For the reasons that I agree with you and believe you are correct, I have achieved a Masters degree in transpersonal psychology and a doctorate in clinical psychology in the hopes of working clinically with these powerful psychoactive sacraments.

For the time being, I serve as the Executive Director for the Association for Transpersonal Psychology and am in collaboration with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, both of which are worth supporting and participating, if only for the cognitive liberties both organizations represent!

(feel free to contact me off-line with questions.)>> ^CreamK:

Very interesting take. Amphetamines are a ticking time bomb for your heart that is true. you can use them for years without noticing anything wrong and you may just drop dead at any time. Every time you take them you are cutting your life expectancy. They do have some therapeutic use but the fact is that pulse and blood pressure shoot so high that it's dangerous.
LSD and MDMA are much better for therapeutic uses, i've experimented with both, first recreationally but after realizing their potential have found them to be good tools. With LSD you can decrease depression for long periods of time, we are talking about months. MDMA is good for traumatizations, it enables the person to talk about his/her issues in a non-judgemental way, it kind of detaches the emotions from that trauma and gives closure. Both should be studied really carefully, i truly believe that hallucinogens are the answer to a lot of problems created by the modern high paced world and the lack of spirituality.

>> ^kevingrr:

@criticalthud All those drugs have both good and bad applications. Same for pot/thc because quite simply it is a drug.
I'm for full legalization, but that doesn't mean I'll use a single ounce. I'll just be happy that police aren't wasting time busting pot dealers, users, & growers. Plus the tax dollars it generates should be pretty nice.
I'm kind of tired of healthy people advocating so strongly for pot. Quote all the studies you want but inhaling smoke of any kind into my body (including burning wood around a fire pit) has never seemed like the healthiest thing to do.
-Kg


yes but interestingly, pot has much much less going on in terms of side effects. In fact, no other drug with as wide a variety of medical uses has as few side effects. it's really not even close.
Nothing big pharma puts out can really compete in terms of variety of uses and total lack of negative side effects (and of course, cost).
this is a fact that very much surprised me after many years of dissing medical pot myself.
but honestly, compared to adderol, prozac, and ambien, it's a smarter alternative and lots of people use it to chill out and focus, as an anti-depressant, and as a sleep aid.

at this point, i use pot, mostly for it's psychoactive properties. no pharmies tho...that shit is wack.

Psychoactive drugs shouldn't be used recreationally? Poppycock. They shouldn't be used by stupid people who don't know what they're doing, haven't prepared and aren't in a safe environment.

The cave only contains what you bring with you.

Sadly that video was dead so I couldn't see it. I would like to ask how you actually go about verifying spirituality.

Spirituality may be a real experience, but that does not mean that it is actually real. Paranoia is a real experience too.

Faith is a virus in many ways (obviously not biologically), but it acts as one. That said. you can say that for any meme.

Twisting religion and/or faith for "evil" is easy - anything can be twisted. The fundamental problem is that at the very core, religion is, well, bad. It's detrimental for the human race. We would be in a better place without it. By no means perfect, other factors are at work, tribalism, fanaticism, greed, etc. but nonetheless, it would be a better place, because you could not justify your evil actions through a supreme being. Do you realize how dangerous it is when someone is absolutely convinced they are right? Skepticism is a healthy attribute in a benign society. Spirituality (moreso religion and faith) is detriment to that.

When people argue "oh, look at all the culture and art that religion inspired", I think that's a bunk argument. The art and culture is there in spite of the religion smothering it. The reason all the classic art is about religion, is because churches leeched the money of everyone and therefor were the only ones who could pay for great works of art. If Catholicism had not had a stranglehold on Europe for some 1000 years, the art of the whole period would have been far more varied and fantastic.

I'm ashamed of my fellow man not growing up to face what's really out there, because it's crazy enough as it is without lunacy on top of it.
>> ^jonny:

>> ^gwiz665:
Spirituality is a hoax.
Faith is a virus.
Spirituality is a real, verifiable human experience. There are many paths to having such an experience, some of them involving religion, ritual and/or psychoactive drugs. However much we might disdain the belief in some bearded man in the sky as the source of such experiences, it would be absurd to deny their existence, power, or importance. Religion provides the most accessible path for many people.
I'm not sure what you mean by that second sentence. Do you mean faith in general, i.e., belief in something of which you have no direct knowledge or evidence? Or do you mean faith in the existence of Jehovah, the divinity of Jesus, or some other specific religious doctrine? I'd rather avoid getting into an epistemological argument, but the fact is that everyone relies on faith to a greater or lesser extent. More importantly, though, is just how useful faith can be. No one would argue that it can't be twisted to serve "evil" ends, sometimes without the twister or twisted even being aware of it. But to disregard the usefulness of faith entirely based on its misuse and abuse is ridiculous. It's like telling people not to have sex because of the potential negative consequences.
When I look at religion, I don't understand why it is blamed for so many of the atrocities humans have committed upon each other. The deeper cause is (fundamentalist) tribalism, and it comes in many forms - religious, ethnic, geographic, ideological, etc. All of these have been used as "psychic levers" to inspire people to act in ways they never would otherwise. Even in a hypothetical parallel world in which religion and belief in gods doesn't exist, all of the horrors of which humans are capable would still be found. I'd like to think the artistic output inspired by religion and faith would have other sources as well, but I'm not completely certain of it.

>> ^gwiz665:

Spirituality is a hoax.
Faith is a virus.

Spirituality is a real, verifiable human experience. There are many paths to having such an experience, some of them involving religion, ritual and/or psychoactive drugs. However much we might disdain the belief in some bearded man in the sky as the source of such experiences, it would be absurd to deny their existence, power, or importance. Religion provides the most accessible path for many people.

I'm not sure what you mean by that second sentence. Do you mean faith in general, i.e., belief in something of which you have no direct knowledge or evidence? Or do you mean faith in the existence of Jehovah, the divinity of Jesus, or some other specific religious doctrine? I'd rather avoid getting into an epistemological argument, but the fact is that everyone relies on faith to a greater or lesser extent. More importantly, though, is just how useful faith can be. No one would argue that it can't be twisted to serve "evil" ends, sometimes without the twister or twisted even being aware of it. But to disregard the usefulness of faith entirely based on its misuse and abuse is ridiculous. It's like telling people not to have sex because of the potential negative consequences.

When I look at religion, I don't understand why it is blamed for so many of the atrocities humans have committed upon each other. The deeper cause is (fundamentalist) tribalism, and it comes in many forms - religious, ethnic, geographic, ideological, etc. All of these have been used as "psychic levers" to inspire people to act in ways they never would otherwise. Even in a hypothetical parallel world in which religion and belief in gods doesn't exist, all of the horrors of which humans are capable would still be found. I'd like to think the artistic output inspired by religion and faith would have other sources as well, but I'm not completely certain of it.

Psychedelics (Psychotropics; and their main "term" in the next sentence) are definitely interesting mind wise. As I have in my own profile, Psychoactive drugs are indeed ALL very interesting.

This can include something as mundane as Codeine all the way up to LSD. Quick Message: Cocaine and Heroine are the same "type" of drugs technically: i.e. changed perception, mood alteration, etc... But, these ARE very dangerous to play with, versus the reward you receive: the reward here being an expanded mind that has the ability to understand any information from the remembered mental states that are achieved at the height of the drugs half-life in the body. Typically, specifically with shrooms or Psilocybin, it will create a calm-well being, and positive affirmation after affect that will even defeat depression in certain cases. This has been researched in atleast two studies that I've seen, Bill also talks of yet another--yet, he didn't mention that there is a 1% chance, and it may actually be lower than that now with further testing, that a "bad trip" will occur causing the reverse, but luckily not lasting in a long-term manifestation like the "good-trips".

There are generally two ways your going to enlighten yourself. Drugs like Marijuana will give a "high". Hopefully, with a mental state induced called: euphoria. The euphoric effect will allow you to feel very much "mood-stabilized". If you were depressed euphoria can completely reverse it, which can cause problems as it may cause you to become "psychologically addicted" to it due too it's affect; especially if depressed and more-so if you have an addictive personality trait in your genes (if this were Cocaine it would most likely always lead to a downward spiral and death). This is how many people lose the addiction game with bad drugs like Cocaine and Heroine, or even the Codeine you're doctor prescribes you. Anyway, the Euphoria allows many people to reach a level of peace and comfort that they can't otherwise. The sheer change in the organization of how you synapses fire to give you perceptual information, memories, and your own thoughts--have changed from your normal state. You literally think different. But, when you start to think about what you're working on, the same ideas no longer come back as they did just before you started to use: they come back changed. This is where change happens, it's where inspiration can come from.

For drugs like acid it becomes even easier to understand why you may think much greater things. Once the drug works it starts linking many of your perceptual areas, with your thoughts together into one giant drawing board. Sometimes, most of the time your subconscious mind, specifically your dream center starts to play with you using random memory sequences or perceptual information. Then when it fully takes hold you leave Earth as you've known it, while the drug is in full affect (this is why usually friends get others to watch over them, lest you do something incredibly bad--this is also why you really shouldn't play with the scarier drugs). It's very easy to see where these great ideas come from now, as now you are walking in a dream that is semi-controlled and mostly not. It begins to add random merging patterns, what the overall goal of the mind is at this point most likely is just to link all the information together; like a new song with a DJ. But, the experience is a lot like a journey, sometimes without prodding you will literally walk into a room with the "treasure chest", or the game changing idea that you need.

What you truly get in the end is the ability to realize that the human body is grand, with the brain a magnificent structure, designed in simplicity, but able to grow to see past that simplicity, that structure, those people that never went and looked, and you see the men that can stand on the shoulders of giants. Those that push the envelope.

If it was me go for shrooms, acid, and marijuana. But, read up on each and every one first so you know what to expect and NOT what to do to jeopardize your life; lastly, this is ILLEGAL...). All of these type of drugs are able to create a very unique experience while active on your active brain. Hopefully, like may others in history you can act like a Psychoactive compound on our collective psyche, as many have before.

/long but hopefully informative
//they're still Illegal...
///edited for grammar

>> ^GeeSussFreeK:

WTF, potent marijuana? WTH does that even mean? It isn't a fucken chemical, its a fucken plant, idiot.


It means the Ratio of Psychoactive components to plant matter are higher now than they where fifty years ago, which is very much true for a lot of strains. This has been done by breeders through different methods combining different strains and only using the ones that held the result you where looking for.

The potency argument is idiotic because you do not smoke cannabis until you cannot function you smoke it to get the desired effect on the body and stop. So what this means is that your Cannabis will last longer and you inherently smoke less at a time because you are getting a bigger bang for your buck. Smoke the same amount of Mexican ditch weed and a higher potent "sour diesel" strain or the like, and you may "green out " ( as some people who smoke too much puke/get sick) but you will not die.

On the other hand, drink 355 ml of grain alcohol in one shot, as compared to a 355 ml beer and you could die of alcohol poisoning. The potency angle is just completely fallible.


Or where you being facetious ?

Edit- Tobacco leaf is just a plant as well but you can die from handling that with just your bare hands, as well Cannabis' main ingredients are chemicals, just as Nicotine is and pretty well everything else thats mind altering. Just because its a plant does not mean the chemicals it produces can not harm you.

This takes me back to being a young punk. My circle of friends and I would sit back and listen to Godspeed, like group meditation. Yes, marijuana and some psychoactives were involved, sometimes not.

Batshiat! There is a reason that word exists.

It sounds to me that he has literally caused a type of psychosis. The drugs have facilitated the change via memory and neuron construction. This doesn't sound like bi-polar (all though it seems like it's cyclical, I think it's the drugs--since he views them as a joke with no negatives), this sounds like a drug induced semi-delusion, schizophrenia, or literally a psychotic break.

This is what happens to you when you take too much--your brain finds a way to sustain itself in every fashion. The drugs were in the way so it cut around the useless area and reconnected. Simple stuff.

It made Charlie believe he's more than mortal, "in touch" with something "else", rampant rambling that's almost incoherent. This is ALL textbook; hell you don't need to be a doctor (one second he asks her if she's a doctor as though that brings qualification; the next he thinks the doctors have got it all wrong; rambling, psychotic...). Charlie needs to take a Human Anatomy 101, Psychology 101, and then either a Psychology +102, Neuroscience 101+, and then a Philosophy 101.

He might find out that his experience is: A-Not unique or special. B-VERY common to people to OD or take heavy doses of psychoactive drugs (or really any neurotransmitter/neurochemical based drug such as Xanax, Phenegran, or the common choice of an Opioid) C-Surprisingly he'll most likely end up like a statistic. Especially, because he thinks he's doing the right thing (psychosis).

I highly doubt Charlie will stop himself, it's up to the people around him that are close enough to affect a change (good luck with that; I know how hard that is to pull off).

Charlie Sheen is only human.

"Absinthe was portrayed as a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug. The chemical thujone, present in small quantities, was singled out and blamed for its alleged harmful effects. By 1915, absinthe had been banned in the United States and in most European countries except the United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Denmark and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Although absinthe was vilified, no evidence has shown it to be any more dangerous than ordinary spirits. Its psychoactive properties, apart from those of alcohol, have been much exaggerated.[7]"
[7]Padosch, Stephan A.; Lachenmeier, Dirk; Kröner, Lars U. (2006). "Absinthism: a fictitious 19th century syndrome with present impact". Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 2006, 1: 14.

-quote is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe

>> ^Fade:
Jeez who piped NOS into the room?


random thought: has there been any research done about using different types of gases to lure consumers into stores / shopping malls / fast food restaurants? an obvious one is gases that smell really nice, i think they're used already... but what about legal psychoactive gases?

Be aware that Chantix can cause fucking wild mood swings once you get towards the end of the cycle. It is a psychoactive drug, and it was not pleasant for me.
Hopefully you don't have that issue. It's still worth it to quit the damn coffin nails though.

Thanks Eric. I was trying to find a way to sift that video for the last two weeks. That BBC block is iron clad. anyway..I"m thinking It's all you. You deserve to sift this. Somebody needs to speak up for psychoactive reindeer piss.

This whole thing was trite and generally sucky, but John Morgan near the end especially bugged me. "Let's talk about the health issues!"

"...it relieved pain. It lowered the likelihood of nausea and vomiting...it relieved muscle cramps...it increased appetite...the most dangerous thing about marijuana is to be arrested for its possession or use. That's more harmful than any pharmacological or toxicological or other harm (are there any physical harms? What are they and why don't they matter?)...marijuana is one of the most safe psychoactive compounds that people have ever ingested (???)...the data and the discussion indicates that marijuana is largely safe."

Largely safe. Does that mean that it sometimes unsafe? The argument would have been much stronger if they had discussed some actual facts. We know that marijuana is largely safe, but let's not be vague about this thing. Why didn't they actually produce some evidence (it isn't as if it is hard to find) that it is largely safe?

Any truth in this video was smothered by the utter banality and weakness of most of the information.

A well-presented case against marijuana prohibition would be cool and interesting to watch. This is not it.

I ranted a little bit. Forgive.

lol, this kind of pain-inducing techniques are exactly what aikido has not been (re)designed for. If you want to induce pain, do Daito-ryu jujutsu.

Moreover, trying to execute a technique by primarily inducing pain will not work on anesthetized suspects, as can happen with the use of psychoactive substances like alcohol and some other drugs. Also, that he lets go of the arm/elbow to squeeze the wrist before cuffing the suspect shows he's got no idea of what he's actually doing. And as kagenin pointed out, his ikkyo are not followed through to the ground and the suspect stays on his knees which is the second worst position you can stop a technique at, the worst being of course with the suspect standing (like he also does on some of the techniques). Also, I've seen zero atemi which is always a bad sign.

Of course, inducing pain will work on most people but if you encounter someone with impaired senses or with above average joint suppleness, your technique will likely get you into trouble.