Evidence that drug taking is bad.

[mgb_phys]

Albert Hoffman (inventor of LSD) dies aged 102
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7374846.stm

If he hadn't taken drugs he might have lived longer.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Albert Hoffman takes LSD and dies. Film at 11.

 

[binzing]

Hey, I'm fine with 102 and some drug use.

 

[quadraphonics]

Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Here's Tom with the weather.

 

[Alfi]

102 and died while on a trip would be some news.
I'd take that as an ok way to go.

RIP Albert - and thanks, I owe you one.

 

[Evo]

Let's not make light of LSD, I know people that spent years in psychiatric hospitals, not to mention the ones that just became schizophrenic.

 

[GCT]

It's interesting to note that LSD was advocated by several prominent scientist at prominent universities when it first arose - it was even deemed to be conducive to scientific progress. Kary Mullis wrote up a science article on the nature of time when dosed on LSD from what I remember and it got published in Nature. I find all of this amazing - what made LSD so appealing to scientists?

Also to note what Evo mentioned - yes LSD can cause people to jump off buildings and have reoccuring hallucegenic episodes of getting eaten by a collective glob of man eating beetles even after being off the drugs for quite some time. I wonder how Hoffman survived LSD.

 

[moe darklight]

It's actually quite hard to physically overdose on LSD, and the lethal dose is well beyond what any person, even a hard-core drug user, would even consider approaching.

Mentally "overdosing" is another story, and quite easy. Horror stories involving hallucinogens usually involve people who take more than they can mentally handle, and end up either doing something stupid, or actually committing suicide (a bad trip on a high dose can actually be so horrifying that the person will choose suicide just to end it). Sometimes also people who don't know they were given LSD can, understandably, go mental.

On people who go crazy from hallucinogens, or report "flashbacks," as far as I've read, it seems to be a form of PTSD caused by the experience itself... much like trauma suffered by soldiers or war victims; a traumatic experience affects them so that they can become so mentally unstable that they must be hospitalized. I haven't seen an article that reports damage done by the actual chemical like you would find with cocaine or even pot (then again, not enough research is done on LSD so you can't really know).

So yea hallucinogens can be extremely dangerous if mishandled or overused, but they should have no effect on longevity or mental alertness (this is when one would play the Kary Banks Mullis card, but he's pretty out there lol) in someone who didn't go overboard with dosage and was mentally prepared to handle the experience.

Personally I have not touched a hallucinogen in over a year and don't plan on doing so any time in the near future, I haven't smoked pot in over 2 years, and barely even drink anymore. But I still find the subject fascinating and think hallucinogens should be researched more and understood better. And like I've said before, I don't think they are all-negative and destructive like most other recreational drugs (nor are they particularly recreational, seeing as the experience can be quite taxing).

 

[Moonbear]

I don't know that there's any evidence that LSD shortens the lifespan (other than what GCT mentioned of people doing things like jumping off roofs while hallucinating), but it can seriously screw you up mentally...and permanently so. So what if you live to 100 if you're spending 70 years coping with severe psychiatric illness you might have avoided if you stayed off the drugs.

 

[Stingray]

Kary Mullis wrote up a science article on the nature of time when dosed on LSD from what I remember and it got published in Nature.

You made me curious, so I had to go look up that "paper." It reads exactly like you'd expect coming from someone on an acid trip. I'm amazed that it got published.

 

[Poop-Loops]

So what if you live to 100 if you're spending 70 years coping with severe psychiatric illness

Because they think they will be rewarded in the afterlife with eternal happiness.

Oh, I didn't read the part about drugs. Sorry.

 

[Integral]

I was promised flashbacks. 30yrs later, I am still waiting.

While there may have been casualties, and mental trauma from LSD, there were also 100's of 1000s who tried, and survived with NO ill effects.

Who is to say that those who went "schizo" after LSD would not have gone the same route had they never encountered the drug.



Opinions, and experiences referred to in this post are mine and mine along. Kids do not try this at home.

 

[GCT]

You made me curious, so I had to go look up that "paper." It reads exactly like you'd expect coming from someone on an acid trip. I'm amazed that it got published.

LOL that's quite hilarious - was he mentioned as a professor? Even more interesting about this is why he was compelled to have it reviewed for publication in the first place ; it means that he was actually convinced of its merit at the time. There's two things that have gone wrong here 1)One of the most reputable research science journals publishes an article filled with bloody nonsense written by an individual dosed with LSD and then the extra morsel of surprise 2) they elevated the ranking of a drugged intoxicated student to pHD level physicist.

As Mullis stated in his book "there's something definitely amiss with the world" (something like that)

 

[mgb_phys]

You made me curious, so I had to go look up that "paper." It reads exactly like you'd expect coming from someone on an acid trip. I'm amazed that it got published.

At least they had an excuse - I've read a few that read as if the author was on an acid trip.

 

[boomerang]

Because they think they will be rewarded in the afterlife with eternal happiness.

Oh, I didn't read the part about drugs. Sorry.

If you are suggesting that religion is a drug, do you have any evidence that it works
better than atheism?

 

[Poop-Loops]

It's a placebo that gives you all the side-effects of drugs.

Paranoia -- Someone is constantly watching you.
Psychosis -- you are talking to someone who nobody else can see or hear apparently.

Etc., etc., I'm tired, but you can fill in the rest.

 

[boomerang]

You need to see a ventriloquist.