This essay will be focused on the article “Microdosing’s Micromoment” written by Simone Kitchens. Simone Kitchens is a New York Magazine Senior editor and has held other senior roles at Glamour and The Huffington Post. Kitchen explains that microdsoing is “considered to be one-20th to one-tenth of a recreational dose. If someone’s seeing things, he or she has taken too much. Most people microdose mushrooms or LSD, but other drugs have also become popular of late” (Kitchens, 2018). At first kitchens describes how she had come across microdosing through her friends and their experience on microdsoing on certain drugs. She later in the article explains what drugs are being used to microdose on and why it gained such a quiet following. Towards the end of the article she explains how there isn’t much research done on microdosing, but it is being used by others to help with their mental health. Simone Kitchens’ article informs her audience about microdosing in a positive way by using personal anecdotal accounts from people who do microdose frequently and by including texts about psychedelics being beneficial to mental health. 

The image taken by Bobby Doherty is first introduced before reading the article. The image consists of a finer with an LSD tab on it with half of it cut up in several pieces and the other half is whole with a bear icon. The bright colors and the icon of the bear shows how LSD is considered a party drug. Simone Kitchens using this image at the beginning of her article introduces what her article is about psychedelic drugs being used in smaller amounts to prevent the full effect of the drug. Simone supports this by mentioning, “Microdosing, which usually means taking tiny amounts of psychedelics (one-20th to one-tenth of a recreational dose)…” (Kitchens, 2018). Anyone familiar with an LSD tab understands that they are incredibly powerful. However, the smaller pieces of the LSD tab compared to what’s left over from the tab accurately depicts how consumers might take LSD tabs and making the dosage much smaller by cutting it up. 

In the article Simone Kitchens demonstrates that she is supportive of microdosing through how she appeals to the audience. She first introduces microdosing through her own personal account that her friends do it. Kitchens mentions in her article, “As of one month ago, I knew of just one friend who microdosed; my friend, who is a musician…Then, a few weeks later, I was at a different friend’s house when he walked into his kitchen, took a teeny-tiny, shriveled-up mushroom stem out of the freezer, snapped off a minuscule amount, and popped it into his mouth, a thing he now does regularly to feel “more open” while on the many work calls he has throughout the day” (Kitchens, 2018). Kitchens includes her friend’s reasons as to why they consume drugs in such minimal amounts, and they are positive, making the beginning of the article welcoming. 

Kitchens begins to inform the reader of the positive affects microdosing has on people and why people are frequently microdsoing on illegal drugs. Kitchen states, “The most common self-reported benefits include improved mood, better eating and sleeping habits, and less of a need for caffeine. And, really, what could be more millennial than rebranding some of the most potent drugs out there as illegal vitamins that combine the feel-good-ness of self-care with the possibility of gaining a competitive edge on colleagues?” (Kitchens, 2018). Her purpose here is to address beneficial side effects numerous people experience on small amounts of psychedelics. Kitchens also compares microdosing on psychedelics as a vitamin which are also beneficial to people’s health as well. 

Kitchens subtly nods to the culture regarding microdosing and who her audience is. When Kitchen compares microdosing as a “illegal vitamin” she first begins by addressing that it is a “millennial” thing to see microdosing as that if it can be beneficial to someone’s health. She also mentions in the article, “Recent reports show that millennials are drinking less and less interested in drugs like cocaine. But in a strange turn of events, they’ve taken up LSD and mushrooms in the way someone else might pop an Adderall.” (Kitchens, 2018). Her target audience are millennials interested in what microdosing is and why it’s so popular now.

When mentioned that microdosing can help with “gaining a competitive edge on colleagues” Kitchens explains how microdosing all began in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley is known to be the home of coders and other technical professions, but microdosing began becoming popular in coder circles as Kitchens explains, “The appeal of a drug regimen that allows for hours of uninterrupted focus and concentration was not lost on this crowd” (Kitchens, 2018). Coders microdose in order to focus and sharpen their mind while they work and are not using the drug as a party drug. Kitchens supports the argument further by adding an LSD researcher, James Fadiman opinion on microdosing, “it has a small positive effect and it’s not scary” (Kitchens, 2018). 

Although Kitchens dose address that microdosing is not for everyone she also addresses that people still try to for its psychiatric benefits. Kitchens mentions, “For those who have any sort of bipolar or psychosis history, there is the possibility of overstimulation. It also doesn’t seem to agree with those with existing anxiety” (Kitchens, 2018). She informs the reader about all the effects of microdosing even some of the negative. However she does also imply that because the drug is being studied to see its entire benefits people have become curious of the drug and want to see its potential properties. She doesn’t condemn them in anyway and she also states, “perhaps the science will catch up with the culture”. 

In conclusion Simone Kitchens’ article “Microdosing’s Micromoment” informs the reader in a positive light about microdosing. She used anecdotal accounts of her personal friends that microdose as a primary source to introduce the topic to the reader and other self-reports for its benefits. She also includes one of the downsides to microdosing but reflects on how several try microdosing to better their mental health. Using a combination, a formal and informal language to reach out to her audience that may want to try microdosing by giving them an overall summary of what microdosing is and why it’s becoming more mainstream. 

Works Cited

Magazine, S. K. N. Y. (2018, May 3). Everything You Need to Know About Microdosing’s Micromoment. Retrieved from https://www.thecut.com/2018/05/microdosing-guide-and-explainer.html