Could this be the next medicinal marijuana? By Tricia Escobedo, CNN updated 10:31 AM EDT, Fri October 24, 2014 Watch this video CNN's Lisa Ling goes inside an ayahuasca ceremony
Is ayahuasca a natural remedy for anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder or just another drug fad? Lisa Ling goes inside an ayahuasca ceremony in the Amazon on this week's episode of "This Is Life With Lisa Ling: Jungle Fix" Sunday, October 26, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
(CNN) -- Imagine discovering a plant that has the potential to help alleviate post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal thoughts and paralyzing anxiety. That's what some believe ayahuasca can do, and this psychedelic drink is attracting more and more tourists to the Amazon.
If you Google "ayahuasca," you'll find a litany of stories about Hollywood celebrities espousing its benefits, as well as the dangers of this relatively unstudied substance that triggers hallucinations.
On this Sunday's episode of "This Is Life," Lisa Ling goes inside an ayahuasca ceremony in Peru and talks to the men and women who are drinking this potent brew in hopes that it will alleviate their mental and emotional traumas.
Here are six things to know about ayahuasca, which some call a drug and others call a medicine:
War vets are seeking it for PTSD
Former Marine Lance Cpl. Ryan LeCompte organizes trips to Peru for war veterans, like himself, who are seeking ayahuasca as a possible treatment for PTSD and other emotional and mental trauma suffered after multiple combat deployments. Ryan LeCompte, right, talks with one of the veterans seeking ayahuasca\'s benefits. Ryan LeCompte, right, talks with one of the veterans seeking ayahuasca's benefits.
He says he's aware of the risks, as there's very little known about ayahuasca's effect on the body, but he says "it's a calculated risk."
"Ayahuasca is a way to give relief to those who are suffering," says LeCompte, who says many veterans are not satisfied with the PTSD treatment they receive when they return from combat.
"It's just, 'Here's a pill, here's a Band-Aid.' The ayahuasca medicine is a way to, instead of sweeping your dirt under the rug, you know, these medicines force you to take the rug outside and beat it with a stick until it's clean," LeCompte explains. "And that's how I prefer to clean my house."
Libby, an airman 1st class, is one of the veterans who accompanied LeCompte to Peru to try ayahuasca for her PTSD diagnosis, which includes sexual trauma while on active duty. She says antidepressants made her more suicidal.
"I would like to wish not to die all the time," she said, when asked why she was seeking ayahuasca. "I want that to go away"
... read more: http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/22/health/ayahuasca-medicine-six-things/
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Carl Sagan - "Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people." --- Robert Pirsig - "When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity. When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion." --- Brian Cox - "[One] problem with today’s world is that everyone believes they have the right to express their opinion AND have others listen to it. The correct statement of individual rights is that everyone has the right to an opinion, but crucially, that opinion can be roundly ignored and even made fun of, particularly if it is demonstrably nonsense."
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Simplepowa, you always seem to have interesting things in your post, this one here another one!
Anyways, I think ANYTHING that helps people deal with life, and not be a harm to society, should be legal, this is just another of MANY examples.
PLEASE US GOVERNNMENT, call it a loss, and end the longover due useless war on drugs, PLEASE, there is better alternatives then having a war on your own people.
-------------------- All you touch, and all you see, is all your life will ever be- Pink Floyd Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans- John Lennon
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