Psychoactive Drug Designer Matt Bowden responded today to reporting of Auckland University’s study on LSD micro-dosing having potential sleep benefits1, warning the public that LSD in normal doses can cause sleep disturbance on the day of usage, and adding that safer alternatives may need to be developed before public usage of psychedelic drugs.
Don’t try it at home.
Mr Bowden expressed concern that persons suffering from insomnia reading headlines might be confused by messaging and turn to LSD to sleep, when many other options would be better choices. “It is encouraging to see Associate Professor Muthukumaraswamy’s excellent research into microdosing psychoactive drugs happening with New Zealand at the forefront of this new era, but let’s remember drug safety messaging. The experience most people have taking LSD recreationally in evenings is that of being kept awake for 8 hours. It can be very uncomfortable trying to sleep when you are mentally exhausted and still tripping balls. Not recommended.”
What is microdosing?
Microdosing is the practice of taking very low doses of psychedelic substances, such as LSD or psilocybin (magic mushrooms), to experience subtle cognitive enhancements and mood improvements without inducing hallucinations or significant impairments. In research, a typical LSD dose ranges from 50 micrograms (μg) to 200 μg, and last 8-12 hours, while typical LSD microdose is around 10 μg to 20 μg. However, doses vary individually, and it is hard for inexperienced people to pick a suitable dosage without professional guidance
Safer alernatives to LSD
Mr Bowden said the public should not get excited about LSD as a mainstream microdosing product in New Zealand. “The problem with LSD microdose products is there is no ceiling level of effect. There is nothing to stop accidental or deliberate overdose. There are safer options.”
Under New Zealand’s Psychoactive Substances Act, existing drugs can be modified to change their effects level profile while still broadly maintaining or improving the safety profile. “LSD or psilocybin could be toned down like a dimmer switch into ‘partial agonists’ so that they have a ceiling level of effect, so that even if somebody takes too many pills, they can still drive safely.”
Matt Bowden Background.
Matt Bowden invented party pills used by hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders with no fatal overdoses or lasting injuries in the early 00s, proposed a regulatory system for the development and marketing of new psychoactive drugs lauded by United Nations but was put on ice in New Zealand after resistance from competing industry groups, until drug toxicity could be tested without animal cruelty. He is currently working with a new startup BioPharm2 raising funds to develop and safer psychoactive substances and non-animal methods of toxicity testing.
NOTE: Natural products to support the body’s normal sleep processes include chamomile, kava,L- theanine, valerian, tryptophan, 5htp, melatonin, magnesium and CBD.
Matt Bowden 02108793123
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