Controversy wether Halucinogens should be legal or not

Psychedelics: Society's Miracle Drug or Society's Downfall?

Psychedelic drugs have been frowned upon for many years in the medical department and other professional fields, but can the the key to full rehabilitation lie within these wonder drugs? Looking at the cold hard facts on hallucinogenic drugs and their negative affect is truly terrifying. The simple fact that overdosing on one of these drugs or simply being in the wrong setting can send an individual into a frenzy and even make them commit suicide. However, recent studies in the psychological department have shown that psychedelics indeed have a positive side to them, and can make patients overcome traumatic events in their lives. Like many other substances, hallucinogens have their pros and cons and you can have endless discussions on wether or not they should be used in professional psychological practice. Both sides have strong arguments in their belief about the drugs, you can only assume what a vast and undiscovered world your mind holds, and if these drugs really do unlock inner strength to overcome life changing events.

The damage caused by psychedelic drugs are all mostly psychological rather than physical. According to Brooke S Parish, author in MedScape, over use of the drug can make the individual lose touch of reality, and often develop schizotypal behavior due to their trip. LSD is one of the many types of psychedelic drugs that are widely consumed today. The way this like other hallucinogens work is by distributing the brain receptors and serotonin information exchange. What serotonin is responsible for is all of our emotions and senses such as taste and sight. This is what gives the individual the feeling as if they're no longer in the real world. This disruption in the brain makes it release more serotonin than usual. Abusing these drugs can result in the brain receptors to burn out and not receive the information as well and fluently as before. Dopamine, the pleasure chemical release decreases by over using these drugs. One other huge negative effect these drugs have are flashbacks or night terrors that may occur if the individual had a bad trip.

Recent studies have shown however that with the right amount of dosage, it can help people overcome some traumatic events in their lives that they cannot overcome. It has become a modern day controlled substance that, if handled correctly, can really benefit the psychological and medical departments with people who abuse other substances such as alcohol, cocaine, Pills,etc.. Not only that, but these psychoactive chemicals can help adults overcome a traumatic events they may have experienced in their childhood. Dr. Charles Grob, traveled to Brazil in the early 1990's to study more in depth the ayahuasca plant, which is legal in that country. He visited many tribes and spiritual groups in where he discovered that these psychedelic chemicals were being used to help the locals overcome addictions and depressions. He came to the realization that the psychedelic chemicals don't block off the serotonin and nerve receptors, instead it made the brain release even more existing amounts of serotonin thus enhancing all of your senses, giving you the perception  of an altered reality. The LSD chemical is able to do this because it shares a similar molecular structure to that of serotonin. This is what tricks the brain into realizing immense amounts of serotonin when the user is under the influence of psychedelics.

Statistics On Hallucinogenic Use Past 20 years

         Hallucinogenic Consumption in the Past 20 Years

Like many other cultures and substances, hallucinogens gained popularity in the 1990's. The primary consumers of these substances were young adults who, at the time, were looked as practicing the "hippie culture". Its been a little over 20 years since the drug gained popularity and the primary consumers continue to be young adults. According to the National Institute of Justice, between 1991 and 1996 the percentage of hallucinogen use more than doubled from 6% to 14% in young adults. In those same 5 years, high school student percentage that said they disapproved of the drug dropped from 90% to 80%.

Below you'll see the consumption of hallucinogens in America's Schools in the 20 years. 

One of the possible reasons why these phycadellic drugs have gained so much popularity in the past decade is largely contributed to the musical movement of techno and other rave-type-music. The most popular hallucinogen in the past 10 years has been Lysergic Acid Diethyl-amide (LSD). This drug has had a huge impact on the over consumption of hallucinogenic drugs, for this small tab only costs around $10 "a hit" therefore making it very affordable to young adults. The potency is also very high, giving the individual a "trip" that can last up to 10 hours off of just one small tab of acid.

 The popularity of the drug only seems to be gaining more popularity as the years go by. We began to see a new era of music and art on the horizon, and humanity hunger for something new only seems to grow along with the population. These phycadellic drugs are a new gateway to a new era of music and pop culture, arts have also taken a huge tole in society today, and teenagers have always been know to "keep up with modern society", that being said, hallucinogenic drugs well be in demand for many years to come and might even become the "next big thing to do". 

What are Hallucinogens

What Hallucinogens Do

For years humanity has wondered whether or not there is another state of mind or even after life. The answer to their questions may lie in mother nature herself.

Most Hallucinogenic drugs make people think that its a modern day drug that had to be chemically enhanced in order to make people trip. The actual truth about this type of drug is that its been around ever since ancient times, many psychedelic chemicals are found in mushrooms, fungi, and even plant roots and bark. Due to their long history of availability throughout the ages, these plants have been used in rituals and spiritual voyages. These chemicals vaporize the walls that stand between reality and spiritual world, and usually are life changing to the individual. Its still unclear of what exactly occurs in the brain when this drug enters your system. One of the few things we do know is that that these chemicals disrupt communication between neurotransmitters. This blocks all the information and communication between your brain and spinal cord. This doesn't mean that you no longer can walk or that you'll be temporarily paralyzed, this means that all your thoughts and emotions well be out of the "norm" due to the psychedelic chemicals that have entered the nervous system.

   Today, we are learning more about how these drugs work in our systems.  There are many theories to what hallucinogens really do and exactly how
they work in the brain. The common belief amongst most scientists is that the psychedelic chemicals from LSD, Mushrooms, and other hallucinogenic agents block of the neurotransmitters the are throughout your body. These constant signals are being shot out of the brain every second of every day, they're basically responsible for reality as we know it. The psychedelic chemicals are able to block off the signals, giving the individual altered states of mind and make them feel as if they're out of the reality they know and are so familiar with. Your sense of touch in particular is supported by the the main highway of nerves and information from the brain, the spinal cord. If a high dosage is taken, these chemicals can even block of the sense of touch, if this occurs then the individual well have absolute loss of actual reality, they are now in their own world and really do believe that they're no longer physically present in the world. Most hallucinogenic trips last from 5 hours to 24 hours, depending on how much somebody would take. The main sense acid mostly affects is the eye sight of a person, its also mostly noticeable due to the individuals pupal dilating. The psychedelic chemicals alter the patterns in which your pupil receives light from the outside world, theres no longer that constant pattern out light bouncing of from receptor to receptor. The space between each receptor changes and they all begin to vibrate and move around, this is what is believed to make people hallucinate and see colors and shapes more vividly.

The research into psychedelic continues and in Brazil researchers are starting to use hallucinogens as therapy.  In this blog I will be researching types of hallucinogens, debates around the long-term effects of the drugs and the potential for these drugs to connect with alternative states of being.