Ajavask sects, religions
…to a certain extent, it is good that science is separated from the subjective spiritual side. Not all psychedelic trips and experiences are objective and true. For example, in Brazil, there are all sorts of manipulative Christian sects that use ayahuasca (DMT) . People see the Virgin Mary or Baby Jesus. Such people are really just hallucinating, and membership in such a sect only moves a person spiritually backward.
Alcohol addiction
As for alcohol and addiction , it's individual. Every drug affects each person differently. For some, alcohol can significantly improve their mood, and therefore they want to experience it again, and thus addiction is easily built. For another person, alcohol does not significantly improve their mood, and therefore they are quite far from addiction to it (this also applies to me). Everyone's brain is different.
The potential for alcohol addiction also significantly increases if the person is experiencing depression, as alcohol is a relatively strong antidepressant . It shares a common property with sedatives (as it is an allosteric modulator of GABAA receptors ), which are very highly addictive.
A person who is experiencing severe suffering is more likely to develop an alcohol addiction, as it helps them to forget more easily and cause memory loss . It causes amnesia. It has a common property with almost all general anesthetics in its antagonism to NMDA receptors.
Psychoactive substances in women and men
Every psychoactive substance has a stronger effect on women than on men . Female hormones estrogen and progesterone, as they are adenosine reuptake inhibitors, help psychoactive substances to better penetrate the brain blood barrier into the brain. There is a scientific study that says that adenosine plays a key factor in the penetration of psychoactive substances into the brain.
Psychiatrists should also take this into account when dosing medications.
Alcohol is also an inhibitor of adenosine reuptake and enhances the effect of all psychoactive substances.
Reuptake inhibition causes a particularly strong reduction in blood pressure , a reduction in cardiac output, and vasodilation.
This is the reason for the hypotensive effect of alcohol.
This is also the reason why women have a lower average blood pressure and why they live longer compared to men.
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Addictive versus non-addictive psychoactive substances
It is very wrong to put addictive and non-addictive substances on the same level, there is a huge difference between them.
For example, with methamphetamine, the potential for addiction is so strong that the person has an unceasing hunger, constantly intrusive thoughts to take the drug again. They are even capable of searching trash cans (which is, of course, unnecessary and stupid) to see if they can find the drug there!!
On the contrary, psychedelic substances have no potential for addiction or habituation.
There is a big difference between a substance that psychiatrists have never had to treat for addiction and, conversely, a substance that they treat people for addiction quite commonly.
MDMA and other empathogenic substances are perceived as highly addictive. It has a pharmacological effect very similar to methamphetamine. It is also an inhibitor of dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin reuptake. The most important factor in addiction is mainly the inhibition of dopamine reuptake and mainly the increased release of dopamine.
Personally, I don't want to and won't make myself an arrogant hero who pretends to know everything and has seen everything, and I have no plans to experiment with such substances. Therefore, I have no plans to experiment with MDMA, even if I had the opportunity.
—By the way, at the recent Pohoda festival, drugs, especially ecstasy, were reportedly distributed on a large scale.
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Addictive substances
… Drugs that have euphoric effects (e.g. pervitin, ecstasy, cocaine) have no psychedelic use (perhaps except for vivid dreams with pervitin) and there are no "hallucinations" with them.
I would definitely not recommend anyone to experiment with highly addictive substances (I don't crave them either) and I am in favor of these substances remaining illegal , unlike non-addictive psychedelic and dissociative substances (the vast majority of them).
The picture shows methamphetamine, colloquially known as pervitin. 
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MDMA, colloquially ecstasy
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Short-acting cocaine 
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Spiritual versus recreational use of psychoactive substances
Unfortunately, most people seek drugs just to experience a "trip". Unfortunately, in our culture in Slovakia or Central Europe, people do not even know (with a few exceptions) that psychedelic substances do not only have "recreational" use but can also be used for spiritual and personal growth.
… In the USA, the situation is quite different. The concept of psychonautics is very well known there, and a large percentage of people know that psychedelic and dissociative substances can also be used for spiritual development.
If only we in Europe could achieve a higher awareness of social maturity, so that we could catch up with the inhabitants of the United States in this matter.
… Overall, in the USA, the interest in psychedelic substances is much greater than in Slovakia, and many people are willing to risk a lot for it.
… On YouTube, you can also find many testimonies of Americans who share their experiences of how psychedelic substances changed their lives for the better.
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Spiritual teacher with a psychedelic substance
I don't think it's that important to have a spiritual teacher in connection with psychedelic substances in order to move forward spiritually. It depends on the person themselves what approach they have to it. People today are quite lazy and don't want to work on their growth with effort. A psychedelic substance is just a means, but the main thing depends on the person themselves how they approach it.
Even a negative experience can teach a person a lot and move them forward.
Also, a psychedelic substance is definitely not intended for any social or entertainment purposes. Psychedelic substances should be used mainly in silence, solitude, and peace so that a person can immerse themselves in themselves.
Suitable meditation techniques, e.g. astral travel techniques, may help to experience the trip better and more qualitatively.
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Psychedelic substances. Synthetic chemistry or something natural?
And many psychedelic substances are not "heavy chemistry": DMT is a human hormone chemically very similar to the neurotransmitter serotonin.
Psychedelic substances of the "tryptamine" chemical type are very similar in molecular structure to serotonin. The best known of these are psilocybin/psilocin (in psilocybin mushrooms).
List of tryptamines
Category: Psychedelic tryptamines
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Psychedelic_tryptamines 
In addition to plants, one of the tryptamines is even found in one species from the animal kingdom: frogs.
5-MeO-DMT
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-MeO-DMT
Colorado River toad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River_toad 
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Chemical structure of tryptamines
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Skeletal formula of serotonin 
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Psilocybin 
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The psilocybin metabolite, psilocin, passes into the brain. 
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DMT 
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5-MeO-DMT, a psychedelic substance from a frog 
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In this way, I tried to destigmatize psychedelics. And the language and informational statement of the images is very strong. It's better to see something once than to hear about it a hundred times. Just writing that they have a similar molecular structure doesn't have much informational value. It's much more interesting and informative to see it. And in the authentic images, you can really see that tryptamine psychedelics have a very similar molecular structure to the neurotransmitter serotonin, which plays an essential role in brain activity. This means that tryptamine psychedelics are really not some unnatural "heavy chemistry" in the human body if a person takes them.