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MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

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Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#101

Post by [deleted] »

ecf wrote: post #80
retrac wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bluntly, using psychiatric medication is an indicator of mental illness. And some people judge such people very negatively, presuming they are unfit to handle serious responsibility. This perspective is sometimes official; in Canada, commercial airline pilots can't take antidepressants without informing the government, and Transport Canada routinely suspends such pilots. [1] Physicians are subject to similar, if less…

> Being honest, if I found out a person has a long, serious history of depression, I would probably think they are less reliable. Being honest, I hope you never come close to managing a sizeable team. Self-admitted prejudices likes yours should never be remotely close to an authority and/or mentorship role.

[deleted]

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#102

Post by windowshopping »

LoganDark wrote: post #100
aeturnum wrote: post #25

This is fantastic! I am generally very pro-psychadelic - they seem like they can offer unique aid to people and they are not very prone to abuse. The only "downside" is that, because outcomes vary widely (though are generally not negative, simply unhelpful), it's hard to call them "medicine" in the way that, say, asprin is medicine. However, with the proper understanding, I'm hopeful they can be a really helpful tool…

We hope to be able to try it some day, since we have DID and heard that psychedelics can actually help a lot. It's a shame that we'll probably have to wait years, though... -Emily

Why you sign your comments? Just genuinely curious.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#103

Post by likeabbas »

LAC-Tech wrote: post #38
MonkeyMalarky wrote: post #33

I'd be a pretty happy camper if I could pick up a decent dose of MDMA, Ket or LSD at a store when I occasionally feel like it. It's been years since I've had any and after moving to a new city, starting a family and "growing out of it", I feel like like I could use a good trip.

On the one hand, that sounds reasonable. On the other hand - I'm not exactly thrilled with the way people use the current that's already easily available at stores.

Why do people feel the need to control other people’s substance intake? It’s not your life. If there’s no direct harm to you then it should be none of your business.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#104

Post by aeturnum »

petesergeant wrote: post #53
aeturnum wrote: post #25

This is fantastic! I am generally very pro-psychadelic - they seem like they can offer unique aid to people and they are not very prone to abuse. The only "downside" is that, because outcomes vary widely (though are generally not negative, simply unhelpful), it's hard to call them "medicine" in the way that, say, asprin is medicine. However, with the proper understanding, I'm hopeful they can be a really helpful tool…

> because outcomes vary widely, it's hard to call them "medicine" Is that so different from any other psychiatric medicine?

It's a fair question - but I would say yes? I know lots of people who have taken antidepressants and psychedelics and while both have been helpful the antidepressants have much more consistent effects (both person to person and dose to dose).

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#105

Post by retrac »

ecf wrote: post #80
retrac wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bluntly, using psychiatric medication is an indicator of mental illness. And some people judge such people very negatively, presuming they are unfit to handle serious responsibility. This perspective is sometimes official; in Canada, commercial airline pilots can't take antidepressants without informing the government, and Transport Canada routinely suspends such pilots. [1] Physicians are subject to similar, if less…

> Being honest, if I found out a person has a long, serious history of depression, I would probably think they are less reliable. Being honest, I hope you never come close to managing a sizeable team. Self-admitted prejudices likes yours should never be remotely close to an authority and/or mentorship role.

If someone could not list a bunch of things that would prejudice them for or against an individual, then they're probably more prejudiced than the average person.

We all have prejudices. For example, I know I am biased against speakers of some regional accents of English. (All speakers of English are biased for or against various accents, if the studies are to be believed.) If someone produces a southern American drawl, I assume things about them. Those assumptions are not fair. But they're also automatic. The only way I know to correct such errors in thinking are to consciously reflect on it like that. How am I potentially prejudiced against or for this person? Are those prejudices even remotely reasonable? If not, am I potentially treating someone unjustly based on stereotypes and assumptions?

And don't worry. I understand myself well enough to know I'd be terrible in a management role.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#106

Post by machinawhite »

sterlind wrote: post #98
kkielhofner wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s still a little fresh but I called 911 on my Lyft driver last night. He had a woman (who I later learned was homeless) in the passenger seat slumped over, struggling to breathe, and very clearly in some kind of opioid overdose. A sargeant from the police department eventually called me back from his cellphone to tell me they caught up with the driver and reversed her. It was traumatic and all things being equal I…

Benzos are actually quite safe if you don't take them with anything else, and they're not very addictive. I've been taking them off and on for 15 years for panic disorder and never became dependent.

Benzos not being addictive is the most false thing I've ever read. You can get addicted in 3 days and then die from withdrawals but ok.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#107

Post by azinman2 »

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #76
tempsy wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

recreational doses are not necessarily therapeutic doses if you are taking a psychedelic as part of some therapy regime it is not a tripping balls level dose

Everything I've learned about therapeutic psilocybin treatment is that the doses involved are actually quite a bit higher than I've ever done on a trip at home. For example for psychedelic therapy with psilocybin, you would see a therapist a few times with no psilocybin, then you would have a session where you take something like the equivalent of 1 gram of dried mushrooms, and go through that session with the therap…

I can’t imagine being completely detached from reality, and using that to work through really tough shit. Talk about a bad trip.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#108

Post by scns »

LAC-Tech wrote: post #56
digdugdirk wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd far prefer people overusing psychedelics than the current trend of overusing alcohol, painkillers, sleeping pills, etc.

you think people would substitute alcohol, opiates etc for psychedelics, and this would result in a net good? I think what would it actually happen is more and more unprepared members of the general public would have really bad trips.

There are reports of alcohilics ditching booze after one trip.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#109

Post by tsimionescu »

111111101101 wrote: post #36
Atsuii wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It remains criminal to have any THC in your system when driving even with a prescription though. With no meaningful way to test if someone has consumed THC in the past 5 hours vs the night before it makes it a useless medical aid for anyone who has to drive, which outside of inner suburbs of Melbourne & Sydney is the vast majority of people in Australia.

I keep hearing this but surely if you presented your prescription in court the charges would be dropped? In my experience, magistrates are usually very reasonable. Police on the other hand...

There are plenty of completely legal prescription drugs you aren't allowed to drive on. Having a prescription will certainly not exonerate you if you're smoking a joint while driving, same as if you were caught taking Xanax while driving.

Whether magistrates would look at the levels of THC in your blood and be sympathetic to an argument that you had consumed a long time ago (and thus were no longer under the influence) is another question. I tend to think magistrates would side with the law as written in most cases, if the law explicitly prohibits driving with any amount of THC detectable in blood tests.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#110

Post by scns »

ecf wrote: post #80
retrac wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bluntly, using psychiatric medication is an indicator of mental illness. And some people judge such people very negatively, presuming they are unfit to handle serious responsibility. This perspective is sometimes official; in Canada, commercial airline pilots can't take antidepressants without informing the government, and Transport Canada routinely suspends such pilots. [1] Physicians are subject to similar, if less…

> Being honest, if I found out a person has a long, serious history of depression, I would probably think they are less reliable. Being honest, I hope you never come close to managing a sizeable team. Self-admitted prejudices likes yours should never be remotely close to an authority and/or mentorship role.

> Self-admitted prejudices likes yours should never be remotely close to an authority and/or mentorship role.

Sorry for the snark in advance. Would you prefer leadership being oblovious to their own biases?

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