psychedelics under new round of scientific study

[Ruffhowse]

I read this article on the NY Times website. Very interesting new research on psychedelics for the open minded.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/science/12psychedelics.html?hp

[Webster Green]

1. Great article. Very positive.

Just further evidence that we hippies were right about everything. :hippie:

[applegrove]

2. Doesn't psychedelic mean colorful?

[abq e streeter]

3. When done correctly with sufficient dosage

[applegrove]

4. LOL!

[asdjrocky]

53. Very well done.

[kas125]

8. From Wiki: "The term psychedelic is derived

from the Greek words ψυχή (psyche, "soul") and δηλείν (delein, "to manifest"), translating to "mind-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly ordinary fetters. Psychedelic states are an array of experiences elicited by various techniques, including sensory stimulation, sensory deprivation as well as by psychedelic substances. Such experiences include hallucinations, changes of perception, synesthesia, altered states of awareness, mystical states, and occasionally states resembling psychosis."

Can't say I ever experienced anything resembling psychosis, but thoroughly enjoyed plenty of hallucinations, changes of perception, synesthesia, altered states of awareness, and mystical states back in the day...

[applegrove]

11. Funny. I hung out with a group of kids in highschool who were really into Jim Morrison in the 80s.

When we used the word pscychedelic they always said it meant colourful (we did not do much in the way of drugs and mostly drank). I guess I was being had. Not the first time. Not the last time I'll be had.

[kas125]

12. I'm a deadhead. Psychedelics were just part of the

experience of a show for us. Heck, sometimes we could SEE the notes coming out of Jerry's guitar and yeah, they were very colorful!

Seriously, though, I do think that psychedelics helped me to become who I am and to see the world the way I do. Psychedelics do cause colorful sensations and enhance the music, but they also make you think. A lot. They're the best tool for introspection and I learned a lot about who I am and what I truly believe when I used to do acid.

[On the Road]

15. The First Wave of Psychedelic Use in the 60s

was associated with the colorful, surrealistic art of the period. "Psychedelic" started to be applied to art that evoked hallucinogenic drugs. Even a multicolored tie-dyed t-shirt can be called psychedelic. So "colorful" is indeed sort of a secondary meaning, although not a very exact one.

http://j.mp/9Y85UI

[applegrove]

40. Okay. So I wasn't being had.

[conscious evolution]

46. Psychodelic means

to hear colors and see sound.

[XemaSab]

5. Interesting

My own very limited experience with psychedelics supports this: it's a different world out there than what we assume.

[abq e streeter]

6. Being serious.... my one and only experience with psilocybin blasted me out of a lengthy depression

and into one of the longest periods I've ever gone without the depression returning.

[shireen]

22. does the mushroom containing psilocybin grow in the US?

Where is it found? Or is it a South American mushroom?

I wonder how the scientists got their supply. Maybe there's a special farm somewhere that grows medical grade 'shrooms with psilocybin. Right next to the medical grade marijuana plants ? :shrug: ... no wonder big pharma is so against it all, it would sap all their profits.

If these are regulated and legal crops, it will charge the pharmacological world.

[EOTE]

26. If you've got a place that has ruminant animals, and if those animals defecate...

Then you've got yourself psylocibe cubensis. Basically, wherever cows and horses do their business, if the temperature is right and there's a decent amount of humidity, you'll have shrooms in no time. They grow very quickly and typically easy to find if you know where to look.

[ChiciB1]

42. Yep... Down Here In Florida... Cows & Humidity Equal Shrooms!

Back in the day, shrooms were BIG, and many preferred them as opposed to LSD & Timothy Leary!

A very smooth ride in fact! Yes, I did do some two times and I LIKED it! Stayed up all night and the bunch of us really had some great bonding going on! And I'm not talking about sex!

Now, I need to read the article.

[HillbillyBob]

28. Go to a cow pasture and look for them on Cow patties

I remember my aunt doing them in the 60s she would go out to the pasture and come back with some and make a tea (after washing thoroughly).
I don't remember much more than that since I was only about 5 or 6 at the time.

I seem to remember her going out very early around sunrise in summer or late spring.

[Qutzupalotl]

29. Of course, picking mushrooms is dangerous without a lot of expertise

since there are deadly strains that look similar to non-lethal ones.

Best bet for the beginner is to look online for a spore syringe or kit and follow instructions for the now-defunct PF Tek.

[EOTE]

50. I've always used the blue stem test.

After picking the shroom, I always check to see if the stem turned blue where my fingers picked it. As far as I know, only psylocibin bearing shrooms will do that. I've never picked a bad batch.

[eShirl]

31. they even sell grow kits on the internet

I heard

[Cybergata]

32. You don't need a foreign country or cow poop to grow 'shrooms.

That is all I am saying, and I'll deny saying it if asked about it later. ;-)

[ChiciB1]

43. But I REALLY Want To Know!! n/t

[piratefish08]

48. psilocybe mushroom spores are legal to buy and possess in the US - for research purposes of course.

the spores contain no psilocybin.

it's NOT legal to grow these spores into mushrooms which do contain psilocybin.

it's also not difficult.

google is your friend.

[Cybergata]

30. I second that emotion.

Or should I say, we walked parralel lines.

[abq e streeter]

36. Hiya, Cyber-g , long time no see.

:hippie: :hi:

Have you ever seen the Bill Hicks piece right below this? If not, it's only about a minute.. pretty damn funny and right on the money ( ooh, that rhymes; I'm a freakin poet)

[Cybergata]

41. It is brilliant! n/t

[abq e streeter]

7. Just one more : Bill Hicks's "positive drug story"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXmzcroUmdU

[Echo In Light]

19. +1000 k/r

[Echo In Light]

20. BTW, transcript

"How about a positive LSD story, that would be newsworthy. Don't you think? Anybody think that? Just once, to hear a positive LSD story. "Today, a young man on acid, realised that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration. That we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves... here's Tom with the weather."

[Forkboy]

39. ....

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. Interesting

[MagickMuffin]

10. About DAMN TIME ;=D

Here's another article for those who are interested.

How Stanislav Grof Helped Launch the Dawn of a New Psychedelic Research Era

Next week, the brightest lights of the psychedelic cognoscenti will gather in San Jose, California. Leaving swirls of tracer visions in their wakes, they will converge from around the world at an incongruously bland Holiday Inn, 50 miles south of the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood that once served as the pulsing capital of Psychedelistan. There, several hundred turned-on and tuned-in doctors, psychologists, artists and laypeople will participate in the annual conference of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). For four days, they will explore -- through workshops and lectures, nothing more -- the widening gamut of clinical inquiry into the uses of the psychedelic experience, a global resurgence of which has led to hopeful talk of a "psychedelic revival."

After decades of psychedelic deep freeze, such talk is finally more than just wishful thinking. A skim of the conference agenda offers a tantalizing glimpse into the newly bubbling world of clinical psychedelic research. UCLA Medical professor Charles Grob will speak about his work using psilocybin to treat anxiety in late-stage cancer patients. Psychologist Allan Ajaya will share findings from his research in LSD-assisted myofascial pain therapy. Other speakers will address possible psychedelic-based cures for alcoholism, addiction, depression, migraines, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Each will represent a different corner in a promising field newly awakened. From North America to the Middle East, recent years have seen a rising interest into the medicinal possibilities of MDMA, LSD, DMT, and other drugs now shaking off decades of government-imposed clinical hibernation.

snip

One of the most significant figures attending the conference in San Jose is a man largely unknown to the general public. Years before Leary made headlines for his Ivy League adventures, and years before Ken Kesey held the first acid parties in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a young doctor named Stanislav Grof was conducting rigorous clinical experiments involving LSD in the most unlikely of places: a government lab in the capital of communist Czechoslovakia. It was there, at Prague's Psychiatric Research Institute in the 1950s, that Grof began more than half-a-century of pioneering research into non-ordinary states of consciousness. While he is frequently marginalized in, if not completely left out of, popular psychedelic histories, it is not for any lack of contribution to the field. "If I am the father of LSD," Albert Hoffman once said, "Stan Grof is the godfather."

With psychedelic research poised for a mainstream resurgence, the time seems right to begin giving the godfather his due.


http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/146393

The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows

Turn off your mind, relax
and float down stream
It is not dying
It is not dying

Lay down all thought
Surrender to the void
It is shining
It is shining

That you may see
The meaning of within
It is being
It is being

That love is all
And love is everyone
It is knowing
It is knowing

That ignorance and hate
May mourn the dead
It is believing
It is believing

But listen to the
color of your dreams
It is not living
It is not living

Or play the game
existence to the end
Of the beginning
Of the beginning
Of the beginning
Of the beginning
Of the beginning
Of the beginning

[kas125]

13. Personally, I think that Bicycle Day should be an official

National Holiday! I know an Iraq veteran who has been in one of those studies and he seems to be a different person now than he was two years ago. And that's definitely a good thing!

[Blue_In_AK]

14. Where do I sign up?

:hippie: I'm a big fan of psychedelics. They certainly were my drug of choice back in the day. I had good trips and not so good trips, and learned more than I ever thought possible about myself -- And somehow I survived with brain cells intact.

[eShirl]

34. MAPS is recruiting research subjects

"MAPS is recruiting subjects for the following research studies. Please check back periodically to see if we are in need of new subjects for other studies. We also advise signing up for our free monthly email newsletter in order to be kept up to date as to when we will need new subjects. "

http://www.maps.org/participate.html

[retread]

16. Psilosybin! Mushrooms! Urp! n/t

[niceypoo]

17. Where do I sign up>?

[old mark]

18. Last time I did mushrooms, I tried to drive a car. Not very successful.

I am glad to see someone is actually using these things for a good purpose...The politicians will smack them down in time, but I hope some good comes of it.


mark

[file83]

23. If you ever get the chance, try putting on gloves...lol

It's a very unique experience.:smoke:

[old mark]

27. I don't indulge any longer in anything stronger than black tea,

but I can imagine....


mark

[shireen]

21. wow! sounds like the solution to world peace!

imagine if everyone in the Republican party had a nibble of that mushroom! :P

Seriously, i find this very promising. I'd be willing to try it myself.

This reminds me a lot of an account by Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain anatomist, who experienced a stroke. This video from TED is a must-see!
http://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

[conscious evolution]

47. There is a rumor going around

that someone dropped off five million hits in the middle east.
There may be another summer of love coming only not in San Fran this time.

[ChiciB1]

57. THAT Was FANTASTIC! I Didn't Catch It Earlier, But MUST Spread Her

word/world!! Thank you so much for the link!

[Javaman]

24. So does this mean that the CIA is going to get all MK-ULTRA retro on us now? nt

[Hubert Flottz]

25. Oh Gawd I hope everyone don't end up as fried as George Bush

[Cybergata]

33. That was alcohol, not psychedelics that munched Bushes brain cells. n/t

[Greyskye]

35. That was from coke and booze.

Different animals.

[Hubert Flottz]

37. What ever it was it sure did wipe out that cat's brain.

He was like Dick Cheney's robot.

[ChiciB1]

45. Shrooms ARE Natural... At Least The Ones I Saw! n/t

[Hubert Flottz]

49. After Fart Stinkbetter's daughter jumped out that window in Hollywood

I was way too skeerd to use anything that even came out of a DRUG store. I've had a headache since 1968. I haven't used tooth paste since then.(my teeth have gotten very large) And you don't want to get near my armpits! The thing I miss most is a new pair of flip flops once in a while. But you won't catch me near a DRUG store or anybody that uses DRUGS from one! I try to stay away from windows too.

[ChiciB1]

54. This Is A Very Late Reply To Your Post... But It Was So Entertaining

I had to say... THAT WAS FUNNY!

Art Linkletter... I'm sure many here don't have a CLUE as to what you were saying!!

Thanks! But I do use toothpaste and clean up now and then! Some things are just necessary evils, if you will!

[Hubert Flottz]

55. Better late then never...

Thanks for the kind words. I wish Art would have done a show about..."Kids on LSD say the darndest things" things like..."WOW Man" or "Far Freakin' Out Man" or "Did you see the horns on that lady's head" Or "What A Freakin' Bummer Man" Or "This LSD's Got A Hold On Me"

[ChiciB1]

56. I'm Thinking Jon Stewart Would LOVE To Have Some Input From You!!

Or maybe you write songs???

I NEVER took a trip myself, but did know some that did! Thankfully all of them survived at the time, however since I've lost touch with many, don't know if their brains got fried or anything!

I recall a girl, who I didn't know all that well, coming to my house one day when she was "flying" and asked if I would sit with her until she came down! I don't think she ever did it again! She was freaking out and I wasn't sure how to handle the whole thing! Being young I didn't think about the consequences if something would have gone wrong and her parents may have found out!

Her best friend wasn't around and she came over, so I just tried to deal with it! My parents could have FREAKED too!! After that I KNEW I didn't want ANY purple micro-dot or other colors connected with that substance!

But since MOST people had good trips, they just overlooked the really bad/disastrous ones! But I recall kids running around all over the place... literally TRIPPING around parks!

Shrooms really didn't do that, or at least not any I saw! And I did smoke back then too! These days, I decline to smoke because I have a FEAR of gaining weight! And it IS a REAL FEAR! Guess that's good for me now because I have 4 sisters who are actually overweight!

Hang in there... and BTW... showers AND baths are good you know?? Too many polluted rivers and lakes, and the beach right down the road from me is NOTHING like it used to be!!
:silly: :crazy:

[Forkboy]

38. "New research" my ass.

;)

[RagAss]

44. SO interesting. In the western world, the loss of the ego has long been treated as a mental illness.

Hopefully that thinking is starting to change.

[Mari333]

51. I did my own research in the 60s.

[TransitJohn]

52. 50 years ago

you sound like you're ready for some Owsley orange sunshine.