New Study Suggests Psychedelics Are Not Linked to Mental Health Problems

According to a study titled Psychedelics and Mental Health: A Population Study (published in PLOS One), the use of LSD, magic mushrooms and peyote does not increase one’s risk of developing mental health problems. The researchers behind the paper are Teri Krebs and clinical psychologist Pal-Orjan Johansen from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.…

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Sovereignty Over One’s Mind and Body: The Most Fundamental Human Right

Having control of one’s body and one’s mind – also called self-ownership – is, I believe, the most basic human right anyone can have. Mill summed up it nicely in On Liberty: “Over one’s mind and over one’s body the individual is sovereign” – although he did (rightly so) allow for exceptions involving actions which…

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Cannabis Would Be Safer If It Were Legal

Many know that the ‘high’ or effects of cannabis are caused by its psychoactive ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). This might lead one to assume that if you could consume the THC, without any of the plant matter (either by smoking or eating it), then you could experience a pure cannabis high. In fact, what you would…

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If Drugs Were Legalised, How Should They Be Regulated?

There are many arguments in favour of the legalisation of drugs, including, but not limited to: eradicating drug-related violence, preventing the adulteration of drugs, preserving our personal freedom, saving government expenses used to fight a ‘war on drugs’, freeing up police time and prison space, and generating revenue through the taxation of drugs. But, while…

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Drug Addiction: A Health or Criminal Issue?

Before deciding whether drug addiction is a health or criminal issue, it is also important to understand what drug addiction is and how addiction in general works. People sometimes make a distinction between a physical addiction and a psychological addiction to something. Both are physical in nature since psychology boils down to physical processes, but it does seem…

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