Michael Pollan’s New Yorker piece on the medical benefits of psychedelics is well worth a read: As I chatted with Tony Bossis and Stephen Ross in the treatment room at N.Y.U., their excitement about the results was evident. According to Ross, cancer patients receiving just a single dose of psilocybin experienced immediate and dramatic reductions in anxiety and … Continue reading The Promise Of Psilocybin
A reader flags the long podcast seen above: I started reading Waking Up after watching Sam Harris on Joe Rogan’s podcast. In it, Harris recounts his case against free will and mentioned that he thought that the self was an illusion. I am sympathetic to that view and in a manner believe it to be true, so I purchased Waking … Continue reading Book Club: Does The Self Exist? Ctd
IbogaLife, an organization in Costa Rica, seeks to help addicts transition from heroin to sobriety through a powerful psychoactive drug, ibogaine, which is derived from a Central West-African bush called iboga. Abby Haglage describes visiting IbogaLife ceremonies, where she witnessed a young woman named Grace undergo the treatment: In the first stage of the ibogaine … Continue reading A Journey, Not An Escape, Ctd
Several readers join the conversation: As a recovered alcoholic with almost four years of sobriety (I’m 31 and luckily caught my disease early), this post truly hit home with me. When I initially sought treatment for my drinking at the behest of my then fiancee (now wife – thankfully!), I was one of those individuals who … Continue reading The Drug Double-Standard, Ctd
Jesse Singal reviews a new study supporting the view that treating heroin addiction with heroin is more effective than methadone: The [North American Opiate Medication Initiative] numbers are striking: A year after the start of the study, nearly 90% of those given heroin remained in treatment, while just over half in the methadone group did. … Continue reading Help With Heroin
Today on the Dish, we followed Tunisia as its President dissolved the government, and a state of emergency was declared. Larison stressed the importance of Tunisians deposing an autocrat on their own, without US intervention and Andrew debated Evgeny Morozov on how instrumental Twitter was. We rounded up reax and reports from the ground in … Continue reading The Weekly Wrap
A reader writes: I have been following your blog for some time, and I have really enjoyed the occasional post on psychedelics. I've read about psilocybin, LSD, and ayahuasca, but never about a plant that changed my life years ago: ibogaine. It is native to West Africa, and people who experiment broadly with psychedelics consider … Continue reading A Journey, Not An Escape, Ctd
Another demonized "party drug" is getting a new looksie, as its potential as a medicine is explored: MDMA’s partial rehabilitation is largely due to the efforts of Rick Doblin and his Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. MAPS has raised the money for the Mithoefer trial and other studies aimed at testing the medical or psychotherapeutic … Continue reading The Science Of Ecstasy
Glenn Reynolds seems to think that my criticism of the Iraq war is purely negative criticism. He cites my previous writing back in May that There are also many valid criticisms of the occupation. But I have yet to read any cogent criticism that offers any better future plan than the one president Bush outlined … Continue reading FIRING BACK
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