Red Sand- Thoughts from Takers and Givers?

Hi. I'm sorry. That was inappropriate.

Hello. Yes. Sorry. Hello.

Hello, I am starting this thread to look for certain trends and patterns as to what people expect from the drug that is red sand, what people want from it, and how certain people manage to sell it.

There are obvious answers, such as "I would like to throw things through the air" or "I want to try something new" or "My life is a wreck please kill me i am an empty shell why are you writing this"

Obvious answers aside, I am looking for something more personalized, if you don't mind. Looking into one's psyche can be both fascinating for observers and therapeutic for the storyteller. I realize that not many would willingly tell of why they are addicted to a harmful substance. In that case, if you are addicted but do not wish to elaborate, perhaps you can leave yourself a reminder to come back to this thread when you are drunk enough to be rid of any such hesitation.

I ask these questions as both someone with too much curiosity and someone with red sand to sell. I realize that perhaps the nature of this thread will be seen as something laughable and if so, I apologize for wasting the time of anyone who has read this post so far. That is time you will never get back. I obtained at least one thing from this writing, then.

Remember, you are not any lesser for any addictions or self-harming desires that plague you. The intent is not to ridicule, but if there are those who do, their words are not as strong as your heart, in spite of whatever doubt you may feel. For any addiction, you should not be judged.

Would anyone like to start?

Ok, I've gotta ask, just because It's not a drug that's particularly common where I'm from.

Does it really let you throw things with your mind, or just feel like you can, see yourself doing it when in reality nothing is happening?

Hey, this website might be a little unsavory at times but I'm not sure you're going to find a whole bunch of red sand addicts and dealers willing to spill their guts.

...or at least I hope not.

A slave I used to handle, an asari, was a former red sand addict. Her addiction ruined her life and put her in debt with bad people, which she paid by selling herself to us (along with dis-intoxication). From what I gathered she had remarkably low natural abilities for biotics, which always caused a huge complex for her, and made her turn to to the sand.

It genuinely does grant some very small biotic powers, sometimes more substantial if the drug is cut with Minagen or a similar stimulant. The problem is typically that it doesn't also grant any kind of training or experience (aside from repeated use) so these biotics remain very basic no matter how much is used. Never tried it myself, of course, batarians being immune, but it's supposed to be quite the experience.

Its rather overrated, really.

Not to mention instead of what I assume is the "intended" effect it causes severe migraines whenever I've used it.

An adequate explanation. As is pointed out, the ability to throw things with your mind is indeed very real and is much more than a simple hallucination. Any desires to suddenly become a biotic warrior through the use of red sand should be reevaluated though, as only basic ability is granted.

Still, for those who are not born with biotic ability, imagine how it must feel. You see something in the distance, something that you are not touching at all, something that exists entirely independent of your touch and feeling. Disregarding the minimal physical movement, you use your brain, your very essence, your very concept of self, you use that alone to change something in the world. Even if the most you can do is levitate a wineglass to you from across the room, that aspect of reality changed because you did nothing more than will it, body be damned.

To have a power that genetics robbed you of can be very empowering; you, a living engine of thought and will, are fully entitled to use such thought and will to change the world around you.

My condolences to the Batarians.


Oh, I am sorry to hear that. You obtained a product, and yet it did not deliver. Unfortunate. Thankfully, your experience is not common to the masses, or else I would be out of a job, ah ha ha ha.


4Eyes4TheWin, your tale is fascinating and I greatly appreciate your telling of it. I have never had an Asari customer before for what I think to be obvious reasons, so your account of one, along with an explanation of their actions, is interesting. Insecurity, especially when heavily associated with feelings of inadequacy, can motivate people to do remarkable things.


That such expectations of the board's standards have not been met is a teaching experience in and of itself. Certainly an interesting group of people here.

Is it still that popular? I have come across a user recently who was terribly interested in sniffing sand out of my butt crack for money. He seemed kind of excited and was obviously enjoying the stuff too much and maybe thought taking it from an asari might enhance the effect or something.

If this is where you end when using sand though, he should be filed under warning example.

I'd like to point out here that it isn't genetics but luck after exposure to element zero that determines biotics. But still, there's a reason the friends and family of biotics tend to use red sand.

Oh it has nothing to do with you or your trade and falls squarely on faulty, cheap implants that don't react well with the product. I'd even run it myself if I didn't enjoy hunting others and the thrill of the capture or kill. Much more exciting than dealing with burnt out drug addicts.

Except when I have to hunt those addicts. So boring.

Ah, yes, you are right. I am terribly sorry, that was rather idiotic of me, I know better. I was too caught-up in the prose and I suppose that "genetics" sounded better than "luck regarding the effects of exposure to a particular element". Inexcusable of me. Any readers, please disregard any thought of "genetics" or "condolences". My utmost apologies.

Red Sand is still as popular as ever, yes, Taleeze. If anything, the business is more profitable than ever before. Perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, but it certainly has been doing well. As many know, the disasters caused by the Reapers and Cerberus left us with much long-time damage, pain that affects people in ways far worse than death. The state of economies, for example. Nowadays, when you pull someone off of the street, it's likely that due to the disasters, they have

A. Lost a loved one or friend.

B. Suffered and continue to suffer great economic loss and hardship.

C. Lost their homes.

D. Had their worldviews take a significantly dark turn once incredible numbers of people died for seemingly no reason.

And of course, it won't be uncommon for someone to have suffered some combination of the four.

With such tragedy and feelings of helplessness, people will turn to anything they can find; a distraction, a hope, a promise of something better. Power, any amount of it, as long as it's something.

Drugs are what many turn to in such severe and horrible situations, and red sand's promise of biotic ability, no matter how minuscule, is very enticing.

So, yes, it is very popular at the moment.

I will say that the snorting of substance off of someone's rear is quite sickening to think of. I suppose that counts as tale of sorts, albeit one that I admittedly regret reading. I know it's likely that some of my customers do that, but I prefer to not think of such unsanitary practices.

And oh, Stygian, that does sound exhilarating. I hope you find fun targets to hunt soon.

I don't know many krogan who do red sand, for the obvious reason we generally prefer to headbutt things to death, but one of my krogan crew members took some. He expected himself to be able to tear apart an entire room, he broke a few chairs, then got annoyed he'd bought the stuff.

I don't really have any desire to take it, I already have whatever it could give me.

I know that I've dated a Red Sand addict before, but that guy had serious problems. My mother hated him and I hated her, so I kind of did things to spite her for a stage of my life and he was one of those things. He was obsessed with biotics, and frequently claimed that I had potential to do things Biotics can't (ie, telepathy, pyrokinesis) and occasionally, he'd go off on a rant that he was supposed to have them.

He lived a block away from a chemical spill, but didn't get the biotics, he always told me. Eventually, he said that he wanted to 'test my abilities' and started chucking shit at me. After trying this high out of his mind at a shitty bar I was at with him, the bouncer smashed his head off the sidewalk and I dumped him. Nobody throws a bottle at Sarah Thompson.

If you have a biotic family member, talk to them about your wish to connect with them about their gifts. Don't go nuts and snort Red sand up your nostrils. You're not going to get Biotics. You're going to damage your nervous system and twitch out.

If you want to get high, smoke pot. You can't change the past and give yourself biotics.

I know that users come in with the most florid, ridiculous injuries.

I never got why you'd bother doing drugs. Its such a waste of time and your own personal health. But since people already do stupid things to their bodies (shove metal, tattoos, terrible eating habits) it shouldn't surprise me that people snort a bunch of red garbage they found laying around one day.

quite how a drug addict is worse than someone whose job it is to kill people for money is beyond me but hey....

personally I've never touched the stuff because it just fucks up your life so much/is addictive as shit.

couldn't pay me enough

I'm not sure I qualify as either - I've never used it (obviously), I've never actually given it to anyone else; I have had clients use it during our sessions, so I suppose that counts for something. I wouldn't recommend it, given the harmful effects, but so long as the person I see is using it within the law, in low enough doses to be non-threatening, and doesn't seem to have their judgement impaired, I'll permit its use when I'm working, same as any other narcotic that's not inherently so dangerous or potent that it can't meet those criteria anyway. Naturally I'd love to believe I'm entertainment enough by myself, but I don't want to start thinking I'm that amazing. :)

Sand never really caught on here anyway - as you'd expect even when drugs are regulated and your customers don't have to worry about being randomly given something cut with volus bath salts (or at least, that they can legitimately sue if it does happen), when most of the planet's population is immune to the effects it's only ever going to be a niche market. I gather there's a fair bit of trading goes on for sale elsewhere, but I've never looked into it much.

I did have one client a while ago I had to discontinue seeing over it - he wanted to use too heavily during bookings - but we never had any social contact outside of work, so I don't know how far his habit went, or if he ever got help. Would hope so, but the odds probably aren't in favour. A couple of others tried it out, but didn't make a habit of it in bookings - again, outside of work, can't say. I have a neat trick I've developed to use a focused surface meld to generate a guided connection between my biotics and a partner's consciousness - the environment's conducive to going with the flow, so it feels enough like 'having' biotic ability that anyone curious about having biotics with me doesn't have to resort to sand (so far as the euphoric effect goes, I can do something about that too). Nobody's ever tried to do it off any of my body parts though. :) (Ana and sterilised dextro sherbet ice cream, that's another story.)

I have not yet met a Krogan customer, most likely for the reason that you stated: They prefer a more physical approach. I will keep your report in mind though, thank you very much for telling it.

It is unfortunate when one cannot reach one’s expectations, but whenever these expectations are too high or one feels as if these expectations will require harm to the self in order to be achieved, we must accept that there are expectations that are not worth the worry or trouble. The expectations are the concepts and ideas of a being completely separate from one’s own brain, essence, and being. They have no right to hold one to some painful constraint, and one has every right to recognize this and pull away from the restrictive, and ultimately useless, imaginary restraints in the mind of an entity separate from one’s own being.


Nobody throws a bottle at you, indeed. Splendid! I am glad that you are now away from such an unsavory individual. Hopefully his throat was slit in an alleyway soon afterwards.

Red sand cannot give one the ability to talk through minds or the ability to control fire, but it can certainly grant basic telekinesis to most users. Some damage may occur, but that will only be from the actions of one who is not careful in their treatment of it. Red Sand does so much more than grant a pleasant state; it gives you new power. Its limited scope is meaningless; what matters is that an entirely new avenue of reality is revealed to one, a new way of interacting with reality. And just the barest ability to do such, even for a limited amount of time, can truly change a soul.


People can be so silly with their new power. New users or those overconfident in their newfound biotic ability may try remarkable things when using the drug. To watch those who think they can fly can easily induce mirth or reduce stress.


It sounds as if you are trying very hard to make it clear to everyone that you are much better than these people; that you are intelligent enough to not be such a person, that you think on a much higher level than anyone who would do any of the habits that you deem “stupid”. I acknowledge that you are likely in a better situation than most of those who use Red Sand, but please, I do not wish for this thread to simply be an opportunity for one to proudly yet passively-aggressively boast of how they are so much better than the downtrodden. Since you have no association with Red Sand, thoughts on your own self-worth are not relevant here.

And anyways, sometimes a distraction from the troubles and burdens of life can be worth far more to people than any time or health.


And to Julmoth, drugs certainly are addictive and can ruin lives. That is an understandable motive for not using it. Hopefully you will continue to veer away from such a harmful substance.

Also, the bloomer drugs you made are beginning to sell well.


As for asari_promiscuity, that is quite interesting and informative information! Thank you very much for telling it. The trick with the focused surface meld you mention is fascinating! Good job on obtaining, learning, or creating it. That could be seen as an alternative for Red Sand, but it would be robbing one of their independence. After all, Red Sand can be done without relying on anyone else. And it is so important to not rely on others for too much. To be free from restraint and obligation is something that all should partake in. Still, the ability you speak of sounds wonderful.