a young man in my neighborhood recently shared a story with me about his experiences with the plant salvia divinorum, which he received as a birthday present. unfortunately for him, nobody took the time to discuss the reverse tolerance effect that salvia is known to have, leading to some short-lived chaos for this young gentleman. later that day, while exploring the internet for more information on the neurological mechanisms behind reverse tolerance, i came across a page that discussed reverse tolerance in regard to marijuana use which was (obviously) quite heady but coincided with my personal theory regarding psychedelic drugs. the exact mechanism(s) by which many psychedelic drugs interact with the cns is remains largely unknown, (though there are many theories out there). according to this article, over time, the human brain develops its inherent capacity to become high and that the use of marijuana merely potentiates this ability, (as opposed to causing it). i have always thought similarly about other drugs, such as lsd, that rather than being the sole cause of an altered state of consciousness, these drugs prime the human body to activate pre-existing neurological pathways, and the capacity to achieve this altered state of awareness increases as we become more familiar with it (acid flashbacks, anyone?). the ability to control these pathways is not yet a voluntary process, at least not for anyone i know personally, but i would consider it well within the realm of possibilities of the human mind.
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I volunteer.
~jonah
“the ability to control these pathways is not yet a voluntary process”
meditation?
Re: Flashbacks
I never came across any clinical/experimental support for the idea of flashbacks. I have never experienced any either. However, I could imagine it is a blown out of proportion case of whisper-down-the-lane that would still gel with your ideas.
For instance, dude who took acid and weeped at the beauty of a sunset sees a sunset later in life, and is able to process the scene to a fuller extent than some square. If they weeped again, someone would chalk that up to abnormal behavior, and likely blame it on the chemicals.
But we should create new terminology for this. Flashback is so stigmatized and seemingly drug war propaganda.
On another note, has there been any connection between MAPS and your field of work, namely treating people with AIDS with entheogens/empathogens to deal with the psychological trauma/PTSD?
My trip with drugs left a mark.
Reversing that through abstinence my only salvation.
Whatever the physiological outcomes, they are well documented in the psychiatric history maintained for me. It is a heavy burden that can further elicit my own anxiety when it is brought up.
I can’t imagine taking drugs again.
Even if there is nothing actively happening in my brain at that time when I am stoned, it still does not stop the memories and reflections from coming back.
“Heavy trip indeed, it got too weird for me.”