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Wednesday, May 24, 2006

The Electric Kool-Aid Medicine Test

One of the AlterNet headline stories this morning is an interview with a fellow doing research into psilocybin and its effects on anxiety in persons with end stage cancer. Not so heavy on the results side but an interesting discussion that leads to other studies (traumatic stress and OCD) with other hallucinogens, use of these drugs in certain church practices and a recent U.S. Supreme Court unanimous decision allowing this use. Mentioned Huxley's belief that use of LSD among world leaders would alter the path of this world in significantly productive ways. I always knew there was a reason I liked Huxley. Brief mentions of recreational use of these drugs in 60s, 70s & 80s & how it changed one's relationships forever.I definitely agree. One's concept of the world and how to exist in it are not the same post-LSD and will be permanently altered. Of course, there are always those people whose brains cannot incorporate what they experience, and those are usually the ones who dominate any discussion of such drugs.

2 comments:

Lyle Daggett said...

Hi, Ann -- Enjoyed the AlterNet article/interview. Found it insightful and encouraging. One of the slightly frustrating things about the psychedelic (for lack of another handy word) experience, or rather the great spectrum of experiences that could be referred to with that word, is the difficulty of conveying it to someone who hasn't experienced it.

In these years of political and cultural and economic "leaders" stuck in a time-space loop of Just Say No to Reality, some serious research into the nature and workings of the doors of perception might have the potential of doing some real good.

Unknown said...

Hi Lyle,
You're right -- there's no way to convey such an experience to someone who hasn't experienced it. The first hurdle to that communication is that annoyingly shallow first reaction of shock and intolerance. But if you're fortunate enough to be talking with someone who doesn't do that dance, then there's a possibility you can convey the lessons of the experience. But there's no way to use words to translate what actually happens, is there? That's beyond verbal and any translation is several times removed from the experience.