We're currently hosting our discussions at Café Walnut, near the corner of 7th & Walnut in Olde City, just across the street from Washington Square Park. The cafe's entrance is below street level down some stairs, which can be confusing if it's your first time. Our group meets in the large room upstairs.
Since we're using the cafe's space, they ask that each person attending the meetup at least purchase a drink or snack. Please don't bring any food or drinks from outside. If you're hungry enough to eat a meal, they have more substantial fare such as salads, soups & sandwiches which are pretty good and their prices are reasonable.
The cafe is fairly easy to get to if you're using public transit. With SEPTA, take the Market-Frankford Line & get off at the 5th Street Station (corner of 5th & Market), and walk 2 blocks south on 5th and then turn right on Walnut Street and walk 2 blocks west. With PATCO, just get off at the 9th-10th & Locust stop and walk 3 blocks east & 1 block north. For those who are driving, parking in the neighborhood can be tough to find. If you can't find a spot on the street, I'd suggest parking in the Washington Square parking deck at 249 S 6th Street which is just a half block away.
DEMYSTIFYING THE HISTORY & SCIENCE OF PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS
INTRODUCTION:
In our last meetup, entitled "Drug Panics & Drug Conspiracy Theories", we discussed the sociological dynamics of moral panics & conspiracy theories as they relate to illegal drugs. Here's a link to the discussion outline if you want to review that material: https://www.meetup.com/Philly-Skeptics/events/ffkqkqyzfbwb/
While that discussion focused on crack, heroin & meth, there have also been several notable moral panics & conspiracy theories about psychedelic drugs - and that will occupy the first half of this discussion, and then we'll move onto discussing the results of the ongoing research into psychedelics in the second half of the discussion.
To rationally assess these issues, we have to start with an understanding of which drugs are classified as psychedelics and how they differ from other drugs. "Psychedelics" are a category of tryptamine drugs whose primary action is to trigger an altered state of consciousness via serotonin receptor agonism. This altered state is characterized by visual & auditory alterations & hallucinations as well dramatic changes in thought patterns, often resembling a "mystical" experience and/or temporary psychosis. Major psychedelic drugs include mescaline, LSD, psilocybin, and DMT. Psychedelics are often confused with "hallucinogens", which is a broader category of drugs that includes several other sub-classes such as deliriants, dissociatives, empathogens (phenylethylamines), and cannabinoids. Psychedelics are distinguished from many of other drugs by being non-toxic (i.e. the lethal dose is far higher than the effective dose) and non-addictive. See the above diagram and the Wikipedia entries for more information on these categories of drugs: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_drug https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinogen
Historians & anthropologists believe that most human cultures around the world discovered plants & fungi with psychedelics properties & used them for medicinal & spiritual purposes for thousands of years. (If there's sufficient interest, we may hold a future meetup on "The Prehistory of Psychedelics.").
However, it wasn't until the late 19th & early 20th century that chemists began to isolate these psychoactive chemicals that occurred in nature and experiment with them. The most famous example of these is "lysergic acid diethylamide" (LSD), which was first synthesized in 1938 by the chemist Albert Hofmann in the Sandoz labs in Switzerland. He was studying the fungus ergot, which had been used medicinally by European midwives for centuries, in order to purify & isolate its active constituents for use as a stimulant, but he didn't discover LSD's psychoactive properties until 1943. From the late '40s through the early '60s, LSD was used in a variety of experiments by psychiatrists, as well as by the CIA & other intelligence agencies looking for a "truth serum". It was gradually discovered by the counterculture & became a recreational drug, which provoked state & federal bans.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE DISCUSSION:
In the first section of our discussion, we'll discuss the CIA's MKULTRA program which is an infamous example of a true government conspiracy that sounds like something out of a Hollywood thriller. Nevertheless, as we'll see, some of the claims about MKULTRA are plausible but hard to verify while others strain credibility to the breaking point. Thus, the popular conception of MKULTRA fits the model of the type of "quasi-conspiracy theory" that we covered in our last discussion, and we'll give it a much-needed "unpacking" to sort the facts from the fiction.
In the second section, we'll look at the way LSD went from a research drug in the psychiatric community during the 1950s to a recreational drug in the hippie counterculture of the 1960s, which led to its ban in California in 1966 and nationally in 1971. Some have alleged that this was a classic "moral panic" where news coverage of a small number of high-profile cases of people getting injured or arrested while tripping led to public hysteria and a law enforcement crackdown. As we'll see, a large number of urban legends about LSD emerged during this period and persist to this day, even being taken seriously by many experienced LSD users.
In the third section, we'll look at how psychedelic research is beginning to shed new light on our understanding of human consciousness. This is an interesting area for those who are interested in philosophy's "mind-body problem", i.e. the mysterious process by which our brain generates our conscious & unconscious mind. Neuroscientists are currently trying to assess how psychedelics change brain activity with MRI machines, while "psychonauts" (experienced psychedelic users) try their best to explain their subjective experiences while tripping and compare it to other altered states like religious ecstasy, lucid dreaming, meditation, and near-death experiences. As we'll see, it can be challenging to separate the evidence-based claims from the wild speculation.
In the fourth section, we'll look at how several hallucinogens - namely psilocybin, ketamine & MDMA - are currently being used in control trials to treat depression, PTSD, end-of-life anxiety, and addiction. Many researchers are hopeful based on preliminary results, but they're struggling to understand the mechanisms of action, and there's considerable concern from government regulators about potential side-effects. Mental health advocates are also beginning to worry about "Big Pharma" patenting & monopolizing new psychedelics and perverting the research. We'll do our best to understand the basics of psychedelic therapy and parse the surrounding concerns.
RELEVANT MATERIAL FROM PAST MEETUPS:
In January, we had a meetup entitled "Is (Secular) Buddhism True?" where we looked at the scientific research on the benefits of meditation. Sam Harris & others have claimed that meditation allows advanced practitioners to achieve altered mental states & make deep realizations about the nature of consciousness similar to that reached by people on psychedelics. https://www.meetup.com/Philly-Skeptics/events/ffkqkqyzcbbc/
In February, we had a meetup entitled "The Science of Hypnosis" and in Part 4 we looked at "Project Artichoke" which was a research project within MKUltra that tried to develop mind control methods using both hypnosis & psychedelics: https://www.meetup.com/Philly-Skeptics/events/ffkqkqyzdbfb/
