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As I approach 40, I wonder if I'm having too much fun. Surely by now I should settle down, stop going to Burning Man, and, you know, grow up. It's easy at 25 to say "seize the day" rather than "become a tax attorney"; seizing the day is a lot more fun, and rewarding, and has better poets to commend it. Not so easy at 37, when the tax attorney is pulling down a half mil a year and I'm still cashing freelance checks. It makes me wonder whether it's time either to give up the "seize the day" ethos, which so inspired me, at 18 when I read about it in Thoreau and Ginsberg, and saw it elucidated in Dead Poets Society, or at least translate it into a new era of maturity and responsibility — that is, translate it out of existence.

Granted, what I call "fun" is not what most people mean. Here I use the term in a broad and intentionally self-deprecating way, to refer to anything my heart deeply wants, from meditation retreats to writing a novel. Of course I know many rationales for such activities, all of which prove that they are much more than mere fun, are essential to the human condition, are part of the Divine plan, or whatever. But I don't want to make any pretensions. At times, I am certain that I strayed from the straight and narrow path for such higher purposes: to alleviate suffering, to create art that only I could create, and to be able to look back on a life well-lived, which to me means drinking deeply from as many its wellsprings as I could find. But I think that, when push comes to shove, I have made these choices because I deeply wanted to make them. Sure, these deep yearnings are different from simply wanting to get some kicks. But they are still about "fun," I think: about the juiciness of life itself, about experience, about enjoying life, in the deepest sense.

I've also come to accept that the desire for fun may really just be a matter of disposition. Personally I love frolicking at the Barefoot Boogie, cutting loose and having a good time — but other people, by disposition, just feel awkward and uncomfortable, and are probably relieved, more than anything else, when they've left the dancing stage behind. Likewise, as I'll explore more below, I am spiritually fulfilled when my practice is juicy, visceral, and intense — but other people, simply as a matter of taste, prefer calm reflection and inherited traditions. Fair enough — let's say it's just a matter of preference. Suppose I have just been doing what I wanted. Is there anything wrong with that? Why are we supposed to grow up and stop having fun, anyway?

Well, it turns out that there are a number of reasons. First, at least for me, there is what former Yale Law School Dean Anthony Kronman called the "firestorm of regret." I am now at the age where peers of mine are not just rich tax attorneys, but also influential politicians, respected professors, and writers and editors at publications (even) more well-known than Reality Sandwich. In contrast, when I look back on my last ten years, it seems that they've been marked by an inability to say no to life — I've wanted it all, and as a result have gotten a little bit of everything, rather than the depth in just one or two things that's necessary for real success. I've written about this before — my affinity with the undisciplined fox rather than the focused hedgehog, in Isaiah Berlin's typology of intellectuals. Berlin seems to feel that both have roles to play in the world, but as a fox, I wonder if I'll go to my grave still wondering whether I've been a Renaissance Man or a dilettante.

These pangs of regret occur because of an underlying anti-fun value: that one should make something of oneself. This is a particular, Western value that is not shared by all civilizations. Probably the most obvious counterexample is the Rastafarian (or pop-Rasta) value of spending an entire life delighting in the pleasures of Jah — working, to be sure, to better social justice, but never losing sight of the gifts of creation, which are here to be enjoyed. Every time I go on vacation I meet people who gave up the high-stress, hundred-email-a-day life that I lead to fish, or run a dive shop, or just sit on the beach. They seem very relaxed. But for all the appeal of the fantasy, I feel that I couldn't be one of them. I'd always wonder what I might have been.

But it's not just the Rastas. Consider the monastic ideal of diminishing the ego, lessening the bonds of desire, and thus attaining a form of grace, or enlightenment, that is available only to those who relinquish. Trying to "make something of oneself," in this view — held in many schools of Buddhism, Christianity, and even, in a way, Judaism — is a grave mistake. Indeed, it's one of the main causes for suffering on the planet, both for those who are climbing to the top of the heap, and, more importantly, on those they step on, on their way.

So it's not that achievement is a universal value; it isn't. But it is one which I've internalized, thanks to my karma, upbringing, family, community, and my own desire for success. The desire for achievement is there, along with my regretful and comparing mind which notices how many other people are achieving. But in order to achieve, you've got to settle down, mature, and focus — three things I haven't been very good at, ever since I "got off the treadmill" (to quote another Yale Law School dean, Judge Guido Calabresi) a few years ago.

A third reason to stop having fun, along with regret and the value of achievement, has to do with dignity and maturity. It's just undignified, isn't it, to be the balding guy on the dance floor. Mick Jagger may still look okay doing his thing at age sixty-whatever, but I'm trying to be a serious intellectual, a PhD for god's sake — and nothing is more ridiculous than professors who think they're rock stars. Admittedly, in my gay community, there are many men who keep having fun — dancing all night, having a lot of sex — well into their upper decades. There, the values are different. But how do we judge them ourselves? I think, whether out of conformity with expected norms, or shame, or just a sense of propriety, many people stop having so much fun because it just doesn't do anymore. There's a time and a place for everything — and the time for raves has passed.

Privately, I wonder if the real reason beneath this supposed norm isn't just that, for many people, the fun isn't fun anymore. At a certain point, the pain of dancing for six hours outweighs the fun; the sex isn't as intense; and the thrills of the first-time meditator, first-time traveler, first-time whatever, are long gone. Fortunately, the value of "maturity" elevates this physical or psychological debilitation, gives it class.

A fourth reason to stop having so much fun is, of course, that life isn't always fun.

Pleasure, even in its deepest form, is only one of the important aspects of life. In a long-term relationship, for example, pleasure waxes and wanes, but if the pursuit of immediate sensual pleasure (affairs — fun!) is placed above commitment (less fun), the end result will likely be sorrow. Or in terms of health: the burger is fun, but heart surgery is not. Or in terms of emotional depth: picnics are fun, but visiting the friend in the hospital is not. Or in terms of spirituality: spiritual highs are fun, but living ethically may not be. In all these instances, "seizing the day" begins to look infantile, and narcissistic. Living fully and truthfully requires more.

Fifth, if life is only pursued for the delights of the self — even highly refined delights like reading post-structuralist theory or creating art — it becomes a dead end. It's too easy to keep searching for the next thrill; this is how people become addicted to drugs, like an acquaintance of mine who died, at age 38, because of his years-long crystal meth addiction. At first it's fun; then it's less fun; then you need to do it to have any fun at all. So, too, with spirituality. The first meditation retreat is such a high! You think you'll never come back down. But then you do, and you start searching for the next high: samadhi becomes a narcotic. And so too with many other pursuits as well; to me, the jaded artist-hipster who's bored by life because she's seen it all by 25 is little different, psychologically, from the junkie.

Finally, I think we're meant to stop having fun, at some point, because of a sense of deeper responsibilities, most importantly to family and community. Of course, since I've defined "fun" to include anything that provides a sense of joy in life, family is fun too. But I think it's distinguishable, in that the intention of the family man or woman may be less "I am doing this to taste the joys and sorrows of life" than "I am doing this because it is my role, or my duty, or my responsibility." Likewise for career; it may be fun, but it's mainly responsibility.

So there are at least six reasons to stop having so much fun: regret, achievement, maturity, truthfulness to life, avoiding the dead-end, and taking responsibility.

And yet, I still do it. I still find myself making choices that lead to more juiciness — again, less, these days, in terms of all-night raves and more in terms of spiritual growth and artistic creation, but juiciness nonetheless. On good days, I am at peace with this decision. It's not been just about thrills, for me. I find that deep pleasure (aesthetic, spiritual, erotic, intellectual) truly leads me to the sacred. I wake up out of whatever trail my mind has gone down, and into the reality of the present moment (to risk a cliche), where I inevitably feel great gratitude, peace, and holiness. There is so much aching beauty in the world, that I fall in love with it anew every week.

Yet on less good days, it seems I'm condemned to second-guess this choice: to wonder whether the knowledge I've acquired, out of a zest for learning and what I hope is an authentic lust for life, balances the more conventional achievements of my wealthier and more-respected peers. And to wonder whether I haven't been too selfish; whether I might have applied my gifts in a way that helped the world more. And, finally, to wonder when, if ever, I'm going to grow up.

I don't know whether this schizophrenia will ever resolve itself, whether I'll finally let go of the bourgeois-American-Jewish urge to achieve and be somebody — or whether I'll follow it, relinquishing my childish Dead Poets ideals to memory and history. Both sides have their arguments, both sides their appeals. And in my typical fashion, I'm still trying to have it both ways.

As I've reflected on these values on a personal level, though, I've begun to notice that they are expressed societally as well. I think it's no exaggeration to say that we Americans have a fear of fun — even as we are the most immature and thrill-seeking society in the history of the planet.

Consider the triad of atheism, religion, and spirituality. Many spiritual types can't understand why, on the one hand, atheists just don't get it, and why on the other, religious fundamentalists are still tied to their fear-based system of authority and repression. Many skeptics, in turn, just can't believe how duped religious people are — and the spiritual ones worst of all: at least the fundamentalist is just believing what people told her, and buying into a system of thought which, while ultimately false, is committed to something. But the mystic? Having a pleasant experience and calling it union with God? Are we deluded, retarded, or just nuts?

Now, there is certainly plenty to criticize about the fuzzy thinking of the New Age, not least its immediate leap from an experience which seems very certain to a claim about what it actually is. Yet I think the critiques of the skeptics are less about the truth-claims of the mystics than about the experiences themselves. In short, the mystics are having too much fun. Too much juice, too much energy, too much subjectivity and emotion. It's not that the skeptics are jealous; it's that they're suspicious. Something smells rotten.

Likewise on the religious right. Just as the skeptics do, the traditionally religious doubt the truth of mystical claims. But, also as the skeptics do, perhaps they recognize a fundamental difference between the traditional-religious impetus and the mystical one: that the latter, and not the former, is oriented toward "fun," again in the wide sense I'm using it here: to experience, to ecstasy, to sucking the marrow out of life. The traditional-religious may talk about meaning, but the mystic feels it. And this makes people suspicious.

What's going on? Clearly, it's not really about the facts. Of course, there are abuses — but most mystics end up not as sexually-abusive cult leaders but working either within a traditional ethical system or creating a home-spun ethics of compassion and gentleness. It's not Waco, but Woodstock.

Yet even Woodstock represents an inversion of certain religious values. If religion is about rules, mysticism is about experience; if religion is about authority, mysticism is about subjectivity; religion is about mediation (by text, by priests, whatever), mysticism about the unmediated; and religion is about adherence to codes, mysticism about "fun."

In traditional religious circles, there is a clear understanding of this anti-fun — that is, anti-experiential and anti-subjective — orientation. Traditionalists get upset by mystics' disruptions of cultic purity, in particular sexual purity. Where are "traditional values" when someone is meditating? All these hippie-spiritual types are smoking grass and engaging in free love — that's not religion, it's witchcraft. And indeed, it may be; perhaps what we think of as evil is simply that which the orthodox have feared. Perhaps, when one tastes of the forbidden fruit, it's all a big joke, because it doesn't hurt you at all, and it's just people in authority who wanted you to think that it would. More on this, I hope, in a future column. Certainly, though, it's true that subjective spirituality can go hand in hand with a rejection of traditional morality, even though it needn't necessarily. And so, like the skeptic-progressives, the traditionalists are suspicious.

It's experience that they're suspicious of — experience unmoored from pre-defined consequences. And in a certain way, they're right to be. Experience sometimes is life-changing, but sometimes it's just experience — and either way it's bad for traditional religious norms. As Ken Wilber has explained, experiences provide rich mind-states, but they don't necessarily advance one through any stages of development, and they are susceptible to wild, even dangerous, interpretations: one person's moment of inspiration is another's message from God, the same experience that can be interpreted as transcendence of ego can, for some, be the strongest expression of it. But then, experiences can also help propel one through various stages of religious development, leaving mythic religion behind in favor of new and more subtle realms. The fundamentalists have reasons to be fearful of fun.

 

But let's say experience is pointless. Let's say it leads to nothing. Let's say it's just fun. What then? For a traditionalist, that could be the most worrisome of all.

Experience is centered on the present, on the "Now," without a particular outcome or history. It's the feminine principle, Kabbalistically speaking, the immediate, the Presence, the cyclical. No wonder both androcentric traditionalists and andro-liberal progressives don't like it very much. It doesn't get you anywhere, doesn't build anything, doesn't make anything. It just is, rich and juicy and resplendent… and who knows, possibly pointless.

Pointlessness is a problem for sexuality as well. Like religious experience, sexual experience in the traditional model is supposed to make something: a baby. Or at least the bonds of stable, familial life. Sex separated from this linearity is anarchic, dangerous, destabilizing — and of course, lots of fun.

For example, it's been well observed that the argument that gays and lesbians "undermine the family" is not about homosexuality at all, but about the regulation of pleasure generally. How could two men having sex possibly undermine "the family" as an institution? Because, as with a woman having an abortion, they shift the fundamental meaning of sexuality — from instrumental to intrinsic, from linear to immediate, from functional to fun. In the traditional view, sex is a tool. Sure, it feels good, but that's because God in His wisdom, or natural selection in its, wanted to incentivize us to do it, so that we would populate the planet, and create stable societies based around the family unit. Never mind that the Bible's dominant mode of sexual-societal structure is polygamy and not monogamy, the point is that family is the bedrock of society, and instrumental sex, rather than fun sex, is the bedrock of the family.

In this way, any sexuality divorced from its traditional structure really does undermine the family. I recently received an email from someone who had lived as a gay man for several years, and then, after a bout of repentance, married a woman and raised a family with her for twenty years. In his view, homosexuality really does undermine the family, because, for some men, it distracts them from the procreative trajectory that they're meant to be on. For some other men, it may not be a problem, but for a large enough percentage, presumably, it would be. Once again: the fear of fun, here because the fun of free sex derails the train of procreation.

Well, having only limited experience with procreation myself, I can't offer much personal evidence for whether it really works that way. Certainly Greece and Rome managed to repopulate themselves, notwithstanding a bisexual (or bisexual-pederastic) sexual norm for men. But I don't think we're really talking about eugenics here. I think, once again, the question is one of fun: whether life is primarily about experience and "seizing the day" (no coincidence that the American Romantics associated with Dead Poets Society included free-love activists and gay men), or whether it is about the same anti-fun values from part one: responsibility, duty, and the rest.

This fear of fun, I think, underlies many of our societal paranoias. The insane criminalization of harmless drugs, for example, is publicly justified by a delusionary belief regarding their harmful effects, a willful ignorance in the face of the facts. But these arguments are so specious, and so ignorant of scientific fact, that they seem to be only the cover story for a subtler agenda of social control. Are we really worried about the pothead who drives stoned — or the fact that your teenage daughter might smoke pot and have more sex than she ought to? Or forget the sex — maybe she'll just smoke pot and become too focused on the present, no longer making a better future for herself and your unborn grandchildren. Her life will go off the rails — just like mine.

It's the untethered nature of fun that's the problem here. Fun over family, fun over tradition, fun over propriety, fun over achievement. Obviously, there is plenty of hypocrisy on the traditional right, which condemns some forms of fun but not others — such as alcohol abuse, or indulging the id at the expense of the environment. But these religious and ideological debates, when seen from the perspective of fun, suddenly seem as familiar as Footloose.

I don't want to decide which side is correct. Really, the ideology of fun is nothing other than the pagan impulse — toward experience, fun, presence, and sensuality — has been with us for thousands of years, and has been ever at war with the contrary one, which has labeled it evil, Satanic, and wrong. In my Jewish theology, this is simply the movement of the downward-pointing star, the Shechinah, the body, and the now — to be balanced with (not suppressed by) the upward-pointing, male, linear, spiritual-intellectual one.

But as with any system of "balance" and golden means, the calculation is all left for later. Maybe the conservatives are right that we've gone too far in the direction of fun, and we're falling into decadence. Indeed, maybe we'll become as fat and lazy as the ancient Romans, vulnerable to attack by 21st century vandals. Or maybe the libertines (spiritual, physical and otherwise) are right that what endangers the world is not too much fun but too little, and to save ourselves, we need to cast cynicism, judgment, and restraint to the wind, and let the sun shine in.

For me personally, I guess by now I've made my choice. I'm 37, old enough to know better, but young enough to pass sometimes. I still go to Burning Man, still let my life jump off the rails — even though I still am tempted by the palaces of financial conformity. I haven't stopped sucking the marrow out of life. And while I can be self-deprecating about that marrow and just call it "fun," something inside of my soul sees it as something more vital. Like actual marrow, it births the lifeblood, the spirit in the flesh, the God/dess pulsing through the world.

 

Image by Jenny Hankwitz, courtesy Cheryl Pelavin Gallery.

An earlier version of this essay appeared in Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture (www.zeek.net).

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4-AcO-DMT Guide: Benefits, Effects, Safety, and Legality
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How Much Does LSD Cost? When shopping around for that magical psychedelic substance, there can be many uncertainties when new to buying LSD. You may be wondering how much does LSD cost? In this article, we will discuss what to expect when purchasing LSD on the black market, what forms LSD is sold in, and the standard breakdown of buying LSD in quantity.   Navy Use of LSD on the Dark Web The dark web is increasingly popular for purchasing illegal substances. The US Navy has now noticed this trend with their staff. Read to learn more.   Having Sex on LSD: What You Need to Know Can you have sex on LSD? Read our guide to learn everything about sex on acid, from lowered inhibitions to LSD users quotes on sex while tripping.   A Drug That Switches off an LSD Trip A pharmaceutical company is developing an “off-switch” drug for an LSD trip, in the case that a bad trip can happen. Some would say there is no such thing.   Queen of Hearts: An Interview with Liz Elliot on Tim Leary and LSD The history of psychedelia, particularly the British experience, has been almost totally written by men. Of the women involved, especially those who were in the thick of it, little has been written either by or about them. A notable exception is Liz Elliot.   LSD Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety LSD, Lysergic acid diethylamide, or just acid is one of the most important psychedelics ever discovered. What did history teach us?   Microdosing LSD & Common Dosage Explained Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing LSD.   LSD Resources Curious to learn more about LSD? This guide includes comprehensive LSD resources containing books, studies and more.   LSD as a Spiritual Aid There is common consent that the evolution of mankind is paralleled by the increase and expansion of consciousness. From the described process of how consciousness originates and develops, it becomes evident that its growth depends on its faculty of perception. Therefore every means of improving this faculty should be used.   Legendary LSD Blotter Art: A Hidden Craftsmanship Have you ever heard of LSD blotter art? Explore the trippy world of LSD art and some of the top artists of LSD blotter art.   LSD and Exercise: Does it Work? LSD and exercise? Learn why high-performing athletes are taking hits of LSD to improve their overall potential.   Jan Bastiaans Treated Holocaust Survivors with LSD Dutch psychiatrist, Jan Bastiaans administered LSD-assisted therapy to survivors of the Holocaust. A true war hero and pioneer of psychedelic-therapy.   LSD and Spiritual Awakening I give thanks for LSD, which provided the opening that led me to India in 1971 and brought me to Neem Karoli Baba, known as Maharajji. Maharajji is described by the Indians as a “knower of hearts.”   How LSD is Made: Everything You Need to Know Ever wonder how to make LSD? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how LSD is made.   How to Store LSD: Best Practices Learn the best way to store LSD, including the proper temperature and conditions to maximize how long LSD lasts when stored.   Bicycle Day: The Discovery of LSD Every year on April 19th, psychonauts join forces to celebrate Bicycle Day. Learn about the famous day when Albert Hoffman first discovered the effects of LSD.   Cary Grant: A Hollywood Legend On LSD Cary Grant was a famous actor during the 1930’s-60’s But did you know Grant experimented with LSD? Read our guide to learn more.   Albert Hofmann: LSD — My Problem Child Learn about Albert Hofmann and his discovery of LSD, along with the story of Bicycle Day and why it marks a historic milestone.   Babies are High: What Does LSD Do To Your Brain What do LSD and babies have in common? Researchers at the Imperial College in London discover that an adult’s brain on LSD looks like a baby’s brain.   1P LSD: Effects, Benefits, Safety Explained 1P LSD is an analogue of LSD and homologue of ALD-25. Here is everything you want to know about 1P LSD and how it compares to LSD.   Francis Crick, DNA & LSD Type ‘Francis Crick LSD’ into Google, and the result will be 30,000 links. Many sites claim that Crick (one of the two men responsible for discovering the structure of DNA), was either under the influence of LSD at the time of his revelation or used the drug to help with his thought processes during his research. Is this true?   What Happens If You Overdose on LSD? A recent article presented three individuals who overdosed on LSD. Though the experience was unpleasant, the outcomes were remarkably positive.

The Ayahuasca Experience
Ayahuasca is both a medicine and a visionary aid. You can employ ayahuasca for physical, mental, emotional and spiritual repair, and you can engage with the power of ayahuasca for deeper insight and realization. If you consider attainment of knowledge in the broadest perspective, you can say that at all times, ayahuasca heals.

 

Trippy Talk: Meet Ayahuasca with Sitaramaya Sita and PlantTeachers
Sitaramaya Sita is a spiritual herbalist, pusangera, and plant wisdom practitioner formally trained in the Shipibo ayahuasca tradition.

 

The Therapeutic Value of Ayahuasca
My best description of the impact of ayahuasca is that it’s a rocket boost to psychospiritual growth and unfolding, my professional specialty during my thirty-five years of private practice.

 

Microdosing Ayahuasca: Common Dosage Explained
What is ayahuasca made of and what is considered a microdose? Explore insights with an experienced Peruvian brewmaster and learn more about this practice.

 

Ayahuasca Makes Neuron Babies in Your Brain
Researchers from Beckley/Sant Pau Research Program have shared the latest findings in their study on the effects of ayahuasca on neurogenesis.

 

The Fatimiya Sufi Order and Ayahuasca
In this interview, the founder of the Fatimiya Sufi Order,  N. Wahid Azal, discusses the history and uses of plant medicines in Islamic and pre-Islamic mystery schools.

 

Consideration Ayahuasca for Treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Research indicates that ayahuasca mimics mechanisms of currently accepted treatments for PTSD. In order to understand the implications of ayahuasca treatment, we need to understand how PTSD develops.

 

Brainwaves on Ayahuasca: A Waking Dream State
In a study researchers shared discoveries showing ingredients found in Ayahuasca impact the brainwaves causing a “waking dream” state.

 

Cannabis and Ayahuasca: Mixing Entheogenic Plants
Cannabis and Ayahuasca: most people believe they shouldn’t be mixed. Read this personal experience peppered with thoughts from a pro cannabis Peruvian Shaman.

 

Ayahuasca Retreat 101: Everything You Need to Know to Brave the Brew
Ayahuasca has been known to be a powerful medicinal substance for millennia. However, until recently, it was only found in the jungle. Word of its deeply healing and cleansing properties has begun to spread across the world as many modern, Western individuals are seeking spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical well-being. More ayahuasca retreat centers are emerging in the Amazon and worldwide to meet the demand.

 

Ayahuasca Helps with Grief
A new study published in psychopharmacology found that ayahuasca helped those suffering from the loss of a loved one up to a year after treatment.

 

Ayahuasca Benefits: Clinical Improvements for Six Months
Ayahuasca benefits can last six months according to studies. Read here to learn about the clinical improvements from drinking the brew.

 

Ayahuasca Culture: Indigenous, Western, And The Future
Ayahuasca has been use for generations in the Amazon. With the rise of retreats and the brew leaving the rainforest how is ayahuasca culture changing?

 

Ayahuasca Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
The Amazonian brew, Ayahuasca has a long history and wide use. Read our guide to learn all about the tea from its beginnings up to modern-day interest.

 

Ayahuasca and the Godhead: An Interview with Wahid Azal of the Fatimiya Sufi Order
Wahid Azal, a Sufi mystic of The Fatimiya Sufi Order and an Islamic scholar, talks about entheogens, Sufism, mythology, and metaphysics.

 

Ayahuasca and the Feminine: Women’s Roles, Healing, Retreats, and More
Ayahuasca is lovingly called “grandmother” or “mother” by many. Just how feminine is the brew? Read to learn all about women and ayahuasca.

What Is the Standard of Care for Ketamine Treatments?
Ketamine therapy is on the rise in light of its powerful results for treatment-resistant depression. But, what is the current standard of care for ketamine? Read to find out.

What Is Dissociation and How Does Ketamine Create It?
Dissociation can take on multiple forms. So, what is dissociation like and how does ketamine create it? Read to find out.

Having Sex on Ketamine: Getting Physical on a Dissociative
Curious about what it could feel like to have sex on a dissociate? Find out all the answers in our guide to sex on ketamine.

Special K: The Party Drug
Special K refers to Ketamine when used recreationally. Learn the trends as well as safety information around this substance.

Kitty Flipping: When Ketamine and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Read to explore the mechanics of kitty flipping.

Ketamine vs. Esketamine: 3 Important Differences Explained
Ketamine and esketamine are used to treat depression. But what’s the difference between them? Read to learn which one is right for you: ketamine vs. esketamine.

Guide to Ketamine Treatments: Understanding the New Approach
Ketamine is becoming more popular as more people are seeing its benefits. Is ketamine a fit? Read our guide for all you need to know about ketamine treatments.

Ketamine Treatment for Eating Disorders
Ketamine is becoming a promising treatment for various mental health conditions. Read to learn how individuals can use ketamine treatment for eating disorders.

Ketamine Resources, Studies, and Trusted Information
Curious to learn more about ketamine? This guide includes comprehensive ketamine resources containing books, studies and more.

Ketamine Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to ketamine has everything you need to know about this “dissociative anesthetic” and how it is being studied for depression treatment.

Ketamine for Depression: A Mental Health Breakthrough
While antidepressants work for some, many others find no relief. Read to learn about the therapeutic uses of ketamine for depression.

Ketamine for Addiction: Treatments Offering Hope
New treatments are offering hope to individuals suffering from addiction diseases. Read to learn how ketamine for addiction is providing breakthrough results.

Microdosing Ketamine & Common Dosages Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing ketamine.

How to Ease a Ketamine Comedown
Knowing what to expect when you come down from ketamine can help integrate the experience to gain as much value as possible.

How to Store Ketamine: Best Practices
Learn the best ways how to store ketamine, including the proper temperature and conditions to maximize how long ketamine lasts when stored.

How To Buy Ketamine: Is There Legal Ketamine Online?
Learn exactly where it’s legal to buy ketamine, and if it’s possible to purchase legal ketamine on the internet.

How Long Does Ketamine Stay in Your System?
How long does ketamine stay in your system? Are there lasting effects on your body? Read to discover the answers!

How Ketamine is Made: Everything You Need to Know
Ever wonder how to make Ketamine? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how Ketamine is made.

Colorado on Ketamine: First Responders Waiver Programs
Fallout continues after Elijah McClain. Despite opposing recommendations from some city council, Colorado State Health panel recommends the continued use of ketamine by medics for those demonstrating “excited delirium” or “extreme agitation”.

Types of Ketamine: Learn the Differences & Uses for Each
Learn about the different types of ketamine and what they are used for—and what type might be right for you. Read now to find out!

Kitty Flipping: When Ketamine and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Read to explore the mechanics of kitty flipping.

MDMA & Ecstasy Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to MDMA has everything you want to know about Ecstasy from how it was developed in 1912 to why it’s being studied today.

How To Get the Most out of Taking MDMA as a Couple
Taking MDMA as a couple can lead to exciting experiences. Read here to learn how to get the most of of this love drug in your relationship.

Common MDMA Dosage & Microdosing Explained
Microdosing, though imperceivable, is showing to have many health benefits–here is everything you want to know about microdosing MDMA.

Having Sex on MDMA: What You Need to Know
MDMA is known as the love drug… Read our guide to learn all about sex on MDMA and why it is beginning to makes its way into couple’s therapy.

How MDMA is Made: Common Procedures Explained
Ever wonder how to make MDMA? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how MDMA is made.

Hippie Flipping: When Shrooms and Molly Meet
What is it, what does it feel like, and how long does it last? Explore the mechanics of hippie flipping and how to safely experiment.

How Cocaine is Made: Common Procedures Explained
Ever wonder how to make cocaine? Read our guide to learn everything you need to know about the procedures of how cocaine is made.

A Christmas Sweater with Santa and Cocaine
This week, Walmart came under fire for a “Let it Snow” Christmas sweater depicting Santa with lines of cocaine. Columbia is not merry about it.

Ultimate Cocaine Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
This guide covers what you need to know about Cocaine, including common effects and uses, legality, safety precautions and top trends today.

NEWS: An FDA-Approved Cocaine Nasal Spray
The FDA approved a cocaine nasal spray called Numbrino, which has raised suspicions that the pharmaceutical company, Lannett Company Inc., paid off the FDA..

The Ultimate Guide to Cannabis Bioavailability
What is bioavailability and how can it affect the overall efficacy of a psychedelic substance? Read to learn more.

Cannabis Research Explains Sociability Behaviors
New research by Dr. Giovanni Marsicano shows social behavioral changes occur as a result of less energy available to the neurons. Read here to learn more.

The Cannabis Shaman
If recreational and medical use of marijuana is becoming accepted, can the spiritual use as well? Experiential journalist Rak Razam interviews Hamilton Souther, founder of the 420 Cannabis Shamanism movement…

Cannabis Guide: Effects, Common Uses, Safety
Our ultimate guide to Cannabis has everything you want to know about this popular substances that has psychedelic properties.

Cannabis and Ayahuasca: Mixing Entheogenic Plants
Cannabis and Ayahuasca: most people believe they shouldn’t be mixed. Read this personal experience peppered with thoughts from a procannabis Peruvian Shaman.

CBD-Rich Cannabis Versus Single-Molecule CBD
A ground-breaking study has documented the superior therapeutic properties of whole plant Cannabis extract as compared to synthetic cannabidiol (CBD), challenging the medical-industrial complex’s notion that “crude” botanical preparations are less effective than single-molecule compounds.

Cannabis Has Always Been a Medicine
Modern science has already confirmed the efficacy of cannabis for most uses described in the ancient medical texts, but prohibitionists still claim that medical cannabis is “just a ruse.”

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