"Psychedelic drug use appears to be increasing in Australia.

The latest National Drug Strategy Household Survey from 2022–23 saw the percentage of Australians who used a psychedelic drug rise from 1.6 per cent in 2019 to 2.4 per cent three years later taking the number of people who use these drugs annually up to about 500,000 people."

I wonder if this is because alcohol is harder to afford for many now ?

  • JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca
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    19 days ago

    Such stupid sensationalism. It’s called Wood Lovers Paralysis and is common with azuracens and somewhat with psilocybes. It’s literally just the weak feeling that sometimes adds to the body load during come up. It goes away before the drugs even fully kick in.

    Better make people scared of the safest drug out there, they might think for themselves otherwise.

    • Sarah@lemmy.worldOP
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      19 days ago

      Who to believe?

      "Wood-lover’s Paralysis (WLP) is an extremely rare, but potentially fatal, toxidrome causing unpredictable muscle weakness.

      Dr Simon Beck, an MD in his final year of psychiatry training, and Mr Caine Barlow MSc, a mycologist and education officer for Ethnogenesis Australis, along with Dr Monica Barratt and Dr Liam Engel, have been the first to describe Wood-lover’s Paralysis in a study published in Toxicon.

      According to the Victorian Coroner’s report, released this month, WLP was potentially associated with the death of Rachael Lee Dixon, who ingested magic mushrooms at a wellness retreat last year."

      https://insightplus.mja.com.au/2025/37/australian-experts-first-to-describe-potentially-fatal-magic-mushroom-toxidrome/

      • Taleya@aussie.zone
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        19 days ago

        Well unpredictable muscle weakness is your indicator right there .

        You could die from muscle paralysis in shrooms, same way you could die from being hit in the chest with a puck playing hockey at just the right millisecond in your cardiac beat.

        Possible and potential don’t mean likely.

        • YeahToast@aussie.zone
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          17 days ago

          Plenty of people die from diaphragm weakness… probably worthy of investigating it to see actual occurrences ?

          • Taleya@aussie.zone
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            17 days ago

            the poorly understood part is they don’t know what causes it. If it’s actually physiological or psychological or both.

            • YeahToast@aussie.zone
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              17 days ago

              But this is the first step in research. Theyve identifed that many different users that completed the survey have experienced it… now they further drill down on that.

      • JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca
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        18 days ago

        Yea that’s the scare tactic bullshit I read too. Wildly unscientific.

        • YeahToast@aussie.zone
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          18 days ago

          It looks like it was a qualitative study in an identified literature gap. Which parts of it are wildly unscientific?

              • JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca
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                18 days ago

                The sarcasm isn’t necessary. Anybody that uses them with any regularity is aware of wlp if they know it’s name or not

                • YeahToast@aussie.zone
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                  18 days ago

                  Im a bit lost at your point? You said it’s a scare tactic, I said it’s a qualitative study in an identified literature gap. You said anyone who uses them knows about WLP… I’m not quite sure about what side you’re on?

      • Amnesigenic@lemmy.ml
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        18 days ago

        Plenty of morons manage to bumble their way through medical school, this study is the only one to ever describe this alleged syndrome, and there are obvious political motives and extremely well documented previous examples of academics falsifying data to support drug prohibition, so I’m gonna go ahead and not believe this at all

      • Ilandar@lemmy.today
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        18 days ago

        the death of Rachael Lee Dixon, who ingested magic mushrooms at a wellness retreat last year.

        Nine Perfect Strangers?

  • SaneMartigan@aussie.zone
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    19 days ago

    Worked security at bush doofs for years and never saw this. Would’ve kept an eye on thousands of trippers, probably in the tens of thousands. One suicide and one fatal asthma attack were the stand out events.

    • JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca
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      18 days ago

      Because we call it body load and if you want the punch you get from wood lovers, it comes with the trip.