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LSD: Not Even Once

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Re: LSD: Not Even Once

#221

Post by sitkack »

Everyone should view the process of taking any and all drugs as uncontrolled scientific experiment.

Start with near zero amounts and ramp, taking notes and vitals (bpm, blood pressure). Understand yourself, the drug and have a friend nearby.

I have a low tolerance for THC, many folks consume way more than I ever could. But at the same time I have managed enjoy 200-400 mg doses (RSO). If I had taken this much at the beginning, I can see how I would have felt like I was losing my mind. I no longer have any form of paranoia, because I know what to expect. Everything in life comes down to practice and familiarity. Approach everything with a gradual slope and know what you are doing.

Re: LSD: Not Even Once

#222

Post by lta »

wnolens wrote: post #162
Trasmatta wrote: post #79

I’ve noticed a troubling trend among psychonauts: any reports of terrible experiences or long lasting negative effects of psychedelics are waved away in two different ways: 1 - blaming of the person who had the experience, for not having the proper “set and setting”, or not respecting the drug. 2 - claiming that there’s no such thing as a “bad trip”, and only a challenging one that takes time to integrate. There migh…

Every time I talk about my negative LSD experience with someone in-person (even one who is very pro-psychedelic and enjoys positive or growth experiences from it), I receive great empathy and we discuss it, they are genuinely curious and perhaps even recalibrate their own compass. However, bringing it up online (reddit, HN) I either get others chiming in with their negative experiences or I get blamed as if I have ne…

I go to a lot of psychedelic festival, and I see those kind of recommandations quite frequently around me and my friends. I've grown to find those irresponsible.

I don't think we should prevent people from having those experiences of they really want to. But I've frequently noticed the people providing those recommandationa don't have any idea of the care that is required or the risks that are associated with that kind of experience.

Those risks are extremely frequently dismissed but sadly, they're real. The author of that article is one example, but they're many others and the consequences are very long lasting

Re: LSD: Not Even Once

#223

Post by medler »

ravi-delia wrote: post #55

Fairly interesting post, especially for those who weren't aware that hallucinogens sometimes cause minor hallucinations indefinitely, but arguments like the conclusions section are why we need to, as a society, beat "the plural of anecdote is not data" into every single person's head. Some people have a negative reaction to LSD. Some people don't. Some people have a positive reaction to LSD. Some don't. What's missin…

The tail risk is real though. I do hope someday we’ll have accurate estimates of those risks. In the meantime it seems pretty clear to me that the expected value of these drugs is negative. I think it was Charlie Munger who said “in the best case scenario you feel good for a few minutes. In the worst case scenario it ruins your life.”

Re: LSD: Not Even Once

#224

Post by camillomiller »

klyrs wrote: post #52

> About 160 µg later Serious? You went with a strong dose on your first try and you blame Steve Jobs ? I mean, don't get me wrong, he was a dick what with driving a un-plated Porsche just so he could park in handicap spots and all, but this is 100% your fault. According to erowid, a starter dose is around 25ug.

Aktchually, it was a Mercedes SL55

Re: LSD: Not Even Once

#225

Post by aradox66 »

Trasmatta wrote: post #136
Waterluvian wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That it’s absurd how much suffering the human mind is capable of experiencing. When I was 8 or 9 I had a night terror that involved some sort of life-sized game of Tetris that was moving terribly fast. My brain wholly adopted the belief that if I were to lose, everyone I loved would die horribly. I was trapped in this night terror for what felt like forever. Afterwards I refused to sleep voluntarily for weeks. To t…

I think I know the feeling exactly. I had recurrent dreams like that as a kid, that somehow always involved a large yellow sphere / ball. For some unknown reason I HAD to move that sphere, but I also knew it was impossible. It evoked this odd and terrible sensation emerging from two opposing mental forces: there was something I HAD to do at all costs but I also knew it was entirely impossible at the same time. My “ba…

Fascinating. When I had fever dreams as a kid, I would have a sensation that was similar. It was the need to do find/choose something infinitesimally unlikely. Like finding a single coin dropped anywhere in the Pacific ocean. And if I failed the universe would cease to exist.

Re: LSD: Not Even Once

#226

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

miles wrote: post #199
TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Legalization leads to better education It also leads to more cases of abuse. Like many things, legalization is both good and bad at the same time.

>> Legalization leads to better education > It also leads to more cases of abuse. Citation needed. Here are a few counter reports: Pointers From Portugal on Addiction and the Drug War [1]: "Opioid overdose deaths fell after Portugal’s policy change. So did new cases of diseases associated with injection drug use, such as hepatitis C and H.I.V." Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working. Why hasn’t the world copied i…

Minimal google searching yields plenty of results. Here’s one for you:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abst...

“As Magdalena Cerdá, the study’s lead author, and her coauthors wrote in JAMA Psychiatry, “Although occasional marijuana use is not associated with substantial problems, long-term, heavy use is linked to psychological and physical health concerns, lower educational attainment, decline in social class, unemployment, and motor vehicle crashes.”

If you dont like that study, there are plenty of others. I’m not here to LMGTFY.

Re: LSD: Not Even Once

#227

Post by m_fayer »

Trasmatta wrote: post #136
Waterluvian wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That it’s absurd how much suffering the human mind is capable of experiencing. When I was 8 or 9 I had a night terror that involved some sort of life-sized game of Tetris that was moving terribly fast. My brain wholly adopted the belief that if I were to lose, everyone I loved would die horribly. I was trapped in this night terror for what felt like forever. Afterwards I refused to sleep voluntarily for weeks. To t…

I think I know the feeling exactly. I had recurrent dreams like that as a kid, that somehow always involved a large yellow sphere / ball. For some unknown reason I HAD to move that sphere, but I also knew it was impossible. It evoked this odd and terrible sensation emerging from two opposing mental forces: there was something I HAD to do at all costs but I also knew it was entirely impossible at the same time. My “ba…

Fascinating. I experienced something very similar as a kid, with huge grey spheres in a black void. They felt implacable, indifferent, yet malicious. And I had a sense of futility and utter insufficiency.

I also experienced these feelings later on psychedelics and in some other circumstances of adult duress.

I really do wonder what to make of the similarities.

Re: LSD: Not Even Once

#228

Post by shipscode »

The most interesting thing in this space is that what OP describes, and the benefits that people claim to receive from hallucinogens, are both documented by scientific literature. OPs response is actually far more well proven than any hallucinogen-related benefit currently being studied.

The fact that OPs is "controversial" isn't actually set in any science, it's set in extra-scientific mushrooms-as-religion mentality that is currently proliferating as the "current thing".

A drug-based solution to depression, anxiety, etc would be incredible, but unfortunately outside of humanity's reach today.

If you're not interested in science and instead seeking religion, skip the drugs and reach for your closest religious text and start reading. As a Catholic I recommend the Gospel of Mark as a starting point. It's far easier to believe that multitudes of people 2000 years back witnessed some dope stuff and started following some rules that make everyone feel great today, rather than the universe transpired from nothing in some scientifically unprovable theory and potentially HPPD-causing substances are the only way to feel whole.

Re: LSD: Not Even Once

#229

Post by yummypaint »

miles wrote: post #199
TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Legalization leads to better education It also leads to more cases of abuse. Like many things, legalization is both good and bad at the same time.

>> Legalization leads to better education > It also leads to more cases of abuse. Citation needed. Here are a few counter reports: Pointers From Portugal on Addiction and the Drug War [1]: "Opioid overdose deaths fell after Portugal’s policy change. So did new cases of diseases associated with injection drug use, such as hepatitis C and H.I.V." Portugal’s radical drugs policy is working. Why hasn’t the world copied i…

Raw data on health and habits of middle and highschool students in colorado can be accessed here https://cdphe.colorado.gov/hkcs

Cannabis was legalized there over a decade ago, and with that hindsight it's clear that legalization decreased consumption among minors.

Re: LSD: Not Even Once

#230

Post by m_fayer »

onetimeusename wrote: post #200
Waterluvian wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That it’s absurd how much suffering the human mind is capable of experiencing. When I was 8 or 9 I had a night terror that involved some sort of life-sized game of Tetris that was moving terribly fast. My brain wholly adopted the belief that if I were to lose, everyone I loved would die horribly. I was trapped in this night terror for what felt like forever. Afterwards I refused to sleep voluntarily for weeks. To t…

it seems like the worst kind of terror is an impersonal, rapid, universal, automated death/loss of control. This opposed to some kind of a personal boogie man.

I think this is the “uncanny”. Cormac McCarthy is a writer I’ve always appreciated for revealing this terror under the thin veneer of civilization.
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