Peace, Love, Unity, Respect, and Responsibility: Attitudes on Psychedelic Harm Reduction in the EDM Community

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Description
In this field study, 103 individuals from two different music festivals, one in California and one in Michigan, were surveyed to observe current attitudes surrounding harm reduction strategies associated with psychedelic drug usage in the EDM scene. Topics from the

In this field study, 103 individuals from two different music festivals, one in California and one in Michigan, were surveyed to observe current attitudes surrounding harm reduction strategies associated with psychedelic drug usage in the EDM scene. Topics from the survey included but were not limited to the chemical testing of substances, frequency of usage, spacing between usage, and adverse effects associated with usage. It was concluded that harm reduction education should become more integrated within the EDM scene in order to provide research-based evidence for ravers to make better decisions for their health. While authorities have pushed "just say no", the lack of education altogether in the community is life threatening. Education is the key to saving minds, bodies, and lives.
Date Created
2016-12
Agent

Nicotinic Enhancement of Incentive Salience

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Description
Incentive salience is a motivational-cognitive process that can transform an otherwise neutral stimulus into something that is wanted. The prolonged use of nicotine appears to enhance incentive salience; it has been suggested that the nicotinic enhancement of incentive salience contributes

Incentive salience is a motivational-cognitive process that can transform an otherwise neutral stimulus into something that is wanted. The prolonged use of nicotine appears to enhance incentive salience; it has been suggested that the nicotinic enhancement of incentive salience contributes to the potential of relapse in individuals with tobacco addiction. In order to determine whether (a) nicotinic enhancement of incentive salience for non-nicotinic stimuli occurs when rats self-administer nicotine and (b) a history of nicotine use facilitates such enhancement, rats were trained in a morning self-administration paradigm (SA), in combination with an afternoon 4-CS Pavlovian conditioned approach task (PCA) for 24 days. SA was followed by extinction and cue reinstatement. Nicotine SA enhanced incentive salience in the PCA. Upon extinction, incentive salience quickly declined to saline levels, indicating that the nicotinic enhancement of incentive salience is transient. Experimenter-administered nicotine enhanced incentive salience similarly regardless of nicotine history, suggesting that a previous history of nicotine use does sensitize the nicotinic enhancement of incentive salience. Taken together, these results suggest that nicotine must be onboard for the expression of nicotinic enhancement of incentive salience. This suggests that the role of incentive salience in the development and relapse of tobacco addiction may need to be revisited.
Date Created
2017-05
Agent