Re: MAPS: Anybody up for some MDMA neurotoxicity tests on humans?

[Jon Freedlander <jfreed1@xxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, 2 Mar 2002, Little John wrote:

> >I notice that "recreational" is a very interesting anthropological and
> >ethnological term. :-)
>
>      Indeed.   It's been my observation that most illegal drug use is
> actually functional/medical.   The pot smoker coping with stress, the
> methamphetamine user looking for help to get through the day on hard manual
> labor jobs, the emotionally disturbed self-medicating or escaping from inner
> demons or even as a tool for seeking spiritual insight.    The person that
> uses just because they were bored or had nothing better to do is quite
> possibly the minority.

indeed, i remember hearing the statistic (though i can't remember the
source) that about half of diagnosed drug addicts have a comorbid mental
illness (or even multiple illnesses). even if this number isn't accurate,
i don't think there are many professionals who would argue against the notion
that many people who become addicts begin using drugs to self-medicate.

_______________________________________________________________________________
Jon Freedlander
Research Assistant
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
www.maps.org

"Wisdom cannot be transmitted, it keeps you hanging on..."
							--Robyn Hitchcock



-----------------
MAPS-Forum@xxxxxxxx, a member service of the Multidisciplinary Association
for Psychedelic Studies (see www.maps.org/memsub.html).
To [un]subscribe, email the message text,
[un]subscribe maps-forum youraddress to majordomo@xxxxxxxx
List archives: www.cerebral.org/Maps
Guidelines for authors: www.maps.org/guidelines.txt
MAPS Forum is supported by a generous grant from the Promind Foundation.