To some of Silicon Valley's best and brightest, micro-dose LSD has become a popular, performance enhancing drug.
Young professionals in the technological hub are microdosing on lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and magic mushrooms to help them to concentrate, increase productivity and enhance creativity, according to Rolling Stone.
By routinely taking a minuscule amount – about 10 micrograms of LSD, or 0.2-0.5 grams of mushrooms, a tenth of a normal dose – users are said to benefit from the illegal drugs' "subperceptual" effects.
Rick Doblin, founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies told the magazine that the dose, usually taken in the morning before starting work, is enough "to feel a little bit of energy lift, a little bit of insight, but not so much that you are tripping."
"It's like the coffee to wake up the mind-body connection. When I notice it is working, depending on the dosage, time seems to be slowing down a bit, everything seems covered with a layer of extra significance," said Amsterdam-based Martijn Schirp, adding that the experience gave him the positives of using hallucinogens (magic mushrooms are legal to purchase in Amsterdam) without feeling overwhelmed.
Mound, one of my nephew works at Silicon Valley. He is doing exceptionally well - car collections and flying are his hobbies. I never heard of drug dosing before. From little dosage it can become addictive and then problems start. Next I talk to him I will ask him about this.
ReplyDeleteTaking these drugs and flying don't go together well.
Did you think the simultaneous development of Berkeley Sunshine (LSD) and the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) decades ago was a coincidence?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhPAcKzZKcA
ReplyDeleteNeither LSD nor magic mushrooms are physically addictive. Persons predisposed to forming habitual behaviours could form a habit but there would be no cold turkey type withdrawal pains, as with heroin for example. Stopping the *daily* use of either acid or shrooms would probably be about as discomforting as a heavy coffee drinker suddenly stopping all consumption.
ReplyDeleteOf course, as with all psychotropic substances, persons with pre-exisitng mental or emotional instabilities should not indulge.
Other than that, enjoy the view and the soundscape.
LSD & related stuff (DMT, mescalin, MDMA, etc.) should be legal. It is less dangerous than booze.
ReplyDeleteA..non
"Of course, as with all psychotropic substances, persons with pre-exisitng mental or emotional instabilities should not indulge."
ReplyDeleteSpare us the proselytizing. Psychedelic drugs can improve the 'mental conditions' of people with mental and emotional instabilities.
I lived in Amsterdam for a year. When I first took acid, I became fascinated on how I saw the world. It's almost impossible to explain to someone who has never taken acid.They have had significant success in psychiatry with acid. They are reintroducing it to that area of study. There is nothing addictive about LSD. It is for the most part a psychological,sensory perceptive experience. Dana is right, people with mental and emotional problems should not indulge. Short story. When "The Moody Blues" started out they were just a regular, rock and roll band like 100's of others. One weekend they all dropped acid together and their music changed drastically and became the majestic exploratory life journey that it still is.Anyone who listens to the "Moody Blues" knows what I'm talking about.My favourite album is "In Search Of The Lost Chord." I still listen to it. straight though.
ReplyDeleteI could not have imagined this post would trigger such a lively and eye-opening discussion. As one who has not explored beyond a bit of weed I gladly defer to your collective expertise.
ReplyDeleteI missed most of the halcyon days of the 60s. As my ex used to chide me, I wasn't there for the greening of America because at the time I was in khaki.
A while ago I did discuss this micro-dosing business with a relative who has all the experience I never acquired. We began talking about micro-dosing for seniors in nursing homes. I won't continue with where that conversation led.
'There was a time, a brief period of time, that I believed you could take a pill and see the truth. Determining within seconds, the stress levels of unseen, sleeping, home owners by the vibe of their exterior landscaping. Reading people like colouring books while avoiding the vibrating face shifters.
ReplyDeleteHowever, similar to the sunset of those heady days when the pure yellow sunshine became poisoned by the speed of the purple microdot, there is less joy in searching the now recorded history of my own life as I discover that my memories were simply illusions of a different time."
In 68 while in Van, we brought in enough Owsley's white to last the summer. You were up for 16 hours peaking at 8. Saw the Doors on what we called white lightning.
Hey Willy, I helped cap a bunch of that in a little house on west 68th. We didn't know we should have worn rubber gloves. :-)
ReplyDeleteHey Dana,
ReplyDeleteOriginally crashed in a house on Ontario St and when I came back from a trip to the island, everyone had moved to the third floor of old house, south of that on some numbered street. Maybe we were neighbours :)
Ya never know. Although I didn't live in that little house. Friends were looking after the place for some SFU profs who were off in Europe for a year.
ReplyDeleteDid you know Sorry?
Wow. Trippy. Tried the stuff in my youth. I don't recommend the mushrooms from Masset.
ReplyDeleteDana,
ReplyDeleteDidn't recognize the name, until I Googled him and saw his picture here (http://www.notsorry.com/sorry.asp). He showed up at the third floor flat a couple of times on memorable nights. A very calm dude, with a hat and a big smile. I think he added t the communal wall mural and travelled to the Doors concert with us. And as Kim said, that is trippy.
I ended up being a tourist that was just passing through, but it sounds like Sorry ended up having a very interesting life.
Yeah, I passed through too by '69. I've frequently regretted that I never got to know Sorry better. I liked him a lot.
ReplyDeleteSo many people I knew in the latter 60s ended up addicted, sick, in jail or dead I wonder I made it through.
I thought I'd pass this on Mound. Documentary Storm emails me their latest documentaries. They just emailed me one called A NEW UNDERSTANDING:The Science of Psilocybin. I just watched it and it's quite good. Thought since you introduced the subject, you would find this interesting.
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