EmmaSofia: Helps Legalize Psychedelics

I recently got this T-shirt from EmmaSofia for supporting their Indiegogo-campaign some two years ago. I am also a member.

EmmaSofia is a political member organization, working to transfer Norway into a knowledge-based drug policy. Emma means "universal" and Sofia means “wisdom” emmasofia.no

One of the goals of EmmaSofia is to ensure access to quality-controlled MDMA and psychedelics for therapeutic and other legal uses.

There is really a dire need to promote evidence-based drug policies founded on a respect for human rights in both Norway and abroad.

Although going into the specifics of the effects of psychedelics and the exact mechanisms of action is beyond the scope of this post, as a (former) neuroscientist I find the effect of psychedelics interesting in that the increased neuroplasticity after use has the ability to rewire certain pathways in the brain, also in those associated with anxiety, depression and addiction.

Hence, both psilocybin (mushrooms) and LSD (acid) increase BDNF production and neurogenesis. [ 1-3]

Thus, psychedelics have been shown to have promising effects in the treatment of clinical depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, alcohol addiction, and the pain and anxiety associated with terminal cancer. [4]

However, much more research is needed the elucidate the exact effects of psychedelics and hence the therapeutic potential and potential side effects.

"Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by multimodal neuroimaging," by Robin L. Carhart-Harris et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 11 April 2016

This image shows how, much more of the
brain contributes to the visual experience under LSD
than under placebo. The magnitude of this
effect correlated with participants reports of
complex and dreamlike visions. [5]

Only certain parts of the brain is normally responsible for visual processing (occipital cortex), but under the LSD trip the separateness breaks down and the brain becomes more integrated or unified.

Whereas modern antidepressants and psychiatry easily trap people in a viscous circle of dependence, users of psychedelics become more self aware and have to confront their problems, and thus psychedelics can promote growth and empower people.

Albeit metaphysical (certainly not scientific yet), perhaps psychedelics also can be used to increase our consciousness.

Inspiringly, there is a lot of progress being made on the field of psychedelics now, both in research, education (EmmaSofia as one example) and the legal framework.

As one example, recently, in August 17 the Supreme Court of Norway reduced the sentence for a 36-year-old man that introduced 125 user doses of LSD from 120 days to 45 days imprisonment (implemented as social penalty).

The Supreme Court made the adjustment based on modern research which concludes that LSD is not a fatal drug, and that it is significantly less dangerous than previously thought, and the risk of dying from an overdose with alcohol is 100 times higher than dying from an overdose with LSD*. The verdict is found here source

*I must add the risk of dying from intake of pure LSD is probably extremely slim.

The verdict is also a victory for scientific reasoning concerning drug penalties in the court system.

For English speaking readers the verdict was featured in Vice.

The biggest risk with taking psychedelics such as LSD is that your are not given pure LSD and perhaps a totally different potentially very toxic compound.

Legalizing psychedelics and produce quality-controlled psychedelics is in my opinion the only correct move, and I also believe that a legalization is inevitable in the not so distant future.

In the meantime, it is very important to give out evidence-backed information to the public, politicians and legislators to push this process forward.

On 23 og 24 november the Nordic Reform Conference will take place in Oslo.
Among the participants are politicians, researcher on drugs, health workers and different user associations, and the speakers are well know researchers in the field of psychedelics, such as David Nutt.

I am certainly going to attend.

References

1. Classical hallucinogens as antidepressants? A review of pharmacodynamics and putative clinical roles.
2. Effects of psilocybin on hippocampal neurogenesis and extinction of trace fear conditioning.
3. Activation of the prefrontal network and glutamate release by psychedelics.
4. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) for alcoholism: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
5. Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by multimodal neuroimaging

Recommended reading

Drugs and the Meaning of Life:Sam Harris