Live data from Hacker News

MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

wired.com

71–80 of 208 posts

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#71
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

… that is only there because you are putting chemicals in your body. ‘Love beyond comprehension’ thanks to a drug doesn’t sound very fun to me, it sounds like something out of Brave New World.

Wrong. This is one of those things where you can't speak about (authoritatively, judgmentally, whatever) unless you have experience. It gives you a fundamentally new experience you have not had unless you have tried it, so you can't judge it as "synthetic" or "real" until you try it. With that bottom line out of the way, I want to help rehabilitate your view: Maybe one way to view which correctly re-emphasises the "n…

I always offered my parents who won‘t live another 10 years some of my drugs, but they refuse. "We don‘t like loss of control / altered mental states" they say. Meanwhile I just met a young man I am into who is excited to try e for the first time soon when we will go out.

You can really split people in two here, those who actively avoid gaining experience with new states of mind and those that love collecting them.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#72
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ???

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

It's actually could be other way.

There is an anecdotic evidence that bad trips on first intake are more frequent with lower doses of psychedelics than higher.

So it's very possible that those therapeutic sessions will be mind-shattering experiences and not like going to discotheque with friends.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#73

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…

What the fuck was happening there? Why pick you up with an OD'ing homeless person? Did the driver give them drugs? Just... ???

Exactly. I’ve “seen some things” but this was a new one.

He arrived to pick me up. She was in the front passenger seat and maybe a little out of it but that’s not exactly unusual…

A few minutes later, she was completely slumped over and taking gasping breaths. When I asked the driver if she was ok he said “She’s homeless and needs to get in to recovery but I’m taking care of her”. I can only assume (given the fairly rapid onset) he/she/them consumed drugs shortly before picking me up.

Needless to say, he wasn’t. After calling 911 I messaged the Lyft support team and provided pictures, etc of what (unfortunately) looks like a dead person. They followed the script and may or may not have done anything.

Meanwhile, the authorities took it very seriously (as I described) and likely saved her life.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#74

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.

It's very possible.

It worked for me. I had a period in my life of sliding slowly to alcoholism.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does it make you yearn for that the rest of your life though? Nothing can ever be as impressive as the empathetic openness on a heavy roll with the right people around you

Yes, yes it does. The desire is always there, garnished with the knowledge that every single hit melts your brain and permanently erodes your serotonin receptors a little bit.

Hasn’t been my personal, or my friends experience. Got some source ?

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#76
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ???

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 therapist. Then come back 1-2 weeks later and take something like a "heroic" dose or about 5 grams dried mushroom equivalent and go through that session with the therapist. Then you come back again two weeks later and have a sober session again to talk about all of it.

My understanding is that this is generally how the well respected research studies have gone. The most I have ever done myself is 2 grams dried mushroom equivalent, and I usually stay under 1.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

This. I have no judgement and plenty of my own demons (alcohol). That said, the swing in my lifetime on marijuana legalization (as one example) is telling. From “smoke the devil’s lettuce and put your baby in the microwave” to “it’s natural, there are no negatives whatsoever” is very troubling. There is no free lunch and there absolutely are negative effects with all of these substances. Of course alcohol is the reig…

I had the same demons in past.

It's highly individual so can't be recommended but for me switching to:

- first to flupirtine which is legal in my country. It has "liver toxicity" but .. ha! comparing to alcohol it's less toxic

- and then to some ..khm.. illegal drugs

worked.

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wrong. This is one of those things where you can't speak about (authoritatively, judgmentally, whatever) unless you have experience. It gives you a fundamentally new experience you have not had unless you have tried it, so you can't judge it as "synthetic" or "real" until you try it. With that bottom line out of the way, I want to help rehabilitate your view: Maybe one way to view which correctly re-emphasises the "n…

I always offered my parents who won‘t live another 10 years some of my drugs, but they refuse. "We don‘t like loss of control / altered mental states" they say. Meanwhile I just met a young man I am into who is excited to try e for the first time soon when we will go out. You can really split people in two here, those who actively avoid gaining experience with new states of mind and those that love collecting them.

[flagged]

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#79

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.

[deleted]

Re: MDMA and psilocybin are approved as medicines in Australia

#80
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How could one possibly harm their reputation by using a legal medication

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.

Post reply on HN