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Mostly_Harmless
wyrd bið ful aræd



Registered: 05/12/09
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Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs 2
#22239510 - 09/15/15 01:36 AM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2015/09/12/are-medical-shrooms-on-the-way-activists-hail-comeback-of-psychedelic-drugs.html
Quote:
Sat Sep 12 2015
On Sept. 20, cities in Canada and the U.S. will hold the first Psilocybin Mushroom Day, as psychedelic drugs shed their ’60s stigma and researchers test their possible health benefits.
 Magic mushrooms and other psychedelic drugs were a symbol of 1960s counterculture. Now they are being studied for use in treating various ailments, including post-trauamatic stress disorder.
The first and, thus far, only time I did magic mushrooms, I did not have any epiphanies about my life, my spiritual existence or the universe as a whole.
I did, however, develop a fascination with the carpet and wallpaper of the Amsterdam café where I was sitting. And eight years later, I can vividly recall the feeling of pure joy that lasted throughout the night, with its soundtrack of early Jimi Hendrix.
Going back to the hippies and Timothy Leary, the stereotypical image of psychedelic drug experiences has tended to be much like mine: lots of sitting around, giggling and staring at inanimate objects.
But over the past five years, psychedelic use has made a resurgence as something more exalted and salutary. Drugs such as psilocybin (the active ingredient in shrooms), MDMA and LSD are finding acceptance as legitimate treatments for ailments both medical and spiritual. A recent study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggested that despite some side-effects, psychedelics have been effective in treating a variety of mental ailments.
Because of those advances, some activists have decided to try to bring psychedelics into the mainstream. On Sept. 20, cities in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Australia will hold the first ever Psilocybin Mushroom Day.
Jose Ruiz is a spokesman for the 920 Coalition, which is organizing Mushroom Day. He says the celebration was inspired by the annual 4/20 activities, which raise awareness of marijuana’s medicinal benefits and lobby for decriminalization or outright legalization (and also feature a lot of pot smoking, of course).
“A lot of people want to talk about what psychedelics can do,” says Ruiz, a baseball instructor who lives in Monroe, N.Y. “There’s been tons of studies that knock it out of the park in terms of helping with depression, anxiety, addiction and PTSD.”
Psychedelic drugs are at a point very similar to where marijuana was 10 years ago in the United States and Canada. They’re illegal but used for recreational purposes by some (a 2012 study showed that up to 10 per cent of Americans have tried magic mushrooms at some point), and there is a growing consensus that they have medical applications.
It’s fitting that psychedelic drugs are being tested in a psychiatric context, given that this is where they got their start back in the 1940s and ’50s, following the synthesis of LSD by chemist Albert Hofmann.
“Psychiatrists used them to help them understand mental illness,” says Mark Haden, an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia and chair of the Canadian branch of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. “But it didn’t help them understand schizophrenia. Then it went into popular culture and became popularized by Timothy Leary, who made an absolutely huge mistake. Specifically, he used the term ‘Turn on, tune in, drop out.’”
Haden believes that expression sums up why psychedelics scared mainstream society. Using hallucinogens was all about exploring one’s inner mind, not bringing people together, so it was anti-social in nature. After the drugs’ adoption by a hippie subculture not beloved by those in power, psychedelics soon became taboo, even within the context of legitimate medical research.
“Any time an unwanted group is challenging society and seen as ‘the other,’ their drug use will be criminalized,” says Haden. “Forty-four years later, that backlash doesn’t exist because the messaging is different.”
Indeed, current medical research into psychedelics is all about helping people reintegrate into society — helping addicts battle their demons, allowing those with depression to function or, if you’re Vancouver psychiatrist Ingrid Pacey, helping soldiers deal with the aftermath of being on the front lines. In 2012, Pacey and another physician became the first Canadian researchers to win approval to use MDMA (commonly called ecstasy) in experiments with patients. Pacey, who has spent more than 30 years working with patients who have post-traumatic stress disorder, says that while data is not yet available from her study, “the improvements are remarkable.
“I think in general, there is an opening (to the use of psychedelics),” she said. “… It’s only because of that general opening that this study is happening at this time.
“But the medical profession is pretty conservative. I think it could take a while,” she adds, before MDMA is accepted for clinical use.
While everyday clinical applications aren’t here yet, the use of psychedelics in less formal environments is on the upswing. That includes voyaging to another part of the world before voyaging into your own mind.
“Psychedelic drugs have been used by aboriginal communities for centuries,” says Haden. “For example the use of peyote or ayahuasca.”
The latter, a hallucinogenic brew that originated in the Amazon rainforest and is often ingested as part of healing ceremonies led by a shaman, is enjoying a major surge in popularity as a tourist activity. Carlos Tanner is the founder of the Peru-based Ayahuasca Foundation, which aims to educate people about the rituals and offers retreats that revolve around the traditional ayahuasca ceremony.
“There’s been about a 15-per-cent increase (in the number of tourists coming for ayahuasca) every year, which has led to more than a doubling over the last six years,” says Tanner.
Yet Tanner is not among those pushing for legalization of all psychedelics, even the one he specializes in.
“I don’t agree with the legalization of ayahuasca,” he says. “That’s part of the culture here. Even if you ask a taxi driver about ayahuasca, they will say you can’t drink it by yourself; you have to drink it with a shaman who knows what they’re doing … If I imagine that someone can go to the store and buy a bottle of ayahuasca and go home and drink it and not understand what they’re doing, it’s very hard for me to imagine there wouldn’t be a lot of casualties and death.”
Most people attending the Sept. 20 events will probably never need to use psychedelics for medicinal reasons, and may not have the money or inclination to seek out shamanistic rituals in South America. But just as the medical world has moved past the taboos of the 1960s and ’70s, those who take part will be trying to see through the myths and find out what these substances really do.
“I think we’ve grown up in a society that’s lied to us,” says Ruiz, 25. “A lot of anti-drug campaigns in classes … once you have your first joint, you realize it wasn’t as bad as they say. I think our generation has been a lot more open to trying out different things and questioning what we’ve been told as kids and teenagers.”
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Jokeshopbeard
Humble Student

Registered: 11/30/11
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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: Mostly_Harmless]
#22239755 - 09/15/15 04:48 AM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Uncommonly good, unbiased reporting! Wonderful!!
-------------------- Let it be seen that you are nothing. And in knowing that you are nothing... there is nothing to lose, there is nothing to gain. What can happen to you? Something can happen to the body, but it will either heal or it won't. What's the big deal? Let life knock you to bits. Let life take you apart. Let life destroy you. It will only destroy what you are not. --Jac O'keeffe
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FractalMind
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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: Jokeshopbeard]
#22240940 - 09/15/15 11:28 AM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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This article literally brought me to tears
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Achillita
Back to the basics



Registered: 05/26/14
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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: FractalMind]
#22241112 - 09/15/15 12:13 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Good article!
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morbiddoctor
Frilly fungal fruiter



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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: Achillita]
#22241320 - 09/15/15 01:09 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Nice read!
-------------------- Trade list Updated 12/20/15 Ranco temperature controller and Wagner steamer for pasteurization in trade list! I'm looking for eyecatching, colorful, unique and interesting fungi. Not limited to edible or medicinal. Print them when you're on foray and pm me please!
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Cognitive_Shift
CS actual




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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: morbiddoctor]
#22244025 - 09/15/15 11:55 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Woot woot
-------------------- L'enfer est plein de bonnes volontés et désirs
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Nature Boy
Stranger than most



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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: Mostly_Harmless]
#22244486 - 09/16/15 06:13 AM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Agreed. Excellent and unbiased. Too bad they didn't say WHAT cities in the US were hosting these pro-mushroom meetings/ seminars. 
Would have been nice if they included this web site in the article: http://www.920coalition.org/
N.B.
-------------------- All submitted posts under this user name are works of pure fiction or outright lies. Any information, statement, or assertion contained therein should be considered pure unadulterated bullshit. Note well: Sorry, but I do not answer PM's unless you are a long-time trusted friend. If you have a question, ask it in the appropriate thread.
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AEL1911
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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: Nature Boy]
#22244825 - 09/16/15 08:34 AM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Why 9/20? Is there any significance to that date in Psychedelia history?
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Bozko
Thread Ruining Autist



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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: AEL1911]
#22246049 - 09/16/15 01:19 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Hot on the tail of talk like a pirate day!
-------------------- ShadeOfDeepPurple said: I guess you don't get shamanism yet by the very fact that you describe a psychedelic as Mexican.
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saintburger
Helper


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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: Bozko]
#22250437 - 09/17/15 10:27 AM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Wish I would have read this while tripping
-------------------- Set goals for yourself, or wander around aimlessly. "One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshsire cat in a tree. 'Which road do I take?' she asked. 'Where do you want to go?' was his response 'I don't know', Alice answered. 'Then', said the cat, 'it doesn't matter.'"
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WhyDidiDoThis
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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: saintburger]
#22272693 - 09/22/15 05:37 AM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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I would hardly consider MDMA a beneficial chemical.
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Jokeshopbeard
Humble Student

Registered: 11/30/11
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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: WhyDidiDoThis]
#22273916 - 09/22/15 12:48 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
TORCUTT said: I would hardly consider MDMA a beneficial chemical.
How on earth can you even suggest such a thing? Have you read no studies about how beneficial it is, for example, to people with PTSD?
I would recommend reading about the work MAPS is doing.
-------------------- Let it be seen that you are nothing. And in knowing that you are nothing... there is nothing to lose, there is nothing to gain. What can happen to you? Something can happen to the body, but it will either heal or it won't. What's the big deal? Let life knock you to bits. Let life take you apart. Let life destroy you. It will only destroy what you are not. --Jac O'keeffe
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WhyDidiDoThis
Bay Area Mushroom Collector


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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: Jokeshopbeard]
#22273993 - 09/22/15 01:05 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Yeah but reportedly it comes with some physical side effects, is very draining on the body.
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Jokeshopbeard
Humble Student

Registered: 11/30/11
Posts: 26,088
Loc: Deep in the system
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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: WhyDidiDoThis]
#22274112 - 09/22/15 01:27 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Reportedly? You mean you've not tried it?
You know being just alive 'comes with some physical side effects, [and] is very draining on the body.' too right?
-------------------- Let it be seen that you are nothing. And in knowing that you are nothing... there is nothing to lose, there is nothing to gain. What can happen to you? Something can happen to the body, but it will either heal or it won't. What's the big deal? Let life knock you to bits. Let life take you apart. Let life destroy you. It will only destroy what you are not. --Jac O'keeffe
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WhyDidiDoThis
Bay Area Mushroom Collector


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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: Jokeshopbeard] 1
#22274142 - 09/22/15 01:33 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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LSD nd Shrooms have a much better track record fot physical health, nd are muvh more potent.
Ectasy is pretty borin recreationally after binging on acid for awhile. Its clear mdma is on the bottom level of the totem poll for psychedelics.
Edited by WhyDidiDoThis (09/22/15 01:34 PM)
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Achillita
Back to the basics



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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: WhyDidiDoThis]
#22274167 - 09/22/15 01:40 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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I think it's because MDMA has nearly no chance of having a "bad trip" or negative feeling throughout the trip. It's an empathogen aswell.
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Jokeshopbeard
Humble Student

Registered: 11/30/11
Posts: 26,088
Loc: Deep in the system
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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: WhyDidiDoThis]
#22274187 - 09/22/15 01:47 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
TORCUTT said: LSD nd Shrooms have a much better track record fot physical health, nd are muvh more potent.
Ectasy is pretty borin recreationally after binging on acid for awhile. Its clear mdma is on the bottom level of the totem poll for psychedelics.
Well that would be because it's not a 'true' psychedelic. That doesn't in any way discount the fact that it has clear and measurable benefits however.
You seem to be making a very subjective judgement about it. Just because you think it's 'pretty borin recreationally after binging on acid for awhile' it doesn't mean that other people cannot benefit massively from it.
Something to consider perhaps?
-------------------- Let it be seen that you are nothing. And in knowing that you are nothing... there is nothing to lose, there is nothing to gain. What can happen to you? Something can happen to the body, but it will either heal or it won't. What's the big deal? Let life knock you to bits. Let life take you apart. Let life destroy you. It will only destroy what you are not. --Jac O'keeffe
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WhyDidiDoThis
Bay Area Mushroom Collector


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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: Jokeshopbeard]
#22274194 - 09/22/15 01:48 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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True, but it also has physical detrimental side effects mushrooms and lsd don't display.
Achillita makes a great point though.
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FractalMind
Werewolf



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Re: Are medical shrooms on the way? Activists hail comeback of psychedelic drugs [Re: WhyDidiDoThis]
#22282741 - 09/24/15 09:11 AM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Mdma is good for some, bad for others. I have bipolar disorder, for example, so I'm always a psychotic mess after doing some. L is much more beneficial to me personally, but I can definitely see why a lot of people love mdma so much. You just have to be careful, and healthy
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