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Connecting Personality Traits and Different Psychedelic Experiences

Published

6 months ago

October 20, 2023

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Personality can be described as an “individual’s collection of interrelated behavioral, cognitive and emotional patterns that biological and environmental factors influence.” In other words, personality is what makes us, us. So, it makes sense that different personality traits can impact our psychedelic experiences; and vice versa, psychedelic experiences can have profound effects on our personalities. Let’s dive deeper into this interesting correlation.

The five personality traits

When discussing personality from a psychology standpoint, the most widely accepted theory is the Big Five Model, which categorizes personalities into five different types. Every trait is considered a spectrum with two extremes and some middle ground in between. Depending on your personality, you’ll fall somewhere on the spectrum.

The big five model:

Agreeableness: This is a measure of how well a person gets along with others. People who score high in agreeableness tend to be cooperative, warm, trusting, and will often lookout for the needs of others, whereas people who are low in this area might be more solitary, less interested in working with other people, and more skeptical of individuals and situations.
Conscientiousness: This trait explores how careful, intentional, self-disciplined, and organized a person is. A person who is very conscientious is not only driven and deliberate, but they have a high level of self-awareness. Conscientiousness is often used to predict employee productivity, since people who score low on this scale often struggle with regulation, structure, and follow-through.
Extraversion: Extraversion measures how social, outgoing, and energetic a person is. People who score high on this scale are considered to be extroverted, and people who get lower scores are said to be introverted. Introverts are typically quieter, more lowkey, independent, and sometimes shy. Introverts can be just as personable and charismatic as extroverts, but they often take a bit longer to warm up.
Openness: This category assesses a person’s openness to new experiences. People who measure high on the openness scale are often creative and imaginative, those head-in-the-clouds types. People who score low in this category can be closed off and more conventional, but also more practical, typically keeping order and sticking to routines.
Neuroticism: Also known as the stress response, neuroticism looks at an individual’s emotional stability and how they handle negative feelings and situations. It also measures a person’s general attitude towards life and how adaptable they are. People who are highly neurotic tend to have more self-doubt and anxiety, whereas less neurotic people are calm, laid-back, and confident.

How personality traits can alter psychedelic experiences

*The big five personality traits can change how we experience hallucinogens*

We already covered how DNA can impact a psychedelic trip, so in that same vein, let’s take a closer look at how personality traits can do the same. Using psilocybin, a team of researcher from University of Bergen in Norway conducted a study that examined the correlation between the aforementioned “big five” personality traits and different hallucinogenic responses. Their results were published in 2019 in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs.

They noted a few interesting key points. For example, those who scored high in openness were more likely to experience “love, inner visions, and contact with non-ordinary beings and transcendent forces”. They also found that people who scored higher in extraversion reported deeper connections to others while using psychedelics. Interestingly, extraverts were also found to be “the least likely to encounter non-ordinary beings”. This is likely because they gravitate toward social interaction as opposed to more introspective experiences.

They also found, as expected, that people who scored high in the neuroticism category are more likely to experience bad trips. They concluded that “highly emotionally stable individuals are less likely to experience fear during a psychedelic trip and risk-takers are more likely to experience ego death or ego dissolution because they have a higher tendency to pursue extreme psychological experiences.”

*Psychedelics can open different parts of the psyche and change our personalities for the better*

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Adam Bierman

These Two Iconic Cannabis Companies Could Disappear

Published

1 day ago

May 1, 2024

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Both were high flying symbols of the promise of the legal cannabis industry. Both, at one point, led by an Adam and both made mainstream headlines. Now, as the cannabis world take another key step toward mainstreaming, these two iconic cannabis companies could disappear. Both High Times and Medmen went into receivership in the month of April.

As the cannabis industry enters a new era, both companies straddled the gulf between the weed wild wild west and today’s market-price/share-price focus. Early on, each became the darling of media attention and part of the general population’s conversation. Medmen’s antics saw them skewered on the hit show South Park. Both became regulars on Cheddar as industry thought leaders. High Times, the founder of the original cannabis cup, made high flying deals, did a controversial “non” public offering, and, in looks, expanded into dispensaries. Both are now in court waiting to see what happens to the companies and assets.

Medmen hit the market in 2010 with co-founder in Adam Bierman and Andrew Modlin. In 2018 MedMen West Hollywood was one of the first legal cannabis dispensaries to open in California. Hailed as the Apple Store of weed, their slick design captured the feel of the new wider market and set the pace for of retails wishing to attract an expanding mainstream consumer. From there came an expansion including an expensive sort of store on 5th Ave in New York City, greenhouse grows, a REIT, and lots of press. Things began changing when they went public with a reverse merger. Things took an ugly turn with a messy lawsuit with the outgoing CFO, the the Journal of the American Medical Association called them out for their marketing, and things went down hill quickly. On March 11, 2024, it was reported by several sources that Medmen had closed operations everywhere except for in San Diego and near LA International Airport. It was announced the company is $411 million in debt while awaiting the court’s decision about their future.

High Times was the leader of the marijuana movement, helping people learn, engage and get stoned. They taught people the value of medical marijuana and brought celebrities to the forefront of the movement. Then the 44-year-old magazine was sold to a group of investors led by Adam Levin and the Los Angeles-based Oreva Capital for $42 million. Rumor has it, the founder’s widow is still owed money from this deal. Levin claimed he could raise the value of the company to $100s of million of dollars, but followed was a messy, tangled trip leaving heartbroken investors behind. Multi rounds of funding with a variety of valuations, a semi-offering to the general public at $11 a share, cancelled cannabis cups, and a web of activities raised eyebrows. From a practical point of you, the site never really looked at the new legal market, they figured the newbies would immediately embrace the legacy culture. Instead, companies like Wana Brands appealed to them with gummies named Calm. The movement moved on and High Times tried to enter the dispensary market. Now all the assets sit with a receiver and the fate of the legendary leader is unknown.

These are the tails of a fast rising, consumer driven, mainstreaming industry.

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Cannabis

The Benefits Of Consuming Marijuana Alone

Published

1 day ago

April 30, 2024

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Some times you want to relax and just chill in your own head – and that is 100% ok

Trivia night, parties, hanging with friends, sporting events…all group activities when you might imbibe in something to add to the fun atmosphere. Heading to a bar, going out to eat, or family events might including a bit of booze or a small toke. Both can put you in the right mood. But here are the benefits of consuming marijuana alone.

Drinking alone can cause issues as alcohol can have different effects. A big difference between marijuana and alcohol is the latter is a depressant. Cannabis, in the right dosage, tends to reduce anxiety and can help battle depression. Also, overindulges with weed leads to falling asleep, where overdoing it with cocktails can lead to blackout and serious help issues.

13 songs to add to your smoke sesh playlist — Photo by Matthew Henry via Burst

Marijuana is surprisingly effective and malleable when consumed alone. If you challenge yourself, it can be used for different activities including creative, social and physical. When getting the dosage right, weed can act as a stimulant for your brain, helping you journal and doodle, or for your body, pushing you to workout or clean and sort through your closet.

Another benefit is you can enjoy the wonder of being in a high state of mine. Experts express they love watching a movie on a large screen as it makes them feel they are in the movie (probably not a good idea to watch horror films). It can almost make you feel like you meld with music. when you’re high because cannabis affects your sense of timing. When you smoke weed, your brain slows down and becomes more sensitive to the rhythms in music. It makes it easier to appreciate the subtleties in the music

Personal reflection and growth are other prime reasons for solo cannabis consuming. It allows individuals to immerse themselves in a deep journey into their own being, stripped of the distractions and outside influences that often cloud our understanding. For introverts, this can be time to balance and recharge.

The best part about marijuana is you can enjoy it without ahangover allowing you the next day to be productive. Before diving in to your solo marijuana journey and all of the perks it can result in, here are the best & safest practices.

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Cannabis

THE DEA DECIDES TO RESCHEDULE MARIJUANA

Published

1 day ago

April 30, 2024

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In a historic move the Drug Enforcement Agency announced it plans to reschedule cannabis. Monumental shift in the marijuana industry.

After three years of waiting for President Biden to fulfill his promise of doing something about legal cannabis, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) announced its plan to reschedule cannabis. This follows the recommendations from Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Agency (FDA). They are sending their recommendation to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review of the impact on the budget. The shifts acknowledged the medical benefits of cannabis and can pave the way for PTSD treatment for veterans, something the President and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA).

“Moving to Schedule III is the single biggest thing that can happen to the US cannabis industry. It removes the 280E tax burden, increases medical research, and opens the investor base. Today is truly a tipping point for this burgeoning industry.” declared Jesse Redmond, Managing Director at Water Tower Research.

DEA

“This historic move from the Biden Administration to reclassify cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III reflects changes in the scientific and medical understanding of cannabis. It echoes moves in other countries around the world. Domestically, it lays the groundwork for federal tax benefits for the cannabis industry, as cannabis businesses will be treated like other businesses with regard to deductions and credits. It will also lower the costs and hurdles of conducting research on the plant and its products. Despite skeptics arguing that this spells the beginning of the end of the cannabis industry as we know, those doomsday scenarios fail to answer a basic question: why would the Biden Administration want to crack down on a substance that it classifies as “less dangerous” when it refused to crack down on the substance when it was a Schedule I substance? Little, if anything, will change at the state regulatory level, but that should not take away from the historic nature of this decision. Cannabis has been a Schedule I substance for 54 years, and despite multiple opportunities to reclassify it in decades’ past, today is the first time the US Government has been willing to say otherwise” shares John Hudak, Director, Maine Office of Cannabis.

Hudak is widely respected in the industry and has been a thought leader for the growing industry. The move reclassifies cannabis from Schedule 1 of dangerous drug with zero medical benefits to to Schedule III such as ketamine, Tylenol with codeine, and anabolic steroids. The timing is still unsettled, but there is hope it will have an impact in 2024. The industry as been struggling under schedule III despite a huge growth of consumers. This will also open the door more for mainstream companies to become involved in the market.

“While this is great news for the cannabis industry, it’s too early to break out the Champagne,” said Lonnie Rosenwald, Partner at Zuber Lawler, LLP. “We don’t know yet when rescheduling will occur, or, perhaps more important, when the tax changes will take effect. For companies and entrepreneurs considering entering the industry, rescheduling alone shoudl provide an incentive to launch their businesses. But existing cannabis businesses will have to wait to see whether they’ll be able to deduct business expenses on their 2024 or 2025 returns. We expect answers to these questions in the coming weeks.” says Lonnie Rosenwald, an attorney for Zuber Lawler, a national law firm which covers the cannabis industry.

This is a historic shift for the federal government and puts in more in line with the American Medical Association, most medical professionals, Canada and the general public.

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