Posted by pinksharkmark (206.105.238.76) on January 14, 2001 at 04:19:50:
In Reply to: Careful about the shrooms posted by Seriously on January 14, 2001 at 02:49:57:
You say you have been reading a "ton of posts" about psilocybin/LSD therapy. Have you not noticed that virtually every single one stresses that the doses required are SUB-HALLUCINOGENIC doses? Have you not noticed that so far the most extreme side-effects reported have been a giggle fit and a better than average sleep? Have you not noticed that some users have reported NO side-effects whatsoever, apart from the icky taste?
Flash and I have been VERY careful to stress that neophytes start with a very small dose. If it doesn't work the first time around, a second, slightly larger dose can be tried a week later.
"...these states can be greatly intensified during a psychedelic experience..." read my lips... THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO NECESSITY TO EVEN APPROACH A "PSYCHEDELIC" EXPERIENCE! Just as not every adolescent who finally reaches legal drinking age downs a bottle of tequila and gets knee-walking, bush-puking drunk, not everyone who takes mushrooms wants to launch themselves into another dimension.
"Granted at relatively small doses many of these effects do not occur..." Exactly! This is what I have been saying all along. So what is your point?
I repeat... for the twentieth time... the beauty of this treatment is that it seems to work at extremely small doses... far below the threshold at which the experience becomes bizarre. If the guidelines are adhered to, there is no risk of a "freakout". There is no risk of a "bad trip".
"We have lived with misunderstanding long enough without complicating things by misrepresenting ourselves with controversal drugs."
Whoa!.. there are so many things going on in that sentence that I don't know where to begin. Let's take it phrase by phrase, shall we?
"We have lived with misunderstanding long enough"... I personally don't care that my condition is misunderstood. How does someone else's understanding improve my condition? Or their misunderstanding worsen it?
"... without complicating things... " complicate them how? What's complicated? Either your medication works or it doesn't. Pretty simple.
"...by misrepresenting ourselves..." exactly how are we misrepresenting ourselves? No, seriously, I am not being argumentative -- I literally have no clue what you are implying here.
"..with controversal drugs." Let's not forget that this is an international website. It is unfortunate that psilocybin is illegal in the United States. It is not illegal in other countries. To boot, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the current mushroom prohibition laws are unconstitutional. See Fisk vs. State of Florida.
Let's also not forget that mushrooms are not controversial to the herbal healers of the world. Their beneficial effects on vascular headaches have been well-known for far longer than the written word has existed.
I fail to see the purpose of your post. Was it because you thought there might still be some yokel who fell off the back of the turnip truck yesterday who hasn't got the news yet that gobbling handfuls of blotter acid might make him see visions? Let me clue you in... anyone who has mastered the technology to read your post knows all about Woodstock by now.
I believe that I am providing new, valuable information in a calm, well-reasoned, well-researched, factual manner to some pretty desperate people. If you believe that your cautionary post is providing equally new, equally valuable information to desperate people... well... then I guess the people who are not careful enough readers to tell the difference between a full-on "psychedelic" dose and the minimal, "giggle-fit" dose that I am advocating will lose out. I am sure there will be many who will fail to make the distinction, and will stick with whatever is not working for them now.
No skin off my nose. I've got mine.
pinky