Psychadelic renaissance

http://www.stevenkotler.com/node/120
Turns out, that before i left Philadelphia to move out to California, i met a young man through friendster that wanted to revolutionize the way most people thought about psychedelics and MDMA (at least in the medical and federal community).  I can't even remember who he was or whether i could even recognize him again. However, on a long walk through the sure kill river park, he explained his motivations.  He wanted to give people a glimpse into what death might be like by administering DMT to people who were afraid.  Having three brain cells to rub together, i was skeptical about the ethical motivations to this man's plans.  Mostly they focused around the complication of not being able to predict the themes of the thoughts through a hallucination.  Angels could easily become demons, distracted thoughts to black nothingness, colors to nashing teeth.  Mostly, i worried about the general feeling of discomfort that was possible with poor dosing, or bad product, or unpredictable results.
Fast forward to the present day.
I was in Rochester and sitting in a man-home bathroom, and on the top of the catharsis reading pile is a Playboy.  Now, i'm not into chicks, but they are prettier in general than boys.  Plus, i'm curious about what the current objects of desire are and where i measure up just like any girl.  Funnily enough, Playboy does have some good articles, and i started reading the moment i read the above title.
If you don't have time to read it, a quick summary: woman dying of terminal colon cancer.  She is young-young for cancer.  Riddled with pain despite attempting multimodal therapy (but it didn't sound like ketamine coma was one of them, so i assume she doesn't live near Temple: http://www.rsds.org/3/treatment/ketamine.html), she turns to the only thing left.  At the behest of her mother, she calls a man in to administer psychopharmaceuticals.  She enjoys them once the doses are worked out, craving them for the peace of mind, or the storm of mind-depending on your particular view on the matter.  Crashing from each treatment of LSD or psylocibin, MDMA or marijuana or some combination of them, she suffers tremors, amplified pain, and requires long recovery.  However, in the end, she benefits from all of it with a "good death."
What do i mean by "good death?"  She goes peacefully into the inevitable, stripped of fear.  She feels loved, and oneness with the universe, holding both parents' hands as her mind leaves her diseased body.  She arrived here pretty much illegally.  To my knowledge, there are only two allowances (i don't think they have grants) to synthesize (?) and utilize MDMA in patients.  Harvard and Duke are using MDMA to deal with post traumatic stress disorder, which has failed most modalities because it's usually not a chemical imbalance, it is the brain attempting to protect itself by blocking out the most difficult events of our lives and failing by allowing them to show up in nightmares, angered interactions with peers, and symptoms of depression and maladjustment.  Harvard's study must have gone well, as they received a renewal to continue their research.  One or both institutions are also studying LSD in the same population.  Usually soldiers returning from the mortar shells and roadside bombs of the middle east.  The hope is, in each of these groups, that soldiers will open themselves to their experiences, express them, feel their fear in a safe environment, while they feel loved and supported by the whole of the universe.  It's worked for some, as this article alludes.
This past weekend, i listened to a talk given by a man working at John's Hopkins with hallucinogens to synthesize meditation conditions for people who have practiced some form of spirituality but never explored drugs before to assist their quest.  Their studies found that people experienced some of their most powerful transcendent thoughts on psylocibin.  Their hope is to move on to cancer patients to help them feel connected and one with the world, and ultimately less afraid of the inevitable.
The idea of certain drugs being illegal is, to me, a grey area.  I personally don't want to pay your hospital bill when you are in heart failure after toxifying your heart with cocaine for years.  Also, i personally don't want to support the children of those who become so addicted to any substance that they abuse them or neglect them, or become otherwise absent.  i don't want to pay their disability.
However, there is a self autonomy that has been stolen from us when it comes to end of life decisions.  If one is unable to get it done ones self, one is damned to suffer.  Having a tool like this to cope with things at the scariest point in life might just be a good thing.  The slippery slope of morphine is similar to what this young woman with bowel cancer allegedly experienced.  On the one side, morphine helps deal with pain and eases shortness of breath.  One or two milligrams more and breathing stops, or slows, allowing carbon dioxide to build, and the long sleep to conquer.
In American culture, we appear to have the most unhealthy relationship to death of any other, raging against it in all forms, believing we can somehow cheat the oldest plan on earth, grieving to the point of disability, and hiding it away from sight when it finally happens.  Much of this has been created by the medical community, attempting the impossible every day, replacing failing organs, recirculating hearts, cutting off and diseased limbs and organs, poisoning the poison.  But sometimes all the medical community does is prolong the emotional and physical suffering and support hopes that should be turning to nurturing and putting affairs in order.
With legalization and careful administration with all the risks described, perhaps preparing a person for death could be a good thing: for an individual, for all that surround that individual, maybe even for the entire community.  However, having no experience, i can't speak to the visions that are had, only guess from other's accounts.
The other issue is that with a drug like MDMA that seems to splay out your entire heart and soul before you and asks you in a loving way to confront something that's grown like a cancer in there, and only you can stop it may be the only cure.  Listen to the current studies happening all over the world:

http://www.maps.org/mdma/

Anyway, it all got my to thinking.
It's fascinating stuff, and i know none of it is benign.  However, i'm all about learning.