Psychedelic drugs could curb violence in people, study shows
Make love, not war with Psychedelic drugs.
A study conducted by researchers from the University of Alabama shows that psychedelics such as LSD, magic mushrooms, peyote and ayahuasca, might, in fact, make people less violent and less likely to commit assault or steal.
The data they used came from 480 000 survey responses accumulated by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2002 and 2004.
Researchers dissected how respondents answered questions about drug use and questions about crimes and arrests.
They found that those who had tried psychedelics at least once were 12% less likely to have assaulted someone, 18% less likely to have been arrested for a violent crime and 27% less likely to have stolen something than those who hadn’t tried psychedelics.
Researchers put forth their study in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Turn on, tune in, drop out
It’s not all a rose-tinted trip as researchers found that lifetime users were 47-68% more likely to distribute drugs to others, albeit for a “pro-social intention.”
Past studies have touched on trying to ‘recalibrate’ violent offenders in prison to a more peaceful tune using psychedelics, but have often been ineffective.
The reason being is that those prisoners were not willing to partake, therefore they did not gain what they could have if they so chose.
All in all, psychedelics remain a difficult field to study, what with it being illegal and all. The undeniable reality of the matter is that they serve positively and can open up a world of healing if used correctly.
If only psychedelic drugs were given a chance to show the world how beneficial they can be.
