LSD is also known for it's use in treating migraines (about a 1/4 of a recreational dose is effective). I used to keep a supply for this purpose as I was unable to afford the prescription drugs that provide me relief. Unfortunately, LSD carries such a heavy penalty that I no longer do this and usually just shut myself in a dark room for a day or two when I get migraines. I'm lucky that I get them very rarely as opposed to those that get them monthly or even weekly.
I remember a short blurb in a Cary Grant [auto?]biography about his use of the drug in therapy and how it changed his life and perspective for the better.
It bothers me that a drug like this is so demonized that its possible therapeutic values are almost completely ignored. I know that there are some researchers still doing work in the area, but they are very few due to the huge legal obstacles at the federal levels.
I see this as just one more area where prohibition has harmed us. It's so sad that science has become subject to government after so many hundreds of years working to free it from the yoke of religion.
Edit: BTW, LSD is listed as a Schedule I drug (the most serious according to US law) and is listed with other such threats as MDMA, heroin, and mankind's worst enemy: Marijuana. It also carries a life sentence in federal prison upon a second trafficking offense.
It is demonized as it wakes the user up to the bullshit of the system. If you see the universe in all its natural glory, you flatly reject the idea that you should pay fealty to the faulty systems of corrupt humans.
LSD is illegal because it creates more Humanity in humans, Humanity which is more closely connected with reality.
What were the/were there any psychedelic effects of the dosage you took? Did you find you could still "function" in day to day life (work, school, etc)?
> Unfortunately, LSD carries such a heavy penalty that I no longer do this and usually just shut myself in a dark room for a day or two when I get migraines.
There is a cheap (prescription) drug called ergotamine that tickles brain receptors similar to those affected by LSD.
This is my understanding of the schedule I drugs: they're listed as schedule I because they're not medically usable, and they're not medically usable because they're listed as schedule I.
You got it! Except it's a bit confounded because a few of the schedule 1 drugs really, truly aren't medically usable because they are trumped by substances proven to be less harmful.
So yet another "illegal" drug that could have been improving/saving countless lives for years needlessly prevented from being used by idiot US prohibitionists.
The destructive consequences of alcohol or morphine addiction are in no small regard caused by the fact that it's possible to indulge in the drug daily, and therefore it is easy to completely lose yourself in the cycle of drug use.
This problem does not occur with LSD, since LSD tolerance builds up incredibly fast. It is simply not practical to use it more often than once a week, and even this frequency is unusual with most users, since longer periods of abstinence between trips have a very direct and positive influence on the quality of the experience. Most regular users are very well aware of this, and their usage patterns reflect this fact.
There is no pattern to be found in what you described, since LSD is a dramatically different kind of drug compared to the other two you mentioned.
You keep making this point, but it's a straw man. The issue is whether we ought to study these drugs for therapeutic usages, and what such studies find.
I'm also personally familiar with several (> 10) people who used MDMA to treat depression (other than PTSD), both independent of conventional psychotherapy and in a few cases in conjunction with it (by telling the doctor after independently dosing; since he's an MD he has a duty to care for the patient even if he's "on an illegal drug" at the time, but isn't at personal legal risk).
I would consider the long-term risks of 1-5 doses of MDMA over a year FAR lower than the side effects of prescribed antidepressants or other psychiatric medications on an ongoing or permanent basis. (I'm not a doctor, though. Just going based on observation of a not statistically significant number in both groups.)
According to the Wikipedia article on LSD, the US DEA claims that the drug among other things "produces...no lasting positive effect in treating alcoholics."
The TSA chimed in, noting that LSD also produces no safeguard against "things that go BOOM!"
Not at all actually. LSD seems to quite a safe drug, and I'm beginning to question why it is illegal. Alcohol on the other hand seems to be much more dangerous.
When humans and most mammals give birth the female body produces a drug that produces psychedelic effects as a counter to pain of child birth on the baby.
And guess what? That replay of effects is what we call the illusion of near death experiences that some experience later in life..
Tidbit #2, towards the end of a pregnancy, there is a MASSIVE rush of DMT in the mothers body. They don't really know why, but its suggested that its the "life" or consciousness flowing into the baby.
But yes, the biological machine is beyond fascinating! Mind boggling!
I wonder how many of those alcoholics moved on to psychedelics after treatment :)
You guys are downvoting me, but at the time addiction and alcoholism were considered separate phenomenon. Psychedelics being new, nobody predicted the 1970s and burnt out hippies, thus the study doesn't seem to take into account alcoholics becoming drug addicts.
Good point if you've grown up around addicts you'll know that it's VERY common for them to simply substitute one drug for another.
In the lucky cases they substitute meth with alcohol, tobacco and coffee but I could totally picture someone going for cannabis, LSD instead of alcohol.
Essentially, it's a psychological thing and it's rarely about the substance itself. LSD is just a replacement for the god experience.
However I'd take this opportunity to recommend the documentary Ibogaine - A rite of passage.
[+] [-] zcid|14 years ago|reply
I remember a short blurb in a Cary Grant [auto?]biography about his use of the drug in therapy and how it changed his life and perspective for the better.
It bothers me that a drug like this is so demonized that its possible therapeutic values are almost completely ignored. I know that there are some researchers still doing work in the area, but they are very few due to the huge legal obstacles at the federal levels.
I see this as just one more area where prohibition has harmed us. It's so sad that science has become subject to government after so many hundreds of years working to free it from the yoke of religion.
Edit: BTW, LSD is listed as a Schedule I drug (the most serious according to US law) and is listed with other such threats as MDMA, heroin, and mankind's worst enemy: Marijuana. It also carries a life sentence in federal prison upon a second trafficking offense.
[+] [-] samstave|14 years ago|reply
LSD is illegal because it creates more Humanity in humans, Humanity which is more closely connected with reality.
[+] [-] hornd|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Misha_B|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dutchbrit|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Daniel_Newby|14 years ago|reply
There is a cheap (prescription) drug called ergotamine that tickles brain receptors similar to those affected by LSD.
[+] [-] jdc|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rms|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] quattrofan|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sneak|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rjurney|14 years ago|reply
Detect the pattern.
[+] [-] munchhausen|14 years ago|reply
This problem does not occur with LSD, since LSD tolerance builds up incredibly fast. It is simply not practical to use it more often than once a week, and even this frequency is unusual with most users, since longer periods of abstinence between trips have a very direct and positive influence on the quality of the experience. Most regular users are very well aware of this, and their usage patterns reflect this fact.
There is no pattern to be found in what you described, since LSD is a dramatically different kind of drug compared to the other two you mentioned.
[+] [-] gruseom|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Shum|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rms|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rjurney|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] itmag|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rdl|14 years ago|reply
I'm also personally familiar with several (> 10) people who used MDMA to treat depression (other than PTSD), both independent of conventional psychotherapy and in a few cases in conjunction with it (by telling the doctor after independently dosing; since he's an MD he has a duty to care for the patient even if he's "on an illegal drug" at the time, but isn't at personal legal risk).
I would consider the long-term risks of 1-5 doses of MDMA over a year FAR lower than the side effects of prescribed antidepressants or other psychiatric medications on an ongoing or permanent basis. (I'm not a doctor, though. Just going based on observation of a not statistically significant number in both groups.)
[+] [-] jwco|14 years ago|reply
The TSA chimed in, noting that LSD also produces no safeguard against "things that go BOOM!"
[+] [-] jwco|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sammanual|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jdub|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jostmey|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lightcatcher|14 years ago|reply
This graph of active dose to lethal dose ratio and dependence risk serves as a fairly good measure for the risk of various drugs in my opinion: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Drug_dan...
[+] [-] shareme|14 years ago|reply
Are you ready for this?
When humans and most mammals give birth the female body produces a drug that produces psychedelic effects as a counter to pain of child birth on the baby.
And guess what? That replay of effects is what we call the illusion of near death experiences that some experience later in life..
Is not the biological machine fascinating? :)
[+] [-] geoffw8|14 years ago|reply
But yes, the biological machine is beyond fascinating! Mind boggling!
[+] [-] sev|14 years ago|reply
Also, I'm very curious about this...is there a source I can read that you know of?
[+] [-] omarchowdhury|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] orbitingpluto|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rjurney|14 years ago|reply
You guys are downvoting me, but at the time addiction and alcoholism were considered separate phenomenon. Psychedelics being new, nobody predicted the 1970s and burnt out hippies, thus the study doesn't seem to take into account alcoholics becoming drug addicts.
[+] [-] INTPenis|14 years ago|reply
In the lucky cases they substitute meth with alcohol, tobacco and coffee but I could totally picture someone going for cannabis, LSD instead of alcohol.
Essentially, it's a psychological thing and it's rarely about the substance itself. LSD is just a replacement for the god experience.
However I'd take this opportunity to recommend the documentary Ibogaine - A rite of passage.