Dave Farber
2018-07-06 13:54:05 UTC
Date: July 6, 2018 at 9:19:32 PM GMT+9
Subject: Yes, Make Psychedelics Legally Available, but Donât Forget the Risks
Yes, Make Psychedelics Legally Available, but Donât Forget the Risks
Last spring, I descended into the basement of a suburban home with two-dozen people and swilled fluid from a plastic cup. It was ayahuasca, a tea brewed from two South American plants, which contains the psychedelic compound dimethyltryptamine, DMT.
Ayahuasca has the viscosity of spit, it tastes like beer dregs into which someone has dropped a cigar, and it is nauseating, literally. Our guides gave each of us a plastic pail in case we vomited (which I did). The brew induces visions that can be blissful, excruciating, terrifying, sometimes all at once. As our guides played music and sang, we groaned, retched, cried, laughed, stared open-mouthed into space, retched again. A young man beside me oscillated between giggles and sobs. We each paid $200 for this experience, which lasted about five hours.
Why, you might ask, would anyone in his right mind want to do this? I tried to answer that question 15 years ago in Rational Mysticism, my investigation of psychedelics, meditation and other mystical technologies (and Iâll tell you my answer below). That same year, 2003, I proposed in Slate that psychedelics be dispensed by âlicensed therapists, who can screen clients for mental instability and advise them on how to make their experiences as rewarding as possible.â
This scenario seemed far-fetched at the time, but it is looking a lot more likely lately. One reason is that researchers have continued producing evidence of psychedelicsâ psychological and spiritual benefits. Perhaps more important, journalist Michael Pollanâauthor of the bestsellers The Botany of Desire and The Omnivoreâs Dilemma--has become an advocate of the drugs.
Pollan wrote a surprisingly enthusiastic article about psychedelics for The New Yorker in 2015. That was a preview of his new bestseller How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. Iâm a fan of psychedelic literature, including the writings of Aldous Huxley, Terence McKenna and Alexander and Ann Shulgin, but I havenât read a more eloquent defense of psychedelics than How to Change Your Mind....
Continue at https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/yes-make-psychedelics-legally-available-but-dont-forget-the-risks/
-------------------------------------------Subject: Yes, Make Psychedelics Legally Available, but Donât Forget the Risks
Yes, Make Psychedelics Legally Available, but Donât Forget the Risks
Last spring, I descended into the basement of a suburban home with two-dozen people and swilled fluid from a plastic cup. It was ayahuasca, a tea brewed from two South American plants, which contains the psychedelic compound dimethyltryptamine, DMT.
Ayahuasca has the viscosity of spit, it tastes like beer dregs into which someone has dropped a cigar, and it is nauseating, literally. Our guides gave each of us a plastic pail in case we vomited (which I did). The brew induces visions that can be blissful, excruciating, terrifying, sometimes all at once. As our guides played music and sang, we groaned, retched, cried, laughed, stared open-mouthed into space, retched again. A young man beside me oscillated between giggles and sobs. We each paid $200 for this experience, which lasted about five hours.
Why, you might ask, would anyone in his right mind want to do this? I tried to answer that question 15 years ago in Rational Mysticism, my investigation of psychedelics, meditation and other mystical technologies (and Iâll tell you my answer below). That same year, 2003, I proposed in Slate that psychedelics be dispensed by âlicensed therapists, who can screen clients for mental instability and advise them on how to make their experiences as rewarding as possible.â
This scenario seemed far-fetched at the time, but it is looking a lot more likely lately. One reason is that researchers have continued producing evidence of psychedelicsâ psychological and spiritual benefits. Perhaps more important, journalist Michael Pollanâauthor of the bestsellers The Botany of Desire and The Omnivoreâs Dilemma--has become an advocate of the drugs.
Pollan wrote a surprisingly enthusiastic article about psychedelics for The New Yorker in 2015. That was a preview of his new bestseller How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. Iâm a fan of psychedelic literature, including the writings of Aldous Huxley, Terence McKenna and Alexander and Ann Shulgin, but I havenât read a more eloquent defense of psychedelics than How to Change Your Mind....
Continue at https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/yes-make-psychedelics-legally-available-but-dont-forget-the-risks/
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=26461375
Unsubscribe Now: https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?member_id=26461375&id_secret=26461375-c2b8a462&post_id=20180706095416:1050BA50-8124-11E8-9D3F-BCDEFA1DAE72
Powered by Listbox: https://www.listbox.com