Substance Safety (Ch)art

data visualization #5

This piece depicts the relative safety/danger for binary combinations of a list of commonly used recreational substances. It also provides some approximate dosage numbers. The information is based on the TripSit guide, which is curated by a team of volunteers and based on careful reviews of peer reviewed research. Their mission is `to dismantle misconceptions about drug use and arm individuals with the tools they need for safer experiences.’ I designed this version since I felt the existing chart lacked a certain kind of aesthetic appeal.

The visual motif is based on the stained glass windows next to Panorama Bar in Berlin (where the habits of fellow patrons helped me realize the utility of such a chart). Since photography is prohibited inside, the image of the windows used to construct the chart was taken in 2024 at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church complex.

25 substances are included, broadly categorized as: psychedelics, dissociatives, stimulants, depressants, and anti-depressants. This results in 300 possible interaction pairs, which have been classified into six different types. The three low-risk interaction types are synergistic [green], no interaction [deep blue], and antagonistic [azure]. The other three interaction types are caution [yellow], unsafe [orange], and dangerous [red]. Mark that there is always inherent danger to the use of substances, and even green combinations are labelled low-risk rather than as safe. Synergistic interactions refer to the combined effect being greater than the sum of the parts, while antagonistic interactions cancel each other out.

Aside from the stained glass window motif, which is meant to make one think of looking out into another world, I also tried to capture the retro aesthetic of an old Mario level. The thin bordering lines, `a network of lines that interlace’, should exhibit a subtle Moire illusion where dots appear at the intersection points. I also applied psychedelic gradient fills to the background.

This piece was completed in June 2024. There are actually lots of little touches in this one that only become fully apparent for those with a particular kind of perspective. These are meant to cater to the altered perceptual sensitivities of people in altered states of consciousness. I’ll keep some of the mystery alive!

The tractogram depicted next to the chart is a render I created using Blender. Diffusion MRI data from 1065 healthy young adult subjects from the Human Connectome Project was processed to generate the tractogram as part of my research on the brain’s networks. Different white matter tracts are in different colours in the output render, which I processed with a glowing edges effect to create the final depiction. If you are interested in learning more about white matter tracts, the informational highways of the brain, I recommend this 3D interactive web tool I built a few years ago. I might write about it in a future post.

I recognize that many people find it rather difficult to interpret this chart, since it is conventional to label both rows and columns in such constructions. The trick of diagonal labelling coupled with collapsing the matrix (since the data does not differentiate between combination A-B and combination B-A) allowed me to remove the redundant repetition. Although aesthetics were a primary concern, I trust that for some people this chart actually increases the legibility. If you are struggling, just note that each substance label applies both to the row on the left of label and to the column above it. A combination can be perused by looking at the box at the intersection of any pair.

There are interesting patterns in the matrix that come out with the ultra saturated colouring. The two major red domains, for example, correspond to combining depressants with depressants (never mix downers!) and depressants with dissociatives. The two main green domains are psychedelics in combination with themselves, or with dissociatives. Not to be puritan, but you may note from that chart that alcohol does not synergize or work well with any substance. Other than cannabis I suppose.

One data point that often incites argument is that a combination of MDMA with SSRIs is marked as low-risk (antagonistic) rather than as dangerous. Although serotonin syndrome is indeed dangerous, it is still rather unlikely to result from this combination unless at high doses.

A previous version of this chart labelled certain common combinations with their slang names — candy flip, nexus flip, cross fade, and so on. It also marked certain domains with the general effects to be expected therein, such as dreamy freewheeling hallucinations for psychedelics with dissociatives and extreme psychedelic eupohoria for psychedelics with stimulants/empathogens such as esctasy. I have since removed those in the interest of minimalism and to adopt a more serious tone.

The previous version I made also had two copies of the tractogram. One was vibrant, like the current one, and placed next to the substances that increase brain activity. The other was faded, and placed next to depressants. The chemical structures for dopamine and serotonin are included, in a nod to their central role in the effects of many of these substances.

Although the piece on the solar system has been the most successful on social media, the first version of this substance safety chart has enjoyed a degree of virality on some anonymous forums. I’ve even met a couple of different strangers out at parties who actually use it! This piece recently lead to the first piece of fan-mail (fan-e-mail?) I’ve received, when an artist reached out asking if they could adapt it for one of their projects. They work by projecting subversive science, using women’s bodies as canvases for their photography/installations. Always reassuring to know that I don’t just create within a void, although it feels like that sometimes.

I must emphasize that I am not a doctor, that this is not clinical advice, and that I only designed this to be disseminated as a harm-reduction tool. I’ll end with the sentences I wrote for this piece with that a friend visiting me in Paris this past weekend told me he really loved:

Watch out for the fine border between consuming substances & being consumed by them.

Perhaps there is a reason some of the beauty of this world is hidden from the naked eye.