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- Spudster, on 05/05/2008, -8/+35It's sad that Timothy Leary did what he did with LSD. Leary made it so that those most deserving of LSD's potential couldn't use it, and those most undeserving of LSD could.
As Hunter S. Thompson put it so eloquently in Fear and Loathing about Timothy Leary:
"What Leary took down with him was the central illusion of a whole life-style that he helped to create...a generation of permanent cripples, failed seekers, who never understood the essential old mystic fallacy of the Acid Culture: the desperate assumption that somebody-or at least some force-is tending the Light at the end of the tunnel." - MississippiLife, on 05/05/2008, -2/+28Finally!
It's sad to see the good Dr. Hofmann finish his life, but we are happy to help take care of his problem child. - wakananda, on 05/05/2008, -3/+23You clearly know nothing of Timothy Leary except what you've been fed by the newspapers. Timothy Leary's psychology was -and remains- original, brilliant and relevant. Even before LSD, his metric psychology prefigured typology currently in vougue. His prison experiments with LSD psychotherapy - resulting in an 80% rate of success in preventing recidivism in repeat offenders - are assiduously ignored by the lapdog corporate newsletter press. His "8-Circuit" theory of consciousness is both staggeringly profound and entirely practical. Only after Congress saw, in LSD, a(n irrational) public fear to be exploited, and the drug inquisition summarily criminalized all use of it, did Leary take his show on the road, encouraging youth to "tune in, turn on and drop out" (as opposed to, say, being turned into hamburger in the US war of aggression in Vietnam). Hunter S. Thompson's alchohol-fueled maunderings are "gonzo," as ever. Leary was interested in increasing human intelligence, colonization of space, and life extension. Thompson was interested in ripping on politics (can you think of an easier target?) and, apparently, ***** dolphins.
- theprogrammer, on 05/05/2008, -1/+19Calling the police because of a bad trip is about as smart as trying to get rid of a hornet's nest by pummeling it with your bare fists.
- evilregis, on 05/05/2008, -1/+18"Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Here’s Tom with the weather."
- theprogrammer, on 05/05/2008, -3/+18I'm happy to hear that LSD is being revisited in some context, even if only by the medical establishment. Its effects are just far too mindblowing for it to be banned outright. It isn't like other drugs. It's not really a pleasure drug, and it's certainly not a stupor drug. It wakes you up and reveals to you tangibly the relationship between your mind and reality. There's a ton still to be learned and discovered with its help.
It's hard to build support though, when 99% of people and 0% of politicians care anything about the nature of reality. I was talking to a friend last night, and I mentioned Zeno's Paradox. She'd never heard of it, so I explained it some. She said she'd never thought about anything like that, and it just kind of reminded me that almost everyone accepts what they're told, and to a lesser extent what they see, at face value. - 9mmCensor, on 05/05/2008, -2/+16Do not prohibit me from enhancing my mind.
- lensman00, on 05/05/2008, -0/+13Eloquent statement, but I have to disagree. Various other scientists and philosophers, such as Albert Hoffmann, Alan Watts, Ram Dass, and Andrew Weil, felt that the insights that many get from LSD give a glimpse of something primal that a shallow culture has glossed over. If you look at the rituals at the heart of key establishment organizations such as secret societies (masks, role playing, symbolism), you have to wonder if the widespread repression of these archetypal ideas is only symptomatic of an elite that desires exclusive rights to spiritual insights.
So, while those thinkers all agreed that there are safer ways of achieving insights into reality (most notably yoga and meditation), they also believed that LSD could serve as a democratizing force: allowing anyone a temporary glimpse into something deeper without having to join a religion or other insider's club. - Ganja420, on 05/05/2008, -5/+18"Most drugs that capture the imagination of the wider culture seem at first to soothe the unease or gloom of their times, like Valium in the 1970s or Prozac in the late 1980s and early 1990s."
Valium and Prozac? Come on... more like "Cocaine in the 1970s or the Crack Epidemic of the 1980s and the Ecstasy Rave Scene of the Late 1990s" When comparing the cultural impact of drugs you cannot compare a drug like LSD to valium or prozac... thats lame - Adrian540, on 05/05/2008, -2/+14Legalize it.
- drjones78, on 05/05/2008, -1/+13The interesting thing about LSD is that it seems to be one of the most potent ways to stop migraines. Can stop migraines in their tracks and prevent you from having more, sometimes up to several months, and you don't even have to take a threshold dose that will send you off to lala land.
- isaactwito, on 05/05/2008, -0/+10I think we can all agree to blame the conservative, white, christian mothers. Or the politicians. Either way, they ***** everything up. They "protect" us from things they know nothing about, when they don't even know if these things are bad for us. These are the *****-ups that have ruined the world. They send us to war. They are the ones so worried about what could go wrong that we have to have insurance for ever ***** single thing. Don't blame the scientists or the forward thinkers or those who push the limits, they are the heroes of society. Blame those who cower in the corner, hiding from boogie-men.
- isaactwito, on 05/05/2008, -0/+8I'm pretty sure you know nothing about LSD.
- Hetman, on 05/05/2008, -1/+9Why would anyone call the cops if they are having a bad trip? Ehh some peoples ignorant baffles me. Do not do acid unless you are prepared to take the good with the bad. And there should never be any police involved.
- Ganja420, on 05/05/2008, -0/+7who is most deserving of LSD's potential?
- abadonn, on 05/05/2008, -0/+7Last night on the local news there was a story about a teenager that died after being tazered twice by the cops. His friends called the cops because the guy was having a very bad acid trip. The cops tazered him after he bit two officers.
- inotocracy, on 05/05/2008, -0/+7Glad to see research on LSD is starting up again. I've known people with what I believe to be serious depression and social anxiety/issues take LSD and come out to be completely different and upbeat individuals. LSD can be beneficial in a lot of ways, it can do in hours what would take years and years of therapy to do, if the set and setting is taken into consideration before dosing.
Its not a party drug by any means, very introspective and deep. - CiXeL, on 05/05/2008, -1/+8i met a girl back when i used to go to raves who was shrooming like crazy and had to talk to a police officer. she was able to talk to one with completely calm even though she said after the fact that she was watching his face melt off as she was talking to him.
a level of self control i dont think i could ever have. - theprogrammer, on 05/05/2008, -0/+7Who is this "we" that supposedly needs to hold counsel on what others can or can't do? In a free country, the individual would make this determination for himself, and reap the benefits or consequences. What are "we", a hive?
- theprogrammer, on 05/05/2008, -1/+7Why is that pretentious? Are you speaking from experience?
- Ganja420, on 05/05/2008, -1/+7We all know we can sneak into our momma's room when she's sleeping and take 5, 10 maybe $20 out of her purse and run on down to 3rd street, catch the D bus downtown and meet a Latin American fellow named Martinez; we know that! And we know that Martinez's stuff is DA BOMB
- dn11, on 05/05/2008, -0/+6"russian roulette with a beatles album" so you either get "Fixing a Hole" or "A Day in the Life".... I can see the danger - total existential crisis clearly....
- ceris, on 05/05/2008, -1/+7All of this talk about LSD makes me miss it. It seems as soon as the Grateful Dead stopped the hippies stopped going around the country and bringing it everywhere. I don't know how much that is based on fact, but I do remember how much more the hippies in town would all have after a show. ;)
- theprogrammer, on 05/05/2008, -0/+6Excuse me, but anyone who is willing to personally accept some minimal risk is "deserving of LSDs potential".
- pablo0713, on 05/05/2008, -1/+6Brilliant quote from Thompson. I just about died when I personally read it. It was one of the first notions that seeped into me and allowed me to begin my path towards atheism. But, not only that, for my own personal psychedelic experiences, it helped me remove all that mystical spiritual hoopla people always harp on about. I used to go around telling people that I had psychedelic experiences where I felt the presence of God. I now know better and I say to people that I had psychedelic experiences that made me FEEL like I was in the presence of A god. Wasn't it Thom Yorke who recently sang, "Just because you feel it, doesn't mean it's real." Words to live by.
- allaboutdatiki, on 05/05/2008, -3/+8happy trails, doc ...
- cyricc, on 05/05/2008, -0/+5Someone buried you but I though you had a good point about the nature of reality. Too few people these days try to push the bounds of what they believe and what the world believes a whole.
- aidave, on 05/05/2008, -0/+5While I agree with most of your post, you are wrong about hippies being "directly responsible for substances like mushrooms and LSD being illegal". The "hippies" did not write the laws. "They" may be partly to blame, but definitely not directly responsible, not even close. Your gross generalization is nothing but an ignorant blanket statement to scapegoat blame.
- CiXeL, on 05/05/2008, -0/+5"Leary was interested in increasing human intelligence, colonization of space, and life extension. "
this is why i hung out with the extropians in high school - feelmo, on 05/05/2008, -1/+6it would be so weird to take LSD in a clinical situation when you know that people are watching you. No music to listen to, you cant watch "Fear and Loathing" or have sex. Taking acid and then just sitting there being studied would send me into a bad trip immediatly.
- abenage, on 05/05/2008, -0/+5Tripping in a clinic is the second worse place to trip. The first is a holding cell. I know...
- milkmage, on 05/05/2008, -0/+5never keep your head in a place where you don't want to do acid anymore
- dn11, on 05/05/2008, -0/+5thanks for explaining to us your cultural programming. just imagine what it must have been like for Hoffman with his first experiments - there was no history, no cultural significance of stigma attached the experience.
- altgeeky1, on 05/05/2008, -1/+6You point out the "loss", and imply it is not deserving of such, regarding the beneficial properties of LSD.
Assuming for a moment all of this is concrete truth, you then go on to make a jaw-dropping statement that someone else "ruined" this.
If your first statement is based in fact, then it is immutable and simply NOT POSSIBLE for anyone to "ruin".
This is much like the statements of some, that the newscasts are "helping the enemy" when they report on prison torture, or report on failing infrastructure. These are just facts, and facts sometimes run against you. Sometimes facts kick you in the ass, and it's tempting to want to bury your head in the sand... but it's especially naive to seek protection in the hope that others will bury their head also.
There is, however plenty of evidence that the war on drugs had nothing to do with neo-shamen and slackers, and EVERYTHING to do with discrediting the anti-war movement and creating an atmosphere which tolerates abuse of the "interstate commerce" clause of the Constitution. This changed the USA from a "federal" system of government, to a centralized one. - zenithmbr, on 05/05/2008, -3/+7san pedro cactus, filled with mescaline, buy it on ebay, trip balls
- Jacob, on 05/05/2008, -0/+4How is it dangerous... The minimal risk of flashbacks if you take a whole bunch but other than that...
- CiXeL, on 05/05/2008, -0/+4awesome comparison.
- Rekottop, on 05/05/2008, -0/+4Awesome article! Not what I expected. I was planning on burying it thinking that it was going to be "LSD kills it's creator" article but thank God it wasn't. Thanks for submitting.
- Chronoped, on 05/05/2008, -0/+4LSD has no inherent dangers. Just about every health risk you've heard of is backed by old pseudoscience spread by the anti-drug propaganda *****. Danger becomes a factor when people take extreme amounts, when they have a preexisting mental condition, or when they ignorantly take it in a bad setting. But I'll be damned if I'm going to let anyone tell me what I can and can't do with my body and mind.
- ATLien74, on 05/05/2008, -0/+4*****... I've never puked from taking acid, or even had a bad trip.... but mushrooms... I have taken too many, puked my guts out, and thought I was going to die. Either one should be taken with caution. Take a little bit, wait an hour and a half...see how you feel before you take more. Just be careful.
- inactive, on 05/05/2008, -0/+4Its also important to look at "LSD Psychotherapy" by Dr. Stanislav Grof. (you can still get it on amazon I think)---its certainly not a light read at all, but more directed toward researchers and academia. Still, it's an extraordinarily valuble resource.
- Chronoped, on 05/05/2008, -0/+3"the hangover"?
Never had a hangover from an acid trip. It's a lucid, pleasant comedown for me. - cyricc, on 05/05/2008, -0/+3http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/5574
- CptBuck, on 05/05/2008, -0/+3Except that Zeno's Paradox was effectively solved with the invention of calculus.
- anogenic, on 05/05/2008, -0/+3You watch Fear and Loathing on acid? What's the point when you are fear & loathing ???
- SenorGeltabz, on 05/05/2008, -0/+3Actually you only need about the length of your forearm and about as thick as your bicep(really easy way to measure when out hunting for them) to trip balls off of san pedro. The threshold dose is about 150 mg, so you'd need at least 107 gms (nearly 4 oz.) to get any effect in the best case. But would prefer geltabz !!!
- wordstospend, on 05/05/2008, -0/+3I am glad to see that serious people are willing to take a real look at LSD, if only because I believe that no thing, be it sacred or profane, should be off limits to scientific inquire. But people if the results come back that LSD has no purpose, or that it causes no harm, you've got to accept the science or find scientific evidence to refute it.
- aidave, on 05/05/2008, -0/+3That's the problem. If some people can handle LSD, then they should not be criminalized, simply because others can't. It's like banning cars because some people get in accidents. That's not the solution. We make 'getting in accidents' be what is illegal. Similarly, we make abuse of LSD illegal, but never the substance itself. Otherwise, good and innocent people are jailed, and that is what is happening now. It's past time to set things right.
- duggreen, on 05/05/2008, -0/+3If psychedelic studies were a required course in college the world would be peaceful.
- ATLien74, on 05/05/2008, -0/+3You forgot to mention that LSD is not an addictive drug. It's not something you'd want to take everyday, or even every week really, no matter how much you like it.
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