Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit • Hacker News Board

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#61

Post by tartoran » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 2:31 PM UTC

SamBam wrote: post #41

tartoran wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a path to getting people off hard drugs like heroin that the war on drugs doesn't address at all, in fact it exacerbates it. Getting people off hard drugs is not the intended outcome, the war on drugs fills up private prisons with inmates and generates a lot of money. https://www.mic.com/articles/20186/war-on-drugs-how-private-...

To be clear, nothing in my comment suggested I support the war on drugs and mass incarceration, rather it was whether the state should have any "say" in my putting hard drugs in my body.

While

> at the same time the state has a vested interest in not allowing its population to fall victim to life-destroying drugs, especially when those drugs target the most vulnerable members

the current strategies don't work. The root cause of why people seek drugs is a complex topic and none of the strategies to keep people off drugs seem to address the root causes but to simply ban and punish.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#62

Post by vxNsr » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 2:32 PM UTC

AllegedAlec wrote: post #6

Technically speaking, smoking also helps smokers kick the habit, albeit over a period of 40/50 years or so on average. Good for that woman that this helped her, but, as the article said, it takes you a few months and a whole lot of money to do this, as well as a host of other factors. It's hardly a cure-all.

Most drugs cost money. If this looks like it might help it's worth considering and maybe funding an actual study.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#63

Post by jcranberry » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 2:33 PM UTC

There was a New Yorker article a few years ago about an experimental psilocybin treatment program in NYU and Johns Hopkins. Obviously the numbers were quite small considering government approval would be shaky and all that but it found that it was effective in treating addiction and chronic anxiety.

Here it is:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/09/trip-treatment

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#64

Post by npo9 » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 2:33 PM UTC

ff317 wrote: post #49

npo9 wrote: post #20

I think it’s clear that there is a push for magic mushrooms to follow the same path as Cannabis has. It’s very hard to fight the war on drugs (from a personal liberty standpoint) one drug at a time. From my political position it’s personally insulting that institutions such as the DEA and FDA tell me what I can and cannot put into my body. I’m an adult, I can either make those decisions for myself or hire experts for…

I'm also for increased drug legalization, but it's important to keep in mind the counter-balancing points as well. Lots of adults will make very poor decisions when presented with the easy opportunity to do so, at least at certain critical times. People fall on bad times routinely (job loss, death in the family, etc) and can quickly find themselves hopeless and/or depressed. In a completely unregulated environment, t…

I strongly disagree with the hypothesis that people are not responsible enough to make decisions for themselves.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#65

Post by mylons » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 2:34 PM UTC

JonAtkinson wrote: post #14

I used another psychedelic (DMT) to self treat my alcoholism. While it is early days still, I am almost 600 days sober. The drug allowed to me introspect and access my mind in a way which was previously blocked. From the perspective it unlocked, it was easy to see the harm I was doing to myself and others. It changed my life.

were you having break through experiences, or using a lower dose?

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#66

Post by jonfw » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 2:34 PM UTC

hos234 wrote: post #54

elboru wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I look forward for the US to decriminalize all drugs. I’m Mexican and I live near the border, I’ve seen every day for the last 10 years how cartels gain power with all the money sent from US consumers. That money and power has corrupted not only police and politicians, but also some sectors of the population, drugs and narcos used to be anathema to most people, now they are part of our pop culture, thanks to news, TV…

I have a feeling there is certain minority in any population that is quiet happy to live off the weaknesses of the rest. Whatever those weaknesses maybe. And they usually just migrate to the next weakness exploiting enterprise once one is shutdown. Just a feeling...maybe totally wrong.

If you eliminate the low hanging fruit- you can make it much harder to live off the weaknesses of the rest.

The bad people in the cartels very well may just continue being bad people- but without the lucrative illegal drug trade they will no longer be the most rich and powerful people in their society.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#67

Post by samvher » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 2:34 PM UTC

hos234 wrote: post #54

elboru wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I look forward for the US to decriminalize all drugs. I’m Mexican and I live near the border, I’ve seen every day for the last 10 years how cartels gain power with all the money sent from US consumers. That money and power has corrupted not only police and politicians, but also some sectors of the population, drugs and narcos used to be anathema to most people, now they are part of our pop culture, thanks to news, TV…

I have a feeling there is certain minority in any population that is quiet happy to live off the weaknesses of the rest. Whatever those weaknesses maybe. And they usually just migrate to the next weakness exploiting enterprise once one is shutdown. Just a feeling...maybe totally wrong.

The next weakness might not be "as weak" though. Sure, many might start doing something else, but it will not be as profitable or as easy (otherwise they would be doing it already). The world won't suddenly be perfect but it will be progress.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#68

Post by AllegedAlec » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 2:34 PM UTC

rocelot wrote: post #19

AllegedAlec wrote: post #6

Technically speaking, smoking also helps smokers kick the habit, albeit over a period of 40/50 years or so on average. Good for that woman that this helped her, but, as the article said, it takes you a few months and a whole lot of money to do this, as well as a host of other factors. It's hardly a cure-all.

I don't think the broader implication is that it's a cure-all, but there's significant research being done that points to it being far more effective than you may be giving it credit for. I'm at work and can't pull up sources but there's a group at John's Hopkins as well as a number of others - Tim Ferriss has a ton of links I believe, if you feel like looking into it. Speaking anecdotally, I have a number of friends…

> I wouldn't dismiss it outright or trivialize it just yet.

I wasn't planning to do that. However, I'm not going to be part of any initial test-set either.

I will say, however, that I'm sceptical of the long-term prospects of this technique vis-a-vis remission. Furthermore, I'm not a huge fan of solving problems by taking strong psychotropic drugs.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#69

Post by tfinster » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 2:35 PM UTC

A legal and safe psychedelic retreat center in the Netherlands is https://synthesisretreat.com/

They have experienced guides/facilitators who can help in case someone is having a challenging experience while on psilocybin, and they have medical staff on premise if anyone needs it. The one caveat to note is that even though I'd say the retreat center is 90% secular/scientific, there's still a 10% remnant of non-scientific woo such as "shamanism" and "energy flows" and "cosmic surgery" that might be a turn off for the atheistic scientist crowd. Worth taking a peek though.

(And to second the warnings: please read Michael Pollan's How to Change Your Mind first, and be extremely careful if there's any history of schizophrenia in your family before trying any psychedelic)

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#70

Post by AllegedAlec » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 2:37 PM UTC

ojhughes wrote: post #9

happythen wrote: post #7

Awesome. So the last two years I have asked people if they know anyone with shrooms, I really wanted to quit dipping (Copenhagen tobacco), been dipping for 15 years, and heard this really works. No one I knew had any leads, not really shocked by that. But I quit dipping anyways, about 6 months ago. Moral of the story: sometimes your friends don't have illegal drugs and you have to suck it up and do right things the h…

Can you not go and pick them where you are? I thought liberty caps were pretty widespread over Europe

Just delete this comment. If you're not an expert on mushrooms, picking mushrooms is basically playing Russian roulette. Telling people to do so is wildly irresponsible.