Anthropology

Denver Voters Will Have Their Say On Legalized Mushrooms In The City

“I don’t think that people should be criminalized or looked upon differently because they are required to take something that can make them feel this much better,” said a 54-year-old patient currently using psilocybin mushrooms. The initiative would make the use and possession of psilocybin mushrooms by adults 21 and older the lowest law-enforcement priority…

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Anthropology

Confessions of a White Vampire

Several times during my stay in the [ayahuasca drinking] community, different men took me aside and confided that they knew of nearby gold deposits that they would be willing to show me. They said this as if to test my interest. I would reply with indifference to these propositions, much to my interlocutors’ surprise. A…

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Anthropology

Overdose deaths are the product of drug prohibition

During Prohibition, drinkers never knew what they would get when they set out to slake their thirst. Bootleggers often sold products adulterated with industrial alcohol and other toxins. Some 10,000 people were fatally poisoned before America gave up this grand experiment in suppressing vice. Fentanyl was just the beginning. The latest additive is carfentanil, a…

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Anthropology

Caves all the way down

There is not one universal psychedelic experience that people from all cultures reliably and predictably have … even with the same substance, different cultures frame psychedelic experiences in different ways, leading to different experiences​​Different cultures, then, create different psychedelic experiences, different ontological realities. But the hope of the psychedelic renaissance is that, by conducting the most…

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Anthropology

União do Vegetal, Looking Glass Peyote Church, Santo Daime

In the União do Vegetal (UDV), leadership is elected.  UDV is organized across a four-tier hierarchical structure, the upper level is not accessible to women. ​In Looking Glass Peyote Church, peyote requires a DNA test previous to use.​Santo Daime, political power is based on the charisma of their leaders, with the succession going to their kin. From…

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Anthropology

The dire need for systemic critique within psychedelic communities

Initially, COMPASS was a non-profit organization that espoused interest in establishing a psychedelic hospice center on the Isle of Man and solicited help from numerous psychedelic researchers. However, after engaging those researchers and receiving invaluable insight and knowledge, COMPASS announced that they were pivoting to a for-profit approach, focusing on treatment-resistant depression.  There is unfortunately a…

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