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