<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Segoe UI Emoji";
panose-1:2 11 5 2 4 2 4 2 2 3;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoPlainText, li.MsoPlainText, div.MsoPlainText
{mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Plain Text Char";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
p.quotation, li.quotation, div.quotation
{mso-style-name:quotation;
mso-style-link:"quotation Char";
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;
font-weight:bold;
font-style:italic;}
span.quotationChar
{mso-style-name:"quotation Char";
mso-style-link:quotation;
font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;
font-weight:bold;
font-style:italic;}
span.PlainTextChar
{mso-style-name:"Plain Text Char";
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-link:"Plain Text";
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoPlainText>I picked out the following for examination. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=quotation>But, then again, anyone who combines "100% <o:p></o:p></p><p class=quotation>> against drugs" with the consumption of wine probably can't be trusted<o:p></o:p></p><p class=quotation><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>As the person designated in this argument to be against drugs, I have to confess to drinking an occasional glass of wine. And one bourbon eggnog at Christmas. Nobody ever claimed for alcohol that it brought me to a new reality or raised one to a higher state of understanding. I think of it as inducing a modulated and reversible little death of the mind, a quieting of the voice. Not so much an altered state, as a slowed regular state. It is evidently destructive, but sometimes a little destruction is just what one needs. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Does this vitiate my puritan credentials? Yes. Almost certainly. I wouldn’t trust me either. Particularly after the bourbon. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Nick <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Nicholas Thompson<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Clark University<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>ThompNickSon2@gmail.com<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>-----Original Message-----<br>From: Friam <friam-bounces@redfish.com> On Behalf Of Prof David West<br>Sent: Thursday, February 27, 2020 9:56 AM<br>To: friam@redfish.com<br>Subject: Re: [FRIAM] speaking of drugs</p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>I would discount the story. MDMA is not directly toxic. People die from the side-effects - overheating (especially the brain) and dehydration. Do not take MDMA in pill form - the ingredients used to bind and cut the pure stuff can obviously be dangerous. I use pure crystals and cannot imagine any possibility that any diluted residue could add up to a dose, and if the concentrate were still in the wine it could be detected and it still wouldn't have much effect unless you had as much as half a glass. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>davew<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>On Thu, Feb 27, 2020, at 5:46 PM, uǝlƃ <span style='font-family:"Segoe UI Emoji",sans-serif'>☣</span> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> Belgian woman dies after taking sip of MDMA-laced wine <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/27/belgian-woman-dies-after"><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/27/belgian-woman-dies-after</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> -taking-sip-of-mdma-laced-wine<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> I've succumbed to fake news before. I can't find the article, but <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> there was some hype by some startup chip maker claiming some <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> outrageous computational speed. I fell for it. My optimism beat out my doubt.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> Since that very embarrassing episode, before I ever even dreamed an <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> empty Celebrity like Trump would benefit from Russian disinformation <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> campaigns, I've been pretty suspicious of any news, especially <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> anything coming out of Silly Valley.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> Given that, I can't help but wonder about the above article. MDMA <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> isn't as safe as psilocybin or LSD. But it's relatively safe. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> Transporting concentrated mdma in wine bottles seems like a risky move <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> for a drug trafficker. If it was concentrated enough to kill her after <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> only a "little sip", somebody's head should roll within the <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> trafficker's value chain. But, then again, anyone who combines "100% <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> against drugs" with the consumption of wine probably can't be trusted <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> to be accurate about how big a "sip" she really had.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> Of course, this is yet another reason to make your own beer/wine/cider <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> at your house ... thank you Jimmy Carter! Spirits are a different <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> thing, though. Back in PDX, a bunch of friends brought their homemade <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> whiskies, vodkas, and whatnot to a ping-pong party, happily trusting <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> each other to have done it right ... That's a big "No thank you, man"<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> for me. Give me the wisdom of the microbes over distillation tech any <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> day of the week.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> --<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> <span style='font-family:"Segoe UI Emoji",sans-serif'>☣</span> uǝlƃ<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> ============================================================<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> at St. John's College to unsubscribe <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> <a href="http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com"><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> archives back to 2003: <a href="http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/"><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>> FRIAM-COMIC <a href="http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/"><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/</span></a> by Dr. Strangelove<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>============================================================<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe <a href="http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com"><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>archives back to 2003: <a href="http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/"><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoPlainText>FRIAM-COMIC <a href="http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/"><span style='color:windowtext;text-decoration:none'>http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/</span></a> by Dr. Strangelove<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>