It’s often assumed, because of the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs, that tripping can help people shed nihilistic and depressive worldviews. In fact, this does happen for many, with feelings of existential joy and a yes-saying to the world suffusing the psychedelic state – and these feelings of optimism and life affirmation can carry over…
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In the world of unregulated drugs, there is nothing to stop dealers from adulterating the drugs they sell or misselling them (giving you one thing, promising it’s something else). Most dishearteningly, the black market has encouraged dealers to adulterate drugs like heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and fraudulent prescription medications (opioids, sedatives, and stimulants) with the highly…
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Whenever discussing harm reduction related to psychedelic use, we need to consider not just how psychedelics are used but also if they should be used at a particular moment in time. In his book The Joyous Cosmology (1962), Alan Watts famously cautioned psychedelic users: When you get the message, hang up the phone. For psychedelic…
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Among psychonauts, drug combinations are sought out, experimented with, and appreciated due to their potential to modulate or intensify psychedelic states, and perhaps introduce novel states of mind not yet experienced. But with these potential rewards – new mental realms explored – can come greater risks. Unexpected effects and intensity can carry a psychological risk…
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At the end of John Koenig’s book The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, which I reviewed here, the author invites readers to invent new words (or neologisms) as he has done throughout the book: …that’s what words are good for – they give meaning to everything they touch. We have the power to use them as we…
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