103 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
103 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
Reality Hackers/High Frontiers Issue #6, Winter 1988
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Psychedelic Scenarios
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by Bruce Eisner and Peter Stafford
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A psychedelic soiree to benefit the Albert Hoffman Memorial Library was
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recently staged at Hollywood's John Anson Ford Theater. Over two hundred
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psychedelic cognoscenti, at $50 a plate, milled and mingled about on the
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stage. They were later joined by an additional 1500 persons for a
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presentation called "Beyond the Doors of Perception."
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Dr. Oscar Janiger, the psychiatrist noted for turning on a bevy of
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celebrities and artists, compared the library to a time capsule, or fossil
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record, which will contain books and memorabilia of the half century since
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Hoffman made his fortuitous discovery of LSD. The library will also house a
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psychedelic art gallery. Some of the art will be from artists who were turned
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on by Janiger back in the late 50's and early 60's. Dr. Janiger used to give
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his subjects a Hopi Kachina doll and ask each one to paint it before LSD and
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again later, while on the psychedelic.
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The terrible triumvirate from Harvard, Leary, Alpert, and Metzner, came
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together publicly for the first time in a quarter century. Metzner cleared up
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the misconception that he, too, had been fired by Harvard. "I am happy to
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point out that I wasn't fired. I didn't have a job there. I was a graduate
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student. Subsequently, I changed my story because I realized it was much more
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interesting if I said I was fired..."
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Richard Alpert (introduced by MC Paul Krassner as "Just Plain Ram Dass") gave
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a progress report on his well-documented journey, promising another such
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report ten years hence. He began by clearing up his drug-taking status.
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"People have always asked me, 'Well, you have stopped using drugs, haven't
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you?'" He responded, "No, I take LSD about every two years to find out what I
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forgot and to have faith in who we are." He said that he would have remained
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a middle-class neurotic if not for Timothy Leary and the experiences that
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propelled him on his well-chronicled journey. "As long as I live, I will be
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growing into what happened to me on my first psychedelic experience."
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Timothy Leary paid homage to seminal brain explorers and predicted that in
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ten years, 1998 - 75% of the members of the House of Representatives and 60%
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of the Supreme Court judges will have been Bob Dylan fans. He declared "The
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fun has hardly begun!"
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Janiger promises the library will be open by year's end and other benefits
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are in the works. If you would like to donate money, psychedelic memorabilia,
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or exhibits or just want more information, write The Albert Hoffmann
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Foundation, 1328 Westwood Blvd. Suite 36, Los Angeles, CA 90024. Its phone
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number in L.A. is (213)470-1624
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---
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MDMA is in Schedule I again. The seesaw battle for MDMA's legal status may
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have ended in February, with the DEA adminstrator again placing it into the
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most severe category in the drug schedules.
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During the past three years, its status has resembled a ping-pong ball. Of
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course, the ball always ends up back in the DEA's court and they always whack
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it back into Schedule I.
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Until 1985, MDMA was as legal as table salt. After the DEA attempted to place
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it in Schedule I, a group of researchers protested and hearings ensued. In
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the midst of the hearings, the DEA used its new emergency powers to
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temporarily ban it. Appeals courts later found this unconstitutional because,
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at the time, the DEA didn't have the authority.
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At the conclusion of the hearings, the DEA's own judge recommended placing it
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in the more benign Schedule III. DEa Administrator John Lawn simply ignored
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the recommendation and whacked it back into Schedule I.
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The researchers - led by Lester Grinspoon, M.D. of Harvard - successfully
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appealed. The First Circuit Court ruled that it should be taken off Schedule
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I and reconsidered by the DEA. It did not take long for the DEA to
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"reconsider" and put it back in Schedule I. At this point, those who have
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opposed the scheduling are ready to give up. "When you're defanging a bear
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one tooth at a time, you still got a problem," said a noted chemist and
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researcher.
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Once diehard who is still hoping to get research going again is Rick Doblin
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of Cambridge, Massachusetts. His organization, MAPS, has conducted animal
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research to examine the charges of possible neurotoxicity lodged against
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MDMA. His conclusions are contained in a report titled: "Risk Assessment: The
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FDA and MDMA Research." (The report appears an an appendix to Bruce's book,
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'Ecstasy: The MDMA Story' from Ronin Publishers in Berkeley, CA.)
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The non-medical use of MDMA has not stopped with its scheduling and
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continues at a very significant rate in the United States while, at
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the same time, MDMA has a great, but undeveloped, therapeutic
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potential. If it can be demonstrated that MDMA-induced neurotoxicity
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is temporary, and that there is a no-effect level around the human
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dose level, the risk of using MDMA infrequently in research seems
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very minimal.
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Even if neurotoxicity does occur, there are presently no behavioral
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or functional effects that have been associated with it. Once careful
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risk/benefit analyses can be conducted, rational decisions can be
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made concerning future research. If the data comes in as preliminary
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indications suggest, there can be hope that the FDA will permit
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direct MDMA research in humans to begin.
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Those of you who are interested in donating time or spinal fluid to Rick's
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studies can contact him at: (617)547-7271
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