wow thank you for all of the comments...they are fascinating to me as I read each one and digest it. Interesting stuff...
I am going to save certain responses for another time in the near future but this one jumped out at me:
The idea of psychedelics damaging 5HT2a receptors does not sit well with me. I always thought psychedelics were proven non-toxic (not RCs, i mean things like mushrooms and cacti).
hey, two things. Serotonergic psychedelics (such as psilocybin or mescaline or LSD) that we know and love are not neurotoxic in the sense that MDMA is neurotoxic (ie destroys pre-synaptic neurons through oxidative processes or whatever). But, they do downregulate 5HT2a receptors (this is why you usually won't trip at the same intensity if you try two nights in a row on LSD at the same dosage). Think about the receptors like 'gloves' - they are designed to catch certain complex forms of amino acids (neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, DMT, LSD). The neurotransmitters 'tickle' the glove in a certain way that causes 'downstream' modulation of the post-synaptic neuron (ie change in the behavior of the neuron). It wiggles different and sends certain messages along to other neurons that get their 'content' (or meaning) in virtue of standing in an appropriate causal relation to other brain areas and then on a wider level the environment.
So, when you take a drug like mushrooms what happens is the psilocin molecules in the fungi go to your brain and attach to these 5HT2a 'gloves' (receptors) and activate them. In their overwhelming activation they signal to the neuron that there are extraneous receptors (ie too many). So, some 'draw within' or close their glove so to speak for a little while (sometimes permanently).
So the end result is a little tolerance (a little bit less 5HT2a receptors in your brain for a little while). Of course brains bounce back (they're tough in some ways!) and regenerate those receptors and you're back to 'normal' tolerance or baseline (which is why its meangingful to say that the trip continues long after the initial effects wear off - ie the trip continues through more sober integration processes much later even days after the peak effects).
And finally, two, I really do think that people can use psychedelics regularly to their benefit...I think moderation is of course the key and taking time after each trip to digest whatever happened to you. There's nothing that stops a healthy person from using psychedelics still (if anything regular moderate use of psychedelics in most people I know at least is an incredibly beneficial thing).
Most people don't trip a lot like obsessively or anything...its not very addictive in the sense of a drug like heroin or cocaine (where the reinforcement effects are actually quite strong). Its an interesting drug because the individual tends to take an incredible amount away from the experience...a lot of very personal content about the world, the structure of the world, how you ought to live your life, whats the purpose of your life, etc.
So I generally advocate responsible use of psychedelics...its a good thing!
