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Drugs as instruments: A new framework for non-addictive psychoactive drug use

November 11, 2011 / Neuroscience, Other disciplines, Other subjects, Papers, Publications / By / ,

Abstract

Most people who are regular consumers of psychoactive drugs are not drug addicts, nor will they ever become addicts. In neurobiological theories, non-addictive drug consumption is acknowledged only as a “necessary” prerequisite for addiction, but not as a stable and widespread behavior in its own right. This target article proposes a new neurobiological framework theory for non-addictive psychoactive drug consumption, introducing the concept of “drug instrumentalization.” Psychoactive drugs are consumed for their effects on mental states. Humans are able to learn that mental states can be changed on purpose by drugs, in order to facilitate other, non-drug-related behaviors. We discuss specific “instrumentalization goals” and outline neurobiological mechanisms of how major classes of psychoactive drugs change mental states and serve non-drug-related behaviors. We argue that drug instrumentalization behavior may provide a functional adaptation to modern environments based on a historical selection for learning mechanisms that allow the dynamic modification of consummatory behavior. It is assumed that in order to effectively instrumentalize psychoactive drugs, the establishment of and retrieval from a drug memory is required. Here, we propose a new classification of different drug memory subtypes and discuss how they interact during drug instrumentalization learning and retrieval. Understanding the everyday utility and the learning mechanisms of non-addictive psychotropic drug use may help to prevent abuse and the transition to drug addiction in the future.

Müller, C. P., & Schumann, G. (2011). Drugs as instruments: A new framework for non-addictive psychoactive drug use. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 34(6), 293–347. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X11000057
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Revisiting Wasson's Soma: Exploring the Effects of Preparation on the Chemistry of Amanita Muscaria

September 20, 2011 / Ethnobotany, History, Indigenous use, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Other disciplines, Other subjects, Other substances, Papers, Publications / By /

Abstract

In 1968 R. Gordon Wasson first proposed his groundbreaking theory identifying Soma, the hallucinogenic sacrament of the Vedas, as the Amanita muscaria mushroom. While Wasson’s theory has garnered acclaim, it is not without its faults. One omission in Wasson’s theory is his failure to explain how pressing and filtering Soma, as described in the Rig Veda, supports his theory of Soma’s identity. Several critics have reasoned that such preparation should be unnecessary if equivalent results can be obtained by consuming the raw plant, as is done with other psychoactive mushrooms. In order to address these specific criticisms over 600 anecdotal accounts of Amanita muscaria inebriation were collected and analyzed to determine the impact of preparation on Amanita muscaria’s effects. The findings of this study demonstrated that the effects of Amanita muscaria were related to the type of preparation employed, and that its toxic effects were considerably reduced by preparations that paralleled those described for Soma in the Rig Veda. While unlikely to end debate over the identity of Soma, this study’s findings help to solidify the foundation of Wasson’s theory, and also to demonstrate the importance of preparation in understanding and uncovering the true identity of Soma.

Feeney, K. (2010). Revisiting Wasson’s Soma: Exploring the Effects of Preparation on the Chemistry of Amanita Muscaria. Journal of psychoactive drugs, 42(4), 499-506. https://dx.doi.org/ 10.1080/02791072.2010.10400712
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Psychedelic Experience as a Heuristic Tool for Exploring the Mind and the Brain

September 11, 2011 / Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Other disciplines, Other subjects, Papers, Publications / By /

Abstract

I discuss the ontological nature and heuristic value of psychedelic experience. I argue that psychedelic phenomena may manifest the activity of certain mental formations and brain mechanisms that otherwise remain hidden. Thus, psychedelic phenomena can be heuristic tools and intriguing objects of the scientific study. I consider two types of psychedelic phenomena in particular. The first is the moral cleansing that may accompany a psychedelic trip. The second is the appearance of visual and auditory hallucinations. I establish a unified explanatory ground for the phenomena that are commonly viewed as distinct in their genesis. I explain both types of phenomena as products of the amplified imaginative ability of the brain under a substance’s influence. I suggest that the activation of imagination causes an increased empathy and thus accentuates moral feelings. I propose the hypothesis that hallucinations are mental objects of a quantum nature. I argue that no ontologically separate reality stands behind psychedelic visions.

Alyushin, A. (2011). Psychedelic Experience as a Heuristic Tool for Exploring the Mind and the Brain. NeuroQuantology, 9(3), 577‐590. http://dx.doi.org/10.14704/nq.2011.9.3.419
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Ayahuasca, Entheogenic Education & Public Policy

April 18, 2011 / Anthropology, Ayahuasca, Indigenous use, Other disciplines, Papers, Publications, Religious studies, Spirituality / By /

Abstract

Ayahuasca is an entheogenic decoction prepared from two Amazonian plants containing controlled substances, including dimethyltryptamine. Traditionally drunk ritually (and revered as a healing “plant teacher”) by Amazonian indigenous and mestizo peoples, in the 20th century ayahuasca became a sacrament for several new Brazilian religions. One of these, the Santo Daime, has expanded into Canada, where in 2001 a Montreal-based chapter applied for a federal legal exemption to allow drinking of the brew in its rituals. This dissertation undertakes a critical policy analysis of Health Canada’s decision on the Santo Daime request, using government documents obtained through an Access to Information request as data. My goals are to illustrate how modern stereotypes about “drugs” and “drug abuse” in dominant public and political discourses may hinder well-informed policy decision making about ayahuasca, and to consider how entheogenic practices such as ayahuasca drinking are traditional indigenous ways of knowing that should be valued, rather than reflexively demonized and criminalized. My research method is a critical discourse analysis approach to policy analysis, an eclectic means of demonstrating how language contributes to conceptual frames and political responses to public policy issues. I combine insights from recent research on language, discourse and public policy to show how ayahuasca has become an unexpected policy conundrum for liberal democratic states attempting to balance competing interests of criminal justice, public health, and human rights such as religious freedom. I trace ayahuasca’s trajectory as a contemporary policy concern by sketching histories of psychoactive substance use, today’s international drug control regime, and the discursive foundations of its underlying drug war paradigm. Regarding Health Canada’s 2006 decision “in principle” to recommend exemption for the Daime brew, I critique how the government defined ayahuasca as a policy problem, what policy stakeholders it considered in its decision making, and what knowledge about ayahuasca it used. To conclude, I explore modern schooling’s systemic antipathy to wonder and awe, and propose that policy reforms allowing circumspect use of entheogens such as ayahuasca as cognitive tools may help stimulate re-enchantment and appreciation of the need to address human and planetary ecological predicaments of the 21st century.

Tupper, K. W. (2011). Ayahuasca, entheogenic education & public policy (Doctoral dissertation, University of British Columbia). 10.14288/1.0064622
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Harm potential of magic mushroom use: A review

April 1, 2011 / History, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Other disciplines, Papers, Psychology, Publications, Safety, Sociology, Toxicology / By / , ,

Abstract

In 2007, the Minister of Health of the Netherlands requested the CAM (Coordination point Assessment and Monitoring new drugs) to assess the overall risk of magic mushrooms. The present paper is an updated redraft of the review, written to support the assessment by CAM experts. It summarizes the literature on physical or psychological dependence, acute and chronic toxicity, risk for public health and criminal aspects related to the consumption of magic mushrooms.

In the Netherlands, the prevalence of magic mushroom use was declining since 2000 (last year prevalence of 6.3% in 2000 to 2.9% in 2005), and further declined after possession and use became illegal in December 2008.

The CAM concluded that the physical and psychological dependence potential of magic mushrooms was low, that acute toxicity was moderate, chronic toxicity low and public health and criminal aspects negligible. The combined use of mushrooms and alcohol and the quality of the setting in which magic mushrooms are used deserve, however, attention.

In conclusion, the use of magic mushrooms is relatively safe as only few and relatively mild adverse effects have been reported. The low prevalent but unpredictable provocation of panic attacks and flash-backs remain, however, a point of concern.

van Amsterdam, J., Opperhuizen, A., & van den Brink, W. (2011). Harm potential of magic mushroom use: a review. Regulatory toxicology and pharmacology, 59(3), 423-429. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yrtph.2011.01.006
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Ayahuasca, Salutogenesis and the Need for „Ecological“ Approaches

November 14, 2010 / Ayahuasca, Other disciplines, Other subjects, Papers, Publications, Spirituality / By /

Abstract

In Western science, extraordinary or visionary states of consciousness are traditionally discussed mainly in terms of psychopathology, that is, in the sense of mental disease. This applies even more when they are associated with psychoactive substances such as the herbal decoction Ayahuasca, which are generally called “hallucinogens” with the connotation “not objective, unreal”. However, responsible work with psychoactive herbal decoctions like Ayahuasca – similar to many forms of meditation – has salutogenic potential, i.e. it can enhance physical, mental and spiritual health by calling into play what is referred to as “participating consciousness”. Rigid feeling, thought, and behavioural patterns can unclench, the self can rearrange itself and develop its inner and outer resources more deeply.

The thesis of this article is that for an adequate understanding of these processes, the familiar “linear” thinking no longer suffices, rather, an “ecology of mind” is needed (Bateson 1972), i.e. less divisive, less objectifying explanations which also do not exclude the fundamental paradoxes of human existence. Of course, such approaches occasionally need some getting used to.

In the following, a few basic elements of the ecological approach will be explained (chapter 2). Chapter 3 will then analyze whether or not and to what extent this approach can explain extraordinary states of consciousness better than traditional, linear thinking.

Friczewski, F. (2010). Ayahuasca, Salutogenesis and the Need for „Ecological“ Approaches.

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Abnormal visual experiences in individuals with histories of hallucinogen use: A web-based questionnaire

September 21, 2010 / HPPD, LSD, Neuroscience, Other disciplines, Other subjects, Other substances, Papers, Publications / By / , , , ,

Abstract

Despite longstanding reports of prolonged or reoccurring perceptual changes in a subset of hallucinogen users, very little is known about Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder and related visual abnormalities in hallucinogen users. We used an online questionnaire to document the symptoms and relationship to drug use of unusual visual phenomena in hallucinogen users. 16,192 individuals viewed the information sheet and 2679 were included in the study. Of these, 224 reported having unrelated diagnoses associated with unusual visual experiences and were excluded from main analyses. Most (60.6%) of the remaining 2455 participants reported having experienced drug-free visual experiences that resembled hallucinogen effects. Probability of experiencing constant or near-constant symptoms was predicted by greater past exposure to specific hallucinogens, including lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Although symptoms were common, few (104, or 4.2% of the sample) found them distressing or impairing enough to consider seeking treatment. Visual changes in hallucinogen users may be more common than previously suspected and are worthy of further study.

Baggott, M. J., Coyle, J. R., Erowid, E., Erowid, F., & Robertson, L. C. (2011). Abnormal visual experiences in individuals with histories of hallucinogen use: A web-based questionnaire. Drug and alcohol dependence, 114(1), 61-67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2010.09.006
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The persistence of the subjective in neuropsychopharmacology: observations of contemporary hallucinogen research

February 26, 2010 / Ayahuasca, Cacti / Mescaline, DMT, Iboga / Ibogaine, Ketamine, LSD, MDMA, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Neuroscience, Other disciplines, Other subjects, Other substances, Papers, Psychology, Psychopharmacology, Publications, Salvia / Salvinorin A / By /

Abstract

The elimination of subjectivity through brain research and the replacement of so-called ‘folk psychology’ by a neuroscientifically enlightened worldview and self-conception has been both hoped for and feared. But this cultural revolution is still pending. Based on nine months of fieldwork on the revival of hallucinogen research since the ‘Decade of the Brain,’ this paper examines how subjective experience appears as epistemic object and practical problem in a psychopharmacological laboratory. In the quest for neural correlates of (drug-induced altered states of) consciousness, introspective accounts of test subjects play a crucial role in neuroimaging studies. Firsthand knowledge of the drugs’ flamboyant effects provides researchers with a personal knowledge not communicated in scientific publications, but key to the conduct of their experiments. In many cases, the ‘psychedelic experience’ draws scientists into the field and continues to inspire their self-image and way of life. By exploring these domains the paper points to a persistence of the subjective in contemporary neuropsychopharmacology.

Langlitz, N. (2010). The persistence of the subjective in neuropsychopharmacology: observations of contemporary hallucinogen research. History of Human Sciences, 23(1), 37-57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0952695109352413
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Effects of varied doses of psilocybin on time interval reproduction in human subjects

April 11, 2008 / Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Other disciplines, Other subjects, Papers, Phenomenology, Psychology, Publications / By / , , ,

Abstract

Action of a hallucinogenic substance, psilocybin, on internal time representation was investigated in two double-blind, placebo-controlled studies: Experiment 1 with 12 subjects and graded doses, and Experiment 2 with 9 subjects and a very low dose. The task consisted in repeated reproductions of time intervals in the range from 1.5 to 5 s. The effects were assessed by parameter κκ of the ‘dual klepsydra’ model of internal time representation, fitted to individual response data and intra-individually normalized with respect to initial values. The estimates View the MathML sourceκˆ were in the same order of magnitude as in earlier studies. In both experiments, κκ was significantly increased by psilocybin at 90 min from the drug intake, indicating a higher loss rate of the internal duration representation. These findings are tentatively linked to qualitative alterations of subjective time in altered states of consciousness.

Wackermann, J., Wittmann, M., Hasler, F., & Vollenweider, F. X. (2008). Effects of varied doses of psilocybin on time interval reproduction in human subjects. Neuroscience letters, 435(1), 51-55. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2008.02.006
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Land of the Living Sky with Diamonds: A Place for Radical Psychiatry?

October 1, 2007 / LSD, Other disciplines, Papers, Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Publications / By /

Abstract

Dr. Humphry Osmond first published the term “psychedelic” in 1957 as a result of an extensive set of clinical investigations with d-lysergic acid diethylmide (LSD) that took place in Saskatchewan in the 1950s. In the post-World War Two period, Saskatchewan became an attractive destination for medical, and in this case psychiatric, researchers who wanted to pursue theoretical and practical investigations that challenged disciplinary boundaries and critically examined the relationship between medicine and the state. Partly as a result of Saskatchewan’s post-war political culture, the province became an intellectual sanctuary for medical experimentation that in some other contexts did not gain currency because it appeared too radical. This essay examines the way that psychedelic psychiatry emerged in that province and argues that the social, cultural and political environment in post-war Saskatchewan played a significant role in attracting researchers and supporting LSD research.

Dyck, E. (2007). Land of the living sky with diamonds: A place for radical psychiatry?. Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d’études canadiennes, 41(3), 42-66.
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30 April - Q&A with Rick Strassman

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