shocked

BBC World Service Radio – Health Check Featuring Dr. Andrew Sewell talking to Claudia Hammond. Alternative link - http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/healthc#playepisode2 Previously by Claudia - BBC Radio 4. All in the Mind. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/allinthemind_20060404.shtml Claudia Hammond takes a trip into the world of psychedelic drugs. an excellent special edition on the latest developments in LSD research and therapy The programme examines the science of how LSD acts on the mind and brain, as well as research on the use of psychedelics to treat cluster headaches and mental distress. It’s nearly 40 years since LSD was made illegal, but now there’s growing scientific interest in studying hallucinogenic drugs. In the 50s LSD was believed to be a wonder drug and used widely in psychiatry to treat conditions from depression to addiction. In this week’s programme Claudia finds out about the new research underway using psychedelics, and asks whether modern psychiatry is really the place for drugs like LSD, magic mushrooms and Ecstasy. Shocked

Thank you 1EYEcries, duetto over at ouch uk posted before I did. http://www.ouchuk.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4262 ItÂ’s worth a look, PeterÂ’s comments are always a treat. Shocked

Psychedelic drugs can unlock mysteries of brain Professor David Nutt speaking to the Guardian ahead of a lecture he will give at a University College London neuroscience symposium on Friday http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/jun/28/psychedelic-drugs-mysteries-brain-government-adviser "In collaboration with Robin Carhart-Harris at Imperial College London, Nutt also wants to further his research into more psychedelic drugs such as LSD"shocked

BBC Radio - Health Check, Broadcast on BBC World Service, 7:32PM Wed, 27 Jun 2012. / 11:32AM Thu, 28 Jun 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00trr2l/Health_Check_27_06_2012 Cluster headache is an excruciating condition that affects about 0.04% of the population. They occur much more often in men than women and are described as feeling like an intense pressure behind the skull and daggers being forced through the eye. The pain can be so debilitating that it has led some sufferers to suicide. Unfortunately, doctors don’t know what causes cluster headaches or how to cure them – so people have started to look for their own answers. Dr Andrew Sewell of Yale Medical School came across anecdotal reports that cluster attacks could be stopped by eating Morning Glory seeds, which contain a substance similar to LSD. Claudia Hammond spoke to Professor Monique Simmonds from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London about the Morning Glory plant, and to Dr Sewell about whether the seeds really work. shocked

Are We Finally Reawakening to the Profound Healing Properties of Psychedelics? Transcript of a highly illuminating panel discussion from the bi-annual conference of the Drug Policy Alliance in Los Angeles late last year, where some of the world's foremost researchers in psychedelics described the history, process and results of their work thus far http://www.alternet.org/drugs/155883/are_we_finally_reawakening_to_the_profound_healing_properties_of_psychedelics?page=entire Speakers - Ralph Metzner Rick Doblin Amanda Feilding Dr. Charles Grob Bob Wold Well done Bob mate, shocked Edit – refreshed link to full page view and added list of speakers

HereÂ’s an interesting read by Gun Lover at zoklet http://www.zoklet.net/bbs/archive/index.php/t-230078.html shocked

Strangeness in the Stacks http://waningmoon.com/publications/news/book-fungus-can-get-you-high.html shocked

Times are changing in Amsterdam, there’s talk of a “Mushroom Police Force” Part 1 part 2 shocked

Tobacco smoking and chronic pain. http://www.gmuace.org/documents/events/ditre.pdf Smoking and Chronic Pain http://www.minnesotamedicine.com/tabid/3690/Default.aspx shocked

Do Psychedelics Expand the Mind by Reducing Brain Activity? New evidence suggests drugs like LSD open the doors of perception by inhibiting parts of the brain http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=do-psychedelics-expand-mind-reducing-brain-activity Halberstadt / Geyer. Scientific American "Clinical trials are currently being conducted to investigate whether hallucinogens can be used to relieve stress and anxiety in terminal cancer patients, to attenuate the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and to reduce the frequency of cluster headaches, so it is important to determine the mechanism for the therapeutic effects of hallucinogens." shocked

Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research Two days of cutting edge scientific research into psychedelics http://icpr.stichtingopen.nl/ Building on the success of its first conference in 2010, The OPEN Foundation is busy organising its second scientific conference on psychedelic research. Amsterdam. Weekend of October 6 / 7. 2012. With international researchers from a wide variety of academic disciplines, this two-day event will be dedicated to scientific research into psychedelic substances and the psychedelic experience. The 2012 Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelics Research will feature current research into a wide array of psychotropic substances, such as psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca, ibogaine, DMT, ketamine, MDMA, Salvia divinorum and even nitrous oxide. Researchers will present the results of their studies into the inner workings of the brain under the influence of psilocybin and LSD. The Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research is organised for all those with a serious interest in psychedelic research. Psychedelic research has a strong multidisciplinary character, which is reflected both in the audience as well as in the speakers, who all come from their own background and whose lectures demonstrate the inherent multifaceted nature of psychedelics research. List of invited speakers and tentative topics • Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD | Imperial College London| UK| Brain mechanisms of psilocybin • Matthew Johnson, PhD | Johns Hopkins | USA | Hallucinogen research at Johns Hopkins University • Robin MacKenzie, PhD | University of Kent | UK | Neuroscience and psychedelics in healthcare • Teri Krebs, PhD cand. | NTNU | Norway| Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) for alcoholism • Mitzi Waltz, PhD | University of Birmingham | UK | Psychedelic therapy and autism spectrum conditions • Ben Sessa, MD | Bristol University | UK | MDMA Psychotherapy and treatment of PTSD • Jordi Riba, PhD | Autonomous University of Barcelona | Spain | The neuropharmacology of DMT • Torsten Passie, MD, PhD | Hannover Medical School | Germany | Effects and mechanisms of nitrous oxide • Ruud Kortekaas, PhD | RUG | Holland | Psychopharmacology of ketamine • Prof. Wouter Hanegraaff | UvA | Holland | Ayahuasca, altered states & academia More presenters will be announced soon shocked

Russell BrandÂ’s bizarre cameo appearance in Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds video for AKA... What A Life! (Incidentally - Russell was Best Man at NoelÂ’s wedding.) shocked

Renowned for his eccentric behaviour Russell Brand the flamboyant and controversial stand up comedian, columnist, singer, author, radio/television presenter and actor in movies such as “Get Him to the Greek” and “Arthur”. Voted Best Stand-up Time Out 2006, GQ Most Stylish Man of the Year 2006, Loaded Lafta Awards 2006 Funniest Man, British Comedy Awards Best Newcomer 2006 PETA Europe's Sexiest Vegetarian 2006 and 2007, World's Sexiest Vegetarian 2007 and The Sun’s Shagger of the Year 2006 calls for a “pragmatic compassionate approach” at the UK Government Home Affairs Select Committee's review of drugs policy inquiry http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJnz2Mn1Hv0 Russell joined a host of celebrities world leaders, eminent opinion formers, public figures and politicians at “The Versus Debate - It's Time to end the War on Drugs", The first of Google+’s new debate series, co-hosted by the debating forum - Intelligence Squared. In this fascinating and hilarious video Russell is chatting to Daniel Pinchbeck, (author of Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey Into the Heart of Modern Shamanism) about consciousness, mysticism, quantum physics, meditation, and psychedelic experiences. Russell is reported to be in talks with BBC 3 about presenting a TV programme/documentary, film about addiction. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/apr/06/russell-brand-talks-about-bbc-return A report from one of his recent gigs http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/us-gossip/russell-brand-struck-by-migraine-attack-681238 shocked

University of Kent, Canterbury / Psychedelic Society and Breaking Convention are hosting a 3-day residential event/festival. Integrating live-interactive arts, live music, expanded cinema & multimedia installations. Combining awe-inspiring immersive environments with thoughtful academic talks and discussions by a host of eminent academics and researchers in the field including Dr. Ben Sessa, Dr. Cameron Adams, Dr. David Luke and Dr. Anna Waldstein. REGENERATION http://www.regenerationfestival.org.uk/index.html An interactive weekend of exploring altered states of experience Friday 20th - Saturday 21st July through to Sunday 22nd Dorking, Surrey. shocked

"A broad debate over the use of Schedule I drugs is taking place as political views evolve, There is much hope and anticipation as the future of these drugs seems promising" Can the Government Mix Drugs and Post-Combat Stress? http://politic365.com/2012/04/30/can-the-government-mix-drugs-and-post-combat-stress Melissa Bynes Brooks. Clinical Coordinator of Coral Springs Sleep Disorders Center and editor of Brooks Sleep Review. Brooks Sleep Review is dedicated to raising awareness and providing information from evidenced based literature about the latest news, research, and technical developments in the evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and management of sleep disorders. shocked

Ugly Truth - http://updates.pain-topics.org/2012/03/ugly-truth-headache-and-suicide.html "The vital message seems to be that recurring headache of any type must be taken very seriously and aggressively treated by whatever therapy works best for individual patients." shocked

Psychedelics and Brain Imaging - Dr Robin Carhart-Harris Ecology, Cosmos & Consciousness This talk describes the research Robin has been carrying out over the last few years involving brain imaging and psychedelics. shocked

Caffeine can decrease blood flow to the brain http://www.ktnv.com/contact13/consumerinformation/147506055.html shocked

Helen Forrest with Artie Shaw 1939 shocked

The Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness lecture series, in association with the Scientific and Medical Network presents: Dr Robin Carhart-Harris Psychedelics and Brain Imaging Tuesday, 24th April, 2012 http://www.octobergallery.co.uk/homepage.shtml This talk will describe the research Robin has been carrying out over the last few years involving brain imaging and psychedelics. This work has been motivated by Amanda Feilding and the Beckley Foundation and done under the mentorship of Prof David Nutt and with the support of Imperial College London and the Universities of Bristol and Cardiff. Robin will describe the rationale, results and implications of their imaging work with psilocybin. shocked

Cluster Headache, Dreaming & Neurogenesis http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/yabbfiles/Attachments/CH__Dreaming___Neurogenesis.pdf shocked

Your brain on 'shrooms' http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-brain-shrooms-fmri-elucidates-neural.html there are other research and applications that might benefit from the team’s findings. “Those suffering from cluster headaches,” he notes, “report excruciating pain that is difficult to treat, sometimes describing it as worse than the pain childbirth. During such headaches, they show an increase in hypothalamic activity to date has only been ameliorated by deep brain stimulation. However,” he concludes, “when administered psilocybin, they display a decrease in hypothalamic activity and a corresponding suspension of cluster headaches.” Carhart-Harris. shocked

Recent research suggesting potential therapeutic benefits of psilocybin focuses attention on the need to reform drug laws http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/feb/06/magic-mushrooms-law-war-drugs “The newly published results are exciting enough to have generated funding for a major study into psilocybin and depression, which will begin shortly”. Amanda Feilding shocked

Drugs, Science and Politics: a recipe for disaster? Lecture from Professor David Nutt on 18 January 2012. http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/psychiatry/lecture-videos/drugs-science-politics In this lecture he discusses the risks associated with drug use, and how the relative risks influence drug classification and national drug policy. shocked edit This informative and often amusing talk has many highlights. For me - Dave’s reference to “defence of necessity” is most heartening and liberating.

Thanks for your vote of confidence bobb mate. Is there a particular direction we want to take? I like the logoÂ’s here - Simple, clean, molecular structure and lettering - http://www.stichtingopen.nl/en/home and here > stylized head with molecular structure inside - http://www.mindalteringscience.com shockedben