Tune In, Turn On, Fill Out the Form For A Grant...
When the Financial Post reports on stuff like this, I have a new respect for just how interesting life, and particularly science, can get.
Apparently there are very few hippies who have gone into science...Not necessarily a bad thing.
So, when people ingest substances that contain psychedelic compounds, they have psychedelic experiences. Okay, I'll buy that. What surprises me is that someone is getting paid to find this out. They could have just asked my friends from High School.
I never touched them (no, really - I actually, truthfully did not partake of this sort of thing), but I had a good friend who enjoyed a few 'shrooms from time to time. 'Shrooms and Blue Oyster Cult. I remember he told me that during a Buck Dharma solo his roof lifted off and flew away. Right before the snakes arrived.
Yuh-huh. That would be why I didn't try them.
I was pretty sure that the medical value of this type of drug had been pretty much dismissed some time ago, but, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Why someone is now getting money for this, I'll never figure out ('Cuz I'm not on drugs!). I'd be surprised if there weren't people out there interested in this who are of a more...military bent, let's say. If everyone in Baghdad starts waving their hands in front of their faces and claiming to see trails, and if Osama starts his next tape with, "Duuuuude...", we'll know what happened.
Seriously, whatever happens, I am actually glad that money does reach scientists for actual science. It has nothing to do with remote viewing or astrology or telekenesis or clairvoyance or ghosts or "intelligent design", so I can get behind it. More scientists fail than succeed, as is true at any point in history,but in the environment down South, I'm glad that they can still try.
I suppose it's true that, as a character in Bloom County once said, "Scientists need Porsches too!"
Apparently there are very few hippies who have gone into science...Not necessarily a bad thing.
So, when people ingest substances that contain psychedelic compounds, they have psychedelic experiences. Okay, I'll buy that. What surprises me is that someone is getting paid to find this out. They could have just asked my friends from High School.
I never touched them (no, really - I actually, truthfully did not partake of this sort of thing), but I had a good friend who enjoyed a few 'shrooms from time to time. 'Shrooms and Blue Oyster Cult. I remember he told me that during a Buck Dharma solo his roof lifted off and flew away. Right before the snakes arrived.
Yuh-huh. That would be why I didn't try them.
I was pretty sure that the medical value of this type of drug had been pretty much dismissed some time ago, but, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Why someone is now getting money for this, I'll never figure out ('Cuz I'm not on drugs!). I'd be surprised if there weren't people out there interested in this who are of a more...military bent, let's say. If everyone in Baghdad starts waving their hands in front of their faces and claiming to see trails, and if Osama starts his next tape with, "Duuuuude...", we'll know what happened.
Seriously, whatever happens, I am actually glad that money does reach scientists for actual science. It has nothing to do with remote viewing or astrology or telekenesis or clairvoyance or ghosts or "intelligent design", so I can get behind it. More scientists fail than succeed, as is true at any point in history,but in the environment down South, I'm glad that they can still try.
I suppose it's true that, as a character in Bloom County once said, "Scientists need Porsches too!"
[i]I was pretty sure that the medical value of this type of drug had been pretty much dismissed some time ago, but, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.[/i]
Okay.
One need only look at the promising recent results from older research into the mechanism of action of cannabinoids - yep, like good old THC, from marijuana - to appreciate the value of a better basic understanding of how some of these psychoactive chemicals work. THC had been on the back burner of medical research for decades. Now THC and its receptor are one of the hottest therapeutic agent/target pair going for new drug development in the pharmaceutical industry, simply because some wise (but for years scorned, no doubt by by the ancestors of bloggers...) scientists realized that anything having such a potent effect deserves better understanding. From this understanding can come some pretty amazing - and often unexpected - practical applications. it's worth remembering that many of the most important inventions of the past two centuries were not made with an application in mind, but rather for the sake of curiosity. The applications then flow later. Ever heard of something called a laser?
Posted by
Anonymous |
Thu Jul 13, 04:06:00 PM
Well put, anon. I have always believed in research for research's sake because, as you suggest, you never know what will come out of it.
Posted by
kevvyd |
Thu Jul 13, 05:04:00 PM
Hmm..That's the thing they use at concerts, right?
If you'll check the last paragraph, I am in favour of the research being done - I was just having some fun with it, given my recollections of my friends' experience.
Flash
Posted by
Anonymous |
Fri Jul 14, 05:05:00 PM