4 ms·

First ever trials on the effects of microdosing LSD set to begin

42 points by okket 8y ago

DyslexicAtheist 8y ago
I am just reading an incredible book on the subject: "How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence" Highly recommend it. https://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Mind-Consciousness-Transcendence/dp/1594204225 https://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Mind-Consciousness-Transc...
- pmoriarty 8y ago
  Erik Davis did an interesting interview with its author here: https://expandingmind.podbean.com/e/expanding-mind-mind-change-070518/ https://expandingmind.podbean.com/e/expanding-mind-mind-chan...
- hashkb 8y ago
  Also read this. Important to remember- LSD and other psychedelics were researched legally and showed great promise in the US the 50s (and have been used all over the world for thousands of years). Only a politically driven moral panic forced their criminalization.
  - bfuller 8y ago
    That's not entirely true. Irresponsible use pushed by people like Leary made the panic pretty justified. I am so happy their clinical use is coming back in style, but let's not forget that these are very dangerous tools in the wrong hands.
    - ianai 8y ago
      There are plenty of far more dangerous things legal and many almost completely unregulated in the US.
    - Broken_Hippo 8y ago
      Recreational use doesn't equate to irresponsible use, though, just like drinking alcohol doesn't necessarily mean that folks are being irresponsible with it. Keeping it illegal somewhat increases its hazards. This is the sort of thing few abuse and it can be taken Recreationally with some safety. That would only increase with proper research, controlled dosages, formulas, and public education. Would it be right for everyone? Of course not. Neither is alcohol, aspirin, or tylenol (paracet). A different class for medicinal use, much like it seems we are developing with marijuana. I'll add that a kitchen knife is a very dangerous tool in the wrong hands. So is tylenol and so on. We can lessen this to a point, however.
      - bfuller 8y ago
        I will ask you kindly not to put words in my mouth. The fact is, due to Learys extremely irresponsible actions it made clinical research of psychedelics taboo. Saying the moral panic was unjustified is just blatantly ignoring a large part of the history of LSD in popular memory.
        XalvinX 8y ago
        The fact is that Leary told people to use acid responsibly and that "set and setting" were the most important aspects. Well, if you pay attention to set (your state of mind before dosing) and setting (where, when, and who you are with) tripping is safe and a valuable experience for 99% of the people, most of whom just go back to their regular life 24 hours later. I'm not sure why people like you give Leary a bad rap just because he tried to popularize this experience. I've never understood that. The moral panic was created by the American government in the Nixon era because of the political effects the hippies were starting to have. Anything to keep the war machine going. They demonized acid just like they demonized weed the previous generation with propaganda such as "Reefer Madness" ...oh LSD causes "chromosome damage" (never proven, total bullshit) and the like. In the 90s they made similar claims about MDMA which also scared the establishment due to its political ramifications...the love and peace thing was rearing it's ugly head once again, and they squashed it using similar tactics.
    - pmoriarty 8y ago
      "Irresponsible use pushed by people like Leary made the panic pretty justified." Are you really saying that panic was justified? That the right response to what was happening at the time was to panic?
      - bfuller 8y ago
        Uh yeah absolutely. These things are powerful and special tools and having a major media figure basically going around freaking people out fucked up both recreational use and clinical use. Learys sabotage is directly responsible for the state of things and I dont blame people for being scared in that circumstance.
datapagan 8y ago
Conversation on LSD - https://youtube.com/watch?v=rjylxvQqm0U https://youtube.com/watch?v=rjylxvQqm0U This 62-minute video was recorded at a private party in Los Angeles hosted by Oscar Janiger, where thirty pioneers of psychedelic research gathered for an "LSD Reunion". Folks in attendence included Myron Stolaroff, Sidney Cohen, Al Hubbard, Timothy Leary, Oscar Janiger, Humphry Osmond, John Lilly, Laura Huxley, Willis Harmon, Nick Bercel, and others.
XalvinX 8y ago
I wonder where they are getting their acid? I mean, it is highly illegal and getting caught with just a few hits can put you in prison, and distributing it is very very serious, probably considered worse than dealing heroin or crack. The article claims it is popular. It is surprising that if it is public knowledge, that the DEA isn't all over this...do people at places like Google and Apple get a free pass or something? One point to make, this quote "The cost and the illegality of LSD would make a conventional study prohibitively expensive." makes little sense. LSD is extraordinarily cheap to make, and even when it is illegal can be had for less than a dollar a hit in bulk...it used to go for $60/100-hits (a "sheet") back at Dead shows, and even at that price someone was making a decent profit. Another point is how poorly researched this article is...I mean what does "1/15th" mean...hits vary between 50ug and 250ug....I can say with certainty that 1/15th of a small hit (3 mikes) would have no effect on anyone, none whatsoever. I went to college a couple of times on like 1/4 of pretty strong hit (so maybe 30 or 40ug) and I can say I did not like it one bit. I mean I could handle it but the general human race is just so coarse, and acid makes you so sensitive...weed is so much better for dealing with the "real world"...and weed also is a psychedelic. Green varieties (typically classified as mostly Sativa side of the spectrum) can do more for you while allowing you to filter out the bad stuff in normal life. Acid's very nature is annihilating your filter and letting everything in....not always good.

42 points by okket 8y ago

I am just reading an incredible book on the subject: "How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence" Highly recommend it. https://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Mind-Consciousness-Transcendence/dp/1594204225 https://www.amazon.com/Change-Your-Mind-Consciousness-Transc...

pmoriarty 8y ago
Erik Davis did an interesting interview with its author here: https://expandingmind.podbean.com/e/expanding-mind-mind-change-070518/ https://expandingmind.podbean.com/e/expanding-mind-mind-chan...
hashkb 8y ago
Also read this. Important to remember- LSD and other psychedelics were researched legally and showed great promise in the US the 50s (and have been used all over the world for thousands of years). Only a politically driven moral panic forced their criminalization.
- bfuller 8y ago
  That's not entirely true. Irresponsible use pushed by people like Leary made the panic pretty justified. I am so happy their clinical use is coming back in style, but let's not forget that these are very dangerous tools in the wrong hands.
  - ianai 8y ago
    There are plenty of far more dangerous things legal and many almost completely unregulated in the US.
  - Broken_Hippo 8y ago
    Recreational use doesn't equate to irresponsible use, though, just like drinking alcohol doesn't necessarily mean that folks are being irresponsible with it. Keeping it illegal somewhat increases its hazards. This is the sort of thing few abuse and it can be taken Recreationally with some safety. That would only increase with proper research, controlled dosages, formulas, and public education. Would it be right for everyone? Of course not. Neither is alcohol, aspirin, or tylenol (paracet). A different class for medicinal use, much like it seems we are developing with marijuana. I'll add that a kitchen knife is a very dangerous tool in the wrong hands. So is tylenol and so on. We can lessen this to a point, however.
    - bfuller 8y ago
      I will ask you kindly not to put words in my mouth. The fact is, due to Learys extremely irresponsible actions it made clinical research of psychedelics taboo. Saying the moral panic was unjustified is just blatantly ignoring a large part of the history of LSD in popular memory.
      - XalvinX 8y ago
        The fact is that Leary told people to use acid responsibly and that "set and setting" were the most important aspects. Well, if you pay attention to set (your state of mind before dosing) and setting (where, when, and who you are with) tripping is safe and a valuable experience for 99% of the people, most of whom just go back to their regular life 24 hours later. I'm not sure why people like you give Leary a bad rap just because he tried to popularize this experience. I've never understood that. The moral panic was created by the American government in the Nixon era because of the political effects the hippies were starting to have. Anything to keep the war machine going. They demonized acid just like they demonized weed the previous generation with propaganda such as "Reefer Madness" ...oh LSD causes "chromosome damage" (never proven, total bullshit) and the like. In the 90s they made similar claims about MDMA which also scared the establishment due to its political ramifications...the love and peace thing was rearing it's ugly head once again, and they squashed it using similar tactics.
  - pmoriarty 8y ago
    "Irresponsible use pushed by people like Leary made the panic pretty justified." Are you really saying that panic was justified? That the right response to what was happening at the time was to panic?
    - bfuller 8y ago
      Uh yeah absolutely. These things are powerful and special tools and having a major media figure basically going around freaking people out fucked up both recreational use and clinical use. Learys sabotage is directly responsible for the state of things and I dont blame people for being scared in that circumstance.

datapagan 8y ago

Conversation on LSD - https://youtube.com/watch?v=rjylxvQqm0U https://youtube.com/watch?v=rjylxvQqm0U This 62-minute video was recorded at a private party in Los Angeles hosted by Oscar Janiger, where thirty pioneers of psychedelic research gathered for an "LSD Reunion". Folks in attendence included Myron Stolaroff, Sidney Cohen, Al Hubbard, Timothy Leary, Oscar Janiger, Humphry Osmond, John Lilly, Laura Huxley, Willis Harmon, Nick Bercel, and others.

XalvinX 8y ago

I wonder where they are getting their acid? I mean, it is highly illegal and getting caught with just a few hits can put you in prison, and distributing it is very very serious, probably considered worse than dealing heroin or crack. The article claims it is popular. It is surprising that if it is public knowledge, that the DEA isn't all over this...do people at places like Google and Apple get a free pass or something? One point to make, this quote "The cost and the illegality of LSD would make a conventional study prohibitively expensive." makes little sense. LSD is extraordinarily cheap to make, and even when it is illegal can be had for less than a dollar a hit in bulk...it used to go for $60/100-hits (a "sheet") back at Dead shows, and even at that price someone was making a decent profit. Another point is how poorly researched this article is...I mean what does "1/15th" mean...hits vary between 50ug and 250ug....I can say with certainty that 1/15th of a small hit (3 mikes) would have no effect on anyone, none whatsoever. I went to college a couple of times on like 1/4 of pretty strong hit (so maybe 30 or 40ug) and I can say I did not like it one bit. I mean I could handle it but the general human race is just so coarse, and acid makes you so sensitive...weed is so much better for dealing with the "real world"...and weed also is a psychedelic. Green varieties (typically classified as mostly Sativa side of the spectrum) can do more for you while allowing you to filter out the bad stuff in normal life. Acid's very nature is annihilating your filter and letting everything in....not always good.