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

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#231

Post by harshreality » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 7:48 PM UTC

carapace wrote: post #219

AnthonBerg wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In MAPS’ completed Phase 2 trials with 107 participants, 61% no longer qualified for PTSD after three sessions of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy two months following treatment. At the 12-month follow-up, 68% no longer had PTSD. All participants had chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD, and had suffered from PTSD for an average of 17.8 years. https://maps.org/research/mdma/ptsd/phase3 Drugs used in therapy can resolve decad…

I'm not an anti-drug puritan. (That would be so so hypocritical.) I think the criminalization of e.g. MDMA and the others is deeply foolish and has done a lot of harm. (To make an understatement. Frankly, I think you should be able to get clean liquid acid or MDMA at the local pharmacy. Why not? "Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do with my brain chemistry if I'm not hurting anyone?", eh?) I don't want to take…

But a lot of the time psychoactive drugs can remove psychological barriers that would otherwise prevent constructive participation in therapy. Not everyone needs it, but judging from how many people are in more-or-less-perpetual therapy, I think you might be undervaluing psychoactive drugs in that context.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#232

Post by tryitnow » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 7:55 PM UTC

This headline can give newbies the wrong impression. Mindset and environment are just as important as the substance.

A a more accurate headline would be "Months of intensive therapy set the stage for Magic Mushrooms to help smokers kick the habit"

I know people will see headlines like this, try to "cure" something with psychedelics, end up getting themselves into some sort of trouble and then blame the substances for their problems.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#233

Post by subsaharancoder » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 7:57 PM UTC

tryitnow wrote: post #232

This headline can give newbies the wrong impression. Mindset and environment are just as important as the substance. A a more accurate headline would be "Months of intensive therapy set the stage for Magic Mushrooms to help smokers kick the habit" I know people will see headlines like this, try to "cure" something with psychedelics, end up getting themselves into some sort of trouble and then blame the substances for…

Newbie: I'll trade you lung cancer for mental breakdown

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#234

Post by Obi_Juan_Kenobi » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 7:58 PM UTC

cheez wrote: post #182

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.

I've got a habit I'm trying to break as well and I pondered using drugs. But I don't do drugs otherwise. How do you go about finding DMT?

DMT occurs naturally in a variety of plants in high-enough concentrations for economical extraction.

Traditionally you would do an acid/base organic extraction. But for most purposes, you can STB (straight to base) with a bit of lye (i.e. canning supply) and an organic solvent like naphtha.

Obtaining powered plant material is easy, usually available on eBay or else independent sites.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#235

Post by _lacroix » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 8:00 PM UTC

Makes perfect sense to me. I used IV ketamine infusions to treat anxiety and OCD. The effects I felt are very similar to what the patient in the article (and many other commenters on this post) describes; it's like my brain rewired itself in a way that allowed me to break out of negative patterns. I was suddenly able to consciously tell my brain to stop when I could feel myself going into a familiar anxiety spiral - and it WORKED. I had a sense of clarity about myself and my life that I had never experienced before. As a bonus, I went from being a frequent binge drinker to having literally zero desire to drink at all. It's not like waking up with a hangover and never wanting to drink again; I feel like I did as a child before I'd ever tried it at all and wasn't capable of craving the feeling of being drunk.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#236

Post by Obi_Juan_Kenobi » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 8:02 PM UTC

carapace wrote: post #219

AnthonBerg wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In MAPS’ completed Phase 2 trials with 107 participants, 61% no longer qualified for PTSD after three sessions of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy two months following treatment. At the 12-month follow-up, 68% no longer had PTSD. All participants had chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD, and had suffered from PTSD for an average of 17.8 years. https://maps.org/research/mdma/ptsd/phase3 Drugs used in therapy can resolve decad…

I'm not an anti-drug puritan. (That would be so so hypocritical.) I think the criminalization of e.g. MDMA and the others is deeply foolish and has done a lot of harm. (To make an understatement. Frankly, I think you should be able to get clean liquid acid or MDMA at the local pharmacy. Why not? "Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do with my brain chemistry if I'm not hurting anyone?", eh?) I don't want to take…

> If we do, we risk missing out on the essential aspects of effective therapy.

No we don't; you're just moralizing against what appears to be effective treatment. No one is saying psychedelics are panacea, that's just a strawman.

Stop projecting your own misguided personal ethics. There are real people that need real help.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#237

Post by koolba » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 8:05 PM UTC

therealx wrote: post #211

koolba wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has been tried with safe injection sites to mixed results. There seems to be a reduction in overdoses but also a rise in crime in the areas. Given the choice, it’s rationale that non-users in the area wouldn’t want that bargain.

Safe injection sites don't decriminalize the purchasing, so the price structure stays prohibitively high and the social cost stays high.

Heroin is already cheap. Unless you’re going to literally give it away you’ll always have people committing crimes to subsidize a fix.

https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/heroin-addiction/how-much...

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#238

Post by warent » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 8:13 PM UTC

Obi_Juan_Kenobi wrote: post #234

cheez wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've got a habit I'm trying to break as well and I pondered using drugs. But I don't do drugs otherwise. How do you go about finding DMT?

DMT occurs naturally in a variety of plants in high-enough concentrations for economical extraction. Traditionally you would do an acid/base organic extraction. But for most purposes, you can STB (straight to base) with a bit of lye (i.e. canning supply) and an organic solvent like naphtha. Obtaining powered plant material is easy, usually available on eBay or else independent sites.

With a minor footnote that naphtha smells like you're cooking meth and can blow up.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#239

Post by koolba » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 8:17 PM UTC

TremendousJudge wrote: post #223

koolba wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s deterrent. All else being equal people will do less of an act if there’s a consequence. Why does it even have to be armed? Why not jail petty theft that furthers a drug habit?

I thought that Freedom was the most important tenet of the USA? If something doesn't harm anyone, should it be deterred just because it has associated behaviors that do? Should going to the shooting range be illegal because it makes people better marksmen therefore increasing fatalities in mass shootings?

> I thought that Freedom was the most important tenet of the USA?

Freedom being a core tenet of rights in the USA does not me individual freedom above all else. It’s a balancing act where individual freedoms need a justification for restriction. Not that it cannot be done.

I see it like freedom of speech allowing you to speak your mind but society deciding that yelling “Fire!” in a theater is not allowed.

> If something doesn't harm anyone, should it be deterred just because it has associated behaviors that do?

Of course it can. That’s what society and laws are for, namely guiding overall behavior in complex systems. The what and how matter though.

> Should going to the shooting range be illegal because it makes people better marksmen therefore increasing fatalities in mass shootings?

The vast majority of people going a firing range for target practice are law abiding people, not criminals planning a mass shooting. Infringing their rights would not, IMHO, be a fair or constitutional trade off.

This is a good example of where the specifics matter. The vast majority of marijuana users do not commit crimes to buy marijuana.

No honest debate on this subject could say the same about heroin or meth. Both of those drugs do nothing but destroy people’s lives and drive them to a life of dependence and crime.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#240

Post by magnamerc » Wed, Oct 16, 2019, 8:29 PM UTC

cheez wrote: post #182

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.

I've got a habit I'm trying to break as well and I pondered using drugs. But I don't do drugs otherwise. How do you go about finding DMT?

You can buy pre-cursors (or known as analogs) like 4-AcO-DMT online from Lysergi. They are sold as a 'research chemical', however they metabolize into psilocin so it is indistinguishable to psilocybin. Obviously you should take every pre-caution before ingesting any substance by doing your own research, and looking into the authenticity of the supplier.