Hey, you loving dodos!
I have really been interested in new states of consciousness, so I decided to share some knowledge and demystify some ideas regarding psychedelics. Let’s dive right in, my cute mushrooms!
Origins
Psychedelics have been used for millennia, it’s not a hippie or new age thing, ancient civilizations and indigenous tribes used psychedelics to heal, to be more creative, to solve problems and a whole other bunch of amazing stuff!
In recent history, psychedelics became more famous due to a man you may know: Albert Hoffman. The man who synthesised LSD. Hoffman created LSD and since it didn’t serve any apparent purpose, he did what any of us does when a new Fast and Furious movie comes out, he ignored it. Years later, he felt a calling to it and some of it got in touch with his skin. Yes, he had a trip. Intrigued by this trip he decided to try out a minimal dose of LSD, or at least what he thought was a minimal dose. You see, LSD is active at really small doses, that’s why it’s measured in micrograms. Albert went out of his fucking mind. Funny thing was, he went home from the lab on his bicycle while he was tripping his balls off. After some time, he went out to his garden, and noticed that everything was better, he felt a true sense of bliss and connection to nature and others. He thought that LSD had therapeutic effects, and he was right! His company shipped out the drug to labs all over the world for research. They had truly outstanding and remarkable results, it was curing addictions like alcoholism, and treating depression, and it was named the wonder drug.
Catastrophic Stoppage
Then in the 60’s it all came to an end. The drug escaped the lab. A lot of people started using it. The hippie movement gained traction. They were changing the culture of the whole USA. Another problem was that psychedelics give you feelings of love, affection and connection to others and yourself. This is not exactly the mindset you have when you register yourself to go to war. It was not a surprise that in the ’60s a lot of young people didn’t want to go to Vietnam to slaughter or get slaughtered. President Nixon didn’t like that very much. So, he declared the “war on drugs”, classifying psychedelics as a schedule 1 drug: a drug that has no recognized medical use, a lie as big as if I told you I’m not attracted to Chris Hemsworth, huge potential for toxicity, another lie, there are no known LSD overdose cases. Keep in mind that heroin and cocaine were schedule 2 drugs, which means they were considered less harmful than psychedelics. I don’t have to tell you how the opioid use in the USA turned out…
“The “bad drugs” cured depression and addiction, the “good” drugs led the way to the biggest Nationwide addiction crisis ever”.
A Psychedelic Renaissance
For somewhat 30 years there was no research on the so-called wonder drugs. Then in the 2000s, research started happening again, and you guessed it, they were having remarkable results again. So the clinical research on these drugs: LSD, psilocybin (found in magic mushrooms and magic truffles), peyote, MDMA, etc... bloomed in a significant way.
These are not recreational drugs, these are potent substances that powerfully alter your consciousness. The real reason why you can make significant self-improvement using these chemicals is that they are not like other drugs. Most substances like alcohol, tobacco, cocaine and weed numb you, so that you don’t have to deal with your problems. If you’re drunk you don’t care what others think about you, if you’re anxious just smoke a cigarette. Psychedelics don’t do that, they bring you the root of your problems and then if you let go they will release you from their grip. You’ll be confronted with your deepest insecurities, you’ll come face to face with your demons and if you work through it you’ll come on top.
Important Recommendation
This article was supposed to be a brief intro to the world of psychedelics. If you want to truly learn and you’re interested, I strongly recommend you watch Netflix’s documentary “How To Change Your Mind”.
See you next week!