Many people live their life on the edge without ever falling off. Think about the prevalence of depression versus incidence of suicide as an example.
The article actually talks about depression. How many suicides are or can be averted with psychedelics? You can’t judge things like that in a vacuum.
A single LSD trip can ruin you, as many people have proven in these past tens of years.
Using psychedelics is like playing russian roulette. Proven countless times. The effects of a reasonable dose of psychedelics ranges from weird experience to psychosis (you do not recognize false beliefs) to the worst action you have made.
http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/04/28/why-were-early-psychede...
There is a reason why alcohol and tobacco are accepted in almost all societies while opioids and psychedelics are treated differently.
IMO too many people suffer already from psychosis. E.g. flat earthers, denial of climate change denial, denial of urgent action against climate change, low carb diet is healthy,...
Judging what is real and what not is already difficult for many without psychedelics.
Read about Donald Trump or Scott Pruitt, the ex-EPA administrator.
You’re praising the de facto drug of violence, comparable in social harm only to heroin, as “socially acceptable”, while grossly misrepresenting the actual harm potential of substances like LSD (“Openness To Experience” is “Russian roulette”, seriously? So is a trip to the Grand Canyon.)
Then you just call anyone you disagree with mentally ill… You know Donald Trump is a teetotaler, right?
To your last comment, maybe this is surprising, but I'm a teetotaler myself.
Have you ever tried LSD yourself?
It apparently can bring out already dormant mental illnesses but is not in any way associated with the formation of new mental illnesses.
We all know LSD was literally available _at the pharmacy_ in the USA up until the mid 60s right? The entire nation didn't go insane... And you can bet your ass a pharmacy will at least ID people trying to buy it, you'll know exactly how much you're getting, and there could probably even be an information packet to go with it. Currently if you want it you have to risk persecution, have no idea what strength of dose you'll be receiving, and there's definitely no information packet unless you look it up yourself.
At the end of the day criminalization is causing more harm than it's solving. People have issues with all sorts of things, alcohol is a lot more negative but totally legal.
In general the proper tact is to ensure access to healthcare and opportunities in our society. Then those with dormant or non dormant mental illnesses are more likely to receive the attention they deserve. Access to opportunities means people get involved in their communities and projects and become passionate about something and are less likely to abuse drugs overall.
Or you can spread hogwash like "LSD makes ya insane" which is not directly what you said but how people will read it.
The victim does not know in advance.
The victim does not care afterwards because the result is the same.
Like I've mentioned upthread, I've known a number of people who have clearly suffered from having tried LSD. Some of them will admit it was the worst decision they've ever made. Others will deny it, strongly encourage you to try it, and if you press them for how it might help you exactly they cannot explain, but there is a glimmer of anxiety and recognition that it changed them deeply in ways they are not comfortable with. And they want you to join them.
It's very chilling. It reminds me of how you'll see in some gay communities when someone contracts HIV they will compulsively spread it to as many people as possible.
Do you have a source for this?
Your claim seems like a very broad and negative generalizatuon of an entire group of diverse people, who are often marginalized.
Lettuce sometimes carries ecoli bacteria and spreads outbreaks amongst tens or hundreds of people at once. Should we ban lettuce too?
And, I dunno what people you hang out with, but most people I've met are pretty hesitant to just shove hard drugs into their bodies. It's not like everyone would be forced to eat LSD if it became legal tomorrow.
And I know plenty of people who've had bad trips (and many many more that have not) and none of them have gone insane or become mentally ill afterwards. I mean, just look at a concert like Woodstock for instance. Half a million people in attendance, huge counter culture movement, and shit tons of LSD. Look at Burning Man, there are drug overdoses, but they don't appear to be caused by LSD as searches for LSD overdose yield exactly zero relevant results.
I just think perhaps you've been told LSD is bad your whole life when, really, it's not that bad. Take it with care. Don't go dropping tabs when you haven't done your research. But the literal vast vast vast majority of people who take it are fine, and many report it being a positive life changing experience for them.
http://www.iflscience.com/brain/new-studies-fail-find-associ...
Psychedelics bring forth what needs to be looked at; if one doesn’t have an intention or support to do that, they may want to want until they do.
The same could probably be said for falling in love or starting a company as well.
In fact, my guess is that romantic relationships and entrepreneurship probably trigger “underlying mental issues” with at least as much frequency as psychedelics.
Well, it certainly would help the cost of food come down and start reducing greenhouse gas emissions...