content it
is a controlled substance in the States. Soma is extremely synergistic
when combined with any narcotic pain tablet containing Codeine, Hydrocodone,
Dihydrocodeine, or Oxycodone; benzodiazapine tranquilizers like Valium or
Xanax; and alcohol.
Taking two Soma tablets on an empty system with quickly loosen the muscles,
relax the lower back, calves and shoulders, and produce a mild sense of
euphoria and relief. A third one will increase the effects, and can lull
the individual to sleep. Somas can be an excellent sopoforic although
they are not technically applied as a sleeping pill. The downside to
Soma is that it can have something of a depressing hangover the following day,
especially in cold weather, and a sluggish feeling.
Soma can last four to six hours with a peak at around a half hour to an hour
after ingestion. In the difficult stages of turkeying they can be a
strong aid. If one knows one’s body best, addicts can also employ a
drop down schedule using a combination of Soma, Codeine with Tylenol (Paracematol)
and a tranquilizer like Valium or Xanax. This can be a safer kick
regimen than Darvon, which is also discussed on this Brown Addict site in the
medical information section. Because of their synergistic effects, less
of any of the tablets are needed than usual to control withdrawal symptoms.
A peak physically therapeutic experience with Soma would be sitting on a
floaty in a warm pool; or when kicking a hot Epsom salt bath. It will
relax and loosen all the tightness in the body and there is a sensation of
mental relief – calm to the recently gear addicted; almost giddy to the
newcomer.
As a street drug, Soma is virtually unknown in urban areas like New York where
heavier commodities are passed about. In Florida a Soma currently sells
for about $2. Lenny, an experienced New York junkie who just kicked a
four year speedball habit, went down to Florida for a stay during 1988-1989
with his wife Honey, who had grown up in the Ft. Lauderdale area. The
couple lived in Ft. Lauderdale but Miami, the city of “Scarface,” and a
major drug center, was less than an hour away.
Lenny had heard about Soma, “through David, this really sloppy Methadonian
who’d take anything. My wife and I obtained a prescription for them
after being referred by a chiropractor to a shytie doctor
Immediately I noticed that three of them would put me really nice.
Combining a Soma, 60mg of Codeine, and a small amount of Xanax with a stick of
cannabis would also put one in a pleasant realm in a quiet environment.”
“At the time, in Florida, there were several Schedule V – low priority –
controlled substances that were available over the counter.
Robitussin AC was a two ounce bottle combining an expectorant with 120mg of
Codeine. They still sold the old standard Terpin Hydrate Elixir with
Codeine, which combined the brew with a turpentine derivative (supposedly to
loosen the breathing) and 40 percent alcohol. “ “There
were also two remedies for bad stomachs, especially considering Florida’s
geriatric population. Although traditional Paregoric – camphorated
tincture of opium – had recently been upgraded to a Schedule III substance
– there were still two similar opium preparations. One was
Parapectolin, which was a large bottle with a very mild feeling. The
other was a true cocktail – Donnegal-PG that combined 150 grams of powdered
opium with belladonna and alcohol. Very pleasant and a curious thing,
again, as tolerance would increase but you wouldn’t get a real dependency on
it like gear.”
“So if you were accustomed to juggling your drugs you could make do after
buying a few Vicodin from a chronic pain patient and occasionally using these
other items. All it took was asking for them at the pharmacy and signing
a book. Stricter or prudish pharmacists would be suspicious, might not
give to you. Or want to see your driver’s license so you didn’t come
back soon, and record your exact name and address. Easiest were
situations when a kid was working the pharmacy counter who just wanted their
job over with. Sometimes they had “say no to drugs” buttons – it
was that repressive late 1980s era – and this would be really ironic.
Lenny developed several scams. “I was a ‘snowbird’, a New Yorker
visiting a touristy part of Florida with a cold carried with me from up north.
Or I’d always go in around flu season well dressed, with a tie.
No biker apparel or Bambu rolling paper T-shirts were a given – you
couldn’t look like a head or recreational user or it was a no-go. The
Donnegal-PG was much easier to get, as you could always say it was for a
sickly grandparent with a bad stomach. “In
that case they didn’t even seem to care about how you dressed, but you tried
to be very white collar for the cough medicine. Florida is a state where
guys proudly go around boasting the Jimmy Buffet look with flip-flops and
bathing suits. Women commonly walk in groceries and drugstores barefoot.
“I was, with a combination of my natural junk diving rod and my wife’s
intricate and expert knowledge of the area, got quite adroit at gathering
these substances in Ft. Lauderdale. This is also before the wide use of
computers. A few pharmacists in Ft. Lauderdale at the chains would do
this for me only once. Others just didn’t care. I formed a
relationship with a pharmacist from New York; there’s nothing like hooking
up with another displaced New Yorker in Florida, it’s such a relief that you
come from the same place and have the same mannerisms, speak the lingo.
This guy was so good he’d be reaching for the stuff as he’d see me walking
down the isle. And I could have all I wanted signing any name of the
different cough meds or Donnegal-PG. “I
also walked in a drugstore by the gay part of Ft. Lauderdale beach and gave my
address as a room number in the fag hotel the Marlin, knowing the druggist
would buy a tourist act. He gave many times and when it wasn’t in, he
was just honest about it, he’d check the shelf and it’ll be empty.
He had the cough med Turpin Hydrate cough med prominently displayed.” “But
after a while we were down to just a few reliables and a couple of Soma after
you’ve had them don’t hold you forever nor are a certain amount going to
last in a couple. Though it’s notable that I’ve seen two hold people like
my pillhead pal and sometime vicodin connection Joe who took 10mg hydrocodone
(approximate to 60mg dihydrocodeine – one contugesic or two DF-118) for an
evening. It
was time for Lenny and Honey to head to Miami, land of the “Farmacia.”
“My wife had grown up in the area. We got on the highway to Miami.
She abruptly said, “let’s get off here.’ We made a turn at
Southwest 8th Street and the streets were slow and quiet in the tropical heat.
Cuban men walked slowly along, who strongly resembled the street pill salesmen
we remembered in New York. A skinny white guy got out of a shabby motel,
sticking a bag of coke in his shoe. We knew we had hit pay dirt.”
“It’s a bit of a stereotype, but when you see the Farmacias, they’re
like Mexico, they’re out for your cash and will do business once satisfied
that you’re not a cop. My wife went in one and emerged holding a
bottle of Turpin Hydrate with Codeine and a small stuffed bunny with a smile.
I went in next and got a bottle with no trouble. I’m dark and speak a
little Spanish, which helps. I had an empanada at the same Cuban fast
food stand Al Pacino quits his job as a cook in ‘Scarface’ for a
life of crime. We stopped at another place, I managed to do a quick in
and out because crack fiends were surrounding the car like ‘Night of the
Living Dead.’”
“The next time I went to the Farmacia I was happily presented with a
prescription pad by the pharmacist. Today, I knew what it meant.
Carte blanche. I did get a tad nervous, so all I asked for was the cough
medicine. On a clean system, it had a helluva wallop and a heck of a
burn from all the alcohol.
“Eventually the pharmacy we had our Soma prescription at in Ft. Lauderdale
was totaled by a geriatric patient on too many pills who crashed into its
front door, destroying the place. Which meant that no one in Miami would get
them to check on a refill, let alone waste a phone call. There was a
Farmacia in North Miami with similar initials. We brought our Soma bottles
there showing one refill and they’d just write the price in erasable magic
marker on the top. We’d go there several times a week. And
they’d be really generous with the Turpin Hydrate with Codeine cough
medicine, not asking for ID and giving 3 or 4 ounce bottles – almost twice
the legal limit.
“So we became such regulars at the North Miami Farmacia that we could even
call in advance and see if they had regular brand name Soma (which was
considerably more expensive) or the generic (very cheap). I even took my
pillhead buddy Joe on a mission there for Somas.”
“Part of this section of North Miami was Hispanic, part was black. My
wife took a photo of me in a biker shirt at a cross section, where there was a
mural of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Ironically, part of the area
- 147th Street to 200th Street on 7th Avenue – was called Harlem, which is
analogous to the same street section in New York. There was an adult
bookstore we checked out, figuring we’d pick up the out of town issue of
‘Screw” the New York sex newspaper for a laugh. The place was dark
and dangerous, with women working in the back. It was one of those
Florida places you look like you won’t leave alive. “In
Harlem, I had luck at some of the black run pharmacies, too. I walked in
one to see Paregoric still listed on the register. I asked the lady if
she had any more but she had ran out. I settled for Turpin Hydrate with
Codeine and asked her the price. “Well, for you - just gimme 5
bucks.”
“Usually three Somas and night with a joint would put me out pretty well in
the heat and quiet. Although I’d consume as many as five. On one
particularly nervy day, I took five Somas in the daytime. Jelly-legged,
I walked in a drugstore and picked up a bottle of Donnegal-PG, and later
picked up a last check from a job I despised. At a pain clinic
doctor’s office, of all places, who’d harass worker’s compensation
people and try to fuck up their lawsuits.
Today, things have changed radically. Turpin Hydrate with Codeine has been
removed from the American medical market. On a recent visit to
another area of Florida, Lenny discovered that “you’re lucky to get a
bottle of Robitussin-AC if you’re a 75 year old retiree.”
Items like Donnegal-PG – which is recommended by the World Heath
Organization for any trips through third world countries with suspicious
cleanliness – and Parapectolin are only by prescription. “The most
frustrating thing,” Lenny found, “is when I tried to transfer a
prescription for Soma to a local drugstore I was told it was a controlled
substance now and they’d have to call my doctor”
All these substances when juggled could maintain a very mild habit, or could
be used to come down over time from a long one. Yet an inspection of
prudish areas of Florida finds a plethora of people on oxycontin, brown
heroin, methadone, crystal meth, lortab (vicodin) – with Soma still
maintaining its market share. These drugs are often consumed by young
people out of sheer boredom, sometimes jock types whose physicality gives no
indication of their heavy habits. The sunshine can throw a patina of
health over the internal rot. “It’s all these kids down there who
don’t know the consequences of what’s gonna happen to them” says Lenny.
“It was surprising for me to see people sometimes young enough to be my
kids, in their 20s and 30s, acting like this.”
One ventures with certainty that there are still Farmacias in Miami willing to
work with the right kind of customer. And Soma remains an excellent kick
pill, something that won’t trigger opiate receptors, and a great help with
muscle spasms and even aid sleep. ************************************************************************ More
of Bill Landis and his collaborator Michelle Clifford at Exploitation
and 1970s classic adult movies and the Times Square vice world documented, and
much more.
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Last updated: 16 August 2004 |