Thursday, May 3, 2012
Studies show that sensory deprivation tanks can reduce stress and provide a bounty of health benefits.
When I was in college, I worked every weekend in West Hollywood at a relaxation center called the Altered States MindGym, where I would train people how to use the sensory deprivation tanks, biofeedback monitors, and brain entrainment devices that they had there. It was a great job. I got to teach actress Carrie Fisher how to use the mind-altering tanks there, and I logged hundreds of hours in the tanks myself. I found the sensory deprivation tanks to be truly amazing, as they provided the deepest levels of relaxation that I’ve ever experienced, as well as the most powerful psychedelic experiences that I’ve ever had without using any pharmacological assistance. Sensory deprivation tanks--also sometimes called “isolation tanks” or “…
Friday, April 6, 2012
Agents from the DEA and the IRS raided Oaksterdam University, the world’s first medical cannabis educational center.
On April 2 federal agents from the DEA, the IRS, and U.S. Marshals raided Oaksterdam University, the first cannabis therapeutics training center in the world. The medical cannabis educational center was founded by activist Richard Lee--who helped to put the Proposition 19 measure on the California ballot. (Proposition 19 was an attempt to legalize recreational cannabis in the Golden state that almost succeeded in the last election, with 46.5% voting in favor of the measure.) Lee’s home was also raided. Even more chilling was that, as the raid on Oaksterdam University was occurring, only a few miles away a gunman opened fire at the private Oikos University in Oakland, killing seven innocent people and wounding three others. With these two …
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Kratom tea, which has valuable painkilling properties--and possibly numerous medical applications--is under attack by State Senator Almond Gaston Crowe.
The Southeast Asian herb kratom, which I briefly discussed in a column several months ago, is back in the news, as a misguided Louisiana state senator named Almond Gaston Crowe is trying to ban the sale of this ancient psychoactive plant, which may have valuable medical properties. According to Eyewitness News, Senator Crowe said “Kratom is just as harmful as other over-the-counter herbs such mojo, spice marijuana, and bath salts.” However, there is little, if any, scientific evidence to back Senator Crowe’s statement up, as these products that he groups together are all very different from one another, and they are relatively unstudied. “Mojo” is a brand of kratom, “spice marijuana” refers to herbs sprayed with synthetic cannabinoids, …
36.96966
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Graffix Pleasure
809 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
/articles/senator-seeks-to-ban-herbal-tea
531321
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Thursday, February 9, 2012
Studies suggest that the psychedelic anesthetic ketamine may have potent antidepressant properties.
A number of recent studies have demonstrated the potent, quick-acting and long-lasting antidepressant effects of the dissociative anesthetic ketamine, a legal prescription drug that has been approved by the FDA as a surgical anesthetic. Ketamine is also popular as a recreational drug, due to its euphoric and psychedelic properties. New studies by Carlos Zarate, M.D. of the National Institute of Mental Health have shown that a single infusion of ketamine can relieve symptoms of severe, even suicidal, depression in some patients within a few hours, and that relief generally persists for several days. Four studies have now demonstrated ketamine’s powerful and enduring antidepressant effects. In one of the studies, subjects received the …
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Many people who suffer from autism have reported lasting improvements after taking MDMA or “ecstasy,” and clinical research into MDMA as a possible treatment for this perplexing medical disorder is now on the horizon.
Autism is a largely mysterious neurodevelopmental disorder that usually manifests in children before the age of 3 as delays in their ability to socially interact and communicate. There are actually several types of autism, which are referred to as “autism spectrum disorders.” All these disorders are characterized by varying degrees of impairment in communication skills and social interactions, and by restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior. Autistic children usually appear to completely lack interest in other people and seem to have enormous difficulty learning basic social skills. Signs of the disorder are often apparent in the first few months of life, as many autistic children seem indifferent to other people, not …
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
The Santa Cruz-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies will be celebrating 25 years of research and education, from December 8-12 in Oakland.
Everywhere I look, it seems, there are signs that the human species is becoming more and more comfortable with psychedelic mind states. While a lot of music and visionary art has long been influenced by psychedelics, and many artists and musicians have greatly valued the experience, the recently awakened acceptance of these forbidden fruits in respected cultural terrains, such as academia, medicine, and spirituality, is now, finally, seeping its way into the mainstream culture. A worldwide renaissance is presently underway, as medical studies with psychedelics are producing extraordinary results in treating a variety of mental illnesses. Positive articles about the potential benefits of psychedelic drugs have been featured in virtually …
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Mimi Peleg helped to start a thriving, federal government-approved, medical marijuana distribution center in Israel, that provides the controversial herbal medicine to qualified patients at around the cost of production, or less.
As anyone who attended WAMMfest here in Santa Cruz a few weeks ago knows, our beautiful seaside community is very supportive of medical marijuana. Despite a misguided and insensitive federal government that continues to harass the healing herb community, we have some of the most progressive local medical cannabis laws in the world here. But even here, the high price of cannabis can make it too expensive, and fiendishly out-of-reach for many sick people, as in much of the world, and growing it for one’s self, after an illness strikes, isn’t always easy or even possible. Thanks to the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM), its founder Valerie Corral, and our supportive community and local government, high-quality cannabis is …
36.95981
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Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana
815 Almar Ave, Santa Cruz, CA
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531234
/locations/5746508
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Ibogaine, a derivative of the African plant iboga, can offer enormous hope for people with severe drug addiction problems.
Psychedelic drugs and plants have a proud history of helping troubled people overcome alcohol and drug addictions. Some of the first LSD studies demonstrated that the powerful psychedelic drug had enormous efficacy in treating alcoholism, when administered in the proper environment. In fact, Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, even suggested an LSD journey as the 13th step in his well-known 12-Step program for alcoholism recovery. Addictive drug and alcohol use has also been shown to be diminished by ayahuasca and peyote ceremonies among indigenous peoples in the Amazon and Central America. In light of this understanding, it’s such a sad irony that psychedelic drugs and plants have been legally classified with dangerously …
Monday, July 25, 2011
Oil extracted from the marijuana plant has been shown to have extraordinary cancer-fighting properties.
A number of recent studies have confirmed the cancer-fighting, tumor-shrinking value of medical marijuana. Although the first study to demonstrate that cannabis has anti-carcinogenic properties was done back in 1974 by the U.S. National Institute of Health, more recent studies, which began abroad in 1999, have shown that cannabis can effectively and safely treat many forms of cancer. Since 1999, there have now been a number of studies that clearly demonstrate that cannabis has the ability to effectively shrink tumors, kill cancer cells, and safely treat many aggressive forms of cancer, including brain, breast, skin, prostate, and lung cancer. However, due to the political controversy that surrounds medical marijuana, some physicians …
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Underground psychedelic psychotherapy vastly improved the final days of a remarkable young woman’s battle with colon cancer.
The pain involved in losing a child is arguably the most difficult experience that a human being can face, as it seems to go against the flow of nature. Although we all must face our own death eventually, being confronted with life’s impermanence at an early age can be far more difficult than at the end of a full life span, and watching helplessly as one’s child loses their embodied form is devastating beyond what words can express. This is why, out of love and compassion, we will all do almost anything to help ease the suffering of our children when they are dying--including giving them illegal drugs. The Santa Cruz Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)--which supports medical research into the therapeutic potential…
Michael A. Lewis
8:02 pm on Wednesday, May 9, 2012
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