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© (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.Magic mushroom ingredient may ease severe depression, study suggests
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Tatsuwashi
We should make all drugs legal.
nath
I couldn't agree more.
Trapped
I too agree, but good luck with that one, people.
smartacus
I don't oppose legalizing magic mushrooms but I would never support legalizing all drugs, as some readers above me are calling for. Drugs like heroin and cocaine should never be legalized and I doubt any responsible medical professional would argue in favor of that.
nath
First off, legalization is not a medical issue, it is a legal one.
But, to counter your point, these medical professionals say otherwise: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/24/top-medical-experts-say-we-should-decriminalize-all-drugs-and-maybe-go-even-further/
And if medical professionals aren't enough to sway you, how about judges, police officers, prison guards and other law officials? http://leap.cc/
From the LEAP page:
Dealing with drugs as a criminal issue, rather than a health issue, has been an absolute unmitigated disaster.
1glenn
On the issue of legalizing drugs, I had an experience in Norway that I think is worth relating. I met a young couple in the train station of Oslo. They asked me to buy them breakfast, which in Norway consisted of a cup of coffee and a piece of toast with goat cheese on it. I had some time to pass while waiting for my train, so I agreed. We talked while they ate, and while I waited. It turned out that they were both heroin addicts. They looked a little dirty, but otherwise healthy. They said that when they wanted a fix they only had to go to the hospital, rather than commit crimes for money to support their habits. I do not know if the hospital gave them heroin, or something else, or if they were even telling the truth, but it seemed that they were telling the truth. I found the whole thing very interesting. Here in the states I have talked with people who said they supported their habits with multiple burglaries per day, or prostitution. ( I like to talk to people.)
On the subject of psilocybin and other hallucinogenic drugs, I think that it has a use for more than just people suffering from depression. I have met troubled people, caught in self-destructive routines, who seemed to be aided in breaking their bad habits through the infrequent use of hallucinogens. Obviously there are dangers involved, including possible harm to oneself or to others while high, and the possibility of flashbacks. It would seem to be advisable to be administered clinically. Still, I have to wonder whether if a sociopath such as Hitler had been treated with hallucinogens, would he have benefited.
Tamarama
I've had a couple of great experiences on Magic Mushrooms (a long time ago now). The full evaporation-of-ego-and-sense-of-petty-self-in an inter-planetary-cosmic-sense-of-universal-connection-to-everyone-and-everything. Dissolving into the universe and feeling the excruciating beauty of existence and experience. The mountains and the rivers breathing and falling outward into the cosmos etc, etc, et al. Those experiences have never left me, because they were kind of things I KNEW deep down already, but you lose sight of or they get squashed by your flexing ego and general detritus of day to day life. I don't doubt the positive effects on these folks.
nath
They were legal in Japan until 2002. They were so much fun! I wish they didn't become illegal.
Tamarama
Yeah, I know a couple of people who had terrible experiences on them, but not many. My overwhelming impression was that they were very 'clean'. They are mushrooms after all. The first time I took them I just picked them from the ground.
1glenn
http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000004406557/lsds-long-strange-trip.html?emc=edit_th_20160517&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=49359514
I came across this report from the New York Time about psilocybin, aka LSD.
nath
They are entirely different drugs. Psyilocybin is that. LSD is Lysergic acid diethylamide. Different chemical structures, different compounds, and different (though slightly similar) effects.