College Students and LSD - An Overlooked Opportunity to Hack the Brain and Improve it?

[Baron von Biffo]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/worl...icle-1.1159562

In times past that would have been enough to found a career as a saint.

[fluffybiscuits]

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/worl...icle-1.1159562

He claimed he now believes in a zombie carpenter with a sky fairy for a father...oh wait...

[bernadette]

Just thank goodness he wasn't found trying to climb the Reek.....

[smiles]

A recent Channel 4 study highlighted the possibilities of using MDMA, in a therapeutic settin,g for treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/20...hannel-4-study I haven't seen the documentary but I came across research from a few years ago which are along the same lines http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0719082927.htm

[Kev Bar]

A recent Channel 4 study highlighted the possibilities of using MDMA, in a therapeutic settin,g for treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/20...hannel-4-study I haven't seen the documentary but I came across research from a few years ago which are along the same lines http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0719082927.htm

The stuff which I first took - as divine as the subsequent stuff was toxic - was legit mdma made by a drug company.
It was used in psycho-therapy.
And only became an illegal drug when its rep started to hit a critical mass in the underground scene.
I remember thinking it was dangerously good when compared to something like LSD.
Only the truly daft would take one LSD hit after another.
It was sufficiently radical a trip that you did not feel the need of another for quite some time.
Ecstasy seemed so tame in comparasion.
Almost gave the illusion of being consequence free.
With acid you knew you were playing potently with your mind and therefore treated it with respect.
Ecstasy was a bank holiday Monday jaunt to Glendalough sted of Acid's parachuted into miednight Pakistan.
And sure why not have a bank holiday every day?
Several times a day.
Then the macho nonsense one associates with alcohol use made its abusive entrance.
"I did 10," gurned the sweaty teen with orby eyes.

Anything that makes you happy all the time is interfering with your wiring.

[fluffybiscuits]

The stuff which I first took - as divine as the subsequent stuff was toxic - was legit mdma made by a drug company.
It was used in psycho-therapy.
And only became an illegal drug when its rep started to hit a critical mass in the underground scene.
I remember thinking it was dangerously good when compared to something like LSD.
Only the truly daft would take one LSD hit after another.
It was sufficiently radical a trip that you did not feel the need of another for quite some time.
Ecstasy seemed so tame in comparasion.
Almost gave the illusion of being consequence free.
With acid you knew you were playing potently with your mind and therefore treated it with respect.
Ecstasy was a bank holiday Monday jaunt to Glendalough sted of Acid's parachuted into miednight Pakistan.
And sure why not have a bank holiday every day?
Several times a day.
Then the macho nonsense one associates with alcohol use made its abusive entrance.
"I did 10," gurned the sweaty teen with orby eyes.

Anything that makes you happy all the time is interfering with your wiring.

Delightful can of worms that you have opened now! Drugs provide an escape from the humdrum of everyday life for a lot of people. for others they provide an outlet and a gateway to happiness and others its an odd dabble for relaxation . All of this depends on your tipple of choice. The glut of psychiatric drugs from speaking to people who use them tell me that such drugs seem to quell any happiness and make them so indifferent they can neither think happy nor think sad but a perpetual state of indifference lets them just exist on the peripherals of life not wondering about the next hour, never mind the next day or week. Could we create a drug that perhaps may change the brain chemistry to ensure that only endoprhins are released so we see the whole world through rose tinted glasses? Its of course another exercise in idealism that is not going to go anywhere. Im not suggesting we mass medicate the world to be happy all the time but as an alternative to medicating them to be indifferent? ...

[Saoirse go Deo]

Surely it's best policy to avoid all kinds of drugs - my friends do all sorts of sh!t but I never touch it. Mainly because it will be a cold day in hell before I give money to the scum who prey on communities and ruin so many lives. That and I prefer the smell of raw sewage to weed.

Your mental health can be very fragile - messing around with drugs can hardly be good for it.

[fluffybiscuits]

Surely it's best policy to avoid all kinds of drugs - my friends do all sorts of sh!t but I never touch it. Mainly because it will be a cold day in hell before I give money to the scum who prey on communities and ruin so many lives. That and I prefer the smell of raw sewage to weed.

Your mental health can be very fragile - messing around with drugs can hardly be good for it.

Weed can be bad. For those who want to do drugs we should legalise it to ensure at least its not lining the money of pockets of criminals...

[Kev Bar]

Surely it's best policy to avoid all kinds of drugs - my friends do all sorts of sh!t but I never touch it. Mainly because it will be a cold day in hell before I give money to the scum who prey on communities and ruin so many lives. That and I prefer the smell of raw sewage to weed.

Your mental health can be very fragile - messing around with drugs can hardly be good for it.

Sure.
But there are many things one engages in that one needs to monitor for abusive effect.
I have seen ideology wreak as much damage as our demon du jour.

@Fluffy - Indeed. People who i deem to have a good grasp of self-analysis have all described the SSRI phenomenom as not making you happy but allowing you to cease to care.
The perfect Soma - the promulgator of indifference.

[smiles]

Your mental health can be very fragile - messing around with drugs can hardly be good for it.

Agreed, but it seems in a therapeutic environment these hallucinogens can open areas of consciousness where deep past trauma's are held and within this environment they are then healed, permanently, without any further need for drugs (or so the research is suggesting).. This is not quite the same as heading out at the weekend to get off your face with whatever means necessary (legal or illegal) just to numb the pain in your life..

Psychological pain is the main reason why drugs are abused, deal with the root and the problem solves itself. If therapy under the influence of psychotropics, with medical supervision works... then I'm all for it.

[fluffybiscuits]

Agreed, but it seems in a therapeutic environment these hallucinogens can open areas of consciousness where deep past trauma's are held and within this environment they are then healed, permanently, without any further need for drugs (or so the research is suggesting).. This is not quite the same as heading out at the weekend to get off your face with whatever means necessary (legal or illegal) just to numb the pain in your life..

Psychological pain is the main reason why drugs are abused, deal with the root and the problem solves itself. If therapy under the influence of psychotropics, with medical supervision works... then I'm all for it.

That is what Im saying, if people are predisposed to mental illness there is no way they should be able to take part in such a trial. One drug that may be subsituted for LSD and which appears to have less effects (if any at all) is the Peyote cactus. The plant itself is used by their shamans and Native peoples in America have been using it for years with no long term side effects although the sample used in studies were small (http://www.biologicalpsychiatryjourn...855-3/abstract). The plant itself is interesting. Under Canadian law it is exempt from some drug laws. More info on it here :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peyote

[bernadette]

Taking illegal drugs is very dangerous in the healthiest person. In anyone suffering from mental or emotional illness the danger is substantially increased. Its also possible some people have a dormant family tendency toward mental condition or illness illegal drugs might precipitate a crisis.

No one gets deliberately addicted to a drug, nor do they ever think they may suffer permanent harm.

[fluffybiscuits]

Taking illegal drugs is very dangerous in the healthiest person. In anyone suffering from mental or emotional illness the danger is substantially increased. Its also possible some people have a la family tendency toward mental condition or illness illegal drugs might precipitate a crisis.

No one gets deliberately addicted to a drug, nor do they ever think they may suffer permanent harm.

+1

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

The only problem I see with narcotics of any kind is the fact that because of the cachet and illegality they appeal to the age group for whom there is the most danger in taking the drugs.

Same as with alcohol such drugs taken when the body is still growing is probably not a good idea. I think all narcotics should be legal above the age of 21, controlled, regulated, and all information made available publicly about their effects and levels of addictivity- where possible.

I suspect this is where the drug issue will ultimately end up anyway. We now have performance enhancing drugs to deal with as well in society.

The main opposition to narcotics and stimulants probably comes from those who cannot understand why someone would see anything attractive about being non-productive for a while.

Corporations look to regulate off-duty hours as much as they do while their employees are at work.

Look at the advertising industry around leisure time- alcohol being the permitted drug. Breweries want a boom in beer sales but don't want their workers being absent because of hangovers either.

Drunkenness or narcotic states are a part of human social ceremony and always were. Trying to ban those is fruitless and the truth about young people and such states is that young people are the natural risk-takers- either through a mistaken notion of invincibility or as a rite of passage.

I don't mind the odd foray into narcotica- in fact I prefer a joint to being drunk. But as I get older my use of substances has decreased because I have to factor in the recovery time. Still- I reserve the right as an informed adult to regulate my own intake of anything. And will ignore any laws around the subject as I have done and will continue to do.

One thing teenagers should be told about though is the increased risk of damage from overindulging in any substance, alcohol included, while the body is still growing.

[bernadette]

The only problem I see with narcotics of any kind is the fact that because of the cachet and illegality they appeal to the age group for whom there is the most danger in taking the drugs.

Same as with alcohol such drugs taken when the body is still growing is probably not a good idea. I think all narcotics should be legal above the age of 21, controlled, regulated, and all information made available publicly about their effects and levels of addictivity- where possible.

I suspect this is where the drug issue will ultimately end up anyway. We now have performance enhancing drugs to deal with as well in society.

The main opposition to narcotics and stimulants probably comes from those who cannot understand why someone would see anything attractive about being non-productive for a while.

Corporations look to regulate off-duty hours as much as they do while their employees are at work.

Look at the advertising industry around leisure time- alcohol being the permitted drug. Breweries want a boom in beer sales but don't want their workers being absent because of hangovers either.

Drunkenness or narcotic states are a part of human social ceremony and always were. Trying to ban those is fruitless and the truth about young people and such states is that young people are the natural risk-takers- either through a mistaken notion of invincibility or as a rite of passage.

I don't mind the odd foray into narcotica- in fact I prefer a joint to being drunk. But as I get older my use of substances has decreased because I have to factor in the recovery time. Still- I reserve the right as an informed adult to regulate my own intake of anything. And will ignore any laws around the subject as I have done and will continue to do.

One thing teenagers should be told about though is the increased risk of damage from overindulging in any substance, alcohol included, while the body is still growing.

Its true that herbal narcotics were used to enhance religious activity but within those tribes it was as far as I know strictly regulated only those in authority were allowed to use or dispense it.

The current laws on drugs are rubbish but look at booze and cigarettes run by big business who for years told lies about how or even if cigarettes or alcohol were addictive.

Legalising drugs won't mean proper information it will mean cutting out the man on the corner and changing the millionaires from drug dealers to big business.