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Anthropology & Sociology

Peyote’s Race Problem

April 29, 2018 / Anthropology & Sociology, Mescaline / Cacti, Papers, Publications / By /

Abstract

In the years since peyote became a controlled substance in Mexico and the US, a steady stream of advocates and activists have laid claim to two types of exemption, rooted in both US Law (the First Amendment) and International Law (the 1971 Vienna Convention on Psychotropic Drugs). Indigenous peyotists in particular have been largely successful in making a claim to a legal right to be exempt from national prohibitions on peyote possession and consumption. This has represented a significant advance in indigenous rights, yet in both contexts it has had the unpleasant effect of signaling that a drug that is otherwise so dangerous as to be prohibited should be permitted for Indians, because they are somehow essentially different from all other citizens. This, then, is Peyote’s Race Problem. The ways in which we have created a legal framework that makes peyote use licit among indigenous peoples has hardened a certain notion of profound, an unalterable difference to the point that Indian bodies are said to be incommensurably different from the bodies of others who might desire to consume peyote, but for whom it is deemed too dangerous. This notion of difference has been exacerbated by the increasing scarcity of peyote in the US and Mexico, which as further racialized the spaces where peyote grows.

Dawson, A. (2018). Peyote’s race problem. Plant Medicines, Healing and Psychedelic Science: Cultural Perspectives, 19-35. 10.1007/978-3-319-76720-8_2
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The Use of Salvia divinorum from a Mazatec Perspective

October 22, 2024 / Anthropology & Sociology, Salvia / Salvinorin A, Scienitific Discipline, Substance / By /

Abstract

Salvia divinorum is a medicinal and psychoactive plant endemic to the Sierra Madre Oriental of Oaxaca, Mexico. The Mazatec people have been using the leaves for centuries in ceremonies for its psychoactive properties and as a treatment for arthritis and inflammation, gastrointestinal problems, headaches, and addictions, among other uses. The active principle of Salvia divinorum, the terpene salvinorin A, is a uniquely potent and highly selective kappa-opioid receptor agonist and, as such, has enormous potential for the development of valuable medications. Among them, the most promising include safe and nonaddictive analgesics, neuroprotectors, short-acting anesthetics that do not depress respiration, antidepressants, anti-inflammatories, medications for the treatment of addiction to stimulants and alcohol, and drugs to treat disorders characterized by alterations in perception. The Mazatec consider Salvia divinorum to be a very powerful plant spirit that should be treated with utmost respect, and the preparation for the ceremony requires a strict regimen. They chew the fresh leaves at night while chanting and praying. In the Western use, the dry leaves are potentiated in extracts to be smoked. A lack of information about the appropriate doses and other considerations while smoking the extracts could result in overwhelming experiences due to the high potency and fast onset of the substance. For the Mazatec, smoking the plant is not the preferred mode. How could we create a bridge between the two perspectives? In this chapter, I will try to clarify the best ways to use Salvia divinorum for medicinal, psychotherapeutic, and inner exploration purposes.

Maqueda, A. E. (2018). The Use of Salvia divinorum from a Mazatec Perspective. Plant Medicines, Healing and Psychedelic Science: Cultural Perspectives, 55-70. 10.1007/978-3-319-76720-8_4
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Does psychedelic drug use reduce risk of suicidality? Evidence from a longitudinal community-based cohort of marginalised women in a Canadian setting

September 21, 2017 / Anthropology & Sociology, Depressive Disorders, Papers, Psychology, Publications, Substance Use Disorder / By / , , , , ,

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:
This study aimed to longitudinally investigate whether ever having used a psychedelic drug can have a protective effect on incidence of suicidality among marginalised women.
DESIGN:
Longitudinal community-based cohort study.
SETTING:
Data were drawn from a prospective, community-based cohort of marginalised women in Metro Vancouver, Canada.
PARTICIPANTS:
766 women completed the baseline questionnaire between January 2010 and August 2014. Participants who did not report suicidality at baseline and who completed at least one follow-up visit were included.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE:
Extended Cox regression was used to model predictors of new suicidality (suicide ideation or attempts) over 54-month follow-up.
RESULTS:
Nearly half (46%; n=355) of participants reported prior suicidality and were thus excluded from the present analyses. Of 290 women eligible at baseline, 11% (n=31) reported recent suicidality during follow-up, with an incidence density of 4.42 per 100 person-years (95% CI 3.10 to 6.30). In multivariable analysis, reported lifetime psychedelic drug use was associated with a 60% reduced hazard for suicidality (adjusted HR (AHR) 0.40; 95% CI 0.17 to 0.94). Crystal methamphetamine use (AHR 3.25; 95% CI 1.47 to 7.21) and childhood abuse (AHR 3.54; 95% CI 1.49 to 8.40) remained independent predictors of suicidality.
CONCLUSION:
The high rate of suicidality identified in this study is of major concern. Alongside emerging evidence on the potential of psychedelic-assisted therapy to treat some mental illness and addiction issues, our findings demonstrate that naturalistic psychedelic drug use is independently associated with reduced suicidality, while other illicit drug use and childhood trauma predispose women to suicidality. While observational, this study supports calls for further investigation of the therapeutic utility of psychedelic drugs in treating poor mental health and promoting mental wellness.
Argento, E., Strathdee, S. A., Tupper, K., Braschel, M., Wood, E., & Shannon, K. (2017). Does psychedelic drug use reduce risk of suicidality? Evidence from a longitudinal community-based cohort of marginalised women in a Canadian setting. BMJ open, 7(9), e016025. 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016025
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Mystical mobilities and entheogenic Latin America

September 10, 2024 / Anthropology & Sociology, Ayahuasca, Mescaline / Cacti, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Papers, Publications, Scienitific Discipline / By /

Abstract

In this paper, I seek to explore the concept of mystical mobility as a way of addressing travelling and thus using mobility resources that go beyond the transport agenda. I propose to address innovative paths and research questions by discussing alternative cultural geographies in order to seriously reconsider the concept of mobility in a broad sense. The work aims to introduce the notion of ‘mystical mobility’ and its relationship with entheogens (i.e. psychoactive substances) as a new component of mobility studies, also considering how physical and mystical trips are (or are not) combined.
Giucci, G. (2017). Mystical mobilities and entheogenic Latin America. The Journal of Transport History, 0022526617731482.
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Psychedelic pleasures: An affective understanding of the joys of tripping

September 13, 2017 / Anthropology & Sociology, LSD, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Papers, Philosophy & Religious Studies, Psychology, Publications / By /

Abstract

BACKGROUND:
This paper considers the pleasures of psychedelic drugs and proposes a Deleuzian understanding of drugged pleasures as affects. In spite of a large body of work on psychedelics, not least on their therapeutic potentials, the literature is almost completely devoid of discussions of the recreational practices and pleasures of entheogenic drugs. Yet, most people do not use psychedelics because of their curative powers, but because they are fun and enjoyable ways to alter the experience of reality.
METHODS:
In the analytical part of the paper, I examine 100 trip reports from an internet forum in order to explore the pleasures of tripping.
RESULTS:
The analyses map out how drugs such as LSD and mushrooms – in combination with contextual factors such as other people, music and nature – give rise to a set of affective modifications of the drug user’s capacities to feel, sense and act.
CONCLUSION:
In conclusion it is argued that taking seriously the large group of recreational users of hallucinogens is important not only because it broadens our understanding of how entheogenic drugs work in different bodies and settings, but also because it may enable a more productive and harm reductive transmission of knowledge between the scientific and recreational psychedelic communities.
Bøhling, F. (2017). Psychedelic pleasures: An affective understanding of the joys of tripping. International Journal of Drug Policy, 49, 133-143. 10.1016/j.drugpo.2017.07.017
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Psychoactive substances as a last resort—a qualitative study of self-treatment of migraine and cluster headaches

September 5, 2017 / Anthropology & Sociology, Headache Pain and Neurological Disorders, LSD, Mushrooms / Psilocybin, Papers, Psychology / By / , ,

Abstract

Background

Treatment resistant cluster headache and migraine patients are exploring alternative treatments online. The aim of this study was to improve comprehension regarding the use of non-established or alternative pharmacological treatments used by sufferers of cluster headaches and migraines.

Methods

A qualitative thematic analysis of the users’ own accounts presented in online forum discussions were conducted. The forum boards https://shroomery.org/, http://bluelight.org, and https://clusterbusters.org/ met the inclusion criteria and were used for the study.

Results

The analysis resulted in six themes: a desperate need for effective treatments; the role of the forum—finding alternative treatments and community support; alternative treatment substances; dosage and regimens; effects and treatment results; and adverse effects. The results provide an insight into why, how, and by which substances and methods sufferers seek relief from cluster headache and migraines.

Conclusions

These patients are in a desperate and vulnerable situation, and illicit psychoactive substances are often considered a last resort. There appeared to be little or no interest in psychoactive effects per se as these were rather tolerated or avoided by using sub-psychoactive doses. Primarily, psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide, and related psychedelic tryptamines were reportedly effective for both prophylactic and acute treatment of cluster headache and migraines. Treatment results with cannabis were more unpredictable. No severe adverse events were reported, but it was observed how desperation sometimes spurred risky behavior when obtaining and testing various treatment alternatives. The forum discourse mainly revolved around maximizing treatment results and minimizing potential harms.

Andersson, M., Persson, M., & Kjellgren, A. (2017). Psychoactive substances as a last resort—a qualitative study of self-treatment of migraine and cluster headaches. Harm Reduction Journal, 14(1), 60. 10.1186/s12954-017-0186-6

The 2017 Ayahuasca Technical Report

July 26, 2017 / Anthropology & Sociology, Anxiety Disorders / PTSD, Ayahuasca, Biology & Ethnobotany, Neuroscience, Papers, Psychiatry & Medicine, Psychology, Publications, Substance Use Disorder / By

ICEERS has just released the 2017 edition of the Ayahuasca Technical Report. Signed by ten of the world’s leading ayahuasca researchers, this report is an important document that summarizes the most relevant scientific findings from the past few decades, as well as key information about the history, legality, pharmacology, and potential therapeutic or adverse effects of ayahuasca. Our intention with this report is to provide objective and up-to-date information to policy makers, judges, lawyers and other officials in charge of developing policies, programs, legislation or involved in legal cases relating to ayahuasca.
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From rau to sacred plants: Transfigurations of shamanic agency among the Siona Indians of Colombia

September 10, 2024 / Anthropology & Sociology, Papers, Scienitific Discipline / By /

Abstract

Translations of the native notion of shamanic agency of the Siona Indians of Colombia is explored throughout different historical and social contexts. The polysemic concept rau is central to the shaman’s capacity for establishing relations of exchange and negotiation with humans and non-humans. As the embodiment of his power, it fits within a semantic field that conveys the waxing and waning of life cycles. Sharing a series of qualities with the Melanesian concept of mana, rau should be understood as a social phenomenon whose use and meaning has transfigured through time and space. However, unlike the globalization of new mana, the important notion of Siona shamanic agency has been substituted by representations of the ritual substance of yajé as key symbol for power and knowledge as Siona rituals have been revitalized in their dialogue with the ethnic identity movement and the neo-shamanic network that associates sacred plants with primordial knowledge and agency.
Langdon, E. J. (2017). From rau to sacred plants: Transfigurations of shamanic agency among the Siona Indians of Colombia. Social Compass, 64(3), 343-359. 10.1177/0037768617713654
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The State of the Arts of the Study of Indigenous Religious Traditions in South America

September 10, 2024 / Anthropology & Sociology, Ayahuasca, Biology & Ethnobotany, Papers, Scienitific Discipline / By /

Abstract

This article reviews the principal tendencies in the contemporary studies of indigenous South American religious traditions. It divides the field into studies of socioreligious formations (particularistic and universalistic formations, more specifically) and studies of cosmologies or worldviews (so-called perspectivism). It then discusses two recent, pioneering biographies of South American shamans which, more than any other in the field, offer original approaches to understanding shamanic historical consciousness, cosmopolitics, the constant struggles of shamanic spirits to sustain the cosmos against sorcery spirits that threaten to undermine the cosmic order.

Wright, R. M. (2017). The State of the Arts of the Study of Indigenous Religious Traditions in South America. International Journal of Latin American Religions, 1-15. 10.1007/s41603-017-0002-9
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Shaping Strong People: Napo Runa Therapeutic Narratives of Medicinal Plant Use

December 31, 2016 / Anthropology & Sociology, Biology & Ethnobotany, Papers, Publications / By /

Abstract

Indigenous people living in contemporary Upper Amazonia marshal their ethnomedical knowledge and praxis to greet pressing challenges and to derive meaning from phenomena operating at wider scales of influence. In this chapter, I provide ethnographic examples of how Napo Runa deploy subaltern therapeutic narratives about medicinal plant use that contest violence they experience in their everyday lives and that reaffirm the purpose and consequences of social circulation of medicinal plants. These therapeutic narratives situate bodies in contexts of lived experience by drawing on historical, social–political, and environmental realties of the people crafting them. Here, ethnomedical knowledge is leveraged to contend with transnational processes that have direct and dangerous impacts on individual bodies. This work seeks not only to document how Napo Runa use plants to promote health and well-being but also to demonstrate that how they talk about their plant use illustrates their resistance to everyday forms of violence.

Bridges, N. C. (2016). Shaping Strong People: Napo Runa Therapeutic Narratives of Medicinal Plant Use. In Plants and Health (pp. 93-116). Springer International Publishing. 10.1007/978-3-319-48088-6_4

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