Ethics and Psychedelics

This study presents a range of ethical issues that arise when considering the use of psychedelic substances within medicine.

Psychedelics are, by their nature, boundary-dissolving, and it is suggested that progress in the Ethics of Psychedelic Medicine is best made within a broader-ranging Psychedelic Bioethics, which encompasses not just medicine, but wider society, including the breadth of cultural containers and settings in which these compounds are used.

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Mescaline

An interesting and questionable article on mescaline.

The article devotes a couple paragraphs on the tendency to vomit after drinking the Bolivian torch or San Pedro cactus. The author fails to comment that in Peru, the San Pedro cactus is used in ceremony, only under the guidance of a shaman and for spiritual purposes. It is not at all common to vomit, though it is true it does not taste good.

The reckless use of these sacred plants, that indigenous cultures have used historically, continues to be problematic.

Ethics in the Psychedelic Space

University of Cincinnati postdoctoral researcher Neşe Devenot says the psychedelic field is fraught with ethical concerns and financial interests.

In a peer-reviewed essay published in the journal Anthropology of Consciousness, Devenot and her co-authors look forward to a culture that makes these medicines available in a safe and affordable way that respects the traditions behind them.

I could not agree more!

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Psychedelics: Highs and Lows

There needs to be a bigger conversation on this:

Psychedelics are rapidly achieving the status of breakthrough therapies based on their potential for human development (Nutt, Erritzoe, & Carhart-Harris, 2020; Schenberg, 2018). At the same time, psychedelics may facilitate experiences of distressing or troubling revelations with unexpected or negative consequences to mental health.

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