H

ow you prepare for a 
psychedelic 
trip 
can 

make or break your 

experience, not to mention ensure 
that your community stays safe. 
As community members of Ann 
Arbor, Washtenaw County and 
the wider world, it’s important to 
be knowledgeable about the risks 
associated with psychedelic use 
and how to minimize them. 

For 
students 
and 
faculty 

members at the University of 
Michigan, the first thing to 
know is that despite the recent 
measure taken to decriminalize 
entheogenic plants and fungi 
in our area, federal law still 
criminalizes psychedelics. Since 
the University still favors federal 
law and university policy over 
local law when it comes to alcohol 
and drug use, decriminalization 
may not necessarily extend to U-M 
property. Unless the University 
and the federal government say 
it’s OK in the future, it’s still best 
to avoid using psychedelics on 
campus. 

If you are planning on off-

campus use, know what you’re 
putting in your body — this 
is 
especially 
important 
with 

psychedelics 
since 
they’re 

unregulated. While it may seem 
like a hassle, using a testing kit 
or doing some extra research 
on the compound you’re taking 
may save your life by helping you 
avoid adulterated and dangerous 
substances. 

Whether you are seeking out 

a traditional healing journey or 
planning on tripping with a guide, 
approach it cautiously. These 
medicines can be a good thing — 
some Indigenous communities use 
entheogenic plants like ayahuasca 
to help remain spiritually resilient 
and in touch with the natural 
world. But in some cases, it’s 
possible to be taken advantage of if 
the drugs being purchased are not 
legitimate or masked as something 
else. Psychedelics put you in a 
different mindset, for better or 
worse. If it’s worse, the openness 
you experience could leave you in 
a vulnerable position. Despite the 
immense healing that legitimate 
traditional plant medicine can 
bring, 
there 
have 
also 
been 

instances which lead to people 
being sexually abused or dying as a 
result of their participation. 

You have to be careful about 

who you get substances from and 
who you take them with. If you 
choose to use psychedelics with 
a new organization or individual, 
trust your intuition. If something 
feels off, it probably is. Check 
multiple sources for reviews 
of psychedelic effects, do your 
research and don’t trip alone. 

While 
psychedelics, 
when 

taken in the right context, can 
be generally safe and potentially 
beneficial for most people, they 
aren’t 
for 
everyone. 
Bipolar 

disorder and other underlying 
mental and physical conditions 
may cause some people to have 
negative 
reactions. 
Before 

embarking on a trip, research 
effects 
of 
psychedelics 
on 

conditions you may have. In 
addition to talking to trusted 
family, 
friends 
and 
medical 

professionals, you may also want 
to check out local psychedelic 
support 
groups 
and 
other 

resources.

If 
you 
do 
decide 
that 

psychedelics are safe for you, 
the old idea of “set and setting” 
still matters. Set refers to your 
mindset; setting refers to your 
environment. In other words, it’s 
a bad idea to have a psychedelic 
experience in the Arb, the Diag 
or anywhere else by yourself. 
To get the most out of your trip, 
it’s important to be in a good 
mindset and in a place where you 
feel comfortable and with people 
whom you trust. For a more 
meaningful 
experience 
with 

psychedelics, setting an intention 
beforehand and creating space 
afterward for reflection can 
help you integrate what you’ve 
learned into your life. 

While each of these points 

are a start for what individuals 
can do to prepare for a safe 
trip, a community-based model 
could perhaps reduce the most 
harm. Going forward, it may 
be in the interest of retailers 
in the Ann Arbor community 
to consider providing testing 
kits and informational material 
to 
increase 
accessibility 
to 

education and reduce harm. If 
our community were to take 
these measures, like the Zendo 
Project does at music festivals, 
we could further ensure safety 
and responsibility.

Furthermore, in the interest 

of expanding our consciousness 
beyond our own health and safety, 
it’s also important to consider 
community and environmental 
well-being. Certain psychedelic 
plants and animals are becoming 
endangered. As we’ve seen in 
recent years with the Sonoran 
Desert 
Toad, 
Peyote 
and 

Ayahuasca, the demands of non-
native 
American 
psychedelic 

tourists 
are 
overwhelming 

supply, 
leading 
to 
resource 

depletion and a neglection of 
Native American communities.

In the case of the Sonoran 

Desert 
Toad, 
its 
species 
is 

becoming endangered by non-
Native 
American 
psychedelic 

tourists due to 5-MeO-DMT, a 
psychedelic/spiritual 
molecule 

found in the toad’s venom. Since 
the toad’s absence is considered 
a precursor for drought by 
communities 
like 
the 
Yaqui 

tribe of the Southwest U.S. and 
Mexico, endangerment of its 
species represents a risk to the 
ecosystem in which it inhabits 
and a loss to the Native American 
communities who rely on it. 

Peyote, a psychedelic cactus 

containing mescaline, has long 
been endangered in a similar way. 
On March 12, 2020, The National 
Council of Native American 
Churches (NCNAC) and the 
Indigenous Peyote Conservation 
Initiative (IPCI) made a request 
for 
Peyote 
to 
be 
excluded 

from 
Decriminalize 
Nature’s 

campaign due to its endangered 
status and significance to Native 
American communities. If you 
are a non-Native person, please 
reconsider using Peyote and 
other endangered species.

Spontaneity 
and 
the 

opportunity 
to 
explore 
the 

unknown are part of the draw 
of 
psychedelics. 
But 
taking 

precautions, paying attention to 
set and setting and respecting 
Native American communities 
are 
fundamental 
parts 
of 

ensuring personal, communal 
and environmental well-being in 
years to come. If you decide to 
trip, have a good one — but please 
make sure you do so safely and 
thoughtfully.

9 — Wednesday, October 21, 2020
Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Bolivia is burning

KAREEM RIFAI | COLUMN

Orthorexia shouldn’t be socially accepted

NYLA BOORAS | COLUMN

Lily Cesario can be reached at 

lcesario@umich.edu.

Trip responsibly

LILY CESARIO | COLUMN

L

andlocked 
Bolivia, 

a 
country 
nestled 

between 
regional 

hotspots 
Argentina, 
Chile 

and Peru, has skyrocketed 
to the forefront of the global 
geopolitical struggle. Bolivia’s 
2019 election was fraught with 
allegations of fraud leveled 
against now-former President 
Evo Morales. Morales now 
faces accusations of crimes 
against 
humanity 
due 
to 

allegations that he organized 
food and fuel blockades in 
major 
cities 
engaging 
in 

protests calling for his ousting 
during the election crisis. The 
Bolivian interim government, 
headed by Jeanine Áñez, the 
right-wing 
former 
second 

vice president of the Bolivian 
Senate 
who 
ascended 
to 

power 
constitutionally 

through 
Bolivia’s 
line 
of 

presidential succession, has 
faced considerable backlash 
domestically 
and 
abroad 

following accusations that she 
is an acting coup president by 
leading figures of the Bolivian 
far-left due to the nature of 
Morales’s resignation. 

Bolivians will choose a new 

president on Oct. 18, ending 
the reign of Áñez. However, 
as political tensions continue 
to boil over, deadly forest fires 
have swept across the nation, 
with 62 active fires as of Oct. 
7, according to the Autoridad 
de Bosques y Tierras, and 
more than 2.3 million hectares 
of land burned since January. 
The lungs of the world are 
burning in Bolivia, and no 

one is paying attention: 

In 2019, Bolivia’s forest fires 
contributed so astronomically 
to carbon dioxide emissions 
that 
the 
tiny 
developing 

nation of 11 million rivaled 
the tons per capita emitted 
from the United States, which 
is roughly 14.5 megatons per 
million people.

The 
expansion 
and 
soft 

legalization 
of 
slash-and-

burn agriculture, the primary 
source 
of 
Bolivia’s 
raging 

forest fires, occurred under 
Morales’s rule as he cozied 
up with Bolivia’s wealthy and 
powerful agribusiness elites. In 
2013, the Morales government 
implemented a legal pardon 
for unlawful slash-and-burn 
land 
clearances 
between 

1996-2011. 
Additionally, 
in 

2019, the Morales government 
established laughable fines of 
less than $3 per illegally slash-
and-burned hectare. Morales’s 
unscrupulous abandonment of 
protecting Bolivia’s wildlife 
was 
only 
exacerbated 
by 

a beef trade deal initiated 
with China which required 
the 
extensification 
of 

Bolivian 
beef 
production. 

Consequently, in July 2019, 
Morales enacted a supreme 
expansion of the amount of 
legal 
slash-and-burn 
land 

clearance. 
This 
encouraged 

the use of fire despite serious 
ecological 
concerns 
for 

Bolivia’s forests, resulting in 
disastrous, 
uncontrollable 

fires being ignited in August as 
a result of the deregulated and 
unprosecuted slash-and-burn. 

Hundreds 
of 
thousands 

of 
protesters 
gathered 
in 

October 2019 to protest the 
Morales’s 
government’s 

gross negligence in fighting 
the rapidly expanding fires, 
which persisted until they 
were finally extinguished by 
heavy rainfall. I talked with a 
biologist and conservationist 
on the ground in Bolivia, 
who spoke with me on the 
condition 
of 
anonymity 

because of the volatile political 
situation in the country. On 
Morales’s 
handling 
of 
the 

forest fires, he said, “When 
Evo appeared in front of the 
UN to applaud himself for his 
efforts at combating climate 

change I was horrified. I had 
worked with the very volunteer 
firefighters 
who 
had 
died 

fighting the flames his policies 
had encouraged to be lit.”

With Áñez’s ascension amid 

Bolivia’s 
ecological 
crisis, 

hopes were high that the new 
administration 
would 
tackle 

the 
issues 
that 
Morales’s 

regime had neglected for years. 
Unfortunately, 
Áñez 
initially 

ignored 
petitions 
to 
repeal 

the supreme decree enacted 
by 
Morales 
expanding 
the 

prevalence of slash-and-burn, 
instead, bizarrely focused on the 
expansion of GMOs throughout 
the country. When Áñez finally 
repealed 
the 
decree, 
likely 

to raise her abysmal polling 
numbers, she discreetly replaced 
it with a nearly identical edict 
designed to appease agribusiness 
lobbyists. 

On 
Áñez’s 
actions, 
the 

conservationist I spoke to said, 
“essentially 
Jeanine’s 
policies 

have been a major disappointment 
and have in practice, despite 
the 
rhetoric, 
largely 
been 

a 
continuation 
of 
those 
of 

Morales. The first signs of an 
end to impunity for arsonists are 
encouraging, but there’s a long way 
to go. While there are glimmers of 
hope, the fate of Bolivia’s forests 
will depend on the soon-to-be-
elected government.” 

As the fires in Bolivia rage 

on and continue to pollute and 
destroy one of the world’s most 
unique ecological landscapes, 
the world waits in anticipation to 
see if Bolivia will survive another 
election. Amid the anticipated 
political turmoil, environmental 
policies will undeniably be placed 
on the back-burner, but will still 
remain a pivotal policy point that 
will not only affect the future 
of Bolivia but the future of the 
world. 

Kareem Rifai can be reached at 

krifai@umich.edu.

Design courtesy of Katherine Lee

W

hen I was in the thick of 
my eating disorder, not 
many people in my life 

seemed to be concerned. Maybe they 
were, but it wasn’t shared with me, 
perhaps because they didn’t want 
to assume anything or offend me. If 
that’s the case, I know they meant 
well. But, beyond a lack of concern, 
what was more harmful was the 
praise and glorification I received 
for my eating disorder behaviors. 
And the reason they felt they should 
applaud my disordered behaviors 
is that we are engulfed in a society 
that not only normalizes disordered 
eating, and a toxic relationship with 
exercise, but deems it “healthy.”

I was seen as “healthy” when 

I was restricting foods I deemed 
“bad” or “unhealthy” — a list 
which, when you’re in the midst 
of an eating disorder, only grows 
longer and longer — but the fact of 
the matter is, I was not. And when 
I was doing the most exercise and 
compulsive movements, I was very 
unhealthy. How could that be? The 
more exercise you do and the less 
“unhealthy” foods you eat — or the 
less you eat entirely — the healthier 
you become, right? 

Wrong. 
And not because the combination 

of exercise and eating nutritious 
foods are bad for you. I don’t think 
anyone has ever disputed that and 
I’m surely not. The problem lies in 
the assumption that this is a direct 
causal relationship; it is considered 
a given that if you do these things — 
exercise more, and eat less — you will 
become healthier. There are many 
cases where this has not been the 
outcome, and these are commonly 
the cases of those who transitioned 
into full-fledged eating disorders 
after embarking on a diet or the 
general path of restricting food. 

Yet, our society pushes exercise 

and restricted, or even “clean” 
eating, on us under the guise that 
they’re all-curing and will improve 
our health. They neglect to mention 
that even these habits can be taken 
to the extreme, and when they are 
it’s not guaranteed you become 
ultra-healthy. 
In 
many 
cases, 

extreme “healthy” or “clean” eating 
in particular yields health outcomes 
that are worrisome. 

Orthorexia has been gaining 

recognition in recent years as an 
eating disorder characterized by an 
unhealthy obsession with “healthy” 
eating. It’s not currently in the 
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 

of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition as 
its own stand-alone eating disorder, 
but it does fall under the broad 
category of Avoidant/Restrictive 
Food Intake Disorder: It entails 
avoiding (e.g. restricting) certain 
foods, and as a result, energy needs 
often aren’t met. 

Moreover, a lot of the signs and 

symptoms of the disorder may 
strike you as things people simply 
tend to do these days in the name of 
health. These include compulsively 
checking food labels, cutting out 
entire food groups (e.g. carbs, 
sugars, animal products), and not 
being able to eat anything outside of 
your narrow group of foods you’ve 
deemed “healthy” and/or “clean.” 
When people take these strides and 
engage these behaviors, they receive 
praise from those around them. 
Affirmations of how “healthy” they 
are and how much “willpower” they 
have poured in because diet culture, 
and more specifically the wellness 
diet, has conditioned them to believe 
that we need to purposefully abstain 
from certain foods as best as we 
can to be healthy. Orthorexia has 
become a socially acceptable eating 
disorder. 

Besides those rooted in the anti-

diet culture movement and eating 
disorder 
recovery 
community, 

most everyday people would not be 
alarmed by an individual only eating 
the vegetables at a social gathering 
or, my own past go-to, bringing their 
own food to events. Many turn to 
the latter because the thought of 
even eating an “unhealthy” food 
outside of the ones you’ve deemed 
safe, and often also outside of your 
own preparation, is just not possible. 
They likely applaud your decision to 
abstain from the “bad” food at the 
gathering, and worse, they might 
even say, “I wish I could eat like you 
do.” Everyone with an orthorexic 
past cringes at this comment. 
With these words, you’re not only 
validating the eating disorder as 
something ideal, but you cast aside 
any inclination they may have to 
move toward recovery. This, of 
course, is assuming that they’ve 
begun to realize they have an eating 
disorder. 

The acceptance and praise of 

orthorexic behaviors is one head of 
the beast that is society’s acceptance 
and 
fostering 
of 
restrictive, 

disordered behaviors around food. 
The other is the endless trend on 
social media promoting dangerously 
low-calorie eating (cough, cough, 

TikTok) that’s unsustainable and 
only worsens one’s physical and 
mental health, yet for some reason, 
people are still under the impression 
that these diet trends are for 
“health.” These posts are blatantly 
promoting eating disorder behaviors 
to susceptible populations, like 
middle- and high-schoolers, with 
seemingly no consequences. It’s 
a slap in the face to anyone who 
has ever struggled with an eating 
disorder.

Still, some may argue orthorexia 

isn’t a real eating disorder and is just 
one’s way of complaining and being 
frustrated by the fact that they have 
to eat healthy. They’ll say it’s just 
the price you pay for taking care of 
your body. This dismissive take on 
the subject is incredibly ignorant 
and will likely make the individual 
suffering feel like their struggles are 
invalid and that there is no hope to 
live a better life. Even if you believe 
the effect orthorexia has on one’s 
mental health is simply taxing and 
nothing more than that, the physical 
consequences on one’s health are 
serious. 

Orthorexia can lead to various 

negative 
health 
consequences, 

such 
as 
osteoporosis, 
kidney 

failure, infertility and nutritional 
deficiencies. Hence, it is vital that our 
society collectively begins to view the 
disorder as what it truly is — a serious 
eating disorder that deteriorates one’s 
health as it progresses, not as an ideal 
to strive for in the name of health. 

However, 
because 
orthorexic 

individuals are able to hide their 
disorder behind the intention of just 
wanting to eat healthy, the disordered 
component of their relationship with 
food often goes unnoticed. What’s 
more, because they mask their 
behaviors with a label of “health,” 
it is further encouraged and many 
don’t realize they have a problem 
until much later when health 
consequences 
ensue 
and 
their 

anxiety and fear around “bad” foods 
becomes unbearable. 

There is absolutely a better life 

outside of orthorexia, and a much 
healthier one at that. “Healthy 
eating,” which I put in quotes 
because its definition varies from 
person to person, like anything 
else, can be taken to the extreme. 
In short, that’s what orthorexia is. 
And taking it to this extreme doesn’t 
make one extremely healthy. 

Nyla Booras can be reached at 

nbooras@umich.edu.

MADELYN VERVAECKE | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT MIVERVAE@UMICH.EDU

