You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Bluelight.org
Statement from the Board of Directors of Bluelight Communities Ltd
The board of directors of the charity Bluelight Communities Ltd have made a unanimous resolution to require Bluelight.org to more rigorously enforce our user agreement. We will not be changing the rules, but will require that the Bluelight User Agreement (BLUA) be fully enforced in all parts of our site.
As directors, we have legal obligations to the Australian charities regulator to ensure that our charity is operating within the law and within the standards of conduct set by the regulator (the ACNC). Unlike profit-based digital platforms, Bluelight Communities Ltd is a charity that is required by law to serve our communities and ensure all our activities are aligned with our mission.
It has been brought to our attention that a significant amount of content hosted by Bluelight violates rule #4 of the BLUA (You may not post or upload any content that victimizes, harasses, degrades, or intimidates an individual or group of individuals on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion...
Join Our Telegram Group!
Hey guys, we have a very cool and active telegram group at the moment. It has a fully active chat bot you can use to ask general questions about drugs. Pretty laid back atmosphere but could definitely use some more activity! It's a pretty sweet platform and i've had some interesting chats and met some cool people. Come check it out!
https://t.me/BluelightHR
25 Years of Bluelight!
I am honored and humbled to be able to wish Bluelight this very happy birthday. Bluelight has been around for 25 years now, in various names and forms. BL is older than some of our users at this point. From MDMA Clearinghouse, to bluelight.ru, to our current Bluelight.org. We owe our userbase a massive debt for all of the incredible contributions over the years.
This is one of the most visible and active places on the internet and in the World for harm reduction. BL's legacy is palpable, and it's also still being crafted. Bluelight is truly coming into it's own to this day, now a registered charity in Australia. And the site has always been operated and sustained by it's own members, which has helped build such an amazing and open collaborative community.
This community is incredibly important to me, personally. I browsed the site at a time when I was completely alone. I knew I had a lot to learn about life, but it always felt like the world was holding back on me, not giving me...
Donations for the clean-up from Hurricane Helene in Asheville, NC
Hello to the Bluelight community
One of our long-term members and administrators @Xorkoth lives in Asheville, NC, USA. As you've probably heard, this area of the world was recently devastated by a hurricane leading to flooding of the entire town and surrounds. The following information is from a message from BLer @Xorkoth. If you'd like to donate to the charity he is working with, all donations will help with the rebuilding of his community.
Donate to Beloved Asheville
Just an update: I’ve totally got my bearings and now that my neighborhood is doing well, I’ve turned to putting all my focus into helping with the massive amount of aid that is needed. The damage and widespread nature of this thing is so unprecedented that the authorities and government agencies can barely put a dent in the work that needs to be done, so most of the AV done is grassroots stuff.
I’ve gotten involved with an organization, and we are doing various things, yesterday. I brought water to people in...
Welcome from Rick Doblin and MAPS
Jun 13
- 1,170
- 31
Dear Bluelight & MAPS community,
As the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), I'm honored and excited to welcome you to the MAPS Forums on Bluelight. MAPS and Bluelight have grown together over the years and have been mutually supportive, with this new partnership signifying a new depth in our work together.
MAPS' work has two main goals, which go hand in hand: discovering ways to use psychedelics and marijuana safely and beneficially, and educating people about how to reduce the harms associated with their use. Open, scientifically-informed conversations about the risks and benefits of psychedelics and marijuana pushes back the stigma that has built up around them, and allows us to create new, more just policies and a safer, more open cultural attitude to psychedelics, marijuana, and human consciousness in general.
As the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), I'm honored and excited to welcome you to the MAPS Forums on Bluelight. MAPS and Bluelight have grown together over the years and have been mutually supportive, with this new partnership signifying a new depth in our work together.
MAPS' work has two main goals, which go hand in hand: discovering ways to use psychedelics and marijuana safely and beneficially, and educating people about how to reduce the harms associated with their use. Open, scientifically-informed conversations about the risks and benefits of psychedelics and marijuana pushes back the stigma that has built up around them, and allows us to create new, more just policies and a safer, more open cultural attitude to psychedelics, marijuana, and human consciousness in general.
Do Antidepressants Impair the Ability to Extinguish Fear?
Jun 12
- 1,669
- 61
This is why I say it is wrong to use antidepressants as anti-anxiety drugs...
Using it to cover up the depression in a toxic way creates more harm than good...
Using it to cover up the depression in a toxic way creates more harm than good...
Introducing Bluelight's Donations Portal!
May 28
- 386
- 1
Attention Bluelighters!
I want to thank all of you for your patience while we’ve been gearing up for Bluelight's first ever donations campaign. I know I speak for The_Love_Bandit and the Admin team when I say we wanted to create a solution that offered the most to our members.
Long ago, we could have created a simple "click and donate" function, but it was our desire to allow all Bluelight donations to be 501(c)(3) tax deductible. Perhaps not many members will claim their donations on their taxes, but we believe it says something about the caliber of Bluelight as a community.
It is with great enthusiasm and pride that I announce we have reached such an arrangement with our friends at MAPS.org, who have graciously agreed to facilitate Bluelight’s donations under their 501(c)(3) umbrella. On behalf of all of us on Bluelight staff, I am happy to announce the launch of the Bluelight Donations Portal.
I want to thank all of you for your patience while we’ve been gearing up for Bluelight's first ever donations campaign. I know I speak for The_Love_Bandit and the Admin team when I say we wanted to create a solution that offered the most to our members.
Long ago, we could have created a simple "click and donate" function, but it was our desire to allow all Bluelight donations to be 501(c)(3) tax deductible. Perhaps not many members will claim their donations on their taxes, but we believe it says something about the caliber of Bluelight as a community.
It is with great enthusiasm and pride that I announce we have reached such an arrangement with our friends at MAPS.org, who have graciously agreed to facilitate Bluelight’s donations under their 501(c)(3) umbrella. On behalf of all of us on Bluelight staff, I am happy to announce the launch of the Bluelight Donations Portal.
The war on drugs is about the disposal of excess Americans; "a holocaust in slow motion" says Wire creator David Simon
May 27
- 1,187
- 42
I agree, put this on the first page! Good read.
Pledge to the Community
May 14
- 1,187
- 31
Dear Bluelight & MAPS community,
As the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), I'm honored and excited to welcome you to the MAPS Forums on Bluelight. MAPS and Bluelight have grown together over the years and have been mutually supportive, with this new partnership signifying a new depth in our work together.
MAPS' work has two main goals, which go hand in hand: discovering ways to use psychedelics and marijuana safely and beneficially, and educating people about how to reduce the harms associated with their use. Open, scientifically-informed conversations about the risks and benefits of psychedelics and marijuana pushes back the stigma that has built up around them, and allows us to create new, more just policies and a safer, more open cultural attitude to psychedelics, marijuana, and human consciousness in general.
As the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), I'm honored and excited to welcome you to the MAPS Forums on Bluelight. MAPS and Bluelight have grown together over the years and have been mutually supportive, with this new partnership signifying a new depth in our work together.
MAPS' work has two main goals, which go hand in hand: discovering ways to use psychedelics and marijuana safely and beneficially, and educating people about how to reduce the harms associated with their use. Open, scientifically-informed conversations about the risks and benefits of psychedelics and marijuana pushes back the stigma that has built up around them, and allows us to create new, more just policies and a safer, more open cultural attitude to psychedelics, marijuana, and human consciousness in general.
Research Standards
May 14
- 1,704
- 61
Science Daily
June 10, 2013 — An interesting new report of animal research published in Biological Psychiatry suggests that common antidepressant medications may impair a form of learning that is important clinically.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, commonly called SSRIs, are a class of antidepressant widely used to treat depression, as well as a range of anxiety disorders, but the effects of these drugs on learning and memory are poorly understood.
In a previous study, Nesha Burghardt, then a graduate student at New York University, and her colleagues demonstrated that long-term SSRI treatment impairs fear conditioning in rats. As a follow-up, they have now tested the effects of antidepressant treatment on extinction learning in rats using auditory fear conditioning, a model of fear learning that involves the amygdala. The amygdala is a region of the brain vitally important for processing memory and emotion.
They found that long-term, but not short-term, SSRI treatment impairs extinction learning, which is the ability to learn that a conditioned stimulus no longer predicts an aversive event.
June 10, 2013 — An interesting new report of animal research published in Biological Psychiatry suggests that common antidepressant medications may impair a form of learning that is important clinically.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, commonly called SSRIs, are a class of antidepressant widely used to treat depression, as well as a range of anxiety disorders, but the effects of these drugs on learning and memory are poorly understood.
In a previous study, Nesha Burghardt, then a graduate student at New York University, and her colleagues demonstrated that long-term SSRI treatment impairs fear conditioning in rats. As a follow-up, they have now tested the effects of antidepressant treatment on extinction learning in rats using auditory fear conditioning, a model of fear learning that involves the amygdala. The amygdala is a region of the brain vitally important for processing memory and emotion.
They found that long-term, but not short-term, SSRI treatment impairs extinction learning, which is the ability to learn that a conditioned stimulus no longer predicts an aversive event.
Neurons to Nirvana: Understanding Psychedelic Medicines
May 09
- 623
- 0
Last year, we asked Bluelighters to help in fund an amazing project from Oliver Hockenhull - the film Neurons to Nirvana. Unfortunately, despite achieving their 'kickstarter' targets, funding fell through. Regardless of this setback, the team at Mangusta Productions have managed to get the film to the release stage! But they still need a small fund to create a marketing and distribution plan, and allow them to spread the truth about psychedelics globally.
Why Do We Treat Heroin Addicts Like They Deserve to Die?
May 04
- 3,268
- 220
yeah very good article basically sums up why some humans are such pieces of shit to others. What's there to do about this though when it is intentionally set up this way by others? The drug trade, Law enforcement, big pharma, prison industry, government all have a hand in the same setup (The drug war), along with greed and capitalism, these people have tremendous power, global influence and i imagine will not be easily swayed by appeals to humanity. I'm sure some people in earnest believe in the drug war but i bet the large majority know why we keep this charade up. If those people in power have to identify with heroin addicts as human beings equal to themselves then there's no way they could keep this drug war up, of course they don't give a fuck in the first place which is the real problem IMO.
it's not going to be like Germany's destruction, this drug war can play out forever unless enough actual people put a stop to it as in some sort of revolution.
it's not going to be like Germany's destruction, this drug war can play out forever unless enough actual people put a stop to it as in some sort of revolution.
Open Your Mind to the New Psychedelic Science
Apr 27
- 883
- 27
Fringe or frontier?
As many are aware, a good crop of psychedelic therapy studies are underway...if Phase I/II trials look good in terms of safety and efficacy, one can hope that NIH/NIMH will come around to the idea of funding some of these studies in the not-too-distant future.
Here's a more complete list of recent/ongoing studies:
Ayahuasca
- Depression: Brazil (upcoming)
Psilocybin
- End-of-life anxiety: UCLA (completed), NYU (ongoing), Hopkins (ongoing)
- Smoking cessation: Johns Hopkins (ongoing)
- Alcoholism: U of NM (ongoing), NYU (pending)
- Enhancing meditation/spiritual practice: Hopkins (ongoing)
- Depression: UK (pending)
MDMA
- PTSD: Switzerland (completed), Spain (completed), Israel (ongoing), University of Colorado (ongoing), South Carolina (completed and ongoing), Canada (pending)
LSD
- End-of-life anxiety: Switzerland (completed)
Ibogaine
- Addiction: Mexico, New Zealand (ongoing)
As many are aware, a good crop of psychedelic therapy studies are underway...if Phase I/II trials look good in terms of safety and efficacy, one can hope that NIH/NIMH will come around to the idea of funding some of these studies in the not-too-distant future.
Here's a more complete list of recent/ongoing studies:
Ayahuasca
- Depression: Brazil (upcoming)
Psilocybin
- End-of-life anxiety: UCLA (completed), NYU (ongoing), Hopkins (ongoing)
- Smoking cessation: Johns Hopkins (ongoing)
- Alcoholism: U of NM (ongoing), NYU (pending)
- Enhancing meditation/spiritual practice: Hopkins (ongoing)
- Depression: UK (pending)
MDMA
- PTSD: Switzerland (completed), Spain (completed), Israel (ongoing), University of Colorado (ongoing), South Carolina (completed and ongoing), Canada (pending)
LSD
- End-of-life anxiety: Switzerland (completed)
Ibogaine
- Addiction: Mexico, New Zealand (ongoing)
The real driver behind most drug use is pleasure, not dependence
Apr 21
- 917
- 37
Surprisingly good article, thanks for posting.