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Comment by travmatt | Hacker News Reader

Every time I read an article about the continuing progress MAPS has made into using ‘recreational’ drugs to alleviate these terrible afflictions, I can’t help but think of all the people who suffered because this research was demonized and outlawed decades ago for easy political points. Much appreciation for Rick Doblin for sticking to the research when the scientific community was told to stop.

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It's also worth noting that many of the most visible public advocates of these drugs (e.g. Timothy Leary) were, eh, not quite operating on the same plane of reality as the rest of us, so to speak. The kind of restrained, politically correct, scientific-sounding discussions about clinical trials and whatnot are quite a bit different from the "studies" done in that era, which largely fell into two camps: incredibly unethical MKULTRA research funded by the CIA, and LSD-fueled hippies trying to start a cultural revolution by getting everyone to drop acid.

Far too many advocates forget that the messenger is part of the message. The most successful advocacy campaigns carefully pick their messenger to match their needs.

Good example: Rosa Parks was not the first person arrested for refusing to give up her seat, Claudette Calvins was arrested 9 months before Rosa. But Claudette was pregnant out of wedlock to an older man, and shitty or not, civil leaders knew this would be used to attack her and their cause if she was their representative. So they went with Rosa, knowing that her character would be much harder to impeach in the court of public opinion.

I agree with you for the most part, but fear of psychedelics by political leaders is bigger than scoring points. What can be a miracle cure for individuals with various mental illnesses can have a similarly potent impact on "healthy" minds and result in radical changes in how we view the world and each other... In ways that could threaten the political status quo. On the one hand it sounds wonderful to me-- on the other, potentially quite dangerous and disruptive.

Maybe people need something like it to snap out of what we're doing to the planet. The current system is anything but normal.

The current political status quo is not "dangerous and disruptive" to you?

I'm not even specifically referring to the US.

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