Drugs and ignorance: a rushed comment on “LSD on the rise”
Just came across an ignorant statement on LSD in a blog to which I left a rushed comment; however, given the backward, ignorant position of the blogger it is most unlikely that the comment will ever pass moderation, so I thought I’d stick it up here, even if very rushed; but first a quote from the post:
Ø LSD is a mind altering drug and the effects can last for up to 12 hours.
Ø A person on LSD never knows if they are going to have a good trip or a bad trip.
Ø LSD can cause hallucinations and loss of sense of direction and time. It can also cause thoughts of dying.
Ø There are reports of people who have never gotten over a bad trip and were impaired for many years after.
To which I quickly said:
This seems to me to be a rather superficial treatment of a highly complex substance – and does not add anything useful: kids want to try it because it is mind altering, – that’s the whole point of psychedelics.
There is no such thing as a good or bad trip – a proper psychedelic experience will most often include visions of the dark side. What’s so bad about looking into the painful, dark and sinister aspects or reality? Is it better to live in ignorant bliss and Homestore imagery?
Attaining hallucinations is also a key driving factor in taking hallucinogenic substances, obviously. The loss of sense of direction and time is yet another desirable effect. Any reflection on a deeper level ought to cause thoughts of dying: therein lies the revelatory potential to understand life (when juxtaposed with its only alternative).
The last point nails it: pure rhetoric! Did they “never” get over their bad trip, or were they “impaired for years”? Clearly a misleading statement based on lacking understanding.
More information and advice should be given to young people, no doubt about it, but “information” of this kind can only backfire, since any teenager who spends ten minutes googling the subject will realise that it is written in sheer ignorance and it will carry no sensible meaning for those who do so. It encourages unsafe use with the same level of understanding, or no understanding, really.
colonos 
Sunday, October 5, 2008 at 08:50 (410)
Try this site for some informed discussion:
http://www.maps.org/research/cluster/psilo-lsd/
or watch this:
http://www.maps.org/avarchive/telebasel_lsdstudy-sept07.wmv
or download these books:
http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3999803/LSD__amp__Psychedelics_Essential_Books
or check this out:
LSD in the Mammalian Brain:
The exciting new technologies of functional genomics were used in this study to determine how LSD influences genetic expression within the prefrontal cortex, considered to be the seat of consciousness, within the brain. The investigators have shown that LSD modulates the expression of genes encoding for proteins that alter how neurons communicate with each other. Many of the genes and proteins increased by LSD are involved in synaptic plasticity, which is the underlying process for learning and memory. Thus LSD and other hallucinogens may provide vital clues to understanding these fundamental thought processes. The first preliminary study identifying these genes has been completed and the results published in two prominant neuroscience journals. A second study, currently in press in another journal, identified a novel arrestin-like gene that is regulated by LSD. This is a previously undiscovered gene, and has been named “Induced by Lysergic Acid Diethylamide-1” or ILAD-1 for short. The function of this gene and how LSD modulates its expression may lead to new insights into how serotonin receptors transmit signals within neurons. Location: Vanderbilt University. Principal Investigators: Drs. Charles D. Nichols, Ph.D., and Elaine Sanders-Bush, Ph.D. – from: http://www.heffter.org/pages/prog2004.html
Sunday, October 5, 2008 at 08:51 (410)
and remember: inform yourself, be safe and be with friends and loved ones – or with a shaman or healer that knows what the score is!