Oakland California Decriminalizes Magic Mushrooms, Other Natural Psychedelics

“Oakland, California has become the second city in the United States to decriminalize the use and possession of psychedelic mushrooms, The Associated Press reports. The Oakland City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday night, just weeks after Denver voters narrowly approved a similar measure. Along with mushrooms containing psilocybin, the resolution also decriminalizes other psychedelics naturally derived from plants or fungi, such as ayahuasca, peyote and DMT. Synthetic psychedelics like LSD and MDMA, are still illegal…”

DMT, Psychedelics, PoliticalArtful AlchemyFebruary 24, 2020DMT, Psilocybin, Peyote, MDMA, Ayahuasca, LSD, legalisation, Laws, America, Politics, Drugs, Depression, PTSD, Mental Health

Psychedelic Events Are Going Mainstream, Where The Much-Maligned Mushroom Industry Focuses On Mental Health

“Psychedelics have been a mainstay for a millennia and appreciated in the counter-culture for decades. In 2020, whether consuming, investing, or both, mushrooms are having a moment…”

The Most Psychedelic Technology in Human History is Here, and it’s Called Neuralink

“One could say that all software impacts our consciousness in some way, from grandma’s dopamine-fueled enjoyment of a casino game to the banal ubiquity of spreadsheet programs at shitty office jobs everywhere, to the way that weaponized Facebook ads affected elections in 30 countries. But thanks to Elon Musk and other pioneers in brain-computer or brain-machine interfaces (known as BMI), software, in conjunction with brain-implanted hardware, will soon have the power to impact our psyche directly, at the level of our neurons…”

Can a Psychedelic Drug Save the Terminally Ill from their Deepest Fears of Death?

“Ross and Dwyer are at the centre of the country's first clinical trial of psychedelic drugs for treating severe depression in the terminally ill. Within a month, they will begin recruiting 40 depressed and incurable patients in an attempt to relieve their distress with a novel treatment: between one and two 25-milligram doses of synthetic psilocybin, the psychedelic ingredient found in "magic mushrooms", accompanied by intensive psychotherapy sessions…”

Psychedelics Change How You Read Faces, Which May Help Anxiety and Depression

“A new systematic review states that serotonergic hallucinogens help users recognize emotions in facial expressions. Sufferers of anxiety and depression often only read negative emotions in other people's faces, adding to their malaise. While more research is needed, psychedelics could prove to be a powerful agent in battling mental health disorders…”

What Psychedelics Reveal About the Nature of Consciousness

Dr. Peter Sjostedt-H, on psychedelics and the nature of human consciousness (via Filter Mag): “Within human consciousness we can distinguish various modes, such as sense perception, emotion, thought, imagination, memory, intentionality, alertness, etc. But even such prosaic human consciousness can be radically altered through chemical means, thus enabling a more comprehensive understanding of what consciousness is, what it can be…”

AOC Pushes To Make It Easier To Study Shrooms And Other Psychedelic Drugs

“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) filed legislation on Friday to remove a legal barrier that scientists say makes it unnecessarily difficult for them to study the medical benefits of psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and MDMA. Psilocybin, the active component of so-called "magic mushrooms," and MDMA, commonly referred to as "ecstasy," have "shown promise in end of life therapy and treating PTSD," a summary of Ocasio-Cortez's proposal says...”

Psychedelics, PoliticalArtful AlchemyJune 9, 2019Psychedelics, Psilocybin, MDMA, Laws, legalisation, Studies, PTSD, Cannabis, America

Scientists Rethink Psychedelics As Attitudes Change Toward Formerly Illicit Drugs

“The irony. The generation who brought psychedelic drugs to the attention of the world, may just be the ones who use them as medicine to treat anxiety and depression or simply to face death. But while researchers around the world are looking at some formerly illicit drugs in a new way, they’re doing it with caution...”

Denver Decriminalizes Mushrooms | Oakland Moves to Decriminalize Other Entheogens

“After Denver paved the way by decriminalizing mushrooms, a major city in California is moving on other psychedelics like ayahuasca, ibogaine, and mescaline cacti. Now Oakland is calling for decriminalization of other psychedelics like mescaline cacti, ayahuasca and ibogaine…”

Imperial College London Launches World’s First Centre for Psychedelics Research

“The first formal centre for psychedelic research in the world will launch at Imperial College London today. Funded by more than £3 million from five founding donors, the new Imperial Centre for Psychedelic Research will build on over a decade of pioneering work in this area carried out at Imperial, including a clinical trial that has kick-started global efforts to develop psilocybin therapy into a licensed treatment for depression…”

Psychedelic Afterlife: Researchers Determine Which Hallucinogenic ‘Trip’ is Most Similar to the Near-Death Experience

“A new study – “Neurochemical models of near-death experiences: A large-scale study based on the semantic similarity of written reports” – has set out to quantify the possible links by comparing a bunch of NDE accounts (625) with a huge number of ‘trip reports’ (more than 15,000) “spanning experiences with 165 psychoactive substances of ten different pharmacological classes”…”

The Extraordinary Therapeutic Potential of Psychedelic Drugs Explained

“Though psychedelic drugs remain illegal, guided ceremonies, or sessions, are happening across the country, as more Americans seek out safe, structured environments to use psychedelics for spiritual growth and psychological healing. This new world of psychedelic-assisted therapy functions as a kind of parallel mental health service…”

Psychedelic Retreats And The Future Of Mental Health: A Review

Some of Silicon Valley’s most prominent investors are betting that the eventual legalisation of psychedelics could create the next big frontier in the mental health industry. For instance, Peter Thiel is behind one company, Compass, that has reportedly already made tens of thousands of doses of the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, Psilocybin, for the treatment of depression…

psychedelic.support Creates a Network for Psychedelic Therapists

psychedelic.support is a website that will showcase clinics and providers who are looking to network with one another and connect with people seeking treatment. This site could soon become a useful asset to anyone interested in the professional world of psychedelic-related therapy… Continue reading

Mental Health, PsychedelicsArtful AlchemyNovember 1, 2018psymposia, MAPS, Therapy, MDMA, Psychedelics, Drugs, America

These Himalayan Bees Make Psychedelic Honey

“Within the depths of the forests in the Himalayas are the world’s largest bees that spend their time creating psychedelic honey that will blow your mind. It is so valued by the locals in Nepal and China that they willingly risk their lives to potentially harvest and sell this honey…”

PsychedelicsArtful AlchemyNovember 6, 2015Psychedelics, Himalayas, Asia, Honey, Bees, Medicine, Diabetes