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> Just imagine something like cannabis lounge where you could take mushrooms in safe setting and if you feel overwhelmed you could talk to a trained staff member.

You can do this in Amsterdam. I went to:

Kokopelli Warmoesstraat 12, 1012 JD Amsterdam, Netherlands +31 20 421 7000 https://goo.gl/maps/tFkvQJgtA3NNawqe9

And it’s a fantastic artistic environment where they’ll help you pick which strain of mushrooms (well, actually truffles, but same active ingredient) and offer a trip area in back in which to enjoy them while enjoying the nearby canals. Highly recommend Amsterdam, and not as a “party city,” but as a wonderfully tolerant and beautiful city.

LSD can be a incredible eye opener. But if the part it opens your eyes to is bad and you are not ready, you will have a bad time.

If you are a stable and reflected person, it could be one of the most valuable experiences in your life.

When I took LSD for the first (and only) time, I gained an incredibly valuable insight into my whole beeing that stayee with me forever. Also I was sure there was no real need to do LSD again for at least half a decade.

If you take LSD to escape from something, you arw doing it wrong

>Just imagine something like cannabis lounge where you could take mushrooms in safe setting and if you feel overwhelmed you could talk to a trained staff member. Not necessarily a psychologist, just someone who can guide you through the experience. I really believe it could unleash incredible well-being for the society.

I believe the type of person you are referring to has historically been referred to as shaman.

I'm glad someone brought this up, more than anything - and before anything we need shamans and sitters. Without these people basically dedicating their time to making sure that people are safe and feel safe.

I want to be a shaman. I feel a real calling to it. When my friends are having a bad time on substances I really enjoy helping them out of it. I wish there was a way to receive a formal training in this art, but learning on my own has been productive.

Not sure how you’re defining formal, but the typical route is basically an apprentice model. Find a practicing shaman and work with them.

>Just imagine something like cannabis lounge where you could take mushrooms in safe setting and if you feel overwhelmed you could talk to a trained staff member. Not necessarily a psychologist, just someone who can guide you through the experience. I really believe it could unleash incredible well-being for the society.

I like idea of this, but I don't think I'd like to do mushrooms in a place like that. I tend to alternate between getting strong urges to wander and urges to just sit and do nothing and i'm not a big fan having people around not also on mushrooms. I couldn't hand sitting in a cafe like that for the duration of a trip. That would probably make it worse for me.

Yeah and I don't think talking to a stranger, trained staff or not, is going to be anyone's cup of tea when they're on mushrooms. It should be an experience for friends whose company you truly enjoy - and trust to keep you cool if you get anxious.

The whole bit about needing other people around is leftover hype from anti-drug propaganda films. Nobody really takes a psychedelic and leaps out of a window or fries their child in a pan.

Ehh, I have enjoyed taking psychedelics alone many times, but I think it's probably clever to start with somebody more experienced who can keep their cool enough to remember where the towels are and help guide you to another area if something in the environment is overwhelming. Once you've been there a few times you can pretty much do this yourself, but without understanding how much set and setting affect the experience it can be difficult to remember that walking into the next room over can change everything. It's not about keeping you from jumping out of a window, it's about managing messes and mood.

There's someone in this very thread talking about a time they (an experienced user) took LSD and jumped out of a window. More precisely, off a balcony. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19847655

(I suppose they might be lying, but it doesn't look that way to me. Especially as the lesson they say to learn is "be careful", not "don't take psychedelics".)

Personally, I feel like non-tripping people are fine if they've been there before. It's frustrating when you have somebody who has never dosed asking you what it's like, and you have to suddenly explain color to this blind person who thinks you're a gibbering idiot (because you are, kind of).

> But then who'd gobble up those anxiety or depression or ADHD or sleeping^` pills?

Could you expand on the ADHD bit? That sounds interesting as its not something I've heard a lot about.

It's just generic anti-psych talking points, tbh.

Not sure about ADHD but there have been several anecdotal evidence of magic mushrooms helping reduce or in some cases eliminate Autism symptoms. Bear in mind that Autism is a spectrum and not everyone will react the same way

ADHD medication includes Ritalin and Adderall. Both have stimulant/amphetamine like effects to those without ADHD. You can see the window for abuse and addiction here is pretty huge.

Children misdiagnosed with ADHD can get hooked on this stuff (I don't have a source for that, but its what I've heard).

More commonly, college/highschool students can get them pretty easily to cram for an exam or finish an assignment in one night, or at least that's what they're told by movies and TV (but I'm told by a friend that it really is effective in getting a lot of work done in a small timeframe).