#adaptive-psychedelic-dissociation

#adaptive-psychedelic-dissociation

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it is fast-tracking the review and approval process for three companies studying psilocybin, the active psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms, and methylone, an MDMA-like molecule, as treatments for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Cocaine use in the US has left a trail of destruction, largely due to the illegal nature of the trade and the US government's war on drugs.

The reason people use drugs of any kind is because they want to escape, Delaney says. I had suicidal ideations from a very, very young age because I assumed that, if I was dead, maybe my mum and dad wouldn't be arguing.

Several years ago, Michael Pollan had a disturbing encounter. The relentlessly curious journalist and author was at a conference on plant behaviour in Vancouver. There, he'd learned that when plants are damaged, they produce an anaesthetising chemical, ethylene. Was this a form of self-soothing, like the release of endorphins after an injury in humans? He asked Frantisek Baluska, a cell biologist, if it meant that plants might feel pain. Baluska paused, before answering: Yes, they should feel pain.