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by var_cw 883 days ago
AI's matching hit rates in drug discovery is a game-changer. It's like AlphaFold just gave us the GPS coordinates for the biochemical treasure we've been blindly digging for. LSD's serotonin link and the quest for similar, safer compounds?
1 comments
jampekka 883 days ago
LSD is a pretty darn safe compound. And there are a lot of similarly safe compounds with "smoother" psychological effects.

The War on Drugs is a lot bigger hinderance than technology here. And the patent-driven pharmabusiness too.

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freedomben 883 days ago
Exactly. If they discovered any new drug that has even a tiny potential for recreational use, it's going to be banned quickly. Hell, we can't even have certain plants that grow entirely in nature. No way they're going to allow new synthetics. Unless our current social Puritan outlook starts to change, it's not gonna happen. And we're headed toward puritanism right now, rather than away from it, so I wouldn't be counting on it during our life times
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ogogmad 883 days ago
> LSD is a pretty darn safe compound

It can cause permanent damage to vision or sanity. Sure, it's not addictive, and you practically can't overdose -- but it makes you temporarily insane and blind, and both of these can persist without there being a cure. And just, a general point: [CITATION NEEDED]. Unlike you, I'll provide my own citation: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2017.0024...

> And there are a lot of similarly safe compounds with "smoother" psychological effects.

If you mean the party drug 2C-B, it has some similar risks.

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jampekka 883 days ago
Yes, there are some, quite rare, side effects. The visual disturbances of HPPD are quite subtle (ibid.), and definitely not making you blind as you claim. The psychedelic experience can be extremely distressing, especially at high dosages and in difficult settings, and this may cause longer term mental health problems.

Almost all drugs (illegal or legal) have potential side effects. Most psychotropic medicine have quite nasty side effects and/or cause dependence. SSRIs can make you insane or to lose your libido. Benzodiazepines are very addictive and their discontinuation may cause fatal delirium. Eating a box of Tylenol can easily destroy your liver permanently.

Comparably, LSD is pretty darn safe. At least when taken in well controlled doses and in safe settings. Hard to see LSD's side effects being a showstopper for its medicinal use.

Yes, 2C-B and the many many similar compounds tend to have similar side effects.

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