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The world's first paper on poly-drug use
Some Comments Concerning Dosage Levels Of Psychedelic Compounds For Psychotherapeutic Experiences
by Gary Fisher, Ph.D., Spring 1963

At the outset it should be made clear that this writer does not consider dosage to be the crucial factor in the experience the subject will have. Factors such as the individual's fear of self-exposure; his need to maintain a favorable impression of himself at all times; his willingness to learn; his ability to "go with" changing states of consciousness; the rigidity of belief patterns; the amount of insecurity about his personal worth; his preparation and intent as he goes into the session; his trust in individuals in general and particularly his confidence in the people with him; the wisdom of those who share the experience with him; and the persistence with which he defines himself -- all these factors, and many more, are the crucial ones in determining the kind of experience an individual will have with the psychedelic compounds. . . . In spite of such a host of conditions, however, we have found that dosage does help or hinder the operation of these factors. Another word of caution: a particular dosage does not guarantee a particular reaction. The variability of response to the drugs is enormous, largely because what is most important for a particular person to learn at a particular time will vary tremendously, and thus the experience will differ accordingly. . . . We have found it wise for the individual to eat very lightly the day before his session and to have an especially light dinner the evening before the session day. If he can spend this day quietly, in peaceful surroundings with his guide (guru, therapist) and session mates, this is excellent. The subject should not eat the morning of the session, and he should also abstain from juices and coffee. . . . If the body can become relaxed, loose, pliable and comfortable, then any somatic effects that emerge from the psychedelics will be experienced in a comfortable soma which will lead to an acceptance of these effects, rather than a resistance to them which would occur in a tense organism. Resistance results in the experiencing of pain, either somatically or psychically. When the organism is in a fluid state, impinging or emerging somatic changes take place and are experienced in this pleasant somatic setting. One very effective technique is to massage the individual early in the session. With quiet, relaxing music, soft lighting and comfortable, secure session mates, a very slow, deliberate body and head massage brings the individual into a relaxed, protective and nurturing environment, in which alarm and panic are hard to manufacture. . . . We have experimented with boosting with various drugs and with various dosages and time intervals. To date, our recommendation is that, given an initial adequate dosage, boosting is to be avoided. The primary reason for this attitude is as follows: the individual will learn first when he needs to learn first, and boosting is often the result of a prejudiced set of the guide as to what the subject should be learning or experiencing. Secondly, boosting often indicates to the subject that it is the drug, after all, that is going to do the work (an attitude which we believe is to be avoided at all costs) and that the guide has lost faith in the individual’s ability to work out his own resolutions to his conflicts and problems. . . . If the guide decides to boost, however, then we recommend that he use at least as much as the initial dose of LSD and that the boosting be done within the initial three hours. That is, if the individual has been given 350 ?g LSD, then he should be boosted with an additional 350 ?g, . . . In our experience it is expedient to give a booster if the individual becomes completely entangled in an area in which he is in a circular bind wherein he is incapable of perspective and of conceiving any alternative solutions to his conflict. This usually involves some decision-making in which the individual sees that all old attitudes and patterns of behavior leave him with unsatisfactory solutions. In these cases the individual simply bounces from one old reaction pattern to another, without benefit. The solution is then outside the person’s limit of entertained possibilities. In these cases, additional drug may be helpful to get him out of his bind, so that heretofore unimagined answers are forthcoming. Some experimenters who have had experience using dimethyltryptamine in these instances where additional drug is indicated, state that the use of this drug in quantities of 50 mg to 60 mg i.m. is very effective. . . . It is this author’s opinion that it is not desirable to begin an individual’s psychedelic experiences with psilocybin. The reason for this is that psilocybin does not have as great a potential as LSD for breaking through the resistances to expanded states of consciousness. It is best to use the most potent material available to increase the probability that an individual will be able to overcome his resistance and attain a state of cosmic (expanded) awareness. Psilocybin, although a powerful psychedelic, does not have the breadth of power of LSD. The experience of getting involved and encumbered with one’s old, inadequate, value system or uncreative basic assumptions about life is to be avoided, and the most powerful agent to break these attitudinal sets is to be used when available. . . . Dosage Levels of Psychedelic Compounds . . . Table 1 gives dosage levels (low, standard and high) and lethal dose for the drugs, LSD, psilocybin and mescaline. [NOTE: Click the link above for the full article, including this table.] . . . Use of small amounts of drugs for an initial experience: One approach to be used with very anxious and frightened subjects will now be discussed. This approach can be used with any individual, of course, but with the majority of individuals it is not necessary and not even desirable. The main disadvantage of this approach is that it can build up resistance and make the desired breakthrough into cosmic consciousness more difficult. . . . Special attention is paid to the decor of the room, with soft lighting and pastel shades predominating. A simply appointed room with selected objects is best. These objects are selected according to their artistic and aesthetic value. Objects with various combinations and values of color, shape and texture should be selected. Objects which have been found to be most useful are: a single flower (a red rose, a pansy, a sunflower, a violet), fresh fruit (one orange, one banana, one nectarine, a small bunch of grapes), whole grain bread and cheese. Music, of course, is most useful, and attention should be paid to the subject’s favorite selections and composers. The music of Wagner, Sibelius, Saint-Saens, Richard Strauss, Liszt, Chopin, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Mahler and Grieg is suggested. Other forms of music are also very helpful for mood change, such as Indian music, progressive jazz, Gregorian chants, Negro spirituals and the Blues. Simple figurines are useful -- some made from wood and others from stone. Delicate perfumes and incense can be employed, and precious jewels are excellent. A variety of textures should be made available to the subject. . . . The purpose of the whole experience is for the person to learn to experience himself and the things about him with fulfillment and joy. Having a good time and experiencing beauty is therapeutic. This approach is to help the individual to release his tensions, to experience his body in a delightful way, to enjoy music, to see vivid colors, to absorb works of art, to eat fruit and bread, to look at trees, flowers -- to be in awe of beauty. This is a good introduction to psychedelics. It is a good introduction to one’s guide in a sharing experience. In this setting the guide must be an active participant, a constant companion, and a directing initiator into pleasant and beautiful experiences.

[NOTE: Podcast 015 from the Psychedelic Salon is of a conversation with Gary Fisher, the author of this article.]

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 2:53 PM

 

Renegade, the best psychedelic western, ever
(James Kent, Tripzine)
Can a mediocre French western really be the most psychedelic movie ever made? Absolutely! . . . I didn't believe it either until I watched the movie. But they are there, count them, not one, not two, but three full-on Native American shamanic rituals, some lasting ten to twenty minutes at a time, complete with cosmic snakes, hyperspatial centipedes, black morphing thousand-eyed demons, and that's just for starters. The shamanic scenes are intense beyond intense, ranging from the shifting world of coming on and going all the way into the deep realms of the transcendental peak. In short, this film nails the psychedelic experience in all it's glory and horror, the first movie to ever do so, that I have seen. . . . [COMMENT by Lornezo: I haven't seen Renegade yet myself, but James Kent has never steered me wrong. If you know James, you can better understand the power of this movie, as James is about the last person I'd ever expect to exaggerate about these things.] . . . The final psychedelic battle between Mike and Wallace goes well beyond anything you've seen in the Matrix, Altered States, or any other movie that plays around with psychedelic archetypes. This movie does not deliver a watered-down Hollywood version of the psychedelic experience, they bring the goods in an amazing, eye popping way. Please, do not watch this film on drugs. Watch it sober first just to believe for your own eyes what you are seeing. Yes, someone actually spent major money to make a western centered around shamanism. Yes, they actually got it right. . . . Renegade is a French film, originally called Blueberry and based on the comic book of the same name (the hero's name I guess is Mike Blueberry, although that seems to have been cut from the final release). I don't know if it came out in theaters or was released straight to DVD, but it is avilable now, so get it quick. While I have never read the comic, I can only assume that's where the psychedelic influences came from. But whoever put this movie together had a different agenda than your average filmmaker; this movie was made expressly for the shamanic scenes, no doubt about it. I mean, when was the last time you saw a western that ended in a shamanic peyote battle instead of a gun fight? This is some tripped-out shit to be sure, go rent the DVD today. I won't mind if you skip past the boring parts and go straight to the tripping scenes, the plot really doesn't matter that much. But if you want to see the best, most accurate, most lovingly crafted shamanic rituals and psychedelic visuals ever created for home viewing, this is the disc for you. Movie: C ; Shamanic Scenes: A . . . Thanks for the tip Eugene!

[AND, thanks to you James for letting us know. . . . BTW, if you are looking for this film on Netflix, search for it under the word "Blueberry" and scroll down to the bottom of the listings. Then you'll see it listed as "Renegade/Blueberry".]

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 11:51 AM

 

America's Drug Czar Exhibits Evidence of His Own Insanity
(Maia Szalavitz, Salon.com, September 19, 2005)
The U.S. drug czar's office is running ads implying that smoking marijuana can lead to insanity. But pushing dubious science is no way to persuade teenagers not to do drugs. . . . Parents who read the New York Times or Newsweek this past summer could be forgiven for freaking out [COMMENT by Lorenzo: Bullshit. You can't forgive people for freaking out when they are too lazy to search out the truth.] when they came across a full-page ad warning them about the effects of marijuana on their teenagers. If the kids were off somewhere sparking up a joint, the federally funded message seemed to say, they were at risk for severe mental illness. Were those parents hallucinating, or was Reefer Madness, long since debunked, suddenly a real problem to be reckoned with? . . . The rhetoric is alarming. But the research data used to support the ad campaign is hazy at best. Though carefully worded, the campaign blurs the key scientific distinction between correlation and causation. The ad uses some correlations between marijuana use and mental illness to imply that the drug can cause madness and depression. Yet these conclusions are unproven by current research. And several leading researchers are highly skeptical of them. . . . Scare tactics in the war on drugs have been around at least as long as Harry J. Anslinger, the federal drug warrior of the 1930s famed for his ludicrous pronouncements about the dangers of marijuana. But they're widely regarded as ineffective in deterring teen drug use. In fact, some research suggests they may actually increase experimentation. If anything, experts say, the latest ad campaign's overblown claims could damage credibility with teens, undermining warnings about other, more dangerous illicit substances. With medical marijuana a matter of renewed national debate, and with evidence emerging that there may be no connection between marijuana and lung cancer -- a key strike against the drug's use in the past -- the government's new campaign smacks more of desperation than science. . . . There are plans to roll out more print, television and radio ads, according to an ONDCP spokesperson, if Congress approves the agency's current $150 million appropriations request this month. [COMMENT by Lorenzo: The amount of money Congress is spending on flase advertising about marijuana is more than it would have taken to shore up the levees in New Orleans before Katrina. It's nice to see that Congress has their priorities straight. Why do we need these guys anyway? . . . Remember, locals always survive empires!] . . . Yet leading experts in psychiatric epidemiology (whom the APA recommended contacting, but who do not officially speak for the organization) are far from convinced about causal connections between marijuana and serious mental illness. One key problem, they say, is that it's very difficult to determine whether pot smoking predisposes people to schizophrenia or whether early symptoms of schizophrenia predispose people to smoking pot -- or whether some third factor causes some people to be more vulnerable to both. . . . In the Swedish study, for example, when factors already known to increase risk for schizophrenia were removed, such as a childhood history of disturbed behavior, the connection between marijuana use and risk for the disease was substantially reduced. Just one or two additional unknown influences could potentially wipe out the apparent marijuana-schizophrenia link, according to Dr. William Carpenter, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of Maryland. Carpenter noted in a letter published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in October 2004 that the same genes that predispose someone to schizophrenia might also predispose them to substance abuse, but that drug use might start earlier simply because many people start using drugs in their teen years, while schizophrenia most commonly begins in the early 20s. . . . Perhaps the strongest piece of evidence to cast doubt on a causal connection between marijuana and schizophrenia is a long flat-line trend in the disease. While marijuana use rose from virtually nil in the 1940s and '50s to a peak period of use in 1979 -- when some 60 percent of high school seniors had tried it -- schizophrenia rates remained virtually constant over those decades. The same remains true today: One percent or fewer people have schizophrenia, a rate consistent among populations around the world. This is in stark contrast to studies linking tobacco smoking with lung cancer, where rises in tobacco use were accompanied by rising rates of lung cancer. . . . "If anything, the studies seem to show a possible decline in schizophrenia from the '40s and the '50s," says Dr. Alan Brown, a professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at Columbia University. "If marijuana does have a causal role in schizophrenia, and that's still questionable, it may only play a role in a small percent of cases." . . . Meanwhile, UCLA public policy expert Mark Kleiman has pointed out that federally funded research by the University of Michigan shows that since the 1970s the level of high reported by high school seniors who smoked marijuana has remained "flat as a pancake." In other words, even if today's kids are smoking more potent stuff, they don't get higher than their folks did -- like drinking a few whiskey shots rather than multiple mugs of beer, they use less of the good stuff to achieve the same effect. . . . With regard to depression, evidence of a causal role for marijuana is even murkier. In general, depression rates in the population did rise sharply during the time period in which marijuana use also skyrocketed. But there were so many other relevant sociological factors that marked the last half of the 20th century -- rising divorce rates, the changing roles of women, economic shifts, and better diagnoses of psychiatric conditions, to name a few -- that scientists have rarely focused on marijuana as a potential cause for the increase in depression. . . . Moreover, a June 2005 study by researchers at University of Southern California, using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies' Depression Scale, found that marijuana use was in fact associated with lower levels of depression. . . . "This is just more red-state culture-war politics," says UCLA's Kleiman, of the latest anti-marijuana campaign. He notes that since the government measures success in the war on drugs by a reduction in the number of drug users -- rather than by declines in drug-related harm or addiction -- marijuana is the obvious drug to go after. According to the most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 2003, approximately 25 million Americans reported using marijuana over the previous year; compared with approximately 6 million users of cocaine and 1 million users of methamphetamine -- both far more addictive substances -- marijuana is a big, soft target. . . . Yet, for a public desensitized to fear-mongering antidrug messages, a campaign touting selected statistics from tenuous studies seems especially tone deaf, if not irresponsible. . . . "If I tell my 15-year-old that he's going to have a psychotic episode if he smokes pot, but he knows that his older brother already smokes pot and is fine, is he going to believe me when I tell him that methamphetamine damages the brain?" asks Mitch Earleywine, an associate professor of psychology at the State University of New York at Albany, who coauthored the USC study. Amphetamine psychosis is an established effect of taking large doses of that class of drugs; warnings about it appear on the labeling of prescription amphetamines. "What's going to happen," says Earleywine, "is we're going to lose all credibility with our teens." . . . The drug czar's office may soon face a full-blown credibility problem of its own regarding its fight against marijuana. Drug warriors have always had at least one powerful argument to fall back on when other attacks against marijuana seem to go up in smoke -- but in the face of a new study, that may no longer be the case. . . . Previous research has pointed to the notion that smoking marijuana could cause cancer, the same way tobacco smoking has been incontrovertibly linked with cancer and death. The Institute of Medicine, charged by Congress with settling scientific debates, said in its last major report on the subject in 1999 that the fact that most users smoke marijuana is a primary reason to oppose its use as medicine. . . . But that reasoning was called into question in late June, when Dr. Donald Tashkin of the UCLA School of Medicine presented a large, case-control study -- of the kind that have linked tobacco use with increases in lung cancer -- at an annual scientific meeting of the International Cannabinoid Research Society in Clearwater, Fla. Tashkin is no hippie-dippy marijuana advocate: His earlier work has been cited by the drug czar's office itself, because his research showed that marijuana can cause lung damage. The new study, however, found no connection between pot smoking -- even by heavy users -- and lung cancer. In fact, among the more than 1,200 people studied, those who had smoked marijuana, but not cigarettes, appeared to have a lower risk for lung cancer than even those who had smoked neither.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 12:29 PM

 

The Long, Strange Trip of LSD
(Journal of Emerging Medical Technologies, September 16, 2005)
Today we look back at everyone's favorite psychoactive substance, LSD. Sure, you know it from its famous advocates, Aldous Huxley, Dr. Timothy Leary, and countless counterculture figures from the 1960's. But there's so much more: It was the drug of choice on university campuses, the drug that spawned psychedelic culture as well as countless jail sentences and fines, but LSD actually has respectable roots--roots that a McMaster University researcher is uncovering. . . . "Far from being fringe medical research, trials of LSD were once a legitimate branch of psychiatric research," explains Erika Dyck, a doctoral researcher in the Department of History at McMaster. "LSD produced a "model psychosis," meaning people who took the drug exhibited symptoms of illnesses such as schizophrenia. Doctors used this as a new method for studying mental illness." . . . In a recent issue of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Dyck traces the history of LSD--and its eventual withdrawal from medical research. LSD, or d-lysergic acid diethylamide, first appeared in scientific literature in 1943. For nearly a decade, it gave psychiatrists insight into the experiences of schizophrenic patients and showed potential as a cure for alcoholism. . . . . . . But nothing beats the objective reporting of the first LSD high, from Dr. Albert Hoffman's accidental intoxication with LSD-25: . . . Last Friday, April 16, 1943, I was forced to interrupt my work in the laboratory in the middle of the afternoon and proceed home, being affected by a remarkable restlessness, combined with a slight dizziness. At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant intoxicated-like condition, characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination. In a dreamlike state, with eyes closed (I found the daylight to be unpleasantly glaring), I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors. After some two hours this condition faded away. . . . His first deliberate encounter with the substance, three days later, is still celebrated as "Bicycle Day" among LSD enthusiasts. The day after, of course, was 4/20. . . . Erika Dyck's article - Flashback: Psychiatric Experimentation With LSD in Historical Perspective . . . More from Wikipedia on the History of LSD

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 10:49 AM

 

Higher Wisdom:
Eminent Elders Explore the Continuing Impact of Psychedelics

Interviews with fourteen pioneers in psychedelic research.
JamesFadiman, Albert Hofmann, MyronStolaroff, Alexander T. “Sasha” Shulgin, Ann Shulgin, BettyEisner, Gary Fisher, StanislavGrof, Peter T. Furst, MichaelHarner, Laura Archera Huxley, RamDass, Huston Smith, GaryBravo

From the publisher SUNY Press (State University of New York Press):

Psychedelics have been a part—often a central and sacred part—of most societies throughout history, and for half a century psychedelics haverumbled through the Western world, seeding a subculture, titillating the media,fascinating youth, terrifying parents, enraging politicians, and intriguingresearchers. Not surprisingly, these curious chemicals fascinated some of the foremost thinkers of the twentieth century, fourteen of whom were interviewed for this book. . . . This is an important book, not only as a valuable historical document, but as a reminder of the remarkable promise and peril of what arebroadly called psychedelics. The fact is—apart from all the government oppression at one end to the hippie hype at the other—psychedelics are a profound doorway into areas of the psyche rarely glimpsed otherwise, and thus,at the very least, are important psychological research tools.

"This is an inspiring and important record, one of courageous explorers and amazing stories describing a critical chapter in the transformation of human consciousness."
— Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart: A Guide Through
the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life

"Brimming with the distilled experiences and perspectives of the firstgeneration of Western psychedelic investigators, this is a terrifically rich resource for anyone interested in these unique, mind-altering substances."
— Rick Strassman, MD, University of New Mexico School of Medicine author of DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences

"This is a very welcome addition to the reexamination of the constructivepotentials of psychedelics in society. The book presents a remarkably balancedsurvey of some of the key issues raised by experiences with these substances—issueslike the nature of ultimate reality, how to handle expansions of consciousness,how to raise children, how to deal with social pathologies. None of the explorerssuggest psychedelics are an answer to these problems; rather, they seem to agree,psychedelics stimulate us to ask questions in a new way, to explore with consciousintention, to see from a wider perspective."
— Ralph Metzner, author of The Unfolding Self: Varieties of Transformative Experience

Roger Walsh, MD is Professor of Psychiatry, Philosophy, and Anthropology at the University of California at Irvine. His writing and research have received more than two dozen national awards and his books include Essential Spirituality: The Seven Central Practices to Awaken Heart and Mind; The Spirit of Shamanism; and (with Frances Vaughan) Paths Beyond Ego: The Transpersonal Vision.

Charles S. Grob, MD is Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Grob is the editor of Hallucinogens: A Reader and is a founding board member of the Heffter Research Institute, which is devoted to fostering and funding research on psychedelics.

. . . Read more!


posted by LoZo 1:36 PM