New Research Suggests Marijuana is NOT Gateway Drug as Believed

New Study disproves old Propaganda that Pot Leads to "Harder" Drugs

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) once told us that "marijuana users are 8 times more likely to have used cocaine, 15 times more likely to have used heroin, and 5 times more likely to develop a need for treatment of abuse or dependence on ANY drug." These statistics, according to the ONDCP, prove that marijuana is a gateway to the use of other drugs. But new research proves that these numbers are slanted and taken out of context.

The Journal of Health and Social Behavior, found that Marijuana is not a “gateway” drug, as was supposed according to long-held beliefs that marijuana leads to the much more dangerous drugs such as meth, ecstasy, cocaine and heroin.

The study’s findings called into question the six decade long belief that has shaped prevention efforts and governmental policy and caused many a parent to panic upon finding a bag of weed in their kid’s bedroom.

These new findings are drawn from conclusions of an extensive 12-year University of Pittsburgh study, which followed 1,286 young adults who attended public schools. Twenty-six per cent were African American, 30 per cent were white and 44 per cent were Hispanic.

The Journal believes that other factors, such as whether or not a person has a job or is facing severe stress, are far more predictive of future hard drug use than whether they smoked pot.

The studies showed that young adults who didn't complete high school or go to college were more likely to use marijuana and other drugs as teens who studied, got good grades and focused on their education.

The studies also linked those who were not working after high school with being more likely to use harder drugs.

"In light of these findings, we urge U.S. drug control policymakers to consider stress and life-course approaches in their pursuit of solutions to the drug problems," write the study's authors, Van Gundy and Cesar Rebellon, both associate professors of sociology at UNH.

While those who smoked marijuana as teens were more likely to move on the harder drugs while they were still young, findings show that  this “gateway effect” decreased as they got older and disappeared altogether once teens reach young adulthood at age 21.

Researcher Karen Van Gundy, a sociologist at the University of New Hampshire, shared: “We were somewhat surprised to find the gateway effect wasn’t that strong during the transition to adulthood. It really didn’t matter if someone used marijuana or not as a teen.”

It appears that drug use can be linked more to stress, such as from failure to graduate or find a job. This implies that anti-drug efforts should be geared towards keeping kids in school and ensuring that they have opportunities for employment, rather than threatening them with punishment.

It did come to a surprise for many however, that according to the study, the most important factor influencing illicit drug use is an individual's race or ethnicity, considering whites are most likely to use harder drugs such as heroin or cocaine, followed by Hispanics and then by African Americans.

Example of old anti-marijuana propaganda

But, back to the figures of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) propaganda telling us that "marijuana users are 8 times more likely to have used cocaine, 15 times more likely to have used heroin, and 5 times more likely to develop a need for treatment of abuse or dependence on ANY drug." How do these figures fit into the equation? What do these statistics tell us about the gateway affect? 

What is actually going on is that people have different toleration of and requirements for, taking risks. Those who will engage in a high risk behavior are naturally more likely to engage in lower risk behaviors. So, the ONDCP declaration that "99 percent of those who use other drugs will have begun by smoking a little weed"  is a natural and logical progression of people who are prone to risky behavior.

Just as 99 percent of the people who jump out of airplanes probably started out by flying in them first doesn't mean that most people who fly in planes will end up jumping out of them, if most people who use heroin started out smoking pot doesn't meant that most people who smoke pot will end up using heroin.

When it comes to marijuana as a gateway to other drugs, of all people who have tried marijuana, less than one third will try cocaine or hallucinogens, and less than four percent of marijuana smokers will try heroin.

Have you ever believed that marijuana was a Gateway Drug? Or do you believe that the government fabricated this myth as an excuse for marijuana persecution? Do you believe that race or economics are more important factors for people to start using harder drugs? Let Addicts Not Anonymous readers know what you think with a comment, bellow.

Written By: Tom Retterbush
Email: tomretterbush@gmail.com
Updated: 5-16-12

You may also be interested in reading my new article, The End of a 40 Year Old Drug War Conspiracy is finally in Sight, from Sunday, June 19, 2011, on Conspiracy Watch.

Marijuana Myths Marijuana Facts:

A Review Of The Scientific Evidence 

This is a well-written, extremely informative book about both medicinal and recreational use of marijuana. Before reading the book, you are either one of the five percent of Americans who smokes pot or you aren't. The people who need to read this book (parents, elected officials, educators, etc.) most likely either won't read it or dismiss it as pro-pot propaganda. While marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug, I think it will be several decades before public opinion changes in favor of legalizing this drug, whose benefits are greater than alcohol and cigarettes, yet whose harms are negligible by comparison. 

Buy Directly from Amazon.com, for Best Price $1.84, or New for $19.95, HERE

Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? 

"In this thoroughly documented account, Fox, Armentano, and Tvert have performed a public service. They have pulled the sheet off the lie that gave us marijuana prohibition. In truth, it turns out 'The Devil Weed' is safer than alcohol. If that shocks you, you better read this book. It could be a game changer."-- Mike Gray, author of Drug Crazy 

Buy Directly from Amazon.com, for Best Price $6.00, or New for $10.17, HERE

The "Totally" Ecstasy Experience

Almost Everyone who has ever tried Ecstasy has had the same experience

Because it is so consistent in a way that previous psychedelic drugs have not been, Ecstasy is not frightening for most users. Ecstasy opens the doors of perception just enough to allow a little exploration, without the blinding, terrifying intensity of LSD, mescaline or even psilocybin.



The Ecstasy Experience can be very Spiritual. 

For many, Ecstasy is a way to open up and express feelings for which they don't otherwise have the courage, nerves or words. For others it's just plain fun.

Most teenagers and young adults today take Ecstasy to rave. Raves are often all weekend events held in clubs, warehouses or outdoor settings and open fields. Most any music sounds great on Ecstasy, but all-night high-energy dance parties of techno, hardcore and trance music rules at raves. The atmosphere is usually friendly and peaceful, while the mood is well captured by the rave motto, P.L.U.R., or "Peace, Love, Understanding and Respect". In the dark clubs, the enchanting atmosphere is enhanced with lasers, strobe lights, glow sticks and artificial fog.

There are a lot of other slang terms for Ecstasy, which is really MDMA, for example you might also hear it called E, XTC, X, Adam, hug, beans, clarity, lover's speed and love drug.

Ecstasy pills bought at the rave typically cost between between 10 and 25 dollars. The tablets of MDMA are stamped with distinctive logos of unicorns, elephants, moons, stars or other trending designs. This is because MDMA manufacturers and dealers want to promote their brand and regular customers.  

The History of MDMA - from Adam to Ecstasy 

MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine), better known today as Ecstasy, was first synthesized in 1912 by the German pharmaceutical company Merck.

MDMA's parent and longer-acting metabolite, MDA (3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine) was one of a number of agents used in clandestine US military research during the 1950s and in CIA's Project MK-Ultra, which was investigating new techniques of brainwashing, espionage and mind-control. It also became popular as "the love drug" in the counterculture of the 1960s.

Ecstasy first gained prominence in the late 1970s when the legendary Californian psychedelic chemist Alexander ("Sasha") Shulgin synthesized and taste-tested MDMA at incrementally ascending doses. The effects of a 120mg dose of MDMA are recorded in Dr Shulgin's lab-notes (Sept 1976):

"I feel absolutely clean inside, and there is nothing but pure euphoria. I have never felt so great or believed this to be possible. The cleanliness, clarity, and marvelous feeling of solid inner strength continued throughout the rest of the day and evening. I am overcome by the profundity of the experience..."

Later, in 1991, Dr Shulgin and his wife Ann published Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story, which describes the synthesis and systematic testing on human subjects of a range of novel or neglected phenethylamine research drugs. 

By the early 1980s, over a thousand private psychotherapists in the USA were using MDMA in their clinical practice. MDMA was commonly known as "Adam", an allusion to "being returned to the natural state of innocence before guilt, shame and unworthiness arose". MDMA was used discreetly; no one wanted a re-run of the 60s. Dr Shulgin himself reportedly felt MDMA came closest to fulfilling his ambition of finding the perfect psychotherapeutic drug.

Inevitably word leaked out. MDMA was profiled by the San Francisco Chronicle as "The Yuppie Psychedelic" (June 1984). In Newsweek, "High on 'Ecstasy" (April 1985) J Adler, paralleled his MDMA experience to "a year of therapy in two hours". Harpers Bazaar described MDMA as "the hottest thing in the continuing search for happiness through chemistry".

In the early 1980s, American production of MDMA beyond the research laboratory was effectively controlled by chemists known as the "Boston Group".  Mass-production of MDMA soon mushroomed. Ecstasy was distributed openly in bars and nightclubs in Dallas and Fort Worth. It could be purchased via toll-free 800-numbers by credit card. The drug was even marketed via pyramid-style selling-schemes. Ecstasy could be bought in little bottles at convenience stores under the label "Sassyfras".

The DEA reacted by petitioning to have MDMA banned altogether. In 1985 the drug-warriors succeeded in having MDMA made Schedule One, the most restricted of all drug categories. MDMA had allegedly "no legitimate medical use or manufacturer" in the USA and it carried a "high potential for abuse". But by then MDMA's fame had already spread to Europe. MDMA had metamorphosed from "Adam", the psychotherapeutic tool, to "Ecstasy", the party drug.

Soon production and distribution of the world's leading empathogen-entactogen fell into the hands of organised crime. By the turn of the millennium, perhaps 80-90% of the world's MDMA was manufactured in Belgium and the Netherlands. 

Early in the twenty-first century, an estimated several million people worldwide were taking Ecstasy and allied research chemicals each month on college campuses, in high schools and on dance-floors. Purity varies; perhaps 10%-15% of tablets consumed contain MDMA as the sole active ingredient. Illicit knowledge of the "penicillin of the soul" is spreading rapidly around the world, but in corrupt and contaminated form.

The Ecstasy Experience

Pure MDMA salt is a white crystalline solid. It looks white and tastes bitter. The optimal adult dose ranges from perhaps 75mg to as much as 250mg. Pills sold in clubs often contain less. There are gender differences in response; proportionately to body-weight, women are normally more sensitive than men to the effects of Ecstasy, so their optimal dosage may be lower. MDMA is usually taken orally as a tablet, a capsule, or a powder. More rarely, the drug is snorted, smoked or injected. 



First-time Ecstasy users occasionally feel confused or anxious before dopamine-release kicks in. A slight hint of nausea is common when coming up. The user's peak experience or plateau phase after the elating dopamine "rush" doesn't last much more than ninety minutes to two hours. Though MDMA's primary effects wear off after only three or four hours, there could be a lingering sleeplessnes that can continue as long as eight to twelve hours, depending on the amount and quality taken.

Central to the Ecstasy experience is a warm-hearted, loving, connected, live-and-let live feeling. It enables a person to open up socially, emotionally and spiritually.

Ecstasy has been described as a drug that "could be all things to all people" (Dr Shulgin). Even so, MDMA's primary effects on the user are surprisingly consistent, unlike the wilder psychedelics such as LSD, psilocybin, or DMT.

Ecstasy may feel mystical, magical or sublime; but it doesn't feel weird. The drug's influence feels highly controllable. It tends to enrich the user's sense of self-identity, not diminish it.  Users feel they can introspectively "touch inside" to their ideal authentic self with total emotional self-honesty.

As well as acting as a "gateway to the soul", MDMA "opens up the heart". Taking Ecstasy induces an amazing feeling of closeness and connectedness to one's fellow human beings. MDMA triggers intense emotional release beyond the bounds of everyday experience. The drug also enhances the felt intensity of the senses - most exquisitely perhaps the sense of touch. The body-image looks and feels wonderful. Other people look and feel wonderful too. Minutes after dropping a pill, a lifetime of Judaeo-Christian guilt, shame or disgust at the flesh melt away to oblivion.

Ecstasy is sensuous and sensual in its effects without being distinctively sexual. Although once dubbed "lover's speed", MDMA is proverbially more of a hugdrug than a lovedrug: "I kissed someone I was in love with and almost felt as if I was going to pass out from the intensity", recalls one American clubber.

However, MDMA's capacity to dissolve a lifetime's social inhibitions, prudery and sexual hang-ups means that lovemaking while under its spell is not uncommon. Superfluous clothes tend to get shed.

To increase MDMA-induced sexual performance, many Romeos increasingly combine Ecstasy with Viagra. Calling it "Sexstasy," unless carefully premeditated this is not a recipe for safe sex, as MDMA may sometimes cause "inappropriate bonding". Caution should be exercised before taking it with ex-girlfriends, boyfriends or culturally inappropriate love-objects.

When Ecstasy is taken outdoors, the natural world seems vibrant and awe-inspiring, perhaps even enchanted. The experience of colour is gorgeously intensified. On MDMA, Dr Shulgin reported how mountains he'd observed many times before appeared to be so beautiful that he could barely stand looking at them. Ecstasy is not normally used by spiritual practitioners of widely diverse beliefs as a gateway to the divine like psylocibin or mescalin, but some Ecstasy users undergo life-changing spiritual experiences.

Nicholas Saunders, author of the book, E for Ecstasy, writes about a Benedictine monk who finds Ecstasy "opens up a direct channel to God". MDMA may not be "Christ in (al)chemical form", but if it had been present in the Eucharist, then they would all still be devout Christians, possibly for ever. A minority of first-time Ecstasy users undergo what the inventor of the Shulgin scale named a "Plus Four."

Plus Four is a transcendental state often called a "peak experience," a "religious experience," "divine transformation," a "state of Samadhi" and many other names in other cultures. It is a state of bliss, a participation mystique, a connectedness with both the interior and exterior universes, which has come about after the ingestion of a psychedelic drug, but which is not necessarily repeatable with a subsequent ingestion of the same drug such as LSD or MDMA. If a drug (or technique or process) were ever to be discovered which would consistently produce a Plus Four experience in all human beings, it is conceivable that it would signal the ultimate evolution, and perhaps the end of human suffering.

Plus Four experiences are rare, today. But on MDMA, even the most jaded and world-weary soul with a tin-ear for poetry may "see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour."

On pure MDMA, subjects feel at peace with themselves and the world. They discover an enhanced sense of self-worth, self-forgiveness and complete self-acceptance. Cynical thoughts and negative feelings disappear. Aspects of life normally too sensitive to talk about can be explored freely. Heightened feeling allows long-forgotten and repressed emotional memories from childhood to be retrieved with unusual ease. In some settings, painful, highly-charged and even hitherto unmentionable problems may be discussed with (rose-tinted) candour. On MDMA, a lifetime of accumulated psychological barriers and defence-mechanisms often go down, somehow magicked out of existence with the pill. Ingrained anger, irritability and fear dissolve if only for a few hours. Like LSD, psylosybin and mescalin users, Ecstasy users tell each other affectionately what beautiful people they are; and they do so from the depths of their hearts.

The Dangers of the State of Mind during Ecstasy Use

The clarity and unique psychological effects of MDMA can be impaired by ethyl alcohol. Thus MDMA is best taken while completely sober, though a modest drink later to ease any comedown may be useful.

MDMA is sometimes described as a cross between an amphetamine stimulant and a mild hallucinogen. Since it does include a methoxylated amphetamine, MDMA is structurally related to mescaline.  

An important concept in the use of mind-altering drugs, particularly the psychedelics, is the state of mind of the user and the circumstances in which he or she is taking the drug. The setting, mood and frame of mind the users find themselves in will determine the quality of their experiences.

If someone takes Ecstasy while upset, sad or angry in a hostile or unpleasant environment, the person is much more likely to have an unpleasant trip than if he or she had stayed at home and taken it with someone they love. Ecstasy is nowhere near as dangerous in this aspect as drugs like LSD, psilocybin or mescaline, but it is not completely safe either.

The Therapeutic Uses of Ecstasy

Before the Orwellian-sounding Drug Enforcement Administration [DEA] placed MDMA on Schedule 1 of controlled substances, professional therapists in the USA found MDMA a valuable tool for counselling and marriage-guidance sessions. MDMA's capacity to induce empathetic bliss, heightened introspection and an increased ability and desire to communicate feelings can create a rapport with the therapist and accelerate a successful outcome. MDMA acts to boost self-esteem and self-confidence, while paradoxically diminishing egotism. The user's sense of social isolation vanishes. "I love the world and the world loves me", affirmed one beneficiary of MDMA-assisted therapy.

On a more sceptical note, it's hard scientifically to validate claims of long-lasting therapeutic success. For MDMA's stunning short-term results make double-blind, placebo-controlled trials effectively impossible. Such a problem doesn't always bedevil today's lame "antidepressants", the results of whose trials often struggle to reach statistical significance. Investigational drugs are lab-tested by Big Pharma to discover whether or not non-human animals will self-administer them. Candidate compounds are normally discarded if the animals do so, arguably a perverse route to uncovering antidepressants with good clinical efficacy and high patient compliance. By contrast, MDMA is a warm, fast-acting, non-sedating mood-enricher that banishes social anxiety and physical pain alike. Unlike opioids or the anxiolytic benzodiazepines, MDMA doesn't cloud consciousness even at relatively high doses. This doesn't stop less cerebrally-inclined ravers from getting "cabbaged" by swallowing pills all weekend.

Explored in a controlled setting, MDMA can be therapeutic for victims of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). A minority of subjects find they enjoy the experience too much to focus on the emotional baggage of the past. Sessions are most likely to be productive with an experienced MDMA therapist. In the Prohibitionist era, MDMA-assisted therapy-sessions are rare.

Against formidable odds, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) has been seeking funding and FDA-approval for controlled trials of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. If these trials are successful, then MAPS hopes that MDMA could eventually become a prescription-medicine. For on MDMA, many traumatized or seemingly emotionally frigid people who can never otherwise speak about their innermost fears and feelings find they can spontaneously open up. There is no compulsion to talk - just a dissipation of the social anxieties that make us normally tight-lipped.

Functional analogues of MDMA may one day be employed in other kinds of insight-oriented therapy as well. Safe, long-acting MDMA analogues may prove therapeutic in the treatment of social phobia, eating disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Though the potential for using Ecstasy in psychiatry, psychology and psychotherapy seems enormous, it is the duration of the drug's effects that present a real problem for most practitioners. Since most psychiatrists, psychologists and therapists are bound by a sixty-minute-session routine with their patients, the peak effects of MDMA which last from four to six hours are not a very appealing prospect for most doctors. It would primarily only be useful for practitioners in a hospital setting, where the patient could be observed, studied and/or treated by a staff for longer periods.

However, some of the few doctors who went the extra mile with their patients have found it so useful, as to say that a single session with MDMA can achieve more than months of therapy for a few patients.

Longterm Effects of Ecstasy Use

Newspapers have often been very quick to publicise the fact that Ecstasy has caused reactions in a tiny number of people that have led to death. It has been conservatively estimated that this represents a single death per year for every 3.5 million users. In fact, the first report of an ecstasy-related death didn’t come until after criminalization, in 1985. Therefore, you are more likely to win the National Lottery jackpot than you are to die from taking an ecstasy tablet.

Compare these statistics with the equivalent for the drugs we use legally. Every year 20,000 die alcohol related deaths. This does not include those people who die in accidents or alcohol fueled violence. Emergency-room statistics for alcohol versus ecstasy show a similar trend - many more people get into trouble on alcohol than on Ecstasy.

However, sometimes "Ecstasy" doesn't contain MDMA at all, but MDA; MDEA (3,4-methylenedioxyethyl- amphetamine: "Eve"); 2-CB (4-Bromo-2,5 Dimethoxyphenethyla- mine: ''Nexus", "Venus", "Bromo"); 2C-I; PMA (paramethoxyamphetamine); amphetamine ("speed"); ephedrine; pseudoephedrine; caffeine; the dissociative anaesthetic ketamine ("Special K"); DXM (dextromethorphan); GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate: "liquid ecstasy"); or some combination thereof. This list is far from exhaustive. A minority of psychologically robust or reckless clubbers purposely mix MDMA with LSD ("candyflipping") to impart a "warm, loving glow" to their acid trips. Or they "hippieflip" with psilocybin mushrooms; or "kittyflip" with ketamine.

Marijuana is widely smoked as well. Ravers who want to dance all night may prefer Ecstasy laced with speed; a sub-neurotoxic dose of MDMA can be made toxic by adding (+)-amphetamine. To outsiders, Ecstasy-fuelled raving might seem pointless, mindless partying. But either way, chronic heavy use of the methoxylated amphetamines or any other "club-drug" poses risks to the user's health.

Still, there is a lot of confusion surrounding the effects long term Ecstasy use may have on the brain. Though depression, anxiety, panic attacks, memory loss and increased hostile and impulsive behaviour is usually linked to long term Ecstasy use, this is not compatible with evidence, since repeated studies have indicated that Ecstasy users are in fact less hostile and impulsive than control groups. However, these are the only functional and behavioural changes that surveys have confirmed, we still don't know how alterations in brain chemistry will affect users in later life.

No compelling evidence exists that taking a single c.125mg dose of MDMA a few times or so a year is likely to cause any long-term harm to the user's mental or physical health. Nevertheless, even pharmaceutical-grade Ecstasy taken at moderate doses in optimal conditions is not a wholly benign drug. Beyond warm memories, this afterglow may in part be explained by MDMA's residual amphetamine metabolic by-products: MDMA itself has a long, 8-9 hour elimination half-life from the blood; and its main metabolite's longer-acting, less stimulating (-)-MDA enantiomer has 5-HT2A activating effects resembling low-grade LSD. But two days or so after taking Ecstasy, most users experience a ten day or more serotonin dip. The dip ranges from the almost imperceptible to the markedly unpleasant.  

Excessive Ecstasy intake triggers oxidative damage to the user's serotonergic nerve cell fine axon terminal lipids and proteins via the production of toxic free radicals. However, the threshold dose for any lasting MDMA-induced toxicity is unknown; and the identity and precise mechanism of the chemical(s) causing the oxidative stress is unclear. The issue is also controversial.  

Conclusion 

Whatever the mechanism at work, most users eventually stop taking MDMA. They do so after either they find the E-magic wears off, or the unwanted side-effects of heavy E-use begin to outweigh its joys. 

MDMA users may find the magic of the initial drug-induced euphoria tends to fade with frequent use. For most users, a magical drug becomes just a feel-good drug. Adverse side-effects tend to become more troublesome. Higher doses are needed to gain the same effect. Users often claim that "the E isn't as pure as it used to be" or that the tablets are weaker. Pharmacodynamic tolerance to a drug is normally reversible, yet some users of Ecstasy report they never quite recapture the initial ecstatic euphoria, even if they abstain for a year or more. Researchers are still unsure if this fade-off is a symptom of long-term neuroadaptation or serotonergic damage.

Currently the risk-benefit analysis of taking or missing out on MDMA is questionable. Even some heavy Ecstasy users claim they don't experience any long-term adverse effects. Probably the gravest threat to the long-term emotional and physical health of the user is getting caught up in the criminal justice system.

Victims of the law-enforcement agencies frequently suffer long-term neuropathological changes. Lowered serotonin levels, elevated cortisol, confusion, depression, sleep problems, severe anxiety, and paranoia are common. In some cases, the neurological damage may be permanent. Currently around 500,000 "drug-offenders" languish in American jails alone; and millions more young people throughout the world are at risk.

Although repealing ill-conceived drug laws is only part of the answer in protecting mental health, you may want to check out the Global Legalise Initiative, which is dedicated to promoting legalisation of all illicit drugs, not just ecstasy in particular.

Ecstasy may promise to enhance mental health, add magic to our lives, and beautify our troubled minds, but it delivers at best, only a fleeting glimpse of paradise. So every person must weigh the benefits against the negatives of using Ecstasy.

For those people who are not genetically predisposed to addiction, the risks are naturally not as great as someone who easily develops habits. If addiction runs in your family, for example, your mother, father, grandparent, brother or sister has problems with addiction, you may want to reconsider the pros and cons of your using or even trying MDMA, or any drug for that matter. Though it is not likely that you will become physically addicted to Ecstasy, a person can become psychologically, emotionally or mentally addicted to almost anything.

If you can drink alcohol, smoke pot and do other drugs recreationally, there is little chance that you will develop an Ecstasy habit.

Arguably, it is best to take MDMA infrequently and reverently or not at all - Dr Shulgin once suggested a maximum of four times a year.

As with everything and anything else, the choices are all yours if you want to try Ecstasy. Only you can decide if you want to take a chance on The "Totally" Ecstasy Experience.

Have you ever tried Ecstasy?  What was your experience? Do you still use it occasionally? Do you use it regularly now? Let Addicts Not Anonymous readers know your experiences with a comment.

Written By: Tom Retterbush

Ecstasy: The MDMA Story

Berkeleys Ronin Press, as usual way ahead of the rest in this field, is reissuing its 1989 work, Ecstasy: The MDMA Story by Bruce Eisner, just in time for the beginning of the first official studies on MDMA (scheduled to start about now at UCLA, though those plans may have been shifted). This new edition includes descriptions of the influence of Ecstasy on the rave scene, a discussion of the new studies, and a chemical analysis of this very popular but illegal drug. -- Express Books-Publishers Row, Feb. 1994, Melanie Curry

Buy direct from Amazon.com for Best Price$2.94, or New $14.36, HERE

Ecstasy : The Complete Guide : A Comprehensive Look at the Risks and Benefits of MDMA

The most thorough book about MDMA around, with contributions from a host of physicians, chemists and research scientists. A marvelous, original book undertaken with great care and with a precise scientific appreciation of what chemicals can do when used under the proper conditions and by the proper, sympathetic professionals." - The Book Reader

Buy direct from Amazon.com for Best Price $5.29, or New $17.79, HERE

Sources
MDMA (Wikipedia) / Articles (ecstasy.org) / MDMA and Beyond (mdma.net)
DEA, Drug Information, MDMA (justica.gov) / MDMA Information (drugs.com)
NIDA for Teens: Facts on Drugs - Ecstasy (drugabuse.gov)

Is Marijuana Addictive? Could You Actually be Hooked on Pot?

Many who smoke pot regularly will develop some psychological or mental addiction

According to Statistics, only 10% of people who experiment with marijuana will develop a problem with dependence, though I believe the numbers to be much higher for the psychological addiction of marijuana.

There are many people who will try to tell you that marijuana is not addictive. As someone who believes that pot is beneficial in many different ways, who believes that weed should be legalized, who smoked herb on a daily basis for over 35 years and who still smokes it occasionally, I will tell you that these people are either delusional or they are trying to fool you.

As far as I could tell through personal experience as well as extensive research, though there is little if any physical addiction associated with cannabis use and/or withdrawal from the drug, there is definitely a psychological and/or mental addiction. Pot smokers will get accustomed to the effects of marijuana and eventually come to need these effects for normal functioning.

Once psychologically addicted, cannabis users will start to feel symptoms of withdrawal within a day of their last joint. Users get accustomed to the anxiety relieving properties of the drug, and when they can't have it, start to feel anxious. Many people also come to use marijuana as a coping tool for stress, irritability, depression and other problems, only to find that with time they rely on marijuana to deal with everyday life.

Cannabis smokers also develop a tolerance to the drug, so that a chronic user will consume as much as 10 times the quantity during a "party" as a beginning or casual user. The greater the quality and quantity of the drug the greater the risks of addiction, so that with heavy use and time, marijuana users often find themselves psychologically dependant on pot without even realizing it.

An impairment or distress caused by marijuana is likely to exist if there is the manifestation of three or more of the following symptoms occurring at any time:

• When the user has built a tolerance, or the need for increased amounts of marijuana to achieve the desired intoxication effect
• When cannabis is taken in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended.
• When there is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control cannabis use.
• When a great deal of time is spent to obtain marijuana, like by driving long distances and/or visiting multiple dealers.
• When medication such as anti-depressants, pain relievers are taken to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms.
• Increase of the consumption of alcohol and or cigarettes.
• When due to excessive use of the substance or in recovering from its effects, important social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced.
• When you would like to quit or have tried to quit but can't.

Although I believe marijuana to be psychologically addictive, I believe that in many cases the benefits outweigh the potential risks. If you read my article, Is Marijuana the Wonder Drug that could Help Millions of People? from May 8, 2011, on my Health-be.com blog, you will see the overwhelming evidence, statistics and arguments that support the use of marijuana for many illnesses and conditions.

Still, marijuana is not for everyone. Everybody should carefully consider the pros and cons associated with marijuana use. If you are one of the millions of people that are genetically susceptible to addiction, you may want to refrain from smoking pot. It would be like playing with fire. But ultimately its up to you.

Without a doubt, it should be up to the individual, not the government, as to whether a person wants to use cannabis or not. The failure of the War on Drugs proves that people are going to use drugs if they want to, regardless of what our government says anyway. But that's a whole other subject entirely.

Although that is marijuana addiction in a nutshell, you may also want to read my article, Are You Using or Abusing Marijuana? from May 24, 2011, also on Addicts Not Anonymous.

Do you believe marijuana is addictive? Do you believe you are addicted to marijuana? Do you exhibit any of the symptoms described above? Would you like to quit smoking marijuana but can't? With all this in mind, do you believe marijuana should be legalized?

Please let Addicts Not Anonymous readers know about your experiences, thoughts and feelings with a comment, bellow.

Written By: Tom Retterbush

Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence

Understanding Marijuana examines the biological, psychological, and societal impact of this controversial substance. What are the effects, for mind and body, of long-term use? Are smokers of marijuana more likely than non-users to abuse cocaine and heroine? What effect has the increasing potency of marijuana in recent years had on users and on use? Does our current legal policy toward marijuana make sense? The author separates science from opinion to show how marijuana defies easy dichotomies. Tracing the medical and political debates surrounding marijuana in a balanced, objective fashion, this book will be the definitive primer on our most controversial and widely used illicit substance.

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Are you using or abusing Marijuana?

Is Smoking Pot still Fun?

Has smoking weed become too expensive? Has it become an inconvenience? Has it caused you negative consequences?

Traditional Indian medical literature, known as ‘Ayurvedic’, describes nine stages in the toxic manifestations of cannabis use, starting with redness in the eyes, going on to “Complete forgetfulness” and ending with “shouting, fainting, rolling on the ground, difficulty in speaking, disclosure of secret feelings, misery, extreme prostration”. Notably, this same literature states that "Cannabis never causes any harm to a person who take it."¹ 

This represents the marijuana phenomenon, as it is deeply dividing those who love it from those who hate it. Very few issues have been so divided between pros and cons as the issues of marijuana, whether its good or bad for you, whether it ius therapeutic or not and whether or not it should be legalized. 

Uncertainty of Potency 

Because of current uncertainty of supply due to it's illicit status there can be great variability in strength. Typical street 'skunk' will have 10-11% THC and some as much as 20%, but much cannabis in Britain has very little THC content whatsoever. According to a study by the Dutch government in 1992 the THC content of imported weed/hash ranged from 0.5 -14%, while from indoors grown 'skunk' they measured up to 27% THC.

All marijuana users should avoid 'Soap bar' (also known as 'Chernobyl' in France or 'Euro-Hash') at all costs. This poisonous 'Product of Prohibition' masquerading as 'Moroccan' is dark brown in color. It is available all over Europe and often includes 'free' added animal tranquillizer (sometimes the only active ingredient). Soap bar may have flakes of plastic wrapping in it - a sure sign of a 'remix'. If it goes brittle when you burn it you can assume the worst. Only an end to prohibition will protect people from the dangers of this type of contamination and adulteration.

If the distribution and sale of marijuana was properly regulated (the only responsible way forward), the labeling of type and strength would be possible as is usual with almost all consumer products. This would enable users to be more informed in their use of cannabis; more able to safely enjoy its many benefits.

Set and Setting: The result of the drug is a combination of set (expectations), setting, personality, and the drug. Best case: Enjoying a puff at home with a friend at the end of the day. Worst case: Taking a puff driving down the M25, then looking sideways into the eyes of a cop. 

Marijuana Over Dosage 

Taking too much cannabis for comfort is most common by the oral route (eating or drinking). This is because the time from taking the drug until the experience of effects begin is from one to three or more hours. Impatient users often don't wait long enough until the desired effects kick in, and thinking they didn't take enough, take more until it all hits them at once. Greedy users often just take too much, period. They will have an unforgettable, maybe even an unpleasant experience, but there is little chance of any lasting or life threatening damage.  

Oral marijuana over-dosage is far more intense and longer lasting than from the inhaled route. The effects are from the stimulation and sedation of the central nervous system with a flooding of ideas and images that are vivid and rapidly changing, while attention and concentration can be markedly impaired. Time perception is significantly altered with minutes seeming like hours. There may also be distortion of spatial perception, disorientation, speeding heart rate, dry mouth, and reddened eyes. Secondary physical effects, aside from a speeding up of the heart rate is generally no more than that associated with mild to moderate exercise.  

The greater the dose, the greater intensity and longer these stimulant effects will last before sinking into a deep sleep. To avoid overdose by eating or drinking - try a little and wait at least an hour and a half; longer if consumed on a full stomach. 

Effects On Personality 

While many people benefit from and enjoy their use of cannabis, there are a minority for whom use of cannabis is contraindicated. Individuals with allergy, sensitivity, or adverse reactions to other medicines should exert greater caution and self awareness if they wish to use cannabis in any way. Individuals with personalities that are prone to substance abuse, must be extra careful that the marijuana does not indeed become the proverbial "gateway drug", in that it promotes the susceptible user to wanting to try other drugs. 

Marijuana, an effective relaxant, can at the same time cause an alienation or detachment through chronic use.

Despite the widely held 'laid-back' view of cannabis use, the most commonly reported adverse reaction to cannabis is in fact acute anxiety. The price of relief of tension may be a dulling or suppression of feelings, a prolonged dullness after use, paranoia and a fear of loss of control. Insensitivity to feelings of other people or situations may well result plus apathy, introspection and an increasing turning inwards. 

Paranoia and delusional thinking are not uncommon effects. In chronic use paranoid and delusional thinking appear to be the consequences of the suppression of feelings. The dulling of feelings may alienate the cannabis users from others by diminishing empathetic capabilities. This emotional insensitivity then results in conflict through misperception and relationship problems causing isolation.  

An effective relief of emotional distress then becomes an impediment to relationships for the cannabis user. Feelings are an integral dimension of social perception that convey important contextual information.  

Marijuana, as an effective sedative and antidepressant, has this undesirable side effect when misused, especially over a long period. The benefits and enjoyment afforded by the drug may be paid for by complications caused by the user avoiding dealing with the causes of the emotional pain, as well as diminished functioning while under its influence. Cognitive impairment by continuing or over use of cannabis creates a form of mild dementia that may persist for up to several weeks after discontinuing the drug.

Individuals sensitive to the drug report a persistent ‘hang over’ that diminishes the ability to pay attention and concentrate. The onset may be insidious, subtle, and gradual. This condition is reversible with abstinence from cannabis.  

Addiction and Withdrawal 

Because cannabis is such an effective medicine for the relief of many uncomfortable conditions, using the drug on a daily basis is not uncommon. One must decide issues of personal risks/benefits of continuing using cannabis. Withdrawal from chronic cannabis use can produce several nights of intense dreaming, low energy and depression - these effects usually end after a few days. Adverse effects can be reduced by good nutrition and treated by the use of tonic herbs. Cannabis, like DDT, builds up in the fat stores in the body and can stay there for at least a month. It's mild toxic effect upon the myelin sheaf (fatty nerve endings), the liver and the brain where it effects the 'basal ganglia' the area of the brain which gives experience of pleasure and discomfort, could be alleviated with the use of the fat soluble B vitamin choline which is found in lecithin, a common product in health food shops. The medical herb 'Acorus calamus' is traditionally used in India to help restore damage to the brain cause by chronic cannabis use. This herb is controlled in Britain and only legally prescribed by medical herbalists or doctors. 

Adverse Effects 

A prolonged dullness after use of paranoia and a fear of loss of control. Cannabis, an effective relaxant, can cause an alienation or detachment. The price of relief of tension may be a dulling or suppression of feelings. Insensitivity to feelings of other or situations may result. Smoking even a small amount of cannabis after drinking alcohol can trigger an almost instant ‘whirling-pits’ effect, often followed by vomiting. Fresh air usually helps. Cannabis also causes the blood vessels in the whites of the eyes to dilate, giving the user red, bloodshot eyes (treatable with eye drops). Effecting the glandular and lymph systems cannabis inhibits the salivary muscles, resulting in dry throat and mouth.  

Conclusion 

Properly utilised with realistic expectations and awareness of its properties, cannabis is a safe and effective medicine as well as being an enjoyable recreational drug. If improperly used, with unrealistic expectations and ignorance, adverse effects may result. The onset of unwanted effects may be obvious or insidious. They are all avoidable.

Remember, regardless if you think of marijuana as a natural herb, it is still also a mind altering drug. 

It is up to the user not to abuse marijuana.  

Do you believe marijuana is addictive? Do you have a problem with marijuana addiction? Rehabilitation programs such as Narconon may be an option for you. Please, share your marijuana experiences, opinions and beliefs with our Addicts Not Anonymous friends, by leaving a detailed comment bellow. 

Written By: Tom Retterbush 

Check out my articles Are You Addicted to Marijuana? and Why Parents Should Support the Legalization of Marijuana, both here on Addicts Not Anonymous, as well as Is Marijuana the Wonder Drug that could Help Millions of People? on my Health-be blog. 

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1.‘Fundamentals of Ayurvedic Medicine’. Shiv Sharma. Delhi 1995

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Is Food Addiction the Real Reason You're Fat or can't Loose Weight?

Do you feel a need for sweets,  like chocolate, donuts or cake? Do you crave hamburgers, chips or pizza?

Cravings for food can be similar to what alcoholics feel when they need a drink!

The addiction scenario in the brains of alcoholics and drug addicts is pretty well understood, but the notion that food cravings, compulsive eating and even obesity are tied to the same type of brain activity has been supported by a variety of studies, yet continues to produce controversial debates.

Compulsive overeating, also sometimes called food addiction, is characterized by an obsessive/compulsive relationship to food. Professionals address this with either a behavior-modification model or a food-addiction model. An individual suffering from compulsive overeating disorder engages in frequent episodes of uncontrolled eating, or binge eating, during which they may feel frenzied or out of control, often consuming food past the point of being comfortably full.

The latest evidence suggesting that food addiction exists was done by a small study at Yale University support that an addictive process takes place in the brain when people eat certain foods.

Identifying the Addicts

48 young women were recruited by the Yale researchers, who subjected them to a two-year old test. The test, known as the "Yale Food Addiction Scale" asks about their reactions to certain foods, such as specific sweets including chocolate, cookies cake and ice cream; starches including white bread, pasta and rice; salty foods including chips, pretzels and crackers; fatty foods including pizza, hamburgers, steak and French fries; and sugary drinks such as soda. It also asks about healthy fruits and vegetables, but hardly anyone has a problem with broccoli or apples. 

Based on the women’s responses, the research identifies those who scored in the addictive eating range.

Eating disorders facts

What Happens in the Brain?

The women were then given MRIs to observe how the brain responded to images of a chocolate milkshake as well as those of a tasteless solution. The women who scored highest on the "Yale Food Addiction Scale" showed greater activity in brain regions associated with reward when they saw the chocolate milkshake.

When the women actually were allowed to drink the milkshake, the research showed the same kind of brain activity that occurs in alcoholics and drug addicts when they got their drink or fix.

Can Food Addiction Make You Fat?

Accrding to research, food addiction may very well be a major factor for some people getting fat. Many doctors and nutritionists believe that food addiction may be a major contributing factor to the ongoing obesity epidemic, actually arousing people to overeat sweets and high fat, starchy foods.

Although the women participating in the Yale study ranged in size from slim to obese, there was no anology between the women’s BMI (the measure of body fat based on height and weight), and how she scored on the Food Addiction Scale.

However, the study did note that even though the BMI reflected genetics, physical activities and metabolism, some people may be eating in a food addictive manner while crash dieting or exercising periodically to keep weight off.

Learn how to identify the symptoms of binge eating and how to get treated.

What Underlies Addiction?

Food addicts often eat to cope with negative emotions and can consume “shocking” amounts of food. Some people will eat up to 10,000 calories in one sitting. Food addicts often overeat all day long like a chain smoker constantly puffs cigarettes. A preoccupation with food definately suggests addiction.

Those who scored high on the food-addiction scale reported the need to eat more and more food to get the emotional satisfaction they experienced in the past.

Food addicts develop a physical, mental, emotional craving and chemical addiction to food. The characteristics of food addicts can include:

• Being obsessed and/or preoccupied with food.
• Having a lack of self-control when it comes to food.
• Having a compulsion about food in which eating results in a cycle of bingeing despite negative consequences.
• Remembering a sense of pleasure and/or comfort with food and being unable to stop using food to create a sense of pleasure and comfort.
• Having a need to eat which results in a physical craving.

The following are questions that potential food addicts may ask themselves:

• Have I tried but failed to control my eating?
• Do I find myself hiding food or secretly bingeing?
• Do I have feelings of guilt or remorse after eating?
• Do I eat because of emotions?
• Is my weight affecting my way of life?

The Most Addictive Foods

The Yale study suggests that the food addicts most commonly crave is highly processed, containing lots of sugar and fat. Chocolate, ice cream and fries can also cause an addict to lose control.

Some foods are naturally high in sugar while some are naturally high in fat (like avocados) but the combination of sweet and fat doesn’t occur in nature.

The worst food addiction seems to come from food processing that combines sugar and fat, adding chemicals and even caffeine or flavor enhancers, producing foods that are very different from what we’ve naturally evolved to consume.

Food addiction, compulsive eating and over eating, just like bing overweight and obese appear to be unnatural. In other words, our bodies were not designed to eat like that or be like that.

Now its up to us to eat, live and be what mother nature intended.

Written By: Tom Retterbush

Sources

Food Addicts Anonymous

Mental Health and Food Addiction, WebMD

Are You Addicted to Food?, by Lisa Collier Cool, at health.yahoo.net

Marijuana and Hallucinogens as an Effective Treatment for Depression

Depression is a serious mental illness that negatively affects how you feel, think and act.

Depression has a variety of symptoms, but the most common are a deep feeling of sadness or a marked loss of interest or pleasure in activities. Bipolar disorder is also a form of depression, once commonly known as manic depression, it is a brain disorder that causes shifts in a person's mood, energy, and ability to function.

Although there are many other forms and symptoms of depression, this article is not about the disease itself per say, but about treating depression with marijuana and hallucinogens. If you aren't sure about the symptoms of depression, or if you have depression, I strongly recomend you research depression and its symptoms before researching its treatment.

Marijuana and hallucinogenic drugs are attracting renewed attention as potential treatments for psychological disorders, particularly in people who have not responded to conventional drugs like Elavil, Prozac, Paxil, Trazodone, Wellbutrin, BuSpar, Klonopin, Valium or the many other antidepressants.

For many people, depression cannot always be controlled for any length of time simply by exercise, changing diet or taking a vacation. It is, however, among the most treatable of mental disorders: between 80% and 90% of people with depression eventually respond well to treatment, and almost all patients gain some relief from symptoms."

Using Marijuana as Treatment for Depression

Lester Grinspoon, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School stated in his 1997 book Marihuana: The Forbidden Medicine: Thirty to forty percent of patients with bipolar disorder are not consistently helped by conventional treatment. For some of them cannabis may be useful in ameliorating the symptoms, reducing side effects of lithium, or both.

George McMahon, an author and medical marijuana patient of the U.S. Federal Drug Administration's Investigational New Drug (IND) Program, stated in his 2003 book Prescription Pot: People who have never struggled with a life threatening or disabling illness often do not comprehend how debilitating the resulting depression can be. Long days spent struggling with sickness can wear patients down, suppress their appetites and slowly destroy their wills to live. This psychological damage can result in physiological effects that may be the difference between living and dying. The elevated mood associated with cannabis definitely affected my health in a positive manner. I was more engaged with life. I took walks and rode my bike, things I never considered doing before in my depressed state, even if I had been physically capable. I ate regular meals and I slept better at night. All of these individual factors contributed to a better overall sense of well-being.

Frank Lucido, MD, a private practice physician, stated in his article "Implementation of the Compassionate Use Act in a Family Medical Practice: Seven Years Clinical Experience," available on his website (accessed June 2, 2006): With appropriate use of medical cannabis, many of these patients have been able to reduce or eliminate the use of opiates and other pain pills, ritalin, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, anti-depressants and other psychiatric medicines...

Lester Grinspoon, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School stated in his 1997 book Marihuana: The Forbidden Medicine: Thirty to forty percent of patients with bipolar disorder are not consistently helped by conventional treatment. For some of them cannabis may be useful in ameliorating the symptoms, reducing side effects of lithium, or both.

Tod Mikuriya, MD, a psychiatrist and medical coordinator, cowrote in the 1997 book Marijuana Medical Handbook: The power of cannabis to fight depression is perhaps its most important property.

The Journal of Clinical Investigation stated in an Oct. 13, 2005 article "Cannabinoids Promote Embryonic and Adult Hippocampus Neurogenesis and Produce Anxiolytic- and Antidepressant-like Effects" (Article in PDF format) by Xia Zhang et al.: We show that 1 month after chronic HU210 [high-potency cannabinoid] treatment, rats display increased newborn neurons [brain cell growth] in the hippocampal dentate gyrus [a portion of the brain] and significantly reduced measures of anxiety- and depression-like behavior.Thus, cannabinoids appear to be the only illicit drug whose capacity to produce increased hippocampal newborn neurons is positively correlated with its anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like effects.

The Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, stated in a Jan. 2004 article on a study designed by Prentiss, Power, Balmas, Tzuang and Israelski "to examine the prevalence and patterns of smoked marijuana and perceived benefit" among 252 HIV patients: Overall prevalence of smoked marijuana in the previous month was 23%. Reported benefits included relief of anxiety and/or depression (57%), improved appetite (53%), increased pleasure (33%), and relief of pain (28%).

Jay Cavanaugh, PhD, National Director for the American Alliance for Medical Cannabis, wrote in his 2003 article "Cannabis and Depression," published on the American Alliance For Medical Cannabis website: Numerous patients report significant improvement and stabilization with their bipolar disorder when they utilize adjunctive therapy with medical cannabis. While some mental health professionals worry about the impact of cannabis on aggravating manic states, most bipolar patients trying cannabis find they 'cycle' less often and find significant improvement in overall mood. Bipolar disorders vary tremendously in the time spent in the depressive versus manic states. Those who experience extended depressive episodes are more likely to be helped with cannabis. Patients who use cannabis to 'relax' may be treating the anxiousness sometimes associated with depression. Cannabis aids the insomnia sometimes present in depression and can improve appetite. Better pain control with cannabis can reduce chronic pain related depression. While cannabis cannot yet be considered a primary treatment of major depression it may improve mood when used under physicians supervision and in combination with therapy and/or SSRI’s.

Bill Zimmerman, PhD, former President of the Americans For Medical Rights, stated in his 1998 book Is Marijuana the Right Medicine For You?: Some patients have found the mood altering effects of marijuana to be helpful for treating mood disorders such as anxiety, depression and bipolar (manic-depressive) illness. Using marijuana to treat mood disorders was described in medical writings in the 19th and early 20th centuries... However, using marijuana to treat mood disorders can be very tricky... If you intend to use marijuana for this purpose, it is very important that you thoroughly discuss it with your doctor. Patients who respond well report that marijuana not only diminishes their undesirable moods, it also motivates them to productivity. For some of these patients, depression was a by-product of a debilitating disease or illness for which marijuana provided a welcome remedy. For others, the marijuana seems to have acted directly on the depression. The mental component of the pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) often causes psychological problems and is now technically classified as an atypical (not typical) depression. Many women report benefit from using marijuana to improve the symptoms of PMS.

It has been argued that chronic marijuana use can lead to loss of ambition, motivation, even diminished sex drive, however, the chronic, misuse of most anything is usually bad. No matter if we are talking about drugs, alcohol, TV, the Internet, porn, gambling, food or even exercise, to much of these is bad for you. Too much of anything is not good!

Before trying out marijuana as a treatment for depression, I strongly suggest you make sure you are not prone to addiction. Yes, addiction is a hereditary disease some people are more susceptible to than others. So check your family history to see if any of your immediate family is addicted to anything, particularly your mother, father or grandparents. Also consider if you have problems with overeating, habits or compulsions. Ask yourself realistically; am I easily hooked on something I like, such as TV shows, video games, etc.? Do you have a driving sweet tooth? Do you smoke?

All of the above are clues as to your likelihood of having problems with addiction further down the road. But please be aware, this is not a fool-proof method either. You need to be very careful when trying anything with addictive properties!

Using Hallucinogens as Treatment for Depression 

Studies revealed long-term benefits of taking hallucinogens for patients suffering from depression, end-of-life anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and addiction to drugs or alcohol.

Two studies published this week, in Science and Nature, confirm that certain hallucinogenic drugs stimulate healthy brain activity, even promoting the growth of neurons.

In a recent Depression and Anxiety Health Alert, Johns Hopkins just published an interesting summary of the research available on treating mood disorders with hallucinogens, whereby the author chronicles the history of hallucinogens and how they affect the central nervous system to release the right kind of neurotransmitters.

Hallucinogens (also called psychedelics) were a promising area of research in the 1960s and early 1970s, when they were being developed as possible treatments for a number of conditions, including depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. These drugs were banned in the ’70s and ’80s, however, after their recreational use became a widespread problem. 

In 1990, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) again began allowing researchers to study the effects of drugs like MDMA (also known as the street drug “Ecstasy”), psilocybin (“magic mushrooms”), and ketamine (“Special K”). These drugs are thought to change the way the brain normally processes information and may provide people with mood disorders a new way of looking at the world and their problems.

Personally, I believe that this is something many people could benefit from, not just those suffering from depression and anxiety, but people with a "messed-up" way of looking at life in general. It could help antisocial, materialistic, workaholic and overachieving people who have a hard time finding balance, fulfillment or happiness. It would even be worth exploring their effectiveness with problems of overeating, obesity, devious sexual behavior and many other issues.

Lets take a look at some of the other drugs that are being tested and tried (again) 

MDMA. This illegal, hallucinogenic drug is generating interest to treat a variety of psychiatric conditions — most notably posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in which a person experiences chronic psychological stress after a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, war, or sexual assault. MDMA stimulates the central nervous system, causing the release of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, which can have a powerful effect on thoughts and emotions. MDMA also increases brain levels of oxytocin, which arouses feelings of trust and confidence that can be particularly helpful during psychotherapy. The idea is that a dose of the drug, taken before a talk therapy session, may help individuals with PTSD reduce their fear and anxiety long enough to discuss and process the events that traumatized them. 

Psilocybin. Similar to LSD, this illegal, hallucinogenic drug binds to serotonin receptors on neurons and mimics the effects of serotonin. In a study conducted at the John Hopkins Hospital on 36 people with no serious physical or emotional problems, results showed that psilocybin could induce what the experimental subjects described as a profound spiritual experience with lasting positive effects for most of them. None had had any previous experience with hallucinogens, and none were even sure what drug was being administered. Because reactions to hallucinogens can vary so much depending on the setting, experimenters and review boards have developed guidelines to set up a comfortable environment with expert monitors in the room to deal with adverse reactions. They have established standard protocols so that the drugs’ effects can be gauged more accurately, and they have also directly observed the drugs’ effects by scanning the brains of people under the influence of hallucinogens. While some subjects had to be consoled through periods of anxiety, these were generally short-lived, and none of the people reported any serious negative effects. In a survey conducted two months later, the people who received psilocybin reported significantly more improvements in their general feelings and behavior than did the members of the control group.

Ketamine. This hallucinogenic drug is an FDA-approved general anesthetic which is also taken recreationally because of its hallucinogenic and euphoric effects. Ketamine binds to receptors in the brain and blocks the neurotransmitter glutamate that normally activates neurons producing a calming effect. Molecular psychiatrist Nanxin Li and colleagues dosed rats with modest amounts of ketamine, and observed that the drug boosted signaling between neurons in the brain even led to healthy growth of synapses. (Chronic depression can be linked to inhibited synaptic growth.) They concluded that ketamine might be useful in treating depression because it increases brain activity instantly, meaning there is no need to wait weeks or months for the drug to take effect.

The Problem

The problem is that these drugs are not (yet) accepted treatments for mental disorders, and should not be tried on your own (although I did) without the supervision of a qualified professional or outside of a clinical trial (get a list of clinical trials at, www.clinicaltrials.gov).

As a recovering drug addict myself, I no longer go near dope, however each person must find a recovery program that works for them. If recovery or relief from depression includes marijuana, or even the more drastic measure of hallucinogens, I believe the person suffering should carefully weigh their options, taking into consideration the medical and legal implications of including these drugs in their lives.  

It is my opinion that marijuana or most any drug is not harmful if used in moderation.  Those wanting to try marijuana or hallucinogens for the treatment of depression should first carefully consider if they have an addictive personality. This can be done by researching family history (addiction can be hereditary) and by analysing the way you react to other addictive substances or activities.

Conclusion

People should do what works best for them. Unfortunately, our world's governments won't let people do what they believe is best for them. Unfortunately our governments think they know us better than we know ourselves. Personally, I believe that the US government and governments everywhere should butt out of people's lives, and only intervene when people are endangering people other than themselves or society as a whole, but that's another issue entirely.

Written By: Tom Retterbush

Sources

Should marijuana be used to treat people with depression? (medicalmarijuanablog.com)

Treating Chronic Depression and Anxiety With Hallucinogens and Marijuana (psychcentral.com)

Is medical marijuana an effective treatment for depression... and similar mood disorders? (medicalmarijuana.procon.org)