Psychedelics May Actually Be Good For You

[stromboli]

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/psychedel ... p-you-sane

A recent scientific study concluded that the use of psychedelic substances like LSD, psilocybin (magic mushrooms), and mescaline (peyote and other cacti)—all classified as dangerous drugs with no medicinal value, or Schedule I substances by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)—does not increase the risk for mental health problems—and the long-term use of some of those drugs was linked to decreased psychological problems

Researchers supported by the Research Council of Norway published their peer reviewed data online via   PLoS One, in a study titled Psychedelics and Mental Health: A Population Study on Tuesday. The authors analyzed data of more than 130,000 people and found 'no link' between the use of psychedelics and mental health issues.

Previous studies have proven that psychedelic substances do not cause brain damage are non-addictive, and can in some cases effectively treat addiction.

Raw Story reported that clinical psychologist Pal-Orjan Johansen of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology said psychedelic use is overall "considered to pose a very low risk."

"Psychedelics can elicit temporary feelings of anxiety and confusion, but accidents leading to serious injury are extremely rare," he said.

The researchers drew data from the  U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2001 and 2004, consisting of 130,152 respondents. Those respondents were selected at random to represent the U.S. adult population.

The results revealed 21,967 of those respondents—13.4 percent— reported ever having used psychedelics.

According to the abstract of the study:

"There were no significant associations between lifetime use of any psychedelics, lifetime use of specific psychedelics (LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, peyote), or past year use of LSD and increased rate of any of the mental health outcomes. Rather, in several cases psychedelic use was associated with lower rate of mental health problems."

Research on the potential beneficial uses of psychedelics has been ongoing for decades, and studies increasingly turn over promising results.  

Raw Story reports that scientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine "found psilocybin created positive changes in attitudes, mood, life satisfaction, and behavior that persisted for more than a year."

In addition, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, led by Charles Grob, MD, showed in a 2011 pilot study that a modest dose of psilocybin given to terminal cancer patients under therapist supervision eased anxiety for up to six months. Participants also reported closer feeling of connection to friends and family members.

A series of ongoing medical studies are currently being conducted on LSD-assisted psychotherapy for a series of mental disorders including addiction, and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy particularly for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

I've used all the psychedelics mentioned back in the day. Never had any real problems, all my kids are born normal, and all the so-called "bad" effects for the most part never happened. What did happen that was bad was inadvertently ingesting LSD without knowing it on one occasion, which was unsettling, but no more than that. I agree from personal experience with these findings. Glad somebody finally got around to it.

[aitm]

I agree, the stuff is 80% harmless, used em for years with no long term effect. By the by, nice dress you're wearing.

[Solitary]

I've had the same experiences, and the only time I've had real problems was when I didn't know I received them. I would say mine were a little more than unsettling though, more like a hellish experience of sticking my finger in a light socket. The only problem I can see is that for some people it can bring out a psychological problem they didn't know they had. I have had unsettling experiences from really strong pot in the Netherlands until I learned to let go and just go to sleep.

But even though I did have those problems at the time I have no doubt they helped me. I never do any of them anymore, and very seldom smoke pot in order to have a change in my daily routine. When I was young I loved to get high on pot because it made me Horney and the experience would go on for eternity.  =P~    Solitary

[Shiranu]

When I was young I loved to get high on pot because it made me Horney and the experience would go on for eternity.

So it isn't just me...

Er, what?

[stromboli]

I agree, the stuff is 80% harmless, used em for years with no long term effect. By the by, nice dress you're wearing.

Thanks. Picked it out myself......  :-D

[Shiranu]

Article is good to know though. I have wanted to try some hallucinogens if the opportunity ever presented itself, so its good to know its far less harmful than advertised (which to be fair I assumed, given the fact the same people saying it is terrible are the same people who claim pot is a dangerous drug).

[Jmpty]

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/psychedelics-dont-cause-mental-health-problems-and-they-might-keep-you-sane

A recent scientific study concluded that the use of psychedelic substances like LSD, psilocybin (magic mushrooms), and mescaline (peyote and other cacti)—all classified as dangerous drugs with no medicinal value, or Schedule I substances by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)—does not increase the risk for mental health problems—and the long-term use of some of those drugs was linked to decreased psychological problems

Researchers supported by the Research Council of Norway published their peer reviewed data online via   PLoS One, in a study titled Psychedelics and Mental Health: A Population Study on Tuesday. The authors analyzed data of more than 130,000 people and found 'no link' between the use of psychedelics and mental health issues.

Previous studies have proven that psychedelic substances do not cause brain damage are non-addictive, and can in some cases effectively treat addiction.

Raw Story reported that clinical psychologist Pal-Orjan Johansen of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology said psychedelic use is overall "considered to pose a very low risk."

"Psychedelics can elicit temporary feelings of anxiety and confusion, but accidents leading to serious injury are extremely rare," he said.

The researchers drew data from the  U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2001 and 2004, consisting of 130,152 respondents. Those respondents were selected at random to represent the U.S. adult population.

The results revealed 21,967 of those respondents—13.4 percent— reported ever having used psychedelics.

According to the abstract of the study:

"There were no significant associations between lifetime use of any psychedelics, lifetime use of specific psychedelics (LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, peyote), or past year use of LSD and increased rate of any of the mental health outcomes. Rather, in several cases psychedelic use was associated with lower rate of mental health problems."

Research on the potential beneficial uses of psychedelics has been ongoing for decades, and studies increasingly turn over promising results.  

Raw Story reports that scientists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine "found psilocybin created positive changes in attitudes, mood, life satisfaction, and behavior that persisted for more than a year."

In addition, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, led by Charles Grob, MD, showed in a 2011 pilot study that a modest dose of psilocybin given to terminal cancer patients under therapist supervision eased anxiety for up to six months. Participants also reported closer feeling of connection to friends and family members.

A series of ongoing medical studies are currently being conducted on LSD-assisted psychotherapy for a series of mental disorders including addiction, and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy particularly for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

I've used all the psychedelics mentioned back in the day. Never had any real problems, all my kids are born normal, and all the so-called "bad" effects for the most part never happened. What did happen that was bad was inadvertently ingesting LSD without knowing it on one occasion, which was unsettling, but no more than that. I agree from personal experience with these findings. Glad somebody finally got around to it.

Same here.

[LikelyToBreak]

So, is it just me, or do you guys think it is time we were treated like adults, and end the "War on Drugs?"  Being an arch conservative, I want this liberal atrocity done away with.  The Government is not my big brother.

[Icarus]

So, is it just me, or do you guys think it is time we were treated like adults, and end the "War on Drugs?"  Being an arch conservative, I want this liberal atrocity done away with.  The Government is not my big brother.

In 1930, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics was created. Established in the Department of the Treasury by an act of June 14, 1930 - President Herbert Hoover (Republican)

On October 27, 1970, Congress passes the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, which, among other things, categorizes controlled substances based on their medicinal use and potential for addiction. - President Richard Nixon (Republican)
In 1971. Two congressmen released an explosive report on the growing heroin epidemic among U.S. servicemen in Vietnam; ten to fifteen percent of the servicemen were addicted to heroin, and the Nixon administration coined the term War on Drugs. - President Richard Nixon (Republican)
In 1973, the Drug Enforcement Administration was created to replace the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. - President Richard Nixon (Republican)

As early as 1982, Vice President George H. W. Bush and his aides began pushing for the involvement of the CIA and U.S. military in drug interdiction efforts. - (Under) President Ronald Reagan (Republican)


These facts were gathered from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs#History and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Pr ... ted_States

I think you meant to say "Being an arch liberal, I want this conservative atrocity done away with."

[LikelyToBreak]

Icarus wrote in part:

I think you meant to say "Being an arch liberal, I want this conservative atrocity done away with."

Well, if you define liberal as Democrat and conservative as Republican, then you are right.  But, if you define liberal as having new ideas on growing government and conservative as staying with the least amount of government possible, then no.  I'm right.

The government when it was started, didn't have a war on drugs.  Many of the founding fathers grew hemp and profited from it.  It was only when the "liberal" politicians wanted to find ways to harass foreigners, that they came up with "drug laws."  Then, because they wanted drugs for themselves, for obvious reasons, they restricted drugs to the "licensed" medical professionals.  Conservatives are against the licensing of people, and liberals are for it.

Anyway, can't we get rid of these draconian laws?

[Icarus]

Icarus wrote in part:

I think you meant to say "Being an arch liberal, I want this conservative atrocity done away with."

Well, if you define liberal as Democrat and conservative as Republican, then you are right.  But, if you define liberal as having new ideas on growing government and conservative as staying with the least amount of government possible, then no.  I'm right.

The government when it was started, didn't have a war on drugs.  Many of the founding fathers grew hemp and profited from it.  It was only when the "liberal" politicians wanted to find ways to harass foreigners, that they came up with "drug laws."  Then, because they wanted drugs for themselves, for obvious reasons, they restricted drugs to the "licensed" medical professionals.  Conservatives are against the licensing of people, and liberals are for it.

Anyway, can't we get rid of these draconian laws?

I'm Canadian and we have the Liberal party of Canada and the Conservative party of Canada. We often associate Democrats with liberals and Republicans with conservatives because their views on political issues tend to be the most similar. This also means I can't use the definition of liberal and conservative you've provided here as it would conflict with the ideology held by those two Canadian parties. For us in Canada, the liberals are the ones talking about ending the war on drugs while the conservatives are the ones who have (in the past few years) increased the mandatory minimum sentences for possession of illegal substances and want to keep it that way.

Basically our governments have made it difficult to communicate political ideas because they keep changing the definition of words. Sorry for the confusion.

[LikelyToBreak]

Icarus wrote in part:

Basically our governments have made it difficult to communicate political ideas because they keep changing the definition of words. Sorry for the confusion.

No reason to apologize, the politicians like us confused.  Makes it easier to pull the wool over our eyes.  In the past, when the Democrats controlled both houses of congress and the presidency, they continued with the Republicans "War on Drugs."  So, I blame both parties, which are arguably the same party, for the idiocy which they force upon the world.  Both blaming the "other" party for their lack of doing anything.  

In Canada, it is legal to grow hemp.  I don't know what the exact requirements for doing so are, but I do know they grow it and sell if for many useful products.  I haven't tried them, but the seeds are said to be an excellent source of nutrition.  I also understand hemp makes stronger clothes than cotton.  Something those of us on limited incomes would appreciate.  Alas, the powers that be won't allow hemp to be grown here in the US.

[Brian37]

I agree, the stuff is 80% harmless, used em for years with no long term effect. By the by, nice dress you're wearing.

Saying "long term" affects are nothing, does not change the lack of judgement any drug can have as a short term affect.

I am sure it is unwise to drop acid and drive and smoke pot and drive as it would be drink and drive. Intoxication alters, even if for a limited time, your brain chemistry no matter the drug of choice.

"Harmless" does not address current legality of any drug. Even legal things, such as banking laws and loan laws and stock market laws, can be detrimental to society. Our great recession was not caused by pot smokers.