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Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

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Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#11

Post by waynecochran »

jessaustin wrote: post #3

This is a natural product. One can grow it in the basement of one's home. One can gather it where it grows wild. (Ask me how I know!) No user of this product has ever harmed anyone else as a result of using it. Any restrictions at all on this product could only ever be tyrannical. Let's not abide tyranny, ok?

I really don't know much about it beyond the anecdotes I've heard from friends and others, but aren't there cases of psychotic behavior (going berserk) and also suicide? BTW, I wouldn't use the term "natural" as an indicator of how benign it is -- the following are also natural: arsenic, anthrax, mercury, water hemlock, and castor beans.

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#12

Post by driverdan »

jessaustin wrote: post #3

This is a natural product. One can grow it in the basement of one's home. One can gather it where it grows wild. (Ask me how I know!) No user of this product has ever harmed anyone else as a result of using it. Any restrictions at all on this product could only ever be tyrannical. Let's not abide tyranny, ok?

> No user of this product has ever harmed anyone else as a result of using it.

That is a ridiculous statement. Anything can harm you, including water. Everything has negative side effects given a large enough dose.

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#14

Post by bsenftner »

drb91 wrote: post #4

I must say I take a huge amount of joy watching a corporation try to bend over backwards to monopolize a fungus that has been enjoyed by humans for millenia. Is it a surprise that a capitalist industry is more motivated by profits than by the production of useful goods and services? Of course not: but it is good comedy. Maybe laughing at the absurdity of for-profit healthcare will be what saves us all from crippling…

That joy will fade when the general public is led to believe that this company is the only "safe" providers, due to a FUD campaign they will finance attacking competitors and lead uncertainty to the safety prospect of growing one's own shrooms. It does not matter what they say, they can make up anything. Their campaign will be executed through multiple parties and will not look like they are behind it.

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#15

Post by y-c-o-m-b »

drb91 wrote: post #4

I must say I take a huge amount of joy watching a corporation try to bend over backwards to monopolize a fungus that has been enjoyed by humans for millenia. Is it a surprise that a capitalist industry is more motivated by profits than by the production of useful goods and services? Of course not: but it is good comedy. Maybe laughing at the absurdity of for-profit healthcare will be what saves us all from crippling…

The article says they are trying to restrict how research on the drug is done too and that's a catastrophe on its own. No laughing matter here. This might seem ridiculous on the surface, but it's a sinister move.

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#16

Post by atomical »

jessaustin wrote: post #3

This is a natural product. One can grow it in the basement of one's home. One can gather it where it grows wild. (Ask me how I know!) No user of this product has ever harmed anyone else as a result of using it. Any restrictions at all on this product could only ever be tyrannical. Let's not abide tyranny, ok?

The blind spot here is that no one really understands how it works or the long term implications. It may have a use for patients with treatment resistant medical conditions where the alternatives have failed or side-effects are intolerable.

Why should healthy adults take this substance? Many of the so-called experts interviewed in Michel Pollan's new book took psilocybin and believed the experience revealed the inner truths of the universe. It seemns like it could be quite harmful for more people to embrace meta-magical thinking.

Related: 1) Michael Pollan is interviewed on a podcast by Tyler Cowen. They briefly talk about whether psychedelics have contributed to society through novel discoveries. 2) Robert Sapolsky's lectures and book Trouble with Testosterone touch on meta-magical thinking.

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#17

Post by black-tea »

driverdan wrote: post #12
jessaustin wrote: post #3

This is a natural product. One can grow it in the basement of one's home. One can gather it where it grows wild. (Ask me how I know!) No user of this product has ever harmed anyone else as a result of using it. Any restrictions at all on this product could only ever be tyrannical. Let's not abide tyranny, ok?

> No user of this product has ever harmed anyone else as a result of using it. That is a ridiculous statement. Anything can harm you, including water. Everything has negative side effects given a large enough dose.

He didn't say anything about it harming the user. People should be allowed to harm themselves if they want to and most methods of self-harm are legal including using alcohol and cutting oneself.

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#18

Post by pstuart »

waynecochran wrote: post #13
ogoldhill wrote: post #9

Hi, I'm the author of the article. Thanks for reading, and if anyone has questions, I'm happy to answer them.

What are the downsides of legalizing Psilocybin and/or using it for treating depression?

Disclaimer: I'm pro-legalization.

I think the only downside of legalizing it will be increasing the number of users, and therefor the number of possible bad trips/stupid actions while high.

Being that we let ~88K die in the US due to alcohol, I think we can handle that a couple dozen misadventures from shrooms as well.

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#19

Post by claudiulodro »

jessaustin wrote: post #3

This is a natural product. One can grow it in the basement of one's home. One can gather it where it grows wild. (Ask me how I know!) No user of this product has ever harmed anyone else as a result of using it. Any restrictions at all on this product could only ever be tyrannical. Let's not abide tyranny, ok?

Would you say antidepressants are not dangerous to anyone even though they cause suicidal ideation in some people? One notable mushroom incident I remember is the tourist in Amsterdam that jumped off a building after using mushrooms.[1] That being said, the solution to the issue is definitely not what the company in the article is trying to do.

[1] http://www.simplyamsterdam.nl/French_tourist_in_Amsterdam_co...

Re: Compass Pathways has set itself up to be the first legal provider of psilocybin

#20

Post by waynecochran »

black-tea wrote: post #17
driverdan wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No user of this product has ever harmed anyone else as a result of using it. That is a ridiculous statement. Anything can harm you, including water. Everything has negative side effects given a large enough dose.

He didn't say anything about it harming the user. People should be allowed to harm themselves if they want to and most methods of self-harm are legal including using alcohol and cutting oneself.

    > People should be allowed to harm themselves if they want to
As long as they pay for their own medical insurance.
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