TABOO TOPIC TUESDAY: MICRODOSING

You may have heard of the term microdosing – the practice of taking a tiny amount of a substance such as MDMA, Marijuana, LSD or Ketamine –  that’s sashaying its way into the mainstream thanks to the internet and accounts from boss babes like Ayelet Waldman.

The idea behind microdosing, according to Rick Doblin of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, is to give users “a little bit of energy lift, a little bit of insight, but not so much that you are tripping“, which sounds about how I feel after a second cup of coffee.

Microdosing was first publicly introduced by psychedelic researcher James Fadiman in 2011 when he presented anecdotal self-reported evidence from people practicing microdosing. Since 2011, the practice has gained a following on forums such as Reddit and the psychedelic community with users reporting positive effects such as improvement in depression, migraines, Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, productivity, creativity, energy levels, and focus, however there currently isn’t any clinical evidence to support how legit these claims are.

Despite the abundance of converts to the practice, all of these substances except for Ketamine and, depending where you are, Marijuana are Schedule 1 Drugs and practicing microdosing could potentially land users in jail. Further, when it comes to sourcing illicit substances you can never really be sure of the purity or strength of the substances which exposes users to other kinds of risks – just imagine taking your morning LSD elixir too far and not being able to find your way out of the bathroom for 6 hours (try explaining that one to your boss!), or something getting mixed up somewhere along the way and getting a hit of Heroin instead! Yikes.

From the anecdotal evidence, microdosing is certainly an interesting trend, but one that is high risk and without the support of any clinical evidence. I’ll just sip my coffee from the sidelines and watch this space for now.

(Feature image via @abubblylife)