US - Mom Shares Psychedelic Drugs with Dying Daughter

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edgarshade

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Santa Cruz Patch

By David Jay Brown | June 30, 2011

With reader comments

http://santacruz.patch.com/articles/mom-shares-psychedelic-drugs-with-dying-daughter

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.
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As the pain and suffering grew, and the end drew near, Mara and Marilyn considered their limited options, and decided to explore the possibilities of psychedelic psychotherapy.

Early LSD studies with advanced-stage cancer patients showed that LSD-assisted psychotherapy could alleviate symptoms of anxiety, tension, depression, sleep disturbances, psychological withdrawal, and even severe physical pain. As I have reported in previous columns, MAPS is currently supporting research into how LSD and MDMA can be helpful in treating end-of-life anxiety.

Marilyn found an underground psychotherapist who provided several sessions for Mara with MDMA, psilocybin, LSD, and cannabis. The MDMA especially appeared to help considerably.

For a time, Mara was pain-free, peaceful, able to easily communicate about emotionally-difficult topics, accepting of her situation, and, seemingly, genuinely happy. In the midst of so much trauma and darkness, the psychedelic psychotherapy appeared to be a Godsend, and Mara died peaceful and “radiant.”

“I’d like to see the full spectrum of psychedelics be integrated into hospice care,” Marilyn told me, “I think that different drugs are appropriate for different people at different stages...It would be lovely if all of those drugs became available by prescription.”

This book highlights just how out-of-touch our medical profession is with the value of psychedelic psychotherapy, and just how primitive our current political system is, which criminalizes compassionate and spiritual treatments for those among us that need it the most.
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while i've got no issue with what she did..why would you admit to doing this illegally?
just sounds like problems with putting something like this in a newspaper..
 
Woww this is sooo heartwarming.

This shit pisses me off though

"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."

Whaaa! INCLUDING giving them ILLEGAL DRUGS! Noo wayy some people and the nerve they have. I cant beleive she can even show her face after what shes done.
 
LSDMDMA&9787390 said:
while i've got no issue with what she did..why would you admit to doing this illegally?
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i tend to err on the side of safety when it comes to ppl openly discussing breaking the law, but in a case like this she's accomplishing something meaningful/worthwhile by talking about it (further, nobody wants to be the douche who tries to bring charges to her for this)

respite-psychedelics are a fascinating, promising tool; it's great to see more coverage on this :)
 
Psychedelics are my personal favorite class of drugs due to the life-changing nature of some experiences I have had through use.
I have no trouble understanding how psychedelic use might help someone come to terms with their own existence/death - they have done so for me, in no minor way, despite the fact that my death is not impending.
And I also appreciate the idea of a cannabis session. Weed has been a useful tool for me, and I can imagine relaxing and opening up with a therapist when high, and with the enhanced introspective prowess I experience when high, I might be able to break down many self-created barriers and achieve valuable insights.
Then again, if taken in high doses orally, weed can be just as intense as LSD. The article doesn't mention specifics, so we can only guess if they shot her into uncharted territories or just shared a joint before rapping (thereby aiding the discussion about other, stronger, sessions with MDMA, LSD, and mushrooms).
 
seems the majority of these types of sessions are at doses barely past "threshold". i can understand why, as a "generic"-enough counselor, it'd make sense to dose someone at, dunno, 2g mushrooms instead of 10, or 70mg mdma instead of 400mg, but i've gotta imagine this theme has potential past what's being used now (and, of course, we have to start low b4 going further w/ the idea).
/pot can be just as intense as lsd?!? can't say you've ever written much i'd disagree w/, so i'll await elaboration. from what i know, lsd has almost no ceilings (perhaps no ceilings), whereas w/ cannabinoids, I.M.O., there is absolutely a ceiling FAR below what can be achieved w/ acid/boomers. i could definitely see lsd/etc helping me in therapy*, especially if it was with a friendly/familiar** counselor, even moreso if they partook just a bit(just a fraction of what i took), but w/ cannabinoids i know i'd personally shut-down and find no use for therapy.
*have never actually had a therapy/psych session in my life, so just speculation
**i can promise that the "counselor" is as, if not more, important than "set/setting" in such a scenario
 
SangerRainsford said:
seems the majority of these types of sessions are at doses barely past "threshold". i can understand why, as a "generic"-enough counselor, it'd make sense to dose someone at, dunno, 2g mushrooms instead of 10, or 70mg mdma instead of 400mg, but i've gotta imagine this theme has potential past what's being used now (and, of course, we have to start low b4 going further w/ the idea).
/pot can be just as intense as lsd?!? can't say you've ever written much i'd disagree w/, so i'll await elaboration.
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As for the "weed can be as intense as LSD" thing, it really depends on the dosage.
If you eat a gram or two of high-quality hashish, you should be prepared to trip as if you were on several quality hits of acid.

Once I ate San Pedro and two weed-cookies that I had made, and went to an outdoor event.
I was not able to function in a societally-harmonious manner all day. Beautiful visuals. My short-term memory had a limit of around 0.2 seconds. I got lost if I took one step away from my friends and looked in the other direction. Too much!
I believed it was the San Pedro. So the next day, I only ate 2 weed cookies, and the exact same thing happened again! I realized that it was the weed, not the mescaline, that had done it.
The final day, I ate one weed cookie, and I was heavily stoned all day, but I could function somewhat.

As for the dosages during psychotherapy, I personally have gotten a lot out of low-dosage mushroom and LSD experiences, but low-dose MDMA seems like a waste to me. The one time I took around 60-70 mg, I felt the speedy effects, but nothing heart-opening at all.
 
i think we're almost in agreement there- i've NO doubt that cannabinoids can be instense.as.fuck., but higher-dosage pot isn't even remotely comparable to a 'real' psychedelic IMO. like you said- short term memory limit, unable to function in a socially-harmonious manner, etc. That's NOT to say i see zero usage for cannabis for such things - honestly, i'd imagine LOW dosages would help an overwhelming majority of 'normal' psyc sessions. *But* cannabis has a "lower-limit" wrt psych-states that'd make opening-up in near-death situations more difficult compared to boomers/acid/mdxx. cannabis is solid, but there are far better chems for these situations (imo, again).

/that event must've been bad.ass. ;PP
//mdma @ sub-threshold dosages does seem to cause only the 'stim' effects/low-or-no-empathy from what i've known, i'd absolutely rather have a sub-thresh level of psylo/lsd compared to any mdxx. further, the only way a "proper" dosage of psylo/lsd/mdxx could work in these situations would be in really limited circumstances, the majority of the time you'd be far too "high" to discuss things properly and, even if you could, your ability to integrate such things would be drastically lessened. to pull some #'s outta my ass - this is still 4thJuly time ;P - but i'd have to imagine the best dosages would be in the areas of 100-300mgMDxx, 1-2hits "standard" lsd, or ~1-3g "standard" psylo-shrooms.
///it'd be great if those who use such practices (underground) would just figure this shit out already. i understand why they can't do so "in the public eye", but just doing it and finding out the dosages, and the mixtures, that worked would be crazy-useful even if it wasn't done "by the books"
 
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SangerRainsford said:
//mdma @ sub-threshold dosages does seem to cause only the 'stim' effects/low-or-no-empathy from what i've known, i'd absolutely rather have a sub-thresh level of psylo/lsd compared to any mdxx. further, the only way a "proper" dosage of psylo/lsd/mdxx could work in these situations would be in really limited circumstances, the majority of the time you'd be far too "high" to discuss things properly and, even if you could, your ability to integrate such things would be drastically lessened. to pull some #'s outta my ass - this is still 4thJuly time ;P - but i'd have to imagine the best dosages would be in the areas of 100-300mgMDxx, 1-2hits "standard" lsd, or ~1-3g "standard" psylo-shrooms.
///it'd be great if those who use such practices (underground) would just figure this shit out already. i understand why they can't do so "in the public eye", but just doing it and finding out the dosages, and the mixtures, that worked would be crazy-useful even if it wasn't done "by the books"
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With a well trained psychologist who understands what your going through and who is able to properly dose you to get you at the level they want, that confusion associated with so many psychedelics would be reversed into the awesome mental clarity that, ironically enough, is also associated with psychedelics.

I think that set and setting are even more so important for people looking to do more than just "trip". And being in a zone your comfortable with, taking a drug whose purity is of no concern, and having a person who understands your psychology is, imo, perfect set and setting. That is of course assuming your taking the drugs to help your self and to not just get high (which c'mon I dont think any of us would be on bluelight if we didnt enjoy "just getting high" at) one point of our lives
 
I love this thread!<3

i've NO doubt that cannabinoids can be instense.as.fuck., but higher-dosage pot isn't even remotely comparable to a 'real' psychedelic IMO.
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Since we can agree on so much, permit me to push you on this point a bit. :D

I see drugs (particularly psychedelics) as mechanisms that can open access points to a distinct level of reality, or of being.
Therefore, it is not that cannabis takes you to the cannabis world, and lsd to the lsd world, etc.
The reason we might falsely believe that lsd takes you to the lsd world, etc. is that they permit (or encourage) distinct perspectives on the newly-accessed reality.
But, as someone with a lot of LSD, mushroom, and mescaline experience under my belt, as well as more limited, various other experiences such as DMT, I would say that I can get to the same places on cannabis.
Having a high dose certainly helps a lot - or may be essential.
But I have learned how to access certain facets of being, and I can access them similarly while high on weed.
My weed experiences have changed a lot through the years, but the affects of psychedelic experiences have been most significant.

So, having said this, a question for SR:
Have you experimented with weed orally?
How about high doses? (Say, a gram of high-quality weed/hash to begin with, or even 2+ grams, depending on your tolerance?)
Have you read anything by Charles Baudelaire, such as Les paradis artificiels?

How about this: have you smoked extremely high-potency honey oil (butane extract), or something similar, when you were used to plan ol weed?
My first time, I smoked one hit, and essentially "was on LSD" for two hours, until I came down to the level of a very intense weed high.

So, basically, I can imagine the same possibility that you described earlier in this thread, for an experience that is far, far too intense for therapy, but with weed in addition to classic psychedelics.

(And I also liked Mob Rules' response above.
Keep it up, everyone!)
 
Great post, would read again
Hopefully this may catch on during the next 5-10 years

LSD, 100 µg, intramuscular

portrait-huxley3.jpg
 
I could imagine a terminal illness to think about could lead to a bad trip no?
 
^I think that it might lead to a point where one can either accept one's fate - and so, have a wonderful, opening experience - or try to fight against it. However, once the doctor has told you "you are going to die in X months", it is pretty hard to fight it. So I bet very few people in such situations have bad trips. (Just a guess, though.)
 
definitely have used very high-dosage stuff (bubble hash, butane/honey oil, etc), and at one point in the distant past, was accustomed to about 2g/night (spread out, however, over like 4hrs - 2 blunts w/ 2 movies ;PP ). oh and i'll never go near a butane setup again, it's pretty unsettling holding what amounts to a freezing-cold pipe bomb lol!!

with the higher dosages, i get the "feeling" of the perceptiveness i'd get on other psych's, but could never really 'understand' what i was feeling/thinking, if that makes any sense. and while there's no real 'body load', i'd always get a ton of 'head pressure' that'd make it a real pita, and my mind would hop from one thing to another soooo often that (imo ;P )it was far more conducive to hiking, watching shit, or just dickin around enjoying being high. i was never able to have any true 'realizations' like acid/shrooms tend to give the majority of the time (for me; and, while on a 'proper' introspective dosage, typically twice or more what i'd wanna use for "having fun outside")

if you were to do a session such as this, and you had to choose a compound, would it be pot? over anything else you could choose? what would pot beat for you in this scenario?
 
re SR

i can get a trip as intense as mushrooms with pot, but only if everything clicks into place (set/setting..neurochemistry/mood/cycles). the dose has to be (curiously...) low. too high and it's a sedative. at the right dose and set, i can reach existential heights that i wish i could have some sort of memory of while sober (that sort of thing cannot be recorded into memory).

however, unlike slimvictor, i wouldn't say that i "enter the mushroom world" when i trip off of pot... cannabinoids seem distinctly different, but just as "spiritually" and visually potent... that is, for my brain anyway.
 
If I had to choose just one substance, I would probably go with mushrooms.
DMT would be a close second, but I have much more experience with shrooms, and trust/know them better.
I would not go with weed, though I respect the healing power of weed.
I just have the most "spiritual" life-changing experiences on shrooms (as well as Ayahuasca).
 
choosing one would be quite difficult... i'm farrrrrr too partial to mdxx's with my (acid or boomers).
/damn, it'll be the day when we can actually use the stuff w/ enough freedom in a clinical setting to determine the "best" cocktailS, and tailor sessions to the patient that much better ;PPPP
 
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