When we have questions about psychedelics, we often consult our Auntie. An Auntie can be a person of any gender who offers wise advice about psychedelic substances and how to effectively use them. Lucid News is asking a collection of well-informed people to step in as Auntie and answer your questions about psychedelics. Below you will find past questions submitted by readers and answered by our Auntie.

If you have a question you don’t see represented below, we invite you to inquire Auntie directly by submitting your question through our contact form!
Please put the words “Psychedelic Auntie” in the beginning of your message.

Can I Travel With Controlled Substances?

This month, Auntie considers whether it is safe to travel with controlled substances, whether microdosing can help improve athletic performance, and whether different strains of magic mushrooms have different effects. 

How Should Adults Talk to Teenagers About Psychedelics?

This month, Auntie offers advice on how to talk with a teenage relative about psychedelics, thoughts about mixing psychedelics with cocaine, and considers how psychedelics interact with SSRIs and MAOIs.

What Dosage Is That LSD I’m Buying?

This month Auntie considers how to confirm the strength of LSD, the difference between taking nitrous oxide from a tank as opposed to a whippet, and guidelines for mixing ketamine and alcohol.

How Should I Approach Lesser Known Psychedelics Like “Unicorn”?

This week Auntie considers how to approach new research drugs such as “Unicorn,” whether it is beneficial to take supplements like cacao or blue lotus with mushrooms, and offers some thoughts about how to use psychedelics recreationally with friends.

How Do I Know if Psychedelics are Safe to Combine With My Medication? 

This week Auntie considers the challenges of understanding possible contraindications between psychedelics and prescribed medications, why all high dose mushroom experiences are not the same, and how quickly stored LSD loses its potency.

I’m Worried About My Friend’s Use of Fentanyl. How Should I Talk With Them?

This week Auntie offers thoughts on how to talk with a friend you are concerned about who likes to do fentanyl, broaching the topic of drug use with a parent, and if mushroom potency can be accurately tested.

How Can I Tell if the Microdosing Drops I Found Online Are Safe?

This month Auntie helps research a form of iboga that you can allegedly microdose, answers whether drinking orange juice helps relieve challenging mushroom trips, and suggests what to consider when starting a microdosing regimen.

Is Microdosing During Family Holidays a Good Idea?

This week Auntie considers which substances increase your chances of heat stroke or dehydration, microdosing to get through family holidays, and doing psychedelics for the first time when your partner doesn’t want to join you.

My Friend Dosed Me Without My Consent. What Do I Do?

This month Auntie discusses what to do if you’ve been dosed without your consent and how to prevent it from happening again, post-MDMA blues, and feeling down on yourself after taking a solo journey.

Is the Color of LSD an Indicator of Purity?

This month Auntie considers how our relationship to psychedelics changes as we age, how experienced those “leading” psychedelic journeys should be, and whether color is an indication of bad, or good, acid.

Meet Your Aunties

Rachel Clark

Rachel (she/her) serves as the Education Manager for DanceSafe, a nightlife harm reduction nonprofit known for its drug education and drug checking kits. In addition to working for DanceSafe, Rachel has been teaching a semester-long course called DrugsCo for several years, and founded the Oberlin Students for Sensible Drug Policy chapter in 2019. She has been an avid harm reductionist since 2012, and enjoys long walks to her soapbox to talk about psychedelic safety and the injustices of the drug war.

Mitchell Gomez

Mitchell Gomez is a graduate of New College of Florida (whose Alumni included the founders of Erowid, MAPS and the Zendo Project), and has his Masters from CU Denver. He has been a part of the electronic music community since the late 90’s, when he first started attending underground breaks shows while still in high-school. In 1999 while living in Israel, he became one of the earliest full time professional fire spinners, eventually performing at some of the biggest electronic music events on four continents. Mitchell joined Dancesafe as their National Outreach Director in 2014 and was responsible for all volunteer coordination, the development, implementation, and evaluation of new training curriculum and outreach initiatives, and administrative tasks, and was promoted to Executive Director in 2017. He has volunteered with the Burning Man organization, SSDP, the Denver Drug Strategy Commision, Psymposia, and other small harm reduction projects for many years, and is a passionate advocate for reality-based drug policy and harm reduction.

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