sorry to interrupt your fight, guys. I just couldn't help expressing my respect to you all, there are very good comments (except the fighting thing of course. Never heard of forgiveness?), and this little essay I found especially well written:
Quote:This thread has had a lot of things said, some true, some specious, some useless. I'll let everyone decide what fits where. Still, I think some things haven't been said that need to be said.
1) Man-made things are not necessarily safer or more dangerous than natural things. 2) Everyone reacts differently to different drugs. 3) Marijuana is not addictive; even if it was, it would not be dangerous nor counter-productive for some people to be high all the time. Now I'll elaborate on these points.
First of all, I respect LSD. Yes, it was man-made, but LSD is a synthesized form of lysergic acid from ergot, which I find intensely fascinating for purely historical reasons. Ergot poisoning was known as St. Anthony's fire and plagued mankind for centuries. Likely, it was responsible for some of the more erratic behaviour resulting in the Salem witch trials among other things. It is a controlled form of madness. Reality suddenly seems less concrete and physical. The difference between what we see, hear, taste, feel, and smell and what can be concretely considered "real" becomes apparent. Assumptions about the universe break down. These are the reasons I love acid.
I agree that I haven't seen that many wild things on it, but I have seen a variety of complex hallucinations. Near the end of my last trip I was listening to a friend talk when suddenly his face ran like mud, stretching down toward his chest and the floor. This only lasted for probably a second and a half, like most of my visual hallucinations, still some people might find this very frightening, or even the beginning of a "bad trip," I just found it intensely fascinating. But more on that in point 2. I found that visual hallucinations only became apparent when I stilled myself and stared intently at things. In fact, an odd experience from my last trip, I kept having the feeling that I needed to take a dump, only to sit on the toilet ineffectually and become hypnotized by the wallpaper, which swirled about and became three-dimensional, seemingly pulsating from stretching away from me and snapping back to two-dimensional space.
Basically, since LSD is synthesized from a naturally occurring psychedelic without the gangrene, I think it is an improvement. I do believe marijuana and magic mushrooms are two of the safest drugs on the planet, and their being natural is surely part of that. However, there are infinite other natural things which are quite harmful, and other man-made synthesized drugs such as aspirin, which have similarly safe characteristics.
Going back to seeing my friend's face melt while tripping, this I think is where a little maturity, self-control, and understanding make a world of difference when it comes to recreational drug use. I don't think that someone who does a lot of drugs is an authority on the subject. In fact, anyone who has a drug problem is about the last person I'd like to take pointers from. I have been responsible enough to avoid opium, heroin, crack (well except that one time), crystal meth, and other drugs which have virtually no benefit from their consumption. As well as a general avoidance of cocaine and oxycontin, because these two are virtually pointless drugs. Nonetheless, the list of "avoidables" will be different for everyone, as everyone must know their own limits. There are some people who I've spent considerable time talking out of consuming mushrooms, simply because I didn't think the experience would be positive for them. In some ways, as much as psychedelics open up the mind, the mind needs to be open a little already, or it may turn out to be far too much for them. Some of these people ignored my advice, to mixed results. It comes down to personal freedom and choice, another inherent message to these drugs, which I also enjoy.
Lastly, as far as marijuana, well yeah, I am addicted. I too have digestive issues and insomnia when I quit smoking pot. I also had these afflictions before I smoked weed. Not to mention that weed brings a sense of inner calm, clarity of mind (there can be no arguing this for myself, perhaps it isn't true for others), and a general improvement to my state of mind. While some may call this artificial, I merely challenge the assumption that consuming a psychoactive on a regular basis is unhealthy or wrong. There is nowhere in the universe that this is written, and the negligible health effects of marijuana almost seem to imply otherwise. I believe this beautiful plant has a very distinct and important connection to mankind, the cannabinoid receptors in our brains seem to illustrate this point. There is nothing I can do sober that I can't do stoned, and many things I do better. I have driven hundreds of thousands of miles high, and have no at fault accidents or speeding tickets.
People need to rethink their own culpability when drug experiences go awry. People experiment with these drugs on a nearly mind-bogglingly expansive scale, and most of them completely safely. There is only a small minority who have things go wrong for them, which I blame partly on brain chemistry, but mostly on immaturity of mind and body.
This blunt is dedicated to all those who understand the great benefits of mind-altering substances; I'll see you on the astral plane.
Peace.
It makes my own comments obsolete. Maybe I just want to repeat that it really depends on the person how these substances work. One man's medicine is another man's poison. Therefore, much if not all studies that science can present are in the best case interesting, but not of big value or importance to people. I also can confirm that it is the strong ones who are "allowed" to do drugs, especially the hallucinogenic ones. This is not for weak minded. (This is a bit of a danger, as everyone wants to be strong, especially young ones. Ah, that's a topic for itself). And lastly, yes, cannabis is not addictive. For the strong ones. The weak will always be in danger to lose control and become addictive to something, be it pot, alcohol, sex, tobacco, coffee, whatever.
Well, now I want to make a comment nevertheless. I have never done any drugs (except of pot, but that is rather a medicine than a real drug), so I have no own experiences (psylo-mushrooms simply didn't had an effect on me, don't know why). But all my friends did and do. And in discussions, I try to find out what gains they have got from their trips, and I must admit that it did not impress me much or at all. As an artist, I can draw, paint, construct whatever I can imagine, and my imagination is unlimited, that's probably why I'm not attracted to drugs, I don't know. But what I want to say is that there are unpleasant flashbacks from LSD, and there are symptoms of damage. I can quite easily distinct the drug history of a person. I have spent many years very close to Goa-people, heroine-addicts, hippies, so I'm quite an expert on drug effects on people. It is a play with fire, only very few can handle it. Very few. Most have damages for their lifetime (although they don't see the damage themselves, but I can see it). Well, this could be discussed, one could argue that the advantages, the insight and cosmic revelation trades off the relatively small damage, agreed, but it must be said that one can get these insights also without substances.
So . . . enjoy, and take care. All we need and want is love and wisdom. Our entire existence is about this. And we are perfect, it is all already there. Inside. We just have to shovel the filters and trash away, and drugs are good catalysts for this. But in the end it is all already there, the truth, wisdom and eternal bliss has never left us, not for a single second. Catalysts are ok, but the essence we don't have to search. We just have to unveil it.