MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia • Hacker News Board

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#131

Post by Broken_Hippo » Sat, Feb 04, 2023, 10:07 AM UTC

yomly wrote: post #114

Traubenfuchs wrote: post #6

I have had the happiest moments of my life on MDMA. Everyone should have experienced it at least once. Let me put it another way: No matter how happy you have ever been, on MDMA you can be happier. Somewhere between 3 and 100 times as happy. You gain perspective. Now, with experience, I would only ever use it with purpose. Dating someone seriously? Have a night on MDMA and you will experience love beyond comprehensio…

I have done my fair share of drugs and as much fun as they were, the experience was nowhere near close to the peak moments of my life to date. YMMV Proposing to my fiancee, attending my brother's wedding, holding my nephew for the first time, winning my first boxing match, winning life-altering over-leveraged bets on the stock market; these are all experiences that not even the greatest of great trips can hold a cand…

"I have done my fair share of drugs and as much fun as they were, the experience was nowhere near close to the peak moments of my life to date."

That's not what they are saying, though. They said that they've had the happiest moments in their life on it. It might not be the best moment of your life, but you'll be freaking happy about it. There is no real comparison between a chemically-induced happiness and the enriching happiness of big life moments, and the chemically induced happy is definitely its own happy. It makes those big life moments even happier in retrospect, more so in the moment with some lasting long-term effect.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#132

Post by sph » Sat, Feb 04, 2023, 10:19 AM UTC

aqme28 wrote: post #120

sph wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I grow older, I would like to follow Ann Shulgin's directions, and have a nice MDMA trip with a loved one, not more often than once a season. Once every couple years maybe. And a yearly shroom tea with friends while camping. Nature and trees are the most beautiful thing I've ever experienced while on mushrooms. It really makes you feel you're part of the ecosystem, and anything artificial sours the experience. H…

Why wait til your older for those experiences? Those are wonderful ways to experience these drugs.

My life is not in order right now to make the best of those experiences. I'm working on it.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#133

Post by brutusborn » Sat, Feb 04, 2023, 10:19 AM UTC

abigail95 wrote: post #86

nineteen999 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The hypocrisy of it is quite transparent. Last I checked, possession of cannabis and X rated pornography is illegal in all states and territories of Australia, except for the Australian Capital Territory which is the equivalent of DC. Which of course is where most of the politicians are. Not to mention the pervasiveness of cocaine throughout the community, from tradies to barristers, doctors etc. The hypocritical n…

Just look at the price of cocaine compared to other similar countries (UK) and it's obvious that while drug use exists in Australia, that specific drug is used less frequently.

Higher price is a function of demand and scarcity. Scarcity from more difficult smuggling routes and demand from popularity. Although you are correct insofar as a lot of people can’t afford to do it regularly.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#134

Post by MrScruff » Sat, Feb 04, 2023, 10:25 AM UTC

sirsinsalot wrote: post #117

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…

It being MDMA and psilocybin is a bit odd. MDMA is very prone to abuse. Not saying it doesn't have therapeutic uses, but it is certainly a drug that needs huge respect and caution.

Not arguing that caution shouldn’t be applied but I think it’s a bit more subtle than that. MDMA is prone to abuse in the recreational use sense, but it’s not really habit forming in the same way other drugs are. Sure, you can always find edge cases but compared to many other drugs (including alcohol) you’re unlikely to meet many daily users.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#135

Post by windowshopping » Sat, Feb 04, 2023, 10:33 AM UTC

rjbwork wrote: post #118

windowshopping wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why you sign your comments? Just genuinely curious.

Because they claim to have DID, and thus are saying that at that particular time, they are "fronting" with a persona they call Emily. FWIW, a large amount of the psychiatric establishment believes DID to not be real, per se. Instead they think it can be caused by an especially suggestible patient responding to a therapist or other psychiatric professional's coaching. Essentially playing a role in the therapy (for gen…

Oh the answer to my question was already there and I read over it without realizing it. Thanks!

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#136

Post by liamwire » Sat, Feb 04, 2023, 10:33 AM UTC

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.

Your anecdote doesn’t equate to the truth, and the truth is, benzodiazepines are astoundingly addictive when abused, and dependency-forming even when following moderate treatment plans.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#137

Post by samhuk » Sat, Feb 04, 2023, 10:38 AM UTC

I see quite a number of comments making some very wildly inaccurate statements about the pharmacological safety of MDMA.

There have been a number of studies conducted about the health impact of MDMA. In monkeys, it has been shown to leave behind long-term brain damage, serotonin receptor damage for at least 7 years, etc.

Personally, back at University I had some acquaintances who got quite addicted to them and appeared to suffer the mental side-effects. It was really rough.

They are not safe. What they are:

* A potent drug

* Gives you a pretty sweet high (at a big enough dosage)

* Addictive (the addictive qualities of amphetamines has been known for decades)

Oxycontin, anyone?

Truly, I hope that these drugs are studied and science finds out which of these generally "taboo" drugs have great medicinal utility for certain ailments.

However calling these "super safe" is just like calling Oxycontin "super safe". It's a really bad take IMHO.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#138

Post by Etheryte » Sat, Feb 04, 2023, 10:45 AM UTC

Gatsky wrote: post #125

Good to hear. IMHO the recent clinical trial results of psilocybin for depression were disappointing [1]. A single dose didn’t seem to have a lasting effect. [1] https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2206443

Why is a single dose the metric? Practically nothing else works just by taking a single dose so why is that the metric here?

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#139

Post by Alex3917 » Sat, Feb 04, 2023, 10:53 AM UTC

galangalalgol wrote: post #60

petesergeant wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

No kidding! Might help, but won't cause harm, and you probably won't have to take it forever, matbe even just once? I know LSD has been attributed some harmful effects, does psilocybin have no chance of psychotic breaks or ???

> I know LSD has been attributed some harmful effects, does psilocybin have no chance of psychotic breaks or ???

Psilocybin has that risk, but it’s lower because the molecule binds to your receptors much less tightly.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#140

Post by dep_b » Sat, Feb 04, 2023, 10:54 AM UTC

samhuk wrote: post #137

I see quite a number of comments making some very wildly inaccurate statements about the pharmacological safety of MDMA. There have been a number of studies conducted about the health impact of MDMA. In monkeys, it has been shown to leave behind long-term brain damage, serotonin receptor damage for at least 7 years, etc. Personally, back at University I had some acquaintances who got quite addicted to them and appear…

How the hell do you even dare to lob MDMA in the same category as Oxycontin? I have seen pretty much every substance abused daily (amphetamines, different types of legal medication, alcohol, marihuana, heroin) by people I knew, but I have never met anybody that took MDMA on a daily basis or had a strong dependency on it.

Medics pretty much agree everywhere that MDMA is less addictive than alcohol which is in turn much less addictive than Oxycontin. I don't even know why you dragged that into the conversation. Oxycontin was never prescribed as much in Europe because every medic there already knew it had a huge addiction hazard.

You also do not have any sources to back up your claims. But feel free to clean up this Wikipedia entry if you feel it's wildly inaccurate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDMA