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Comment by Zarath | Hacker News Reader

Bit of a contrarian take here, but this is the first step towards capitalism getting its grip on a transformative and disruptive thing and coopting it for its purposes. I'm all for decriminalization, but I get nervous when something subversive becomes just another commodity.

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The process you’re describing is called recuperation[1] and I believe your skepticism is well-founded. The effects of these drugs on the human mind and culture is more powerful than any other drug in history. The effects may not be immediate but I believe they will be more dramatic than any other pharmaceutical society has experienced so far.

[1]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recuperation_(politics)

I don't know if that's contrarian really. It's just your basic "My Favorite Band was way better before they got super popular had to go mainstream".

And my take is that that argument should probably stick to fashion and cultural issues and stay out of medical discussions.

Is it that, or could it be reasonable anxiety about powerful substances becoming an avenue for corporate profit? Opioids are a useful class of drugs, but they've been managed by the profit motive and that's caused havoc that's killed thousands and may leave people who should be on them in terrible pain because of an over correction.

That's a valid concern, but psychedelics aren't really physically addictive the way opiates are. And given the possible use cases described by e.g. Michael Pollan, it's hard to imagine them being heavily overprescribed by doctors, if they ever even reach the stage of being a generally prescribable drug at all.

This has been a major topic of conversation in the psychonaut community. It seems like the community is better prepared to stave off the capitalist take over. The existence of organizations such as MAPS and others already conducting studies and preemptively creating 'prior art' is a good sign.

If you are curious about the topic, I couldn't recommend the Psychedelic Salon podcast enough.

In a similar vein, I recently read this piece on the imaginary of "acid communism" and why it might be desirable. I can't say I was convinced by it, but I did learn a lot from it.

https://communemag.com/cybergothic-acid-communism-now/

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