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A hypothesis I have is that therapists, and their patients, already know many of the things that'll help make them happier - but the patient isn't doing them, because they lack the motivation, or they lack the belief that they're capable of making and sticking with those changes, so why bother trying.
Doing a psychedelic trip in that therapeutic context seems to make the patient motivated to make the changes that they already logically knew would be helpful, and the trip in this context makes them believe they're capable of making and sticking with those changes - so, then they end up making those changes.
Thiel backed COMPASS Pathways which got breakthrough status last year. The Usona Institute, which just got breakthrough status this month, also for a use of psilocybin, is to my knowledge not supported by Thiel.
> Back in late 2018, the FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy status to the ongoing work from COMPASS Pathways investigating psilocybin, the key psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms, as a therapy for treatment-resistant depression. A large, multi-center Phase 2 trial spanning the US, UK and Europe is currently underway testing a variety of dosing strategies.
> This new FDA Breakthrough Therapy approval focuses on a seven-site, Phase 2 trial currently underway in the United States. Coordinated by a non-profit research organization called the Usona Institute, the trial is exploring the antidepressant properties of a single psilocybin dose in treating patients with major depressive disorder.
> Otherwise please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait; don't editorialize.
> Waves of highly infectious viruses sweeping through global honey bee populations have contributed to recent declines in honey bee health. Bees have been observed foraging on mushroom mycelium, suggesting that they may be deriving medicinal or nutritional value from fungi. Fungi are known to produce a wide array of chemicals with antimicrobial activity, including compounds active against bacteria, other fungi, or viruses. We tested extracts from the mycelium of multiple polypore fungal species known to have antiviral properties. Extracts from amadou (Fomes) and reishi (Ganoderma) fungi reduced the levels of honey bee deformed wing virus (DWV) and Lake Sinai virus (LSV) in a dose-dependent manner. In field trials, colonies fed Ganoderma resinaceum extract exhibited a 79-fold reduction in DWV and a 45,000-fold reduction in LSV compared to control colonies. These findings indicate honey bees may gain health benefits from fungi and their antimicrobial compounds.
When I hear decriminalized I think no criminal penalties and civil infraction only, and technically decriminalization really means no penalties. Sadly, that's not what this is.
Still, the Connecticut policy is a step the right direction.
The Denver one isn't technically decriminalization either, but it's effectively decriminalization, at least in terms of Denver city police.
Also, there are a number of other states that have reduced criminal penalties for drug possession from felony to misdemeanor, such as Oregon and California.
For those interested, some thoughts:
There are two types of users from a policy perspective. People with specific diagnoses/diseases, and "healthy" people.
For people with specific diagnoses and diseases, the most important work is FDA approval of MDMA and psilocybin. MAPS, COMPASS Pathways, and Usona are working on this and they require a bunch of money to get through to a successful FDA approval. Funding this research is a very high leverage way to enable policy change, because the FDA has a relatively clear process to approving a drug for medical use for patients with relevant medical diagnoses.
For "healthy people," there needs to be another route. Some people are working on ballot initiatives and legislation that will impact this (see Oregon, Denver, Oakland, Iowa) and that may be a high leverage route. But the path here is less clear. As you note in some cases, some types of research can be helpful for boosting political change, whereas others aren't going to be an efficient use of capital for that goal.
https://psychedelictimes.com/interviews/lets-talk-about-comp...
It's largely in response to this article.
If you're in this thread and likely to use psychedelics, please do your research first.
My recommendation is to at least thoroughly read the following resources before beginning:
- https://tripsafe.org/how-to-take-shrooms/ (I started this website, it has quite a few users, and it's important that people who are likely to use psychedelics are aware of this info for everyone's benefit.)
- Then, next perhaps the book "The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide"
Also there are services that offer legal facilitated offerings: https://psychedelicsociety.org.uk/experience-retreats
> We observed significant antidepressant effects of ayahuasca when compared with placebo at all-time points. MADRS scores were significantly lower in the ayahuasca group compared with placebo at D1 and D2 (p = 0.04), and at D7 (p < 0.0001). Between-group effect sizes increased from D1 to D7 (D1: Cohen's d = 0.84; D2: Cohen's d = 0.84; D7: Cohen's d = 1.49). Response rates were high for both groups at D1 and D2, and significantly higher in the ayahuasca group at D7 (64% v. 27%; p = 0.04). Remission rate showed a trend toward significance at D7 (36% v. 7%, p = 0.054).
For context, an SMD of 0.2 is small, >0.5 is medium, and >0.8 is large.[3]
Advantages of Ketamine vs other antidepressants
- Ketamine seems to have a much stronger antidepressant effect than our current antidepressants (To me this seems to be by far the most important/interesting thing)
- Benefits occur within hours rather than weeks
- Doesn't seem to interfere with sexual function, unlike many antidepressants
Main downsides of Ketamine for depression
- Much more expensive and normally not covered by insurance
- It's less well studied
- You have to go in for additional ketamine infusions to maintain the effects, it seems roughly ~1x a month long term
(The SMD for typical antidepressants seems to range from ~-0.13 to ~-0.35, with Tricyclic antidepressants slightly higher at around -~0.42.[4][5][6])
[1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25038867
[2]: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/wps.20112
[3]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2730804/
[4]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2903535/
[5]: http://www.annfammed.org/content/3/5/449.full
[6]: http://www.cochrane.org/CD011735/MUSKEL_selective-serotonin-...
- Ketamine seems to have a much larger effect size (-~0.99 [1] vs -~0.35 for typical antidepressants [2]) [If anyone spots an error, please let me know]
For context, an SMD of 0.2 is small, >0.5 is medium, and >0.8 is large.[3]
To me this seems to be by far the most important/interesting thing: Ketamine seems to have a much stronger antidepressant effect than our current antidepressants.
- Benefits occur within hours rather than weeks
- Doesn't seem to interfere with sexual function, unlike many antidepressants
Main downsides of Ketamine for depression
- Much more expensive and normally not covered by insurance
- It's less well studied
- You have to go in for additional ketamine infusions to maintain the effects, it seems roughly ~1x a month long term
(The SMD for typical antidepressants seems to range from ~-0.13 to ~-0.35, with Tricyclic antidepressants slightly higher at around -~0.42.[4][5][6])
[1]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25038867
[2]: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/wps.20112
[3]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2730804/
[4]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2903535/
[5]: http://www.annfammed.org/content/3/5/449.full
[6]: http://www.cochrane.org/CD011735/MUSKEL_selective-serotonin-...
It seems it would've been better if the statement wasn't
"I would like to make it clear: substance abuse is against the values that we uphold."
(Just using cannabis isn't substance abuse - substance abuse is a specific thing, i.e. see the following list for opioid abuse criteria, most of the criteria should apply to most other substances https://www.buppractice.com/node/12351)
But instead
"I would like to make it clear: serving people drugs without making it explicitly clear that they are consuming drugs is against the values that we uphold."
> In their other research, the authors have also proposed that the serotonin receptors that psychedelics interact with are involved in bringing about “a state of rapid plasticity that is conducive to major change (e.g. in outlook and/or behaviour)—when such change feels necessary (e.g. to aid mental or physical survival). Such a function may be related to humans’ unique capacity for adaptability.”
Quote from https://tripsafe.org/psychedelics-and-connectedness/
So it seems plausible that ayahuasca may be helpful to people in cases like this. (Of course, additional evidence being that psilocybin seems very helpful for people with depression)