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Cosmicpolitan
Stranger


Registered: 05/29/20
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Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics.
#26748081 - 06/16/20 02:01 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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I'm currently in the process of developing a survey about psychedelic use that I will be using for my master's thesis. Right now I am trying to formulate a list of reasons why people may use psychedelics so that people can rank which of the reasons most apply to their personal use.
The current state of this question goes like this:
Please rank order the most important reasons you use psychedelics with 1 being the most important and larger numbers being less important. Different reasons can have the same ranking. If a reason doesn't apply to you score it 0 (zero).
This is followed by
"Religious or Spiritual Practice", "Self-Exploration", "For Fun", "For inspiration", "To help treat mental illness", "To help treat addiction".
Each of these has a little box that a person can type in a number to rank them.
Are there any additional reasons that you think I should include that are general enough to apply to a broad range of psychedelic users and at the same time be encapsulated in a few words?
I find talking about it helps a lot more than me trying to just spontaneously invent reasons on my own.
Thanks! 
Edit: There will be text box where individuals can include their own reasons for use and rank them if I'm missing an important reason they use them.
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strawkat
Mycobsessed


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Posts: 41
Last seen: 3 months, 30 days
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: Cosmicpolitan]
#26748093 - 06/16/20 02:14 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Can't think of any other reason tbh. What's your master's in, if you don't mind me asking?
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Cosmicpolitan
Stranger


Registered: 05/29/20
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: strawkat]
#26748102 - 06/16/20 02:28 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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My master's is a Master of Science in Psychology. In terms of my thesis it currently has three main aims which are
- To explore how aspects of naturalistic / recreational psychedelic use precipitate change in individuals' beliefs, attitudes, behaviour and world view.
- To identify commonalities and differences between naturalistic / recreational settings and clinical settings.
- To explore how transformations in a user's self-concept or self-identity, attributed to psychedelic use, have impacted their lives
I hoped that I could help provide additional information to the academic study of psychedelics while at the same time getting deeper into this area. I'm planning to become a clinical psychologist and would like to have the option to provide psychedelic therapies. So, this study is both exposing me more to the knowledge, beliefs and practices of the psychedelic community so I can be more informed in my practice if I ever get the chance while also completing my masters. Seems like a win win to me.
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DJ Ed
Mushroom Engineer


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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: Cosmicpolitan] 1
#26748318 - 06/16/20 06:07 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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A lot of people may get a bit touchy with “for fun”! I trip for fun, have done for almost 35 years, but my interpretation of “for fun” is more,like “self-exploration”, or “exploring consciousness”.
I suppose you need to get an overall picture of who uses psychedelics and for what reason(s); so wouldn’t “to get fucked up” be a more appropriate category or more accurate than “for fun”, then add in “exploration” and others along those lines....It would then filter out those people teens to mid 20s, who will explore lots of drugs regardless of any of the reasons you quoted, just for fun. I could be disrespecting a few of our younger members here, but I’m sure they’d concur. Michael Pollan said that psychedelics are wasted on the young!
I would also highly recommend Michael Pollan: How to Change Your Mind. I believe it will help your thesis significantly.
Go for it OP, good luck DJ Ed
-------------------- “It’s like when you see a mountain lion,” he suggested. “If you run, it will chase you. So you must stand your ground.” Michael Pollan: How To Change Your Mind “The problem is not to find the answer, it’s to face the answer.” Terence McKenna

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wolf8312
Pennywise


Registered: 10/01/12
Posts: 2,356
Last seen: 3 days, 15 hours
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: Cosmicpolitan]
#26748329 - 06/16/20 06:20 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Cosmicpolitan said: I'm currently in the process of developing a survey about psychedelic use that I will be using for my master's thesis. Right now I am trying to formulate a list of reasons why people may use psychedelics so that people can rank which of the reasons most apply to their personal use.
The current state of this question goes like this:
Please rank order the most important reasons you use psychedelics with 1 being the most important and larger numbers being less important. Different reasons can have the same ranking. If a reason doesn't apply to you score it 0 (zero).
This is followed by
"Religious or Spiritual Practice", "Self-Exploration", "For Fun", "For inspiration", "To help treat mental illness", "To help treat addiction".
Each of these has a little box that a person can type in a number to rank them.
Are there any additional reasons that you think I should include that are general enough to apply to a broad range of psychedelic users and at the same time be encapsulated in a few words?
I find talking about it helps a lot more than me trying to just spontaneously invent reasons on my own.
Thanks! 
Edit: There will be text box where individuals can include their own reasons for use and rank them if I'm missing an important reason they use them.
I would also suggest that some people ironically use psychedelics because taking them is a big part of their on and offline identities/reputations.
I know personally when I was younger, although my motivation was multifaceted (boredom probably the main reason) and never straightforward I was definitely originally attracted to my own romantic conceptions of psychedelic drugs and users, childishly imagining that by using psychedelics I too would become (cool) like John Lennon or Aldous Huxley etc.
After trying psychedelics and experiencing something far beyond what normal people could ever hope to even imagine, I naturally began equating and associating myself with the experience itself!
It was a very perilous motivation to posses though, as it would humiliatingly of course be annihilated along with my ego whenever I tripped! But in the weeks and months after tripping it would all build up again, and the cycle would repeat.
This was a dangerous motivation to have when I was a teenager though because at that time I shouldn't really have been using psychedelics (was in a bad place mentally/socially) but narcissistically kept clinging onto the identity (it was all I had I guess) continuing to trip when psychologically I shouldn't have been doing so.
Just goes to show how a person really shouldn't use them unless he has his shit together, and I did in fact eventually experience a psychotic break and hospitalization!
I 'm not sure 'ego' is a motivation many are likely to admit to (so it might not be much good on a survey) but I do believe many psychedelic users possess this same sense of pride in their own (psychedelic) identities/reputations, and it is a contributing albeit often unconscious reason for using.
They can make a person feel very special!
-------------------- "I'm every nightmare you ever had. I am your worst dreams come true. I am everything you ever were afraid of." Pennywise the dancing clown
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Loaded Shaman
Psychophysiologist



Registered: 03/02/15
Posts: 8,006
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Last seen: 1 month, 15 days
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: Cosmicpolitan] 1
#26748334 - 06/16/20 06:31 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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"To dissolve boundaries."
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  "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance." — Confucius
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Thayendanegea
quiet walker



Registered: 02/20/12
Posts: 7,596
Loc: 7 Lodges Nation
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: Loaded Shaman]
#26748371 - 06/16/20 07:08 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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I use them as a spiritual reset to clarify my path going forward.They are a true medicine that cuts the static and tunes in my heart so that I can put the right foot forward.
-------------------- Look Deep Into Nature,and Then You Will Understand Everything Better. Albert Einstein
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jarjarbic
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Registered: 05/19/20
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: Thayendanegea]
#26748389 - 06/16/20 07:29 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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ur wasting your time
try them for yourself and you will learn that psychology is bullshit and your life is a big lie.
Start with morning glory seeds then mushrooms then DMT
good luck fam
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The Thing
ТнغТнརиو


Registered: 03/01/18
Posts: 1,539
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: Cosmicpolitan]
#26748403 - 06/16/20 07:35 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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🤙
Edited by The Thing (08/17/20 08:02 PM)
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redgreenvines
irregular verb


Registered: 04/08/04
Posts: 37,706
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: Cosmicpolitan]
#26748611 - 06/16/20 09:34 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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re-connection is a big theme for me. as in the Latin 'religare' the root (word) of religion - reconnecting with the extra layers that complete my self.
the epitome of it is achieved with a small hit of salvia (350mics of salvinorin-A) with effects at the vivid level (check out the salvia scale of effects ) for ~3 to 5 minutes minutes:
Quote:
S – SUBTLE effects, Relaxation and increased sensual appreciation may be noted. This mild level is useful for meditation and may facilitate sexual pleasure. A – ALTERED perception, colors and textures are paid attention to. Thinking becomes less logical, and more playful. L – LIGHT visionary state. Closed eye visuals (clear imagery with eyes closed). V – VIVID visionary state. Complex three dimensional realistic appearing scenes occur. With eyes closed you experience fantasies. So long as your eyes are closed you may believe they are really occurring. I – IMMATERIAL existence. Individuality may be lost; one experiences merging with the Divine. A – AMNESIC effects. Loss of consciousness. The individual may fall, or remain immobile or thrash around. Dangerous!
I do not prefer going deeper than that, but usually I have some exposure to those more intense layers -Immaterial- and -Amnesia-, at least briefly. I do not find any trips consistently just at only one level of layering but predominantly -V- is what I prefer. (sometimes I can count 15 discrete layers to it)
lsd in the right circumstances and at the right dose stretches that Vivid layered experience out for 3 hours at least for me.
My assessment is that it slows down the fading of signals reaching the cerebral cortex which normally enter as a neural pulse-train that lasts 1/15th of a second. Since the slightly overlapping pulse trains last longer when stoned, the result is layering of moments of experience - subjectively time is stretched and compressed or stacked, the previous few seconds still exist fresh while not quite fading yet the current moment also co-exist. the co-existence of moments allows for conflicting ideas and feelings to be accommodated as one thing.
that things may merge is therapeutic and inspiring; and multilayered experiencing is both kaleidoscopic and encompassing.
good luck with your integration of random comments from the community, and with making a meaningful dent in the seamless materials of science.
I am a frequent user of moderate dosage, and while it is partly habit, or persona, it is also part of what I think is a healthy regime (for me). It's personal and may not work well for others.
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DJ Ed
Mushroom Engineer


Registered: 09/04/16
Posts: 2,326
Loc: UK
Last seen: 4 hours, 50 minutes
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: wolf8312]
#26748673 - 06/16/20 10:20 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Your start into the psychedelic realms sounds exactly like mine; you could have been describing my reasons. The first time I reached the headspace, those timeless transcendent moments, it felt I’d come home. I then proceeded to abuse psychedelics (lsd and mushrooms) for 2 years. The psych ward got me away from psychedelics for years. As I matured, I was always still lured back. Here I am, hopefully much wiser and more respectful with my advancing years !
Take care DJ Ed
-------------------- “It’s like when you see a mountain lion,” he suggested. “If you run, it will chase you. So you must stand your ground.” Michael Pollan: How To Change Your Mind “The problem is not to find the answer, it’s to face the answer.” Terence McKenna

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InfraredRick
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: redgreenvines]
#26748717 - 06/16/20 10:58 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Surveys, a way to measure things to produce information upon which to make decisions, is a science. I used to create/deploy surveys in the public health environment for use in strategic planning. I'm MBA/CQM, a quality management nut, and planning systems I developed 20 years ago are still being used today. So, my advice is to do your research on how to develop effective and efficient surveys right up front, otherwise you'll expend a ton of time an other resources to produce nothing but anecdotal information. Your biggest challenge is going to be aggregation of feedback based on subjective experiences.
-------------------- Inspiration move me brightly.[gradient:#C7C7D4,#CFD4C7]y[/gradient]
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wolf8312
Pennywise


Registered: 10/01/12
Posts: 2,356
Last seen: 3 days, 15 hours
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: DJ Ed]
#26748801 - 06/16/20 11:57 AM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
DJ Ed said: Your start into the psychedelic realms sounds exactly like mine; you could have been describing my reasons. The first time I reached the headspace, those timeless transcendent moments, it felt I’d come home. I then proceeded to abuse psychedelics (lsd and mushrooms) for 2 years. The psych ward got me away from psychedelics for years. As I matured, I was always still lured back. Here I am, hopefully much wiser and more respectful with my advancing years !
Take care DJ Ed
I kinda had two phases. The first my teenage years which was a rise and fall kind of experience, from the fearless early days of calm waters and steady sailing, to later ship wrecks, and frenzied insanity (literally)...
Later though as I got things together (job, house, gf etc) and healed, I returned, and started using them more responsibly. Well...there were still some close calls (and in truth I was nowhere nearly fully healed and doubt I ever will/can be) due to stupid doses (and cannabis) so more likely I'd say my more responsible use actually started around the second time I went to full on hyperspace for a full 2 hours! After that I bought a scale!
Thanks to Anahuasca as well I also around that time learned better how to handle the psychedelic experience in general and surrender etc. Psychosis and delusions had taught me how to hold on for dear life, and no matter what I heard/saw never to move or react, so that was also helpful.
I look back at some of my trips with awe and wonder. Kinda like Walter White said I was alive! Even the ones that scared the living shit out of me (except for one which truly was demonic evil and almost literally hell itself).
I have an Aya journey ready to go but never really get round to it. Fear if I'm honest but then that never used to stop me...
Coming down from peak light speed hyperspace was the greatest single high and experience of my life (nothing beats hyperspace when you actually have control and are not afraid) but once I became a father I became a bit more hesitant realizing that there could be no more DMT extractions, or mushroom growing etc.
-------------------- "I'm every nightmare you ever had. I am your worst dreams come true. I am everything you ever were afraid of." Pennywise the dancing clown
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redgreenvines
irregular verb


Registered: 04/08/04
Posts: 37,706
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: InfraredRick]
#26748820 - 06/16/20 12:07 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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good to poke about before concretizing questions, I have seen too many surveys that are very rigorous about an extreme subset of psychedelic interest, such as: either therapy, or religious experience, or entertainment, or personal development, or demystification of intoxication... get an overview, consider the ideas, then formulate what you think are good questions to ask in a formal way.
often the language of surveys channels the participant too forcefully. it can be tedious and it can make the participant seem to say things that they do not even think.
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PrimalSoup
hyperspatial illuminations



Registered: 11/17/09
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Loc: PNW
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: Cosmicpolitan]
#26749310 - 06/16/20 03:13 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Cosmicpolitan said: My master's is a Master of Science in Psychology. In terms of my thesis it currently has three main aims which are
- To explore how aspects of naturalistic / recreational psychedelic use precipitate change in individuals' beliefs, attitudes, behaviour and world view.
- To identify commonalities and differences between naturalistic / recreational settings and clinical settings.
- To explore how transformations in a user's self-concept or self-identity, attributed to psychedelic use, have impacted their lives
I hoped that I could help provide additional information to the academic study of psychedelics while at the same time getting deeper into this area. I'm planning to become a clinical psychologist and would like to have the option to provide psychedelic therapies. So, this study is both exposing me more to the knowledge, beliefs and practices of the psychedelic community so I can be more informed in my practice if I ever get the chance while also completing my masters. Seems like a win win to me.
Well, these are all the kind of things you can measure or quantify in some way. OTOH there are some aspects to psychedelic use (in my own experience with mushrooms and the experience of others that I've come across) that are non-quantifiable. Reorganization of basic perceptual modalities that subsume user's self-perception entirely by altering the very structures upon which those perceptions are supposedly constructed.
Perhaps these aspects only show up at dosages higher than typically used in studies, or only with extended usage however.
IOW studies seem only ever to be looking at the short term aspects, interesting as they may be to researchers - the low hanging fruit. When all along, just out of reach, are the really useful and world changing properties.
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if you stand too close to the machine it'll start to eat youPrimal's simple tested teks and projects: Wheat Prep 2.0 Acidic Tea Tek Potency Project!
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jarjarbic
Stranger
Registered: 05/19/20
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: PrimalSoup]
#26749405 - 06/16/20 03:56 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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this shit isn't scientific at all
this is some paranormal activity level shit
not for the balled headed
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redgreenvines
irregular verb


Registered: 04/08/04
Posts: 37,706
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: jarjarbic]
#26749458 - 06/16/20 04:12 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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temple balled headed scientists qualify. however I agree with primal that we have a definition issue, or language problem: many experiences seem to defy articulation in words.
in fact there may be several categories of experience that can be listed that defy articulation in words.
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PrimalSoup
hyperspatial illuminations



Registered: 11/17/09
Posts: 13,568
Loc: PNW
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: jarjarbic]
#26749526 - 06/16/20 04:46 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
jarjarbic said: this shit isn't scientific at all
this is some paranormal activity level shit
not for the balled headed
You mean they can't study it or shouldn't? 
If they only study stuff that is obvious then they only produce obvious studies. 
Quote:
redgreenvines said: temple balled headed scientists qualify. however I agree with primal that we have a definition issue, or language problem: many experiences seem to defy articulation in words.
in fact there may be several categories of experience that can be listed that defy articulation in words.
So the question would be "Describe the things that can't be described?"
It is however, at least theoretically, possible to do fMRI brain imaging on people undergoing inexpressible modifications in their conscious perception (sounds like a Shpongle album title) but it doesn't seem to have been done yet. Hence the "low hanging fruit".
Quote:
Cosmicpolitan said: I find talking about it helps a lot more than me trying to just spontaneously invent reasons on my own.
To the OP - have you personally experienced, or do you plan to experience, the sort of psychedelic usage you are wanting to research?
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if you stand too close to the machine it'll start to eat youPrimal's simple tested teks and projects: Wheat Prep 2.0 Acidic Tea Tek Potency Project!
Edited by PrimalSoup (06/16/20 04:53 PM)
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jarjarbic
Stranger
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: PrimalSoup]
#26749578 - 06/16/20 05:04 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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they can't study this cuz then they come to dumb ass conclusions based on books written by old people with mommy issues and spread bullshit ignorance.
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The Blind Ass
Bodhi



Registered: 08/16/16
Posts: 26,731
Loc: The Primordial Mind
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Re: Looking for reasons why people use psychedelics. [Re: PrimalSoup]
#26749582 - 06/16/20 05:06 PM (3 years, 7 months ago) |
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Cosmicpolitan, have you ever eaten 5 grams of dried psychedelic mushrooms - or any amount? At least once - for science?
It could be beneficial in aiding you on your endeavor... doing so would be akin to receiving a life changing insight via insider trading on the stonk market.
Something, more or less, to that effect.
-------------------- Give me Liberty caps -or- give me Death caps
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