Drugs and culture

[nodle]

Now this in no way is justifying doing drugs, because i think you are an idiot if you do. But i am sitting here listening to Jimi hendrix and was thinking about drugs influences on culture, not only in the 70's but going back to the days of Michelangelo etc. Do you think that drugs have produced the great arts thought the ages from artwork to music to scientific discovery's? I mean you have to admit that most of the great musicians had done drugs one time or another. Do you somehow it unlocks ones creative abilities? Or is it all just coincidence? Thoughts? Input?

 

[C Pav]

I don't know but I dislike the whole steroid in sports debaucle going on. They frown upon guys today for "allegedly" taking them but never question great players from the past. I have heard that Hank Aaron took speed and who knows what other things past players took.

I am very against drugs so my comment is stay off of them and if you can't be creative without them then I guess you should be ordinary and uncreative.

 

[nodle]

I don't know but I dislike the whole steroid in sports debaucle going on. They frown upon guys today for "allegedly" taking them but never question great players from the past. I have heard that Hank Aaron took speed and who knows what other things past players took.I am very against drugs so my comment is stay off of them and if you can't be creative without them then I guess you should be ordinary and uncreative.

I think steroids can do good for the human body (if controlled right under medical conditions). But let's face it do you think the government  wants a bunch of huge dudes running around that would take a bunch of cops to take down? I think not.

 

[Davidc]

Many psychedelic drugs are thought to disable filters which keep signals unrelated to everyday functions from reaching the conscious mind. These signals are presumed to originate in several other functions of the brain, including but not limited to the senses, emotions, memories and the unconscious (or subconscious) mind. This effect is sometimes referred to as mind expanding, or consciousness expanding, for the conscious mind becomes aware of things normally inaccessible to it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_drug

 

[nodle]

Levels of psychedelic experience

Level 1

    This level produces a mild "high" effect, with some visual enhancement (e.g. brighter colors). Left/right brain communication changes causing music to sound "wider," or more piercing to the ears. This level can be achieved from a normal dose of cannabis or a very low dose of a classic psychedelic such as psilocybin.

Level 2

    Bright colors; visuals (e.g. things may move or breathe); some 2 dimensional patterns become apparent upon shutting eyes. Confused, cyclic or reminiscent thoughts. Change in short term memory leads to continual distractive thought patterns. Vast increase in creativity becomes apparent as the natural brain filter is bypassed. The need to see 'normal' reality becomes less, the urge to venture 'beyond the void' becomes more. Level 3 tripping can intersperse with level 2 as long as eyes are shut. This state can be achieved from a high dose of cannabis or a low dose of psilocybin.

Level 3

    Very obvious visuals, everything looking curved and/or warped, patterns, kaleidoscopes or fractal images seen on walls, landscapes, faces, etc. Closed eye hallucinations become 3 dimensional. There is some confusing of the senses (synesthesia). Time distortions and "moments of eternity". Movement at times becomes extremely difficult (too much effort required). A normal dose of psilocybin can produce this effect.

Level 4

    Strong visual effects, e.g. objects morphing into other objects. Dissolving or multiple splitting of the ego (e.g. things start talking, or feeling of contradictory things simultaneously). The loss of sense of self can bring a shift in the sense of reality, often accompanied by a sense of ineffable lucidity. Time becomes meaningless. Out-of-body experiences and ESP-type perceptions and abilities. A high dose of psilocybin can produce this effect.

Level 5

    Total loss of visual connection with reality. The senses cease to function in the normal way. Total loss of ego. Merging with space, other objects or the universe. Reaching to the beginning or the end of space and time. The loss of reality becomes so extreme that it defies explanation. Dream or movie like states, people have been reported seeing themselves in entirely different settings than their original setting. Earlier levels are relatively easy to describe in terms of measurable changes in perception and thought patterns. The only thing still reported to be working at a recognizable level, is the mind's voice of thought.

Much is unknown about what a person actually experiences during this period, because most people actually come back explaining the experience as "unexplainable" or "uncommunicable". This effect can be produced in very high doses of psilocybin.

 

[Ludacris]

I had a patient today who use to be a Heroin addict.  He was telling me about all these different drugs that would give you a similar buzz as heroin did.  One of the drugs was Dilaudid.  We give this drug to probably half the people in the ER who have moderate to severe pain.  So pretty much, it doesn't stop the pain; it just gets you so high you don't care anymore.  I personally have never needed or had the drug; however, some very small doses have accidently came home in my pockets with me (seriously it was an accident).  Stay tuned for my heroin induced posts!  (P.S. this man also has two forms of hepititis and HIV.  I wouldn't suggest doing Heroin)

 

[nodle]

Found this interesting:

pril 16, 1943: Setting the Stage for the World's First Acid TripTony Long Email 04.16.07 | 2:00 AM1943: Dr. Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the psychedelic properties of LSD.
Hofmann, a Swiss chemist, was researching the synthesis of a lysergic acid compound, LSD-25, when he inadvertently absorbed a bit through his fingertips. Intrigued by the stimulating effects on his perception, Hofmann decided further exploration was warranted. Three days later he ingested 250 milligrams of LSD, embarking on the first full-fledged acid trip.

In his autobiography, LSD, My Problem Child, Hofmann remembered his discovery this way:

"I was forced to interrupt my work in the laboratory in the middle of the afternoon and proceed home, being affected by a remarkable restlessness, combined with a slight dizziness. At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant intoxicated-like condition, characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination. In a dreamlike state, with eyes closed (I found the daylight to be unpleasantly glaring), I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors. After some two hours this condition faded away."

The experience led Hofmann to begin experimenting with other hallucinogens and he became an advocate of their use, in both the arenas of psychoanalysis and personal growth. He was critical of LSD?s casual use by the counterculture during the '60s, accusing rank amateurs of hijacking the drug he still refers to as "medicine for the soul" without understanding either its positive or negative effects.

Hofmann was equally critical of what he considered -- and still considers -- society?s knee-jerk rejection of a drug that he believes is mostly beneficial and deserving of continued research. "I think that in human evolution it has never been as necessary to have this substance LSD," he said at a symposium in 2006, marking the centennial of his birth. "It is just a tool to turn us into what we are supposed to be."