Consciousness - 4/11

Jun 25, 2014Jun 17, 2016

Do We Unconsciously Feel the Future Before it Happens? (Study)

Can your brain detect events before they occur?

That was the stunning conclusion of a 2012 meta-analysis of experiments from seven independent laboratories over the last 35 years, which found that the human body can apparently detect randomly delivered stimuli occurring 1-10 seconds in the future.

In the studies, physiological readings were taken as participants were subjected to unpredictable events designed to activate the sympathetic nervous system (for example, showing provocative imagery) as well as ‘neutral events’ that did not activate the nervous system. These readings showed that the nervous system aligned with the nature of the event (activated/not activated) – and what’s more, the magnitude of the pre-event response corresponded with the magnitude of the post-event response.

Rebuttal? Not so fast…

In a recent paper, researchers have critically analysed these findings, considering possible mundane explanations for the results and also the implications of the results if they truly do point to a paradigm-shaking discovery.

The key observation in these studies is that human physiology appears to be able to distinguish between unpredictable dichotomous future stimuli, such as emotional vs. neutral images or sound vs. silence. This phenomenon has been called presentiment (feel the future).

In this paper we call it predictive anticipatory activity or PAA. The phenomenon is “predictive” because it can distinguish between upcoming stimuli; it is “anticipatory” because the physiological changes occur before a future event; and it is an “activity” because it involves changes in the cardiopulmonary, skin, and/or nervous systems.

Neither questionable research practices (bias) nor physiological artifacts seem to be able to explain PAA, the evidence indicates that there is a temporal mirroring between pre- and post-event physiological events, so that the nature of the post-event physiological response is correlated with the characteristics of the PAA for that event. – Study

The authors of the paper also point out fascinating aspects of the research, such as the fact that “PAA is an unconscious phenomenon” that “appears to resemble precognition (consciously knowing something is going to happen before it does), but PAA specifically refers to unconscious physiological reactions as opposed to conscious premonitions”.

There must be a necessity for PAA to remain non-conscious most of the time, if some part of our nervous system can obtain information about events seconds in the future, wouldn’t we have evolved to make this information conscious? – Study

How is this possible…

A metaphor may help to provide an intuitive feel for this effect – watching a river move past a stick.

Imagine that the direction of the water’s current is the conscious experience of the flow of time (temporal flow), and imagine that an intrusion in the flow (the stick) is an emotional, arousing, or otherwise important event. The largest disturbance in the water made by the intrusion is downstream (in the “forward” time direction), which is analogous to our conscious reaction to experiencing the important event.

But if one examines the flow of water near the stick, one will also see a small perturbation upstream, anticipating the intrusion in the water downstream due to the back pressure. Similar to PAA, this upstream perturbation is a hint of things to come. It is not normally part of our conscious awareness and, as with disturbances in a flow of water, the majority of the effect of an intrusion is downstream of the intrusion.

Nevertheless, the authors of the recent paper urge caution until more extensive research is undertaken:

Until there is a gold standard experiment that is replicated across laboratories using exactly the same experimental procedure, physiological measures, and statistical analyses, there remains the possibility that multiple analyses could influence the body of evidence supporting PAA.

I look forward to seeing the results of these future investigations. Or do I already know what they are going to be?

> We Unconsciously React to Events Up to 10 Seconds Before They Happen | Earth We Are One

Jun 25, 2014Jun 17, 2016

Redban’s Heroic Dose of Psilocybin Shrooms – The Joe Rogan Experience (Video)

Redban’s Heroic Dose – JRE Podcast

Redban delves deep into the aether in search of knowledge and adventure.

He recounts his experience on the JRE podcast, with comedian Joey Diaz and host Joe Rogan providing color commentary.

Heroic Doses have fascinated me since I first heard Terrence McKenna mention it in his lectures. I don’t have extensive experience with it myself, however a friend of mine swears he was in the presence of the Original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers during his Heroic Dose.

What about you?

Share your stories in the comments below.

Jun 22, 2014Jun 17, 2016

DEA Blasted for Spending 4 Decades Obstructing Marijuana Science

The Drug Enforcement Administration has been impeding and ignoring the science on marijuana and other drugs for more than four decades, according to a report released this week by the Drug Policy Alliance, a drug policy reform group, and the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a marijuana research organization.

The DEA is a police and propaganda agency, it makes no sense for it to be in charge of federal decisions involving scientific research and medical practice. – Ethan Nadelmann, Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance

The report alleges that the DEA has repeatedly failed to act in a timely fashion when faced with petitions to reschedule marijuana. The drug is currently classified as Schedule I, which the DEA reserves for the “most dangerous” drugs with “no currently accepted medical use.” Schedule I drugs, which include substances like heroin and LSD, cannot receive federal funding for research. On three separate occasions — in 1973, 1995 and again in 2002 — the DEA took years to make a final decision about a rescheduling petition, and in two of the cases the DEA was sued multiple times to force a decision.

The report criticizes the DEA for overruling its own officials charged with determining how illicit substances should be scheduled. It also criticizes the agency for creating a “regulatory Catch-22” by arguing there is not enough scientific evidence to support rescheduling marijuana while simultaneously impeding the research that would produce such evidence.

The feds have long been accused of only funding marijuana research that focuses on the potential negative effects of the substance, but that trend appears to be changing.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has conducted about 30 studies to date on the potential benefits of marijuana. NIDA oversees the cultivation, production and distribution of marijuana grown for research purposes at the University of Mississippi in the only federally legal marijuana garden in the U.S. — a process through which the only federally sanctioned marijuana studies are approved.

Nobody should be afraid of the truth. There’s a lot of other drugs that have harmful side effects. Is the downside of marijuana a harmful side effect? Or is there a positive side that actually does help? That needs to be proven. – Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.).

The federal government’s interest in marijuana certainly appears to be growing. Since 2003, it has approved more than 500 grants for marijuana-related studies, with a marked upswing in recent years, according to McClatchy. In 2003, 22 grants totaling $6 million were approved for cannabis research. In 2012, that number had risen to 69 approved grants totaling more than $30 million.

The DEA has obstructed research into the medical use of marijuana for over 40 years and in the process has caused immeasurable suffering that would otherwise have been treated by low-cost, low-risk generic marijuana. The DEA’s obstruction of the FDA approval process for marijuana has — to the DEA’s dismay — unintentionally catalyzed state-level medical marijuana reforms. – Rick Doblin, executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies

Currently, 22 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medical use. Eight other states — Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin — have legalized CBD oils, made from a non-psychoactive ingredient in marijuana frequently used to treat epilepsy, for limited medical use or for research purposes.

A number of recent studies have shown the medical potential of cannabis. Purified forms may attack some forms of aggressive cancer. Marijuana use also has been tied to better blood sugar control and may help slow the spread of HIV. One study found that legalization of the plant for medical purposes may even lead to lower suicide rates.

Nadelmann said the DEA has “demonstrated a regular pattern of abusing its discretionary powers.”

We believe this authority would be better handled by another government agency in the health realm, or even better still, by an organization that is truly independent, perhaps something that involves the National Academy of Sciences. We will be working to encourage greater congressional oversight and also to call for reforms of federal law. – Ethan Nadelmann, Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance

> New Report Blasts DEA | Huffington Post

Jun 18, 2014Jun 17, 2016

Scientists Induce Lucid Dreaming With Electrical Stimulation (Study)

The ability to become lucid during a dream and gain control of the dream itself has been coveted, examined and practiced for centuries; resulting in many methods and exercises that cultivate lucid dreams. The opportunity to consciously explore the dream-space can provide insights into the mysteries of the unconscious mind; lucid dreaming can also be used therapeutically to address traumatic memories or chronic nightmares.

Recently a team of scientists led by psychologist Ursula Voss of the Goethe University in Frankfort, Germany successfully induced lucid dreams in test subjects by stimulating specific brain regions with an electrical current. The study, published in Nature Neuroscience in May, provides some of the first data necessary to understand the biology of lucid dreaming.

Voss’ early studies found that participants’ reports of lucid dreams tended to occur during REM sleep. At the beginning of a sleep cycle, the brain slows from high frequency gamma and beta waves associated with waking, processing and alertness. The patterns of brain activity progress through slowing alpha waves to deep sleep’s delta and theta frequencies.

Paradoxically, the sleep cycle apexes in REM, and the brainwaves speed up. Dreams normally occur during REM sleep, when many regions of the brain appear to be functioning as if it were awake. When subjects reported a lucid dream, there was distinct gamma activity, the highest frequency range of brainwave, in the frontotemporal region.

The frontotemporal region is associated with executive functioning, decision making, processing complex stimuli, and self-awareness. Voss and her team theorized that lucid dreams occur when the frontotemporal region of the brain is active at a gamma level during REM sleep. To test this theory, they used a non-invasive method called Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation. TACS uses electrodes placed on the scalp to stimulate the surface of the brain. When they sent an electrical current in the Gamma frequency into the frontotemporal region of the scalp, the participants overwhelmingly reported a self-aware dream upon waking.

The ability of physicians to induce lucid dreams could provide new treatment models for sleep disorders, post-traumatic stress, and even anxiety and depression. Sleep, especially REM, is vital to the formation of memories, the consolidation of stimuli into larger concepts, and the regeneration of the brain. If Voss’ research provides a consistent method of psychic exploration, scientists and psychonauts will be able to further understand the mysteries, mechanisms and potential self-discoveries of dreams.

Lucid Dreaming with Electrical Stimulation

Elliot Hill seems to miss the point in the video above, but I’ve left it in since some people would rather see a video about the study rather than read about it.

Elliot glosses over the multitude of benefits lucid dreaming offers and instead says he doesn’t want to be alertly conscious all of the time, claiming dreams are his last bastion of unconscious musings. It is laughable that Elliot believes he is fully conscious and aware throughout his entire waking life, a feat that many of us struggle with hourly!

Much like psychedelics, lucid dreaming can be a tool to help further your understanding of yourself and the universe, and honestly, what is more important than that?

For those uncertain of taking the mental plunge into lucid dreaming or psychedelics or with experience on the subject sound off below with your thoughts.

> Induce Lucid Dreams With Electrical Stimulation | Ultra Culture

Jun 17, 2014Jun 17, 2016

Zodiac Sun Sign Characteristics by Debra Silverman (Video)

Debra Silverman is a psychotherapist and she’s keen on astrology.

Silverman explores each sun sign’s characteristics through five minute skits.

Not intended to touch on the entirety of a sign, the highlighted characteristics definitely ring true. I know it did when I saw her rendition of my sign.

Sun Sign Characteristics by Debra Silverman

Aries (March 20 – April 20)

Taurus (April 21 – May 21)

Gemini (May 22 – June 21)

Cancer (June 22 – July 22)

Leo (July 23 – August 22)

Virgo (August 23 – September 22)

Libra (Septemer 23 – October 23)

Scorpio (October 24 – November 21)

Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21)

Capricorn (December 22 – January 20)

Aquarius (January 21 – February 21)

Pisces (February 22 – March 21)

What do you think, did Debra nail your sign? Hit up the comments section!

Jun 2, 2014Jun 17, 2016

Pot Smoking Grandparents Don’t Give A Fuck (Video)

It was inevitable, we should have seen it coming! When the Baby Boomers hit middle age, the smoke hit the fan. Americans over age 50 are using marijuana in record numbers, according to statistics from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

The NSDUH Report, from 2011, indicated that 6.3 percent of adults between the ages of 50 and 59 use cannabis; that number has risen from 2.7 percent in 2002.

Marijuana use was more common than the “non-medical” use of prescription-type drugs both for adults 50-54 (6.1 vs. 3.4 percent) and those aged 55-59 (4.1 vs. 3.2 percent).

This shouldn’t come as a great surprise; after all, it stands to reason that folks this age, with a wealth of life experiences on which to base decisions, would make safer choices.

Marijuana use, in fact, was more common than non-medical use of prescription drugs among all males over 50 (4.2 percent vs. 2.3 percent). Among females, the rates of marijuana use and non-medical use of prescription drugs were very similar (1.7 and 1.9 percent).

Pot smoking grandparents don’t give a fuck, and why should they? They’ve raised their families and retired, it’s their time to do what they enjoy.

Mason Tvert, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), said he started consuming marijuana about two years ago with his grandparents, Helen and Leo Shuller, who are 82 and 88, reports Alyson Krueger of The New York Times. They “have a little bit off the vaporizer,” Tvert said, either before of after dinner.

Those who have moved on from corporate work might now feel more comfortable revealing and sharing their marijuana use, according to Cher Neufer, 65, a retired teacher who said socializing with her friends means using cannabis.

Most of us are either retiring or retired, you don’t have to worry about your job knowing, so it’s a little easier for us. I don’t care if you use my name; I don’t care if they know! – Cher Neufer

Another factor is that most seniors are empty nesters, no longer worried about setting an example for their children.

They’ve raised their families, they’ve done their careers, and at this point I think they are saying, ‘OK, I’m not jeopardizing my family. – Diane-Marie Williams, executive director of administration at Moms For Marijuana International, a grandmother herself.

All of my friends are as educated on the subject as I am, and if they aren’t, I keep trying to make them. I can do more things. We play croquet. We do things out in the yard, and if I don’t have it I can barely walk across the floor. It’s a big pick-me-up. – Vickie Hoffman, 46, grandmother and organizer of the Missouri chapter of Moms For Marijuana International

While the federal government refuses to acknowledge that marijuana has a legitimate role as a medicine, in particular one that can offset many of the symptoms and conditions associated with aging, it is nevertheless apparent that a growing percentage of the public — and older Americans, especially — are becoming increasingly aware of this plant’s safety and efficacy. – Paul Armentano, deputy directory of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)

The numbers come from survey data compiled by the United States Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Association (SAMHSA) in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (the NSDUH Report).

> Baby Boomer Bong Rips | Toke Signals

May 28, 2014Jun 17, 2016

John Lennon Imagine Comic Strip By Pablo Stanley (Video)

‘Imagine’ speaks from the heart evoking powerful emotions of unity and love; this comic strip joyfully animates this feeling perfectly.

Pablo Stanley masterfully captures the intent and love behind John Lennon’s now iconic song.

The loving thoughts that led to this song’s creation are beginning to take shape in today’s society. As technology and communication expand and unify our consciousness, connections we make pave the way for massive changes in the way we live and interact together.

John Lennon Imagine Comic Strip

John Lennon Imagine Live

Enjoy this live version of Imagine and check out the work of Pablo Stanley

May 26, 2014Jun 17, 2016

Tidy Monster: An Animated Descent into Madness (Video)

Tidy Monster by Tim Marchant is an animated descent into the insane mind of an unseen character.

A symphony of sound, visual effects, and mood where a room is all there is in his world, and we watch as he struggles to keep it tidy.

From the comments I’ve read some people are claiming the video is awesome to watch while tripping; others instead assure such an experience only leads to a bad trip.

I haven’t tried watching it on psychedelics, but if you do, be aware of the possibilities or consequences, depending on your perspective.

Remember, ultimately, what is happening to the room is up to you.

May 22, 2014Jun 17, 2016

The Psychedelic Experience by Warrior Poet Aubrey Marcus (Video)

The Psychedelic Experience is an artistic video with a powerfully positive psychedelic message. The evocative images are timely interwoven with Aubrey’s voice, a harmonic synthesis of passion.

Aubrey Marcus – The Warrior Poet – is a well-known psychonaut, who, much like Jason Silva, positively describes the psychedelic experience for it’s ability to heal and reveal us.

Full Transcript:

What is the psychedelic experience? Aldous Huxley believed it was the fundamental craving of the human spirit. A desire to turn off the survival biased filter of perception just for a moment… and catch a glimpse beyond the bars of our cognitive prison.

The psychedelic experience does not require drugs. Religious history and spiritual traditions are built upon these sublime moments. Messiahs hear the voice of God after a 40 day fast. Holy men, having isolated themselves in a cave, suddenly emerge with visionary truth.

But to indulge in a 40 day fast to reach this heightened state is like burning your house down to bake a loaf of bread. One hour in a salt-water isolation tank quiets the noise of sensation until awareness becomes the mirror that reveals you to yourself. A single session of holotropic breathing restricts our mental chatter long enough to plunge you into the zero-state of visionary Inspiration. Then there are the earth movers… The plant medicines at the core of many religious sacraments, which according to Graham Hancock were integral to inspiring the earliest known art in caves throughout Europe.

These plants are technologies. In a recent placebo controlled study completed by Johns Hopkins university 18 healthy adults were given Psilocybin, the active ingredient in ‘magic’ mushrooms. Fourteen months after participating in the study, 94% of those who received the drug said the experiment was one of their top five most positive experiences; 40% said it was the single most meaningful experience of their life.

Ayahuasca, long called the Master Medicine by the healers of the rainforest, offers an experience with the most visually powerful and mysterious of all molecules endogenous to life, DiMethyltryptamine.

Iboga, the root of an African shrub, confronts you with the voice of your own inner truth for 24 waking hours and is being used to treat Heroin addiction with relapse rates reported at a shockingly low 7%.

Why doesn’t the world embrace these technologies? Terrence Mckenna has an answer, “It takes courage to take psychedelics — real courage. Your stomach clenches, your palms grow damp, because you realise this is real — this is going to work. Not in 12 years, not in 20 years, but in an hour!”

What can the Psychedelic Experience be?
The cloth that wipes clean our lens of perception,
The compass that points true north to our life’s calling,
The lantern in the catacombs of our subconscious,
The sword stroke that unfetters the muse,
The sunlight that dispels the shadows of our past
Or simply a respite of eternity, in the fast flowing river of time.

I’ve been to the other side, stared unflinching into the eyes of my eternal soul and seen a matrix of a thousand possible destinies. I’ve witnessed the span of our current universe contained in an unceasing heartbeat, each world a single bloodcell and each contraction a new existence for life itself. I’ve learned of humility on the back of a dragon, felt the terminal extreme of heaven and hell in the marrow of my bones, died and been reborn anew. What will your psychedelic experience be?

Courage to you all.

Apr 21, 2014Jun 17, 2016

Comedians on Psychedelics (Video)

Comedian Timestamps

00:10 – Doug Stanhope
05:07 – Joe Rogan
07:56 – Bill Hicks
13:22 – George Carlin
15:34 – Duncan Trussell

Comedians are good at describing stories in vivid, interesting ways. That’s what makes listening to these world-class comics share their psychedelic experiences so cool.

Featuring Doug Stanhope, Joe Rogan, Bill Hicks, George Carlin, and Duncan Trussell, Comedians on Psychedelics attempts to aid us in piercing the veil behind our illusory reality.

These are real people attempting to give their own piece of the experiential puzzle with as little distortion as the limits of language and memory allow. It’s not perfect, but besides first-hand psychedelic experience, it’s the best we’ve got.

Apr 20, 2014Jun 17, 2016

Marijuana Use Relieves the Pain of Social Exclusion (Study)

Newly published research suggests that Marijuana use can relieve the intense discomfort of social exclusion.

Marijuana has been used to treat physical pain, and the current findings suggest it may also reduce emotional pain. – Research team led by University of Kentucky psychologist Timothy Deckman

Deckman and his colleagues are building on two lines of recent research: One that shows the pain of social exclusion is more intense than previously believed, and another revealing that physical pain and emotional pain travel similar pathways in the brain.

The Studies

The first incorporated data on 5,631 Americans, who reported their level of loneliness, described their marijuana usage (if any), and assessed their mental health and feelings of self-worth. Not surprisingly, the researchers found a relationship between loneliness and feelings of self-worth, but it was significantly weaker for regular pot smokers.

Another experiment, featuring 537 people, found those who were experiencing social pain were less likely to have suffered a major depression in the past year if they smoked pot relatively frequently.

The Results

Those who smoked marijuana relatively frequently felt less threatened than those who smoked it less frequently, or not at all.

Together, these studies show that “marijuana use consistently buffered people from the negative consequences associated with loneliness and social exclusion,” Deckman and his colleagues conclude. But buffers are of limited usefulness.

In that sense, avoiding social pain by smoking pot does not necessarily address its root cause. It does work, at least for a while, but it’s also a way to avoid dealing with the underlying issue.

If you are dealing with social exclusion, I recommend consistent meditation and an open, honest inner dialogue. This has helped me find the true cause of underlying issues I was unaware of consciously. A psychedelic trip under the right conditions and with a positive inquisitive mind-set was also very helpful.

In the end remember to do whatever feels right for you, and don’t hesitate to ask for help.

> Pot Relieves Loneliness | PS Mag

Apr 17, 2014Jun 17, 2016

6 Amazing Things Scientists Have Discovered About Psychedelics

Despite the fact that the U.S. government deems many hallucinogenic or psychedelic substances to be dangerous, classifying them as Schedule I drugs with “no currently accepted medical use,” various scientists have dared to study their effects.

What they’ve found over the years paints a startling, promising and powerful picture of potentially game-changing medicines.

LSD Mitigates End-of-Life Anxiety

The results of the first clinical study of the therapeutic use of LSD in humans in more than 40 years were published. They show that LSD can promote statistically significant reductions in anxiety for people coming to terms with their own impending demise.

Aldous Huxley famously made use of LSD as a way to ease his own passing.

Swiss psychiatrist Peter Gasser and his colleagues conducted the double-blind, placebo-controlled study, sponsored by the non-profit Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). They tracked 12 people who were near the end of life as they attended LSD-assisted psychotherapy sessions. In his report, Gasser concluded that the study subjects’ anxiety “went down and stayed down.”

Psilocybin – Magic Mushrooms Actually Calms Certain Brain Functions

The common conception is that psychedelics do something extra to cause their effects – like increase activity, add hallucinations, promote awareness, etc.

A study that examined brain scans of people under the influence of psilocybin found that it reduces activity in certain areas of the brain. That reduction of activity leads to the drug’s effect on cognition and memory.

Psychedelics, and psilocybin in particular, might actually be eliminating what could be called the extra “noise” in the brain.

MDMA Promotes the Release of Oxytocin – Helping to Treat PTSD and Severe Social Anxiety

Before being classified as a Schedule I substance, therapists experimented with MDMA beginning in the 1970s to help reduce moderate depression and anxiety among their adult patients. Recent research primarily supported by the MAPS has continued to turn up positive results for the drug’s potential therapeutic use.

Various clinical trials and statistical research have confirmed that MDMA can successfully treat post-traumatic stress in military veterans and others.

A 2009 study offers a plausible explanation for MDMA’s effectiveness in treating PTSD. The double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study of 15 healthy individuals confirmed that MDMA causes the brain to release oxytocin, which is the human hormone linked to feelings of love and compassion.

MAPS recently received government approval to launch a new study examining MDMA’s potential for treating social anxiety in autistic adults. Based on the known effects of MDMA, as well as individual reports, this exploratory study will focus on enhancing functional skills and quality of life in autistic adults with social anxiety.

Psilocybin Can Help You Quit Smoking

Psychiatry Professor Matthew Johnson, who works at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, presented the preliminary results of a pilot feasibility study looking at the ability of psilocybin to treat smoking addiction.

For the study, five cigarette-addicted participants underwent placebo-controlled psilocybin treatment with a psychiatrist. All five completely quit smoking after their first psilocybin session. At all followup visits, which occurred up to one year later for the first four participants, it was biologically confirmed that the participants had abstained from cigarettes.

Ayahuasca Can Treat Drug Addiction

Ayahuasca is a brew prepared with the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, originally used for spiritual and healing purposes in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. The vine is usually mixed with leaves containing the psychedelic compound DMT.

Gabor Mate, a medical doctor from Vancouver who is a prominent Ayahuasca researcher, contends that therapy assisted by psychedelics, and ayahuasca in particular, can untangle complex, unconscious psychological stresses. He claims these stresses underlie and contribute to all chronic medical conditions, from cancer and addiction to depression and multiple sclerosis.

The results of the first North American observational study on the safety and long-term effectiveness of Ayahuasca treatment for addiction and dependence were published in June 2013 in the journal Current Drug Abuse Reviews.

All of the participants in the study reported positive and lasting changes, and the study found statistically significant improvements “for scales assessing hopefulness, empowerment, mindfulness, and quality of life meaning and outlook subscales. Self-reported alcohol, tobacco and cocaine use declined, although cannabis and opiate use did not.”

The reported reductions in problematic cocaine use were also statistically significant.

Taking DMT Can Naturally Simulate Death

DMT causes hallucinogenic experiences and is conveniently made up of a chemical compound that already occurs within the human body (as well as in a number of plants). This means our brains are naturally set up to process the drug, because it has receptors that exist specifically to do so. Cannabis is another illegal drug that occurs endogenously.

Some research based on near-death experiences points to the fact that the brain releases DMT during death. Some researchers have also conjectured that DMT is released during other intense experiences, including orgasm.

> 5 Things Scientists Have Discovered About Mind-Altering Drugs | Alter Net

Tag: Consciousness