From: rlb@plex-1.ann-arbor.mi.us (Robin Billings)
Subject: Re: Why I don't like MDMA
Organization: Plex-1, Michigan's Public Access Usenet Gateway  (Ann Arbor).
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 02:28:43 GMT

In article <1992Dec18.070349.9694@nmt.edu> houle@nmt.edu (Paul Houle) writes:
>In article <1992Dec16.072727.10229@cognet.ucla.edu> seger@cognet.ucla.edu (Carol Seger) writes:
>
>>The worst thing was coming down -- one second I would be ecstatic,
>>the next I would be totally normal, and depressed that normal life
>>wasn't as happy as on the drug.
>>
>>So I don't have much desire to use MDMA again, though since I am older
>>now and have more realisitic expectations, I expect I could do so and
>>enjoy it. It certainly has its spectacular qualities, but is far from
>>an unmixed blessing.
>
>	Yes,  from what I've been told,  MDMA has more emotional grab
>than the classic psychedelics,  so it might have more disadvantages
>similar to those of non-psychedelic drugs.  Yet,  from what I understand,
>it can be very difficult to bring the gains from psychedelics into present
>time.  A friend of mine has a 'Shroom memory of his floor acting like
>a kaledioscope,  and because it is very unusual and sticks out,  it is
>the one he gets if he thinks about his floor.  But otherwise,  memories
>written under psychedelics tend to get weird tags attached,  so they tend
>not to get activated/integrated all that well afterwards.  Maybe this is
>good,  because it means that dangerous material doesn't integrate well
>(flashback fade) but the good stuff takes a great deal of effort to
>bring it into your baseline space.

The tendency to make global assertions about the action of any psychedelic
should be checked.  The old pioneers insisted that set and setting play a
large part in the subsequent experience induced by any psychoactive drug,
be they the classic shamanic hallucinogens such as psilocybin, or the more
specific empathogens such as MDMA; they were quite right in making this
type of global assertion.  However, the assertion that memories tend not
to get integrated all that well afterwards is dependent upon the nature
of the material encountered as well as the attitude with which it is met.
Plying the hallucinogenic ocean is a skill.  Like most skillful activities,
there are varying degrees of aptitude: ranging from the inept to the seasoned
expertise born of long and thorough exploration.  Like any tool, the results
of application of psychedelic tools ranges from the base to the sublime, 
largely as a result of the skill of the individual working with them.
 
As a psychologist, I see the psychedelics as essential exploratory/therapeutic
tools.  Psychedelics are to psychology what the microscope is to cellular
biology or the telescope to astronomy.  As the political climate softens we
may be able to better discern situations which might be responsive to their
application, as well as develop more skillful discernment in administering
them and working with the states of consciousness they facilitate.  What I
am reading of the experiences of individuals here on the net is reminiscent
of amateur hour.  I mean nothing derogatory here; but am attempting to
point out that the necessary atmosphere of objective investigation into
the therapeutic potential of these tools has been put on ice since the
sixties, and we need to accumulate a body of experience and discrimination
to make progress in intelligently applying these marvelous tools.  I hope
that forums such as this may contribute to this possibility.  We need to
take these tools out of the recreational setting and place them into the
hands of qualified therapists to realize their full potential.  This is not
to argue against their usefulness in a recreational setting, but to emphasize
the necessity of examining them systematically and refining our skills in
applying them therapeutically.  I am convinced that this will be necessary
for further progress.  Somewhere there may be the Leonardo da Vinci of 
psychedelic psychotherapy just waiting for opportunity to knock.  Perhaps
you, net reader, are just that person.

Newsgroups: alt.drugs