Psychedelic Revolution, Take 2
Get ready: In Western Canada, depressive patients are being treated with magic mushrooms. And it's coming here. In fact, it's already there, writes our columnist David Desjardins.
Get ready for the next big deal: it started in Western Canada, where not only depressive patients are treated with magic mushrooms, but where this drug is also sold more or less freely. And it's coming here. In fact, it's already there.
Ring Dr. Carmant 's pager and tell Gérard Deltell to iron his mourning clothes. The moral panic of right-thinking people can begin, as it did with the legalization of cannabis. We are still waiting for disaster, as punctual as Godot.
I say that, but don't count too much on our good doctor-politicians to save the youth from fungal peril, since the worm is in the shroom.
It is currently easier to obtain this drug online than to buy a food processor there to concoct orange-turmeric smoothies . No break in the supply chain, in this case. All you have to do is find a supplier with a web presence, make a transfer and presto! shrooms or other psilocybin (the psychoactive agent in said shrooms) products arrive at your doorstep a few days later. Delivered by Canada Post.
All of this is prohibited. But since I bought cannabis in a vending machine (five dollars for a joint and a lighter) in Vancouver, several months before legalization, nothing surprises me anymore about the laxity of the authorities. In a city plagued by opioids, the police have other fish to fry. Or maybe, like cannabis, it's more of a social trend that gives a hint of the not-so-distant future when you consider the decriminalization of possession of small amounts of hard drugs in this corner. from the country.
To be one with the universe, to have the impression of being reborn, to speak to the dead: so many phenomena which, at first sight, are more a matter of shamanism than of science.
Why psilocybin? Why now ?
Much of the blame lies with science, which is experiencing a renaissance in research into psychedelic drugs (mainly psilocybin, MDMA, and LSD). Used in supervised therapy, they achieve a level of awareness that causes patients to feel like they are soaring out of their minds and come back laden with sometimes mystical conclusions.
To be one with the universe, to have the impression of being reborn, to speak to the dead: so many phenomena which, at first sight, are more a matter of shamanism than of science.
The results of clinical trials are still awaited. But already, health professionals can (in very specific and supervised cases) treat a patient with psilocybin through Health Canada's Special Access Program.
Do not, however, ingest insane amounts of hallucinogens without therapeutic supervision. Moments of terror are common during a trip of this magnitude. The ingestion of powerful doses requires preparation and support to avoid the worst: a psychotic episode.
In his book How to Change Your Mind , journalist Michael Pollan experiments with these drugs and reviews ongoing research, including theories regarding the brain mechanisms induced by these substances that bring relief to lost souls. It could be, for example, that what you take for a connection with the universe is in fact only the result of the suppression of activities in the same part of your brain that is involved during deep meditation. Suddenly, your imagination is totally free and new connections are made in your mind, which is no longer paralyzed by fear, by ego.
On the other hand, there are plenty of recreational users who also benefit from hallucinogens, alone or with friends. Hence the popularity of these drugs on the gray market.
By ingesting smaller quantities, we do not completely detach ourselves from reality, but we have the possibility of accessing a state of wonder in front of all that our brain, which has become hyper-efficient, processes like simple data. A certain distortion of the senses allows us to reconnect with the primitive beauty of our environment, as well as with our emotions.
Almost 70 years after The Gates of Perception , by Aldous Huxley, 55 years after the countercultural shock of LSD struck by Timothy Leary and his disciples, hallucinogens are trying to regain their place among the solutions to the stupor of a society mired in a spiritual cul-de-sac.
Because it's about rituals as much as drugs. Ways to get out of the ruts of your usual thinking to see the world in a different light, with enthusiasm. Like the craze for tarot, astrology and other hints of the hippie wave, these drugs are part of a fundamental movement. It's not an escapist thing or a dope trick.
On the contrary. Their popularity comes from the fact that they make it possible to find and (re)give meaning to things, to life.
However, have we ever lived through an era that is so sorely lacking?
Ring Dr. Carmant 's pager and tell Gérard Deltell to iron his mourning clothes. The moral panic of right-thinking people can begin, as it did with the legalization of cannabis. We are still waiting for disaster, as punctual as Godot.
I say that, but don't count too much on our good doctor-politicians to save the youth from fungal peril, since the worm is in the shroom.
It is currently easier to obtain this drug online than to buy a food processor there to concoct orange-turmeric smoothies . No break in the supply chain, in this case. All you have to do is find a supplier with a web presence, make a transfer and presto! shrooms or other psilocybin (the psychoactive agent in said shrooms) products arrive at your doorstep a few days later. Delivered by Canada Post.
All of this is prohibited. But since I bought cannabis in a vending machine (five dollars for a joint and a lighter) in Vancouver, several months before legalization, nothing surprises me anymore about the laxity of the authorities. In a city plagued by opioids, the police have other fish to fry. Or maybe, like cannabis, it's more of a social trend that gives a hint of the not-so-distant future when you consider the decriminalization of possession of small amounts of hard drugs in this corner. from the country.
To be one with the universe, to have the impression of being reborn, to speak to the dead: so many phenomena which, at first sight, are more a matter of shamanism than of science.
Why psilocybin? Why now ?
Much of the blame lies with science, which is experiencing a renaissance in research into psychedelic drugs (mainly psilocybin, MDMA, and LSD). Used in supervised therapy, they achieve a level of awareness that causes patients to feel like they are soaring out of their minds and come back laden with sometimes mystical conclusions.
To be one with the universe, to have the impression of being reborn, to speak to the dead: so many phenomena which, at first sight, are more a matter of shamanism than of science.
The results of clinical trials are still awaited. But already, health professionals can (in very specific and supervised cases) treat a patient with psilocybin through Health Canada's Special Access Program.
Do not, however, ingest insane amounts of hallucinogens without therapeutic supervision. Moments of terror are common during a trip of this magnitude. The ingestion of powerful doses requires preparation and support to avoid the worst: a psychotic episode.
In his book How to Change Your Mind , journalist Michael Pollan experiments with these drugs and reviews ongoing research, including theories regarding the brain mechanisms induced by these substances that bring relief to lost souls. It could be, for example, that what you take for a connection with the universe is in fact only the result of the suppression of activities in the same part of your brain that is involved during deep meditation. Suddenly, your imagination is totally free and new connections are made in your mind, which is no longer paralyzed by fear, by ego.
On the other hand, there are plenty of recreational users who also benefit from hallucinogens, alone or with friends. Hence the popularity of these drugs on the gray market.
By ingesting smaller quantities, we do not completely detach ourselves from reality, but we have the possibility of accessing a state of wonder in front of all that our brain, which has become hyper-efficient, processes like simple data. A certain distortion of the senses allows us to reconnect with the primitive beauty of our environment, as well as with our emotions.
Almost 70 years after The Gates of Perception , by Aldous Huxley, 55 years after the countercultural shock of LSD struck by Timothy Leary and his disciples, hallucinogens are trying to regain their place among the solutions to the stupor of a society mired in a spiritual cul-de-sac.
Because it's about rituals as much as drugs. Ways to get out of the ruts of your usual thinking to see the world in a different light, with enthusiasm. Like the craze for tarot, astrology and other hints of the hippie wave, these drugs are part of a fundamental movement. It's not an escapist thing or a dope trick.
On the contrary. Their popularity comes from the fact that they make it possible to find and (re)give meaning to things, to life.
However, have we ever lived through an era that is so sorely lacking?
David Desjardins
Psychedelic Revolution, take 2 | News (lactualite.com)
Psychedelic Revolution, take 2 | News (lactualite.com)
