Psychedelic Microdosing: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - http://clapway.com/2015/07/18/psychedelic-microdosing-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-234/

A lesser-known but increasingly popular phenomenon is fascinating “psychonauts” and puzzling researchers: psychedelic microdosing. This new way of doing psychedelic drugs involves routinely taking a small fraction of a normal dose of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or magic mushrooms, LiveScience explained.

Supporters of psychedelic microdosing report improvements in perception, creativity, mood and concentration skills, minus the “trippy” flying elephants normally associated with psychedelics. Yet microdosing remains uncharted territory and the side effects are still unknown.

A new way of taking psychedelics?

In a recently published in-depth post on the High Existence blog Martijn Schirp, a former poker player and recent graduate in interdisciplinary science in Amsterdam, described his own adventure in psychedelic microdosing.

Schirp believes that this manner of taking psychedelics, also known as a psycholytic dose, “is much easier integrated into non-psychedelic activities”. He added that it offers a way to “get a taste” without getting completely wasted. “It’s like the coffee to wake up the mind-body connection.”

Yet even Schirp admitted that the experience was not always positive: “At times, the experience was still too overwhelming to be productive—I just wanted to lay down or take a walk,” he said.

Underground research on LSD and psychedelic microdosing

Schirp first became interested in the “potential of microdosing psychedelics” after reading about James Fadiman, a psychologist and researcher at Sofia University in Palo Alto, California, and his life’s work.

In his book The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide, Fadiman addressed in details the practice and came to the conclusion that “micro-dosing turns out to be a totally different world.”

Since research with LSD remains banned, Fadiman relied on a group of volunteers who would send him details of their doses and daily routines by email. Study participants functioned normally in their work and relationships, Fadiman found, but with increased focus, emotional clarity, and creativity.

The idea of taking small doses of psychedelics is not completely new. The inventor of LSD, Dr. Albert Hofmann, was known to microdose in his old age. He said in an interview, however, that his first “trip” with the psychedelic was crushing and that “the unpredictability of effects is the major danger of LSD.”

“My first planned self-experiment with LSD was a “bum trip” as one would say nowadays,” he said, adding that if the use of the drug were at present legal, which is not the case, then is would be “handled best by a ripe, stabilized person with a meaningful reason for taking LSD”.

Psychedelic Microdosing and doping

James Oroc, the author of the book ‘Tryptamine Palace: 5-MeO-DMT and the Sonoran Desert Toad’, extensively wrote about the correlation between psychedelics and extreme sports, arguing that microdosing reportedly improves both stamina and abilities in athletes.

A report by the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) looked at the problem of doping in professional cycling, focusing in particular on how some riders are now microdoping to stay within the limits of the Biological Passport.

Long-term side effects of psychedelics

According to Matt Johnson, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, the long-term side effects of regularly taking small doses of psychedelics are still unknown. Johnson, who has studied the behavioral effects of psychedelic drugs, told LiveScience that although smaller doses of psychedelic are safer than larger ones, microdosing could hide serious dangers.

“Still, there’s absolutely no evidence to suggest microdosing works as people claim it does”, Johnson said. Johnson noted that because of LSD’s illegality there is no way for users to know exactly what they are getting from the black market or dark web. In addition, people react differently to psychedelic drugs.

“Someone might be expecting a kind of sparkly day, just a really productive day at work — and next thing you know, they’re grasping hold to their office chair wondering why the world is dissolving,” he said.

LSD use in the U.S.

According to the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 229,000 Americans ages 12 and older reported current (past-month) use of LSD. Reports show that while regular use of hallucinogenic and dissociative drugs in general has remained relatively low in recent years, the United States ranks first among 36 nations in the proportion of high school students ever using LSD or other hallucinogens in their lifetime.

Is psychedelic microdosing more dangerous than what some claim? Share your opinion in the comments section below.

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Psychedelic Microdosing: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly