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Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

independent.co.uk

11–20 of 236 posts

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#11

I'm personally excited to see what sorts of new treatments will come out of using psychedelics medically. I've always been on the skeptical side of medical marijuana usage in all but the most extreme cases, but I have a feeling that LSD and psilocybin can really provide mental turning points and help people break out of depression.

> I've always been on the skeptical side of medical marijuana usage in all but the most extreme cases

Really? A friend of mine had a similar experience to what @ergothus described in their comments. The friend had a biking accident and got stitches. To ease the pain the doctor prescribed Aadvil / Tylenol, but those drugs just caused diarrhea. So he tried edible marijuana[in a legal state] and it helped him a lot through a few weeks of painful recovery without any side effects.

I find miracle claims suspect as well, I don't think marijuana cures cancer.

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#12
Now that mainstream club drugs such as MDMA, Ketamine, and LSD/Magic Mushrooms are finding their way into therapeutic usage. I'm wondering if and how governments will change the current narrative about "all drugs are bad for you".

Edit: I'm not advocating recreational drug usage. Just saying, that if mum is on magic mushrooms and studies like these have established safety dosage and clear therapeutic benefits. You can't really tell your teenager that they are going to go crazy if they try some.

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#13

I'm personally excited to see what sorts of new treatments will come out of using psychedelics medically. I've always been on the skeptical side of medical marijuana usage in all but the most extreme cases, but I have a feeling that LSD and psilocybin can really provide mental turning points and help people break out of depression.

I'm very optimistic as well. My family has hard-to-treat depression and there's a lot of reason to be optimistic about psilocybin. Michael Pollan's "How to Change Your Mind" was a fantastic read. It only makes me wonder what other possibilities have been out there but banned and therefore unavailable for study and experimentation. Luckily the days of censoring and hoarding information seem to be coming to an end. Of…

From my experience it's incorrect to think of psilocybin as some magic pill that will magically make your depression go away.

I'm in the camp that depression is rarely just some "chemical imbalance" in the brain that you were unlucky to be born with, and yet that is how we currently think of it and treat it.

It's most often the case there is something in one's past, very often from one's childhood, that has been avoided, and creates a chronic sense of worry/anxiety/depression that lingers.

Psilocybin has the effect of ego death - it feels as though the subconscious hold you have on your brain that pushes down uncomfortable feelings or memories just goes away. This paired with therapy can be very powerful because you naturally become much more open to talk through distressing things that you otherwise normally numb over and helps you process past traumas much more efficiently.

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#14

Now that mainstream club drugs such as MDMA, Ketamine, and LSD/Magic Mushrooms are finding their way into therapeutic usage. I'm wondering if and how governments will change the current narrative about "all drugs are bad for you". Edit: I'm not advocating recreational drug usage. Just saying, that if mum is on magic mushrooms and studies like these have established safety dosage and clear therapeutic benefits. You ca…

MDMA, Ketamine and LSD sure, but mushrooms have been in use for spirituality far longer than mainstream clubs have even been a concept.

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#15

Now that mainstream club drugs such as MDMA, Ketamine, and LSD/Magic Mushrooms are finding their way into therapeutic usage. I'm wondering if and how governments will change the current narrative about "all drugs are bad for you". Edit: I'm not advocating recreational drug usage. Just saying, that if mum is on magic mushrooms and studies like these have established safety dosage and clear therapeutic benefits. You ca…

As long as it's popular understand and opinion of drugs, then ultimately democratic/representative governments are going to have to start changing the narrative if they want to stay in office

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#16
post #6

I'm personally excited to see what sorts of new treatments will come out of using psychedelics medically. I've always been on the skeptical side of medical marijuana usage in all but the most extreme cases, but I have a feeling that LSD and psilocybin can really provide mental turning points and help people break out of depression.

> I've always been on the skeptical side of medical marijuana usage in all but the most extreme cases, Really? I've always found the milder claims fairly believable (fighting nausea or chronic low level pain relief). As an anecdote, I can attest to dealing with kidney stone pain well (rather than stopping the pain it reduced how much I noticed it) and it ended up more effective and felt less dangerous than the opiods…

I've definitely experienced the anti-inflammatory properties and the anti-nausea effects allowed my mom to keep food down while going through chemo. It was the only thing that would take away her nausea.

I do agree with the parent poster about the more miraculous claims though and I think, personally those more miraculous claims create skepticism for the actual benefits.

I kind of wish everyone took a more level headed approach to drugs in general. Every drug out there has some benefits and drawbacks. Without proper study, we're potentially missing many benefits and won't fully understand all the drawbacks.

This includes approved pharmaceutical drugs too. Too many drugs get rushed out without fully understanding the side effects until people start suffering or dying.

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#17
I'm gonna sound really cliched but I have become really fascinated with Psychedelics thanks to the Joe Rogan podcast.

I wouldn't say I am depressed but as someone who doesn't drink, smoke, drugs or take caffeine. I really want to try them.

The fact that mushrooms have been used by shamans all around the world since neolithic times, is truly fascinating.

I hope to try them at some point although at the moment I have been trying Sensory Deprivation Tanks and it really has reset my mind and emotions.

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#18

Now that mainstream club drugs such as MDMA, Ketamine, and LSD/Magic Mushrooms are finding their way into therapeutic usage. I'm wondering if and how governments will change the current narrative about "all drugs are bad for you". Edit: I'm not advocating recreational drug usage. Just saying, that if mum is on magic mushrooms and studies like these have established safety dosage and clear therapeutic benefits. You ca…

I don't think Psilocybin mushrooms or LSD are used as a club drug.

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#19
post #8

This is NOT a trial that was designed to assess the safety of psilocybin. This was a trial meant to show that a particular dosage of psilocybin is /safe enough/ to pursue further research in that dose range. This was a /phase one/ clinical trial. Phase One: administer small doses under very close supervision in a tiny number of people to determine whether it's immediately dangerous, or safe enough /for further study/…

It's worth noting that they were testing with 10mg and 25mg, which is equivalent to about 2g and 4.5g of dried mushrooms which are significant doses (e.g. far from microdosing). They reported no significant negative effects on cognitive and emotional functioning which is surprisingly positive for such an experience. Instead it is just the expected psychedelic experience.

As to safety, the LD50 of psilocybin is pretty well established at very high levels, with physical effects being unreported below that.

Re: Psilocybin found safe for consumption in largest ever controlled study

#20

Now that mainstream club drugs such as MDMA, Ketamine, and LSD/Magic Mushrooms are finding their way into therapeutic usage. I'm wondering if and how governments will change the current narrative about "all drugs are bad for you". Edit: I'm not advocating recreational drug usage. Just saying, that if mum is on magic mushrooms and studies like these have established safety dosage and clear therapeutic benefits. You ca…

They wont change it, as they will be paid lots of lobbying money to not change it.
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