Chelsea Handler Reveals the Exotic Substance That Made Her ‘Handle Almost Any Drug’
Chelsea Handler has quite the process for editing her book. The comedian opened up to SHE Media CEO Samantha Skey at the SHE Media Co-Lab @ SXSW about her new book I’ll Have What She’s Having , her experiences with drugs and how it helps her have a wider perspective on life.
“Everything I do is just more mindful,” she said during the panel. “If I’m micro-dosing, it’s not a big deal. It’s a microdose. If I have a busy day, I’ll take an LSD microdose.”
Handler went on to say that because she balances other things in her health and diet, she knows when to start and stop with the hard substances. Take for example, if she went out one night, she won’t go out the day after. “It’s not that hard to figure out,” she explained. “Once you’ve been in your own body for a long time, you’re like, ‘This will agree with me, and this won’t.'”
She went on to talk about her specific experiences with drugs. “I’ve had enough experimentation to know that I can handle almost any drug,” she said. The one exception? “I had 5-MeO-DMT. It’s some frog venom and that was awful.” Frog venom originated in Mexico and South America and is commonly used for ritual purposes. According to the Addiction Center, frog venom users experience bright colors, moving environments, or recursive patterns—making it a religious-like experience. Researchers found the drug often leaves users immobile and unresponsive and can cause intense emotional reactions, euphoria, convulsions, and vomiting.
Handler will stay away from the drugs that take the fun away, but she’s mindful of what she puts in her body. “I think that [drugs] can enhance your life, and they can enhance your creativity. Whenever I write a book and I go in to edit it, I smoke a joint, I have a drink, or I take some drugs so I can go in and just futz.”
The author also recalled how her openness with drugs made her former agents doubt her appeal with audiences. “Do you know how many people have told me to stop talking about drugs and alcohol publicly in my life professionally? ‘No brands are going to work with you.’ There are a million other stories to tell. I’m an incredible skier. I look incredible. I’m successful. I have all these books. I have all these shows,” she affirmed. “So I switched agencies, and guess what? I have tons of brand deals.”
