[alexf95]

I feel like there will also people that have way too many prejudices towards these kinds of "drugs" because that's simply how we learned it. "Don't take drugs kids".

These studies are very helpful especially when shared over general media, but the consumption has to be supervised and controlled to not have overdoses and ruin the whole reputation again. It should be treated like any other anti-depressant, since they are just "drugs" in the end

[dannyw]

We need to change the message from "don't take drugs" to "if you choose to take drugs, take them responsibly".

Start with low doses, don't mix (alcohol,benzo,opiates), and remember that unless taken therapeutically, drugs should be an occasional party thing and not an escapism for life.

It's also totally fine to not do drugs. I'm going sober (except a beer or two) for an indefinite period of time, just because that's what I feel like.

Maybe I'll go on a mushroom trip for new years eve, who knows, but drugs shouldn't define your life.

[PragmaticPulp]

> We need to change the message from "don't take drugs" to "if you choose to take drugs, take them responsibly".

The phrase for this is “harm reduction” and it has been around for a few decades in the pro-drug communities.

The challenge is that harm reduction material is largely targeted at avoiding overdoses or fatal combinations as you mentioned, which can give users a false sense of confidence about their ability to avoid addiction.

I’ve watched a couple close acquaintances slowly decline over time due to what they thought was responsible drug use. You can do all the right things and still end up addicted to and dependent upon addictive drugs. Fortunately they were both able to afford rehabilitation programs that got them back on track.

I visited one of them in the rehab program. The price tag was high so selection bias was obviously at play, but it was interesting to see that every person there was also an adult professional who thought they were smart enough and self-educated enough about drugs to avoid succumbing to addiction, which was clearly not the case.

I don’t have any answers or solutions to the topic, but I do know that addiction is a risk that most addicts seem to downplay at the start of their experiences. Few people go into drug habits expecting to become dependent.

Perhaps more interesting is the uptick in people addicted to psychedelics, partially driven by the growing perception that they’re not addictive. It seems that these patients aren’t addicted in the traditional sense of becoming dependent, but they get hooked on the escapism aspect or the idea that they’re just one or two trips away from a major epiphany. Not all of the rewiring that takes place in these experiences is necessarily in a healthy direction. It can happen, so people should at least be aware of it.

[goodpoint]

> drugs should be an occasional party thing

Please don't! If all this research thought us anything, it's that powerful substances are emotional surgery. Not something to attempt in an unsafe environment.

[quchen]

On the contrary, parties can be very safe environments. Much like there are better and worse places to drink, there are better and worse places for taking other drugs. A lot of factors play into the setting. Music is very often a plus, feelings of freedom, being outside, good weather, like-minded people – relaxed open air festivals make for a good example.

[goodpoint]

You are missing my point. That's exactly what I'm saying: a trusted environment with trusted people VS people taking random substances in a random disco.

[agumonkey]

Just show how much medicine is derived from naturally occuring molecules. Shrooms, flower or chemlab.. same same.

[PragmaticPulp]

> I feel like there will also people that have way too many prejudices towards these kinds of "drugs" because that's simply how we learned it. "Don't take drugs kids".

At least on Internet forums, the trend seems to be the opposite. Many commenters are very pro-psychedelic but anti-medication these days.

It’s important to remember that psilocybin may be promising, but it’s still not a great long-term treatment option. Not only have they not been studied beyond a few doses, but we have a lot of anecdotal evidence that excessive and sustained consumption of psychedelics seems to lead people into increasingly weird thoughts.

It seems a little bit can open people’s minds in ways that make therapy more effective, but too much openness to new ideas can start to open the door to increasingly weird thoughts: https://slatestarcodex.com/2016/04/28/why-were-early-psyched...

Of course we don’t have any controlled trials about long-term psychedelic use and likely won’t any time soon due to the ethical concerns, but it’s worth mentioning that these are not a magic bullet for sustained depression treatment. Traditional therapy is still the way to go.

[quchen]

> excessive and sustained consumption of psychedelics seems to lead people into increasingly weird thoughts

We have lots of _clinical_ evidence even that that’s the case for a lot of medication, which is why we don’t usually administer excessively and sustained, but carefully and controlled.