Reflections | snoitcelfeR

Even with the most specific of definitions, drugs are almost invariably numerous.  To me, a drug is anything that can change how the body acts from its normal state.  Of course, even with this definition, its impossible to define normal, becuase food is included in my definition of drug.  Despite this, I still hold that just about anything (so long as it has an effect on the body or mind) can be considered a drug.  Drugs can be divided into categories, simply for means of clarification and nomenclature.  There’s different degrees of psychoactive, non-psychoactive, and everything in between.  The number of drugs are numerous, so let them be innumerable and let their definition be all-encompassing.

My throught on drugs hasn’t changed a considerable amount.  I wish not to sound condescending in saying this, but I feel I had a bit more knowledge of drugs than most going into the class.  I did have quite an enjoyable time when it came to having to make my views concrete.  Having never done this before, I feel I have a better understanding on what I feel drugs are and the consequences of their usage.

(Henceforth, replace “drugs” with what an average person thinks of “drugs” as.)

I feel that largely, the populace is ignorant to the truth about drugs.  For most, knowledge of drugs is limited to what has been heard in anti-drug campaigns, friends, and hear-say.  If one thing can be given to the populace, its facts, numbers, and statistics.  Omit the interpretation of data and feed facts.  Only then can one truly grasp the magnitude or accuteness of a drug and its effects.  If I had to pick one thing though… its to never accept anything that you haven’t concluded yourself.  Buddha once said something similar: “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”  And why should we?  Everybody has their own agenda, even if they assert they dont.  Education is the key to understanding, but to spoon feed one’s idea of “understanding” is to undermine progress.

From a purely Darwinistic view, drugs are quite the helping hand for society.  They help weed out the (usually) unsuccessful, or at bare minimal, make it so there are less mouths to feed.  Although this may be true, this statement is completely detached from human spirit and empathy.  Its saddening to see the damage that drugs have brought, but its also awe inspiring how much culture, history, and progress has been made becuase of them.  Drugs, and all the joyous and ill effects they bring upon humanity, are here to stay.  There are no questions about this; no doubts in my mind.  For every negative aspect there are for drugs, there have been (usually) considerable more advances.  I hate to referr the reader to other material, but there’s simply so much to say about the positive and negative aspects of drugs that (even in short summation) it would take volumes of books to cover.

Drugs are good.

They may not be good for you; they may even be bad for society.

But in a strange way, its bettered the world as a whole.

Can I get “huzzah drugs”?  No?  I guess that would be pushing it, what with no strings being attached.

-M.

(out)

Drums and Dances and Drugs, Oh My!

Drums and Dances and Drugs, Oh My!

If we turn back the pages of time some untold thousands of years, back to when society was still in its infancy, we would notice something remarkable: not only did these ancient cultures have their own style of religious ceremony, but the hierarchy and underlying beliefs of these pseudo-religions are commonly reflected in modern spiritual beliefs. Shamanistic religions are arguably the oldest form of religion known to man, dating back to times before written history. Some unearthed shamanistic artifacts date as far back as 10,000 years B.C.E. and evidence exists for shamanism as far back as into the Paleolithic era, or Stone Age (Clottes).

Shamanism Through Time

These early religions rely on the use of a shaman, an intermediate or mediator between the spiritual and physical realms. Depending on the culture, region, and tribe, the exact purpose and role of the shaman within the culture could vary greatly, but most shamans held positions of significant importance. Common beliefs in these shamanistic religions include: the belief that spirits play an active role in human life and society, that shamans can treat spirit related illnesses, and that the shaman’s trace allows their spirit to rejoin the supernatural realm and receive visions or search for answers. How the shaman achieved this physical and spiritual separation varied greatly from one region and tribe to the next. Some cultures, such as those from Southeast Asia, Africa, and Australia commonly used musical instruments and dance to aid in entering a trace-like state. Others, such as those in the Americas and those scattered about the globe, may also rely on the use of psychoactive plants and botanicals to contact the supernatural realm via hallucinations (Shulgin et al. 13-14). The broad term used for these plants is “entheogens.”

These entheogens very greatly from region to region and can be anything from small shrubs, cacti, and even mushrooms. Usage of these psychoactive plants in shamanistic cultures included aiding traces, medicine, social aids, or even recreation (Hippyland). However, it is commonly not the reason for entheogen usage that gains these shamanistic religions notoriety; it is the use of psychoactive substances in general.

For most of the history of shamanism, there were no large societies, grand civilizations, or even a unified legal system. Because many of the tribes and groups of this time included shamans as part of their society, it was commonplace for shamanism to be culturally acceptable. It wasn’t until considerably later in history, namely during the rise of empires like Rome and Byzantium, that shamanism began to fade slowly to the pages of history. The reason for this decline is actually quite simple: as societies began to mix and merge, shamanistic beliefs and rituals slowly assimilated into more mainstream cultures or religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism (Campbell 124-127). Other shaman cultures simply died out with the passing of their shamans and spiritual leaders.

During this time of cultural expansion, use of entheogens succeeded in remaining somewhat prevalent (Heaven et al. 35-38). Although shamanism was on the decline, spiritualism was on the rise. Instead of relying on the aid of a shaman for spiritual connection, some included usage of psychoactive plants as part of their daily life, as seen in Native American, Hindu, and Rastafarian cultures. In regions unaffected by this large-scale cultural integration, or in cultures that resisted assimilation, shamanism remained largely intact. Today, we can still see examples of active traditional shamanism in remote regions and many regions considered “third world.” Most notable are Eskimo, tribal African, and isolated Southeast Asian cultures.

With the rise of Christianity during the Middle Ages, use of psychoactive substances was finally coming under direct cultural attack (Heaven et al. 42-44). Proclaiming that use of the mind altering plants was heresy or witchcraft, practitioners and users were persecuted or eradicated. Again, history repeated itself, and shamanism and usage of entheogens wasn’t fully removed from society but was forced into a minority group. This is how the remains of shamanism would survive for the following hundreds of years.

Rebirth and Resistance

Despite the large decline of shamanistic cultures and practices in modern times, the amount of these cultures remaining is staggering. Essentially every region on the planet still has some remaining form of shamanism, from Native American peyote usage to the smoking of marijuana in Rastafarianism. In essence, shamanism has never died, but only has changed shape and appearance. After centuries of decline, shamanism regained a foothold in modern society, first through the hippie movements of the 1960s and currently through the rise of the New Age culture. Many New Age practitioners return to the thoughts, ideologies, and herbs used by shamanistic cultures of the past. Furthermore, from the hippie movement, a new “psychonaut” culture has emerged. These self proclaimed hallucinogen enthusiasts use entheogens to aid in their understanding of the universe, of themselves, and deepen or gain insight on their spiritual beliefs. Both psychonauts and New Age practitioners, in essence, eliminate the shaman middleman and take it upon themselves to experience the spiritual realm firsthand.

Like the cultures before them, these minority groups are being met with mainstream resistance. On one hand, the population views these groups as rebels to social norms, substituting normality with eccentricies. On the other hand, some of the practices of these groups border on taboo, and in some situations, are outright illegal. In many cultures where shamanism is still actively practiced, these “outlandish” practices are acceptable, and not surprisingly, legal. However, when these beliefs exist within a larger “modernized” society, there seems to be a schism: there are those who believe that consumption of entheogens should be legal because of their cultural values, and those who believe that they should not.

The answer to this situation is almost unnervingly more complex that it first presents itself. First, we have whether or not consumption of entheogens should be legal or acceptable in the first place. Secondly, if they are deemed unfit for legal usage, should certain groups be permitted to use them for genuine cultural reasons? Lastly, does the existence of shamanistic practices hold any modern value and should they be eliminated?

Legality

To the first question, our nation, or at least our nation’s lawmakers, have answered no; usage of psychoactive substances should not be permitted. However, the actual application of this mentality has caused certain troubles. Throughout most of the world, there are certain psychoactive substances – LSD, marijuana, psilocybin mushrooms, and DMT – which are almost unanimously illegal. Upon closer inspection, we find that there are holes in these laws, allowing other psychoactive plants and chemicals like caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, and even powerful entheogens like salvia divinorum and amanita muscaria. One could almost say that there is some hypocrisy in the United States when it comes to drug laws, classifying some psychoactive substances illegal while other are legally available.

Despite all of this, is it my firm opinion that most currently illegal substances should become legalized, but controlled. Like alcohol and tobacco, psychoactive substances would have stipulations for their sale, consumption, and manufacture. What I envision isn’t a free-for-all drug riddled country, but quite the opposite: a country that understands the human right to consume what we so desire, so long as it doesn’t present itself as a danger to others. On the contrary, should a nation deem that we as citizens shouldn’t consume psychoactive substances, they should be barred across the board; it should be all or nothing. To allow legal substitutes to illegal materials is to undermine the legal system itself.

Special Cases

In a situation where the use of psychoactive substances – like those used in shamanistic rituals – is legal, the consideration of what cultural groups have access to them is a moot point. If a substance is legal, it should be available for all to consume under its predefined conditions, no matter the reason for consuming; this is my expressed opinion on the matter. However, in a situation like that in the United States, the question arises as to who can legally use certain “cultural” psychoactive substances. For example, only a few practitioners of Native American shaman rituals are allowed to use the hallucinogen mescaline, the active substance in the peyote cactus. The reason cited for this is that the usage of the peyote cactus is an integral part of their culture, and that the use of peyote is deemed acceptable for “bonafide religious ceremonies.” This sounds unproblematic at first review, but how exactly does one define “bonafide religious ceremonies”? Hypothetically, under this proclamation, why shouldn’t a Rastafarian be allowed to use marijuana as a spiritual aid?

Furthermore, the problem of what is considered a religion is brought into question. A psychonaut could argue that their ritualized spiritual explorations are a form of religion, yet they are still barred from using psychoactive materials. It may seem contradictory to my stance on drug legality, but I feel strongly that no special cases should be provided for controlled substances. I feel almost guilty in using the phrase, but in allowing certain groups unique privileges and exemptions from the law is a slippery slope. There are already conflicts on whether genuine cultural traditions should be given exemption to other laws such as mandatory school attendance. While these overlookings are agreeably quite benign, it becomes increasingly difficult to define what and when special case rights should be granted. Lastly, aside from difficulties in defining “bonafide religious ceremonies,” and rituals of cultural importance, one must realize that it is nearly impossible to prove or disprove one’s claim of being part of a cultural group. To legally partake in peyote rituals, one must be legally recognized as Native American, but this can be seen as discrimination against non-Native Americans who wholeheartedly practice the Native American religions.

In summation, allowing any form of special legal exemptions for cultural, ethnic, or religious groups outright fails what is known as the “lemon test.” In short, the lemon test is a rule of thumb of legal rulings: they must have a valid secular purpose, they must not aid in advancing or inhibiting religion, and they must not cause “excessive government entanglement.” By allowing special cases, our government is breaking the last two clauses of the lemon test, and as such, should repeal any special case laws and bar any further exception laws from being enacted. Simply put, if a substance is illegal, it should remain illegal for all usages and to all persons.

Social Value

Lastly, we have not an issue of legality or morality, but one of introspection: should our world’s shamanistic roots be forgotten, be sealed to the pages of time, or should it continue to thrive and breathe diversity? This is not a matter easily resolved: to many, the effects of shamanism are not immediately apparent. It has brought about the subtleties in our modern world, including medicine, religious rituals, recreational drugs, and even a plethora of subcultures. While one could argue either way on this, I choose to identify shamanism as a significant force in our modern world. Even though shamanism has brought about a good number of conflicts, hardships, and debates, it still holds true that shamanism is one of the founding influences of modern society. To ignore this is to ignore our origins, and in turn, ignore part of our human identity. To ignore this almost universal commonality is to detach from our ancient relatives. Many will continue to live their lives unaware of such primitive driving forces, but to be ignorant of one’s origins is to be ignorant of one’s history. It is a matter of virtue then, not morals, for why shamanism must be allowed to flourish wherever it blooms: to be blind to the past is to forfeit one’s identity. Let us rejoice our common roots, for they are few and far between.

Works Cited

Campbell, Joseph. Primitive Mythology. New York: Penguin (Non-Classics), 1991.

Clottes, Jean. “Paleolithic Cave Paintings and Rock Art.” Bradshaw Foundation. 8 Dec. 2008 <http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/clottes/page7.php>.

Heaven, Ross, Howard G. Charing, and Pablo Amaringo. Plant Spirit Shamanism : Traditional Techniques for Healing the Soul. New York: Inner Traditions International, Limited, 2006.

“Psychedelic Shamanism.” Hippyland. 17 Nov. 2008 <http://www.hippy.com/article-50.html>.

Shulgin, Ann, Alexander Shulgin, and David E. Nichols. Pihkal : A Chemical Love Story. New York: Transform P, 1990.

Ethnobotany: The Seed of Modern Drug Culture

Our earth is covered with plants of all sizes. Some large, some small, some colorful, and some drab. However, one cannot deny that these plants have played a considerably large role in shaping human society and culture as we know it today. As long as there has been humankind, there have been plants for some purpose. Whether it is for food, medicine, religion, or recreation, plants have contributed in innumerable ways to the world. Ethnobotany is the study of just that: how plants have interacted with people. However, one should delve deeper into a more specific aspect of ethnobotany: tunnel into the past, and discover the relationship between psychoactive plants and how they have come to shape today’s modern drug culture. Most of the substances which have come to be part of today’s drug culture were once entheogens, or plants whose purpose lies in shamanistic or religious acts, though not all are. Some plants, as mentioned previously, may have been used as remedies or for recreation.

Marijuana

Possibly one of the most well known psychoactive plants in the world is marijuana, or cannabis sativa and cannabis indica. Consumption of marijuana has been dated back as far as 3000 B.C. when archeologists found the burnt remains of cannabis seeds inside a ritual brazier within a burial ground in modern day Romania (Wikipedia Cannabis). Although it is uncertain to what use the substance had to the culture, it is certain that this is the earliest discovered usage of inhaled marijuana smoke. Some 3000 years prior, the cannabis plant had been used as a spice and as textile in ancient China (Wikipedia Cannabis). Regardless of its non-psychoactive uses, for the next five thousand years marijuana would come to spread across the globe and hundreds of cultures, each providing their own use for it. The most noted users of the cannabis plant are the Hindu cultures from India. The Hindu religious texts, the Vedas, even include accounts of cannabis usage, and some scholars presume that marijuana may have been one of Hinduism’s sacred substances known as soma. However, the Hindu cultures were not the only ones to have included cannabis as part of their religion and culture. Ancient Norse cultures, Muslims, ancient Hebraic cultures, and even modern Rastafarian practitioners include marijuana and hashish as an integral part of their customs (Wikipedia Entheogen).

Although cannabis has undergone few transformations through the ages, it has deeply and profoundly changed our modern society. When one thinks of popular drugs, one of the first to come to mind is undoubtedly marijuana. This notoriety is due in large part to the anti-narcotic movements of the 1930s. Since then, marijuana’s psychoactive effects and ease of cultivation have allowed the plant’s usage to flourish within numerous subcultures. Cannabis has become so entangled with society that it is doubtful that it will ever be removed: it has already affected modern music, movies, humor, laws, and for some individuals, how free time is spent.

Cocaine

Not all plants have become popular in their natural state like marijuana has. One such example is Erythroxylon coca, or more commonly, the coca leaf. This plant, which is native to South America, was frequently chewed by the indigenous cultures of the region for general anesthesia and relief from fatigue. To the Incan culture, the coca plant was a gift from the gods, and was commonly buried with mummies as early as 3000 years ago (Wikipedia Cocaine). For a considerable amount of time, the coca plant remained isolated from the rest of the world, that is, until the Spanish began their conquests in South America. Upon the discovery of its excitatory effects, the Spanish began to trade the plant and apply a 10% tax to all trade of the coca leaf in the region.

Unlike marijuana, the popularity of the coca plant wasn’t widespread until the isolation of its active alkaloid, cocaine, was achieved in 1855. Once cocaine had become popular, it was used for and as part of a great deal of things. Most frequently was cocaine used for medicinal purposes: it was used to treat sores, headaches, menstrual pains, and even morphine addiction.

It was not without recreational usage though; even Sigmund Freud advocated cocaine usage, claiming it induces “exhilaration and euphoria” along with “an increase in self-control and vitality” (Wikipedia Sigmund Freud). Much later in the United States, racial tensions between the white and the black population grew to a boiling point. One of the grounds of attack taken against the black population was the illegalization of cocaine in 1914 with the passing of the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act. The banning was based and backed by claims that “most of the attacks upon the white women of the South are the direct result of a cocaine-crazed Negro brain” (Wikipedia Cocaine). It wasn’t until the 1980s that cocaine caught the population’s attention with the debut of crack cocaine, a smokeable form of cocaine. Cocaine and crack cocaine now come to symbolize the harsh addiction side of the drug usage due to its high rates for substance abuse. It has been estimated that more money is made annually in the black market for cocaine and crack, an estimated $75 billion, than money made by some large companies like Starbucks (Havoc Scope). Because of the coca plant’s inability to be grown in most regions, a large part of this money ends up in South America, helping to grow and expand the international drug market.

Opium

In today’s culture, there are three main ethnobotanicals which have shaped our current drug culture: cannabis, the coca plant, and papaver somniferum, more commonly known as opium. Not only is opium one of the oldest known medicinal ethnobotanicals, but it is also one of the most diversified in the modern era. Opium usage is arguably one of the oldest examples of ethnobotanicals in existence, with its usage dating back to 4200 B.C. and its cultivation dating back to 3400 B.C. (Schiff). The medicinal effects of opium were quite obvious to ancient cultures, as were the plant’s potential to induce euphoria. It is not until the widespread usage of opium in China during the 15^th century A.D. that opium abuse became more prevalent (Schiff). Originally reserved for the wealthy, elite, and medical practitioners, opium, with time, grew to be more common and accessible by all walks of life. Opium abuse began to grow as international trade increased. First was Southeast Asia, then Great Britain, then gradually the United States via Chinese immigrants. The abuse of the poppy plant’s euphoric sap caused a great deal of internal struggle within China and caused tension with the British for continuing their opium trade. Eventually, the struggles reached a head with the Opium Wars, where the United Kingdom continued to smuggle opium into China despite the nation’s laws against opium usage (Levinthal 120-123). Problems like these would continually reemerge in the upcoming centuries, most notably during the Vietnam War.

Although opium had been used recreationally for centuries, it wasn’t until the invention of injectable morphine in 1853 and heroin in 1874 that widespread opiate misuse gained an international foothold. Previous to this, the smoking of opium as a pastime was regarded as barbaric because of its association with the Chinese culture. With these two new injectable substances, the average person felt that they could indulge in euphoria without stooping to barbarism.

As worldwide knowledge of chemistry increased, so did the number of opiate derivatives. By the 20^th century, there were over 10 forms of opiates, and in modern times, there are over 50 opiates and opiate derivatives (Leventhal 136-139). With the rise of modern medicine, and society’s growing need for “quick fixes,” it is no surprise that prescription drug abuse began to incline. Its also is little surprise that opiate painkillers are the most commonly abused prescription drugs (Meadows). Of all the ethnobotanicals, opium is one of the few plants more closely linked to medicine than religion or tradition. It is because of this that opium has stayed readily available for misuse and abuse internationally.

In Search of Legal Ethnobotanicals

It is quite awe inspiring that just these three plants – marijuana, coca, and the opium poppy – and their respective derivatives, have generated and continue to provide the support for the international and local black drug market. Each is exemplarily of the different facets of drug use, from the recreational high, and the horrors of dependence, to the oblivion of abuse. Each of these plants has all been considerable parts of cultures throughout history and continues to shape modern cultures and society. Ignoring the direct social effects of these drugs and their contributions to the black market, they all share a common factor: illegality. The illegal nature of these substances has caused quite an unexpected stir within today’s modern culture: there are now groups and subcultures who seek the thrill and exhilaration of highs through legal means, and once again turn to ethnobotany for a solution. It is interesting to think that the source for the global illegal drug market would just as easily provide a loophole to current drug laws.

Salvia Divinorum

One such a substance which has been gaining popularity in the recent decades is salvia divinorum, or “diviners sage”. This plant, native to Mexico and used by the indigenous Mazatec tribes, provides the partaker with hallucinatory and dissociative effects. These properties were commonly used by the Mazatecs who would chew on the plant’s leaves to receive visions (Rätsch 94-96). Modern entheogen enthusiasts took the plant and made it noticeably more potent through a process of extraction. The current usage is with extracts ranging from 5 to 60 times potency and is usually smoked for strong hallucinogenic effects. Salvia divinorum is not the sole legal hallucinogen though. It is accompanied by amanita muscaria, a mushroom used by the Viking berserkers, and Hawaiian Baby Woodrose seeds, native to Hawaii (McKenna 287). Users of these ethnobotanicals frequently seek to experience the shamanistic visions which amazed cultures since ancient times.

Leonotis Leonurus

It is not just hallucinogens which have legal counterparts. Marijuana even has its own legal ethnobotanical sisters, such as leonotis leonurus – “Lion’s Tail” – and leonotis nepetifolia – “Klip Dagga”. Both of these plants are entheogens used by the Khoikhoi tribe of South Africa to induce a calm, meditative state, along with dream enhancement and euphoria. Many users of Lion’s Tail claim that the effects are not entirely unlike those of marijuana and some advocate it as a viable legal alternative. Others claim that the euphoria effects of marijuana are not present, so to compensate, they indulge in extracted forms of the plants to experience more potent effects.

Mitragyna Speciosa

As a final example for legal alternatives to illegal drugs, we have mitragyna speciosa, more commonly known as kratom. Although many species and strains of kratom can be found throughout regions of Africa, it is most commonly used in Southeast Asia where the plant is native. The inhabitants of this region commonly chew the kratom leaves for a mild stimulating and numbing effect, similar to the effects brought on by coca leaf chewing. However, the type of experience a user receives is very dependant on the amount of kratom consumed. At lower amounts, the user receives a stimulating effect, while at higher amounts, an opium high is achieved. As it would later be found, the active alkaloid in kratom, mitragynine, is an agonist for the opiate receptors in the human brain. Because of this, and its legality, some opiate users suffering withdraw symptoms turn to kratom as a legal means to sooth their symptoms. Others simply use kratom as a means to achieve the blissful effects of opium consumption.

Throughout time humanity has used plants for a variety of purposes. Every culture has used some variety of floras in their history, whether it is for medicine, food, religion, tradition, or recreation. The effects that these herbs have had on human society and culture are vast and innumerable, as many of the consequences for ethnobotany are profound and sometimes subtle. Ethnobotanicals have created medicine, wars, economies, and pastimes, and is held responsible for the modern drug culture as we know it. Without plant and human interaction, it would not be impossible to imagine that humankind would be considerably different, potentially for the worse. Long before there were humans on this planet, there were plants. There exists, and existed, plants of all shapes, sizes, breed, and chemistry which have grown in parallel to civilization. It makes one wonder; perhaps it is the plants which seed societies, not humanity which plants seeds.

Psychonaut

Ahh, the wonderful world of things that don’t exist.  Dreams, hallucinations, and misconceptions all create the sensation of a true reality which fails to exist.  Hallucinogens, for those few who have yet to hear of them, are any chemical substance which distort perceptions for induce delusions.  These chemicals include LSD, LSA, psilocybin, THC, DXM, and Salvinorin A.

Some psychonauts, namely Terence McKenna, argue that because tryptomine related psychedelics so closely relate to the neurochemistry of the human brain, that the two have potentially evolved together.  Although I think this is a noble suggestion, I find myself doubting its credibility.  Given the thousands of strains and species of plants which exist, along with all the results of plant cross-breeding, its no wonder that some plants contain chemicals which somewhat relate to chemicals in our brains.  While human usage and interest in the plant may have been a driving force for natural selection in ancient times, it is unlikely that the plant “evolved” chemicals to match those of the human brain.  Evolution and natural selection have no “conscious” direction, so I feel that this claim is nothing more than correlation by chance.  Enough with theory though, lets move forward to psychedelic tripping.

Many users of hallucinogens have claimed that they now perceive the world in a different way because of the trips they have experienced.  I find this to be an entirely plausible.  Liken hallucinations to dreams – dreams which you have no option but to believe.  Should something mystical or extraordinary happen during these hallucinations, which one will inevitably believe and relate to reality, the visions may be an inspiration for a new understanding or concept.  Although I have never experienced a full-out detachment of reality trip, I have dabbled in Salvia Divinorum usage on certain occasions.  During one of these sessions, I felt and perceived shadows to be nothing more than very intricate shadow puppetry projected onto a solid object as a screen.  I know this sounds unamazing, but for the few moments I experienced this sensation, the world felt as though it was shadow puppet show being projected onto the canvas on the inside of a tent, as though on a camping trip.  This isn’t a profound change of thinking that I had, but it sure makes me smile when I look at a very well defined shadow.  Essentially, experiences shape our understanding of our reality.  Hallucinations (even dreams) are in a way, pseudo-experiences and are just as capable as changing our world view as much as actual events.

In spite of all of these insights psychonauts have received, not many tangible things can be said to have originated from hallucinogen usage (excluding tie-dying).  What hallucinogens have successfully done is to reignite the shamanistic subcultures which lied dormant within our American society.  This rebirth was most noticeable during the 1960s when psychedelics were widespread and commonplace.  It brings about what appears to be desire of change for and detachment from social norms and a reevaluation of the human lifestyle.  Although the hippie and psychonaut persona is not nearly as common as it once was, the effects they have had on society are still recognizable.  Many of the citizens who experienced or witnessed these cultures are still around and still hold their “revealed” ideas of society.  Psychedelic usage has also brought about quite a few advances in the field of psychology and chemistry, along with providing vast territory for exploration in the field of philosophy.  America may not be the adventuresome and rebellious spirit that it was during the 1960s, but in being part of our history, it has become part of our national identity.

Look forward to reading an essay I have written (and revised!) sometime tomorrow, but no later than 6pm (central time).

Capitalist Pills

*sigh*… where to start.  Our country already has quite a few problems, but then again, when hasn’t a generation been capable of finding flaws in our status quo?  One of our generation’s issues is our current health care/pharmaceutical industry feeling obligated to harass our wallets and bank accounts.  Doctors over-prescribe to avoid malpractice, health insurance rates are steadily increasing, and pharmaceutical companies are charging even more for medications.  I understand that we are a capitalist society, and I’m fine with that, but when it comes to overcharging on drugs because a customer has no choice but to buy them… that’s economy encroaching on human decency and human life.

Also, the whole deal with pharmaceutical companies receiving temporary patents on drugs: I loathe the idea.  I’m glad that it is temporary, I’ll grant it that, but its a clear sign that if their rights to the drug’s monopoly were anything but time-restricted, the company would spend the rest of its years scalping the medicine at top dollar.  Here’s a better idea, possibly an even more economical and profitable idea: instead of a company receiving a patent on the drug, they receive a “finder’s royalty”.  For the remainder of the drugs use and manufacture, the company who discovered the drug gets to be the acknowledged finders of the substance, but any company can manufacture the drug while paying a royalty percent to the drug’s finders.  This way, drugs will be able to immediately drop to “generic” prices and discovering company still comes out on top.  Imagine if Tylenol and Ibuprofen were still making royalties for a company…

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One of my hobbies is watching prescription drug commercials.  Whenever I have friends with me, we each try to guess some of the outlandish side effects that a drug may cause.  Who would have thought that anti-depressants can cause dementia and that even handling prostate medicine can cause birth defects?  There’s a greater number of adverse reactions to substances than I had initially thought there would be, which begs the question, do the users of these drugs know about the risks?  When you watch the commercials, most of the time you have to listen to the rushed and quited voice list off the maladies the drug can bring while not being distracted by the visuals it accompanies.  When you pick up your drug prescription, the most you ever see on the bottle is “May cause drowsiness” or “Don’t take with alcohol” and “Take with food or milk”.  Some stores give you a print-out on the drug which includes the possible adverse effects, but I’d venture to guess that most would just shrug it off as filler paper.

So I guess what I’m looking to say is… in general, the average prescription drug user is uninformed of the dangers of their medicine.  To prescribe someone a medicine without them fully understanding its dangers is like handing someone a loaded gun without a user’s manual and telling them it’ll cure their ailments.  Doctors should elaborate on the dangers of drug misuse or side effects.  Patients should actually care.  Problem with that is motivation and education.  Not everybody understands basic anatomy and biology, but they do understand blunt warnings.  “Misuse may cause death” and “If drug accompanies a fever, seek emergency medical treatment” are more likely to catch attention than “Don’t take with alcohol” and other sugar-coated warnings.  Patients should receive a firm warning from the prescribing doctor on the drug’s danger, then sign a consent form acknowledging that they understand the drug’s risks.  When the prescription is filled, the patient should be given a handout with specific medical dangers, in simple layman’s terms.

We can’t defeat ignorance, but we can hopefully curb it some.

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Then we have the ignorance of the companies making the drugs, and of the organizations who are tasked with approving them…  Drug recalls are a scary thing, especially if you or someone you know have been prescribed it.  In all fairness, I don’t think there’s much more we can do about the drug recall issues.  Some drugs have effects which only emerge from human usage of the substance and only after enough time.  Lab rats can only show us so much.  Lets not forget that lab rats don’t eat McDonald’s and drink beer as part of their lifestyle.  Humans have a lot more to factor in, biologically at least.  Drug recalls are unfortunate, but they’re few and far enough between that demanding any better a result would be grossly inefficient.

However, when it comes to drug abuse, I think companies should hold themselves more accountable.  While its inevitable that a drug with misuse potential will be misused, there’s still things companies can do to make sure they don’t perpetuate it.  1) Tighter control on prescription drugs at the pharmacy level.  I couldn’t tell you how many times I look at a doctor’s prescription and imagine “Gee, if someone wanted to, they could photocopy this and pick up this prescription multiple times at different places”.  Seeing as the street value of drugs is always greater than its in-store value, it wouldn’t be surprising if this happens quite a bit already.  2)  Take active measures within the drug to prevent misuse.  I’ve heard of companies putting capsaicin (the chemical responsible for spiciness) inside of time-release painkillers.  When swallowed whole, there is no noticeable effect.  When a drug abuser attempts to grind the pill (to get around the time-release aspect to achieve a “rush”) or snort the pill, they’re in for a nasty surprise.  Sure, they could get a “cleaner” version of the drug elsewhere, but at least the manufacturing company wont be seen as “the company who makes the drug that everybody is misusing”.

Sadly, I don’t think there’s much more we can do about drug misuse.  Its cheap and easy to mooch a few of a person’s prescription drugs, so much so that it would take draconian measures to actually prevent it from happening.  Instead, as with the solution to most problems, only education and motivation will alleviate the situation.

Breathe Deeply

Its strange, I’ve always had this predisposition to consider “sniffers” as a tad more pathetic or dumb than normal drug users.  Maybe its because they get high using household chemicals (which seems a bit of a desperate act to get high, if anything, a childish act) and maybe its because to my understanding, inhalants are more likely to cause long term brain damage.  My stereotype of inhalant users are people sniffing things out of tubes, balloons, bags, and spray cans.  I know its wrong to stereotype, I’m sure there’s exception cases, but for some reason, that’s how I’ve always pictured them.

Inhalants, as defined by National Institute of Health are “Any drug administered by breathing in its vapors.”  This can be anything from nitrous oxide used to calm dentistry patients to breathing pressurized air freshener’s to get high.  The inhalant itself doesn’t always have to be pure.  Sometimes its the result of exposure of a product to air, such as super glue, gasoline, or spray paint.  As long as it comes in a vapor form and has psychoactive effects, it can be classified as an inhalant.

With all drugs though, the type, concentration, and purity of a substance matters.  Same goes with inhalants.  It goes without saying, some are more dangerous – physically and mentally – than others.  The most common and dangerous effect of using inhalants is oxygen deprivation.  Because most of the propellant products don’t come packaged with oxygen, inhaling too many vapors for too long can cause one to black out and possibly suffer brain damage.  I’ve personally read accounts of people huffing from bags and balloons, and once they black out, they end up choking on said bags.  Furthermore, head trauma from falling isn’t very enjoyable either.  Some of the more dangerous inhalants include butane, acetone, benzene, hexane, and toluene.  Amongst these substances, negative effects can include: irregular heartbeat, damage of mucous membranes, cancer, leukemia, nerve damage, muscle atrophy, short term memory loss, hearing loss, and central nervous system deterioration.

Despite all of this, inhalant use is still popular.  Why?  Probably becuase its 1) cheap, 2) safe (not in terms of health, but difficult to be arrested for), and 3) easy to attain.

I have personally been under the effects of nitrous oxide for medicinal and for recreational purposes.  Like most cases of people using NO2, my friends and I picked up a few “whippits” from a local store along with a “cracker” to open the whippits with.  I have to say, although the experience included enjoyable effects from the nitrous, I’m not going to do it again.  After initial inhalation, I was hit with a rush.  This rush was also accompanied by very severe tunnel vision, nearly blacking out, and disorientation.  On a side note, I’m not sure if the full body tingling I experienced was from oxygen deprivation or from the nitrous, but either way, it still felt strange (imagine the sensation of a “sleepy” limb regaining sensation).  After this barrage of effects, I chuckled uncontrollably for about a minute, than began to calm down.  I didn’t have any long lasting effects (save a mild buzzing headache), and overall, the experience lasted maybe 3-5 minutes.  Next up was my friend, who despite our urging to do otherwise, decided to inhale a whippit while standing up.  Not too sure what he felt, but it involved him blacking out for a few seconds.  When he came to, he was pretty disoriented (standard for regaining consciousness) but reported having a short and abrupt dream involving a video game.  After him blacking out, we decided to give up.  All in all, the hassle considerably outweighs the effects and I’ve since thrown away the remaining whippits.

I’m not too keen to try things a second time that nearly cause me to black out, especially if it was unpleasant.

-M.

The God of Dreams

Classically, that is, if you were to ask a dictionary, the definition of narcotics are quite simple: any pain relieving and sleep inducing substance – opiates.  Technically opiates have a large tree of descent (everything from morphine and heroin to synthetic opiates like tramadol and naloxone), but the term narcotic is originally reserved for opiates.  These opiates work by binding to the opiate receptors within the human brain, causing pain relief and a sense of euphoria

Opium has been harvested for quite a long time, dating back as early as 1200 BC(E).  Opium is a by-product of the poppy plant, specifically the Papaver Somniferum, a plant native to Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, and parts of Central America.  As long as the poppy plant has been cultivated, its effects have been equally used medicinally and exploited for enjoyment.  If at all a definitive starting point, the third century BC(E) provides documented detail of the poppy plant and its wondrous effects.  Since then, opium has brought sufferers relief and societies chaos.  One of the more prominent problems it brings to a nation is addiction.  This is the case with China, Great Brittan, and the US.  Because of its tendency to make the user feel very relaxed and comfortable, taken in grand enough quantities, the user loses all urges except enjoy themselves.  Furthermore, if addiction is widespread enough, it may cause economic dependence on foreign imports and in turn destabilize a nation’s economy.

Its not exceedingly difficult to see why an individual would become highly addicted to opiates.  The effects of opiates a enormously enjoyable.  I say this not just from having read accounts of it, but from also having been given morphine, demerol, oxycodone, and hydrocodone while suffering from meningitis.  After receiving only medicinal amounts of the substances for week (alternating between morphine and demerol), I had already begun to have a faint “craving” sensation, even without having withdraws.  The relief the drugs had brought me took me from agonizing pain to inexplicable euphoria, despite my medical condition.  If someone were allowed to self medicate with a large supply of opiates, its no wonder it would be hard to resist: opiates are VERY pleasurable.  Aside from that, it doesn’t take much time to build a tolerance or a craving for them.  Its not difficult to see how this can lend itself to be habit forming quite rapidly.  Considering how easy it is for one to get their hands on opiates these days (many are pharmaceutical), its not surprising that opiate addiction is making a comeback.

McKenna (in his book, Food of the Gods) presents an interesting comparison between tobacco and opiates: although tobacco has been shown to be more physically dangerous, opiates are seen as the scourge of society.  I can see his point being quite valid from the medical standpoint, but it seems to be out of context (to a degree) of the psycho-social context.  Just because a substance isn’t as physically bad for you doesn’t mean its less socially dangerous.  The effects brought about by opium usage are considerably more “active” than those of tobacco.  One isn’t impaired in the least while smoking tobacco, although under the effects of a narcotic, by comparison, one is.

For recreational useage, I agree with McKenna: opiates should be viewed as less harmful than tobacco.  But in a nation engulfed with commerce and workplaces, opiate addictions are considerably more damaging than those of tobacco.

For once, I think I just argued that tobacco isn’t as bad as opiates…  strange feeling, but I accept that my yield is in a specific context.

-M.

872,721 joints of weed on the wall! 872,721 joints of weed~

In 2007,  there were 872,721 marijuana related arrests in the United States.

Alone, this is just a number.  It doesn’t say how many second or multiple offender arrests that is, it doesn’t show what punishments were given or fines feed.  What it does show is that almost 1 out of every 300 Americans (including children and the elderly) get arrested every year for something related to marijuana.  However, I don’t even care about that.  What I care about is the amount of man-power behind those numbers: man-power is time, time is money.

Any way you look at it, those ~870 thousand arrests took some effort, paperwork, and in some situations, a warrant and jail time.  This is tax-payer money at work.  Of course, I don’t mean this to sound that “we should legalize all crimes so that way we don’t have to fund arrests, etc.”  What I mean is that for a substance which exhibits properties that cause almost no damage to oneself, one’s surroundings, and the well-being of others, 870,000 is an astounding amount of arrests to fund.

Marijuana is a Schedule I drug, as defined by the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act: 1) High potential for abuse.  2) No accepted medical use.  3) Lack of accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision.  A substance has to meet these standards to be classified as Schedule I.  Does marijuana meet these guidelines?  Part 1 can be questioned: substance abuse in the sense of psychological (“wow I enjoyed that, I’ll do it again”) or physiological (“I need some more to feel normal again”).  Does the abuse consider the danger levels of the substance?  Do any of the schedules? Nope.  I think that alone should be a major qualifier in if a substance should be legally “feared”.  The second point is also questionable.  Some current studies are starting to find medicinal use for marijuana for alleviation of cancer or chemotherapy symptoms.  And finally, point 3, which has been seen as outright wrong.  If marijuana was so potentially life threatening, we’d be seeing a considerable amounts of deaths and hospital trips resulting from its use.  Instead, we see the exact opposite: we see few and far between, even among the “drug” community.

If marijuana were to be categorized in the Scheduling system, the only spot it could potentially fit is… well… it couldn’t even fit any of the categories fully.  Marijuana exhibits marginally low potential for dependence when put in comparison with legal substances like caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco.  My vote: make marijuana an un-scheduled but controlled substance (similar to latter two examples).

————

Some nations, such as Canada and the Netherlands, have passed laws to decriminalize the personal use and possession of marijuana (lots of stipulations, can be summarized here).

Netherlands/Canada:

Pros: drug crime rates, addiction rates, rehabilitation rates, and drug misuse rates are lower than most other countries; generates state revenue.

Cons: controversial, may perpetuate “gateway effect”, crime rates from exportation of drugs may increase.

Current model in the US/EU:

Pros: may help prevent “gateway effect” to harder substances, prevents “soft drug” usage and trade.

Cons: funding intensive, rarely achieves desired effect, crime rates higher, higher rates for repeat offender and addiction; emphasis on prevention, not treatment.

I have a rule of thumb that I use to determine whether or not a liberty should be granted: if the act is dangerous to others at a rate which is unacceptable then it should be illegal, otherwise, it should be legal (with respective and according methods of control).

-M.

Sauce, Science, Society

Its been around for ages, with no certain origin or story behind its discovery.  What I speak of, as you could tell from the title, is alcohol.  Historians date alcohol’s earliest origins back to around 8000 BC(E) when the Egyptians fermented honey into mead.  However, modern alcohols, such as beer and wine came around considerably later due to the complexity of their production; beer begins to appear in 3700 BC(E) in Egypt and wine appears around 5400 BC(E) in Mesopotamia.

It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that alcohol took on a new face.  During this time, history receives its first recorded use of alcohol creation for medicinal purposes in Solerno, Italy.  Along side this, we have the Dutch distilling liquor and adding flavor with juniper berries.  Regardless of its intended usage, by the 17th century alcohol was already a social norm, even finding its way aboard the Mayflower voyage, and eventually to the new colonies.

————

Although alcohol’s long history may be interesting to some, I regretfully admit that I am not one of those people.  I take interest in alcohol’s psychological and physiological effects.  The active chemical in all forms of alcohol (wine, beer, liquors, and the like) is ethyl alcohol.  Once alcohol enters the human body, it begins to take immediate effect in the stomach.  As much as 20% of the alcohol content is absorbed directly into the blood stream from the stomach while stimulating the stomach’s digestive process.  It is because of this that the majority of the alcohol, the remaining 80%, is processed in the small intestine; the more alcohol consumed, the more the stomach is stimulated, and the faster it moves along the digestive tract.

Once inside the blood stream, alcohol is excreted in one of two main ways: through the lungs or through urine.  Excretion through the lungs accounts for only 5% of this total, but is the reason for “alcohol breath,” the principle in which breathalyzers work.  However, before the body can remove alcohol through urination, it must first be transformed into CO2 and H20.

Now that we’ve covered the in and out of things, allow me to elaborate more on the processes in between.  Alcohol is very fat soluble, and as such, can pass through membranes with ease (such as the blood/brain barrier and from mother to fetus).  It is because alcohol reaches the human brain with such ease that its effects appear quite rapidly.

Alcohol is particularly dangerous as a recreational substance mainly because of its depressant effects and its ED50/LD50 ratio of only 6.  What the latter means is that the “effective dose” for alcohol isn’t safely far enough from the “lethal dose”.  As a depressant, alcohol can cause the human body to slow normal functioning, impede judgement, and in some extreme situations, cause such levels of toxicity that the consumer dies.  The list of dangers from alcohol consumption are numerous: heat loss, risk of heart disease, risk of liver failure, elevated blood pressure, loss of REM sleep (resulting in non-restful sleep), fetal alcohol syndrome, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, black-outs, hangovers, cognitive impairment, and increased risk of adverse reactions with other drugs.  This list covers only the more common effects of alcohol and fails to fully cover the longer-lasting effects it may have.

————

With this said, I feel that alcohol is a plague to our society, not only because of the dangers the substance presents on its own, but because of how our society treats the matter.  Although there is little in the black market of alcohol in the United States (save Absinthe and illegal sales to minors), alcohol has wreaked havoc on our society from its misuse.  Most of the prominent damages caused by alcohol in our society include death by alcohol poisoning and the results of impaired judgement (such as drunk driving).  These two alone should be enough for a reasonable person to condemn its usage, yet alcohol drinking is perpetuated by tradition.

For example, stories of getting “too drunk and blacking out” aren’t very uncommon and are presented in a comical nature, not as a life threatening situation.  Our society’s way of associating alcohol with a guaranteed “good time” and socializing is also considerably dangerous.  Ignorance also plays a role in this: a well educated populace on the dangers resulting from alcohol, would on average, approach its usage much more cautiously and with greater respect for its consequences.  In my own personal opinion, alcohol is most dangerous simply because of how our society co-relates alcohol consumption with positive things without emphasizing its dangers or moderate usage.  In short, we are preached two different messages: alcohol is bad and should never be consumed, and alcohol is fun.  Either side refuses to acknowledge the opposite and no middle comprehensive approach is ever given.

————

Alcohol is legal – this is an unignorable fact.  The reasons for it being so, however, are much less solid.  Personally, I feel alcohol is legal simply because of tradition.  Many health studies have been done on ethyl alcohol and a large majority of them have found it to be a considerably dangerous substance (if only just on a physical level, excluding social repercussions).  It is also my personal opinion that we should have the right to consume whatever we so desire, even things that are physically harmful (nobody is stopping us from eating fast food, smoking, or having energy drinks).  However, due to alcohol’s ability to cloud judgement, I find it particularly dangerous within a society who refuses to acknowledge – and act accordingly – to its potentially deadly nature.

In short, I feel that alcohol, as a substance, should be legal, but should our society fail to show its capability to moderate itself – and view alcohol consumption as a grand privilege – the legal status of alcohol should be revoked.

-M.

Indulgence

For the clarity of what is to come, allow me to express what I consider to be a “drug”.  Many think of a drug as those crazy plants or pills people consume to experience a superhuman and unnatural high.  Unlike the social norm, I take a much more broad approach to what drugs are: any substance (chemical or organic) that alters the body or the mind from its normal functioning form.

If one wished to get picky, one could even argue that simply sugar in large amounts can be a drug – a statement I would personally consider valid.  The effect a substance on a human doesn’t have to be very profound or even noticeable, just so long as it has the potential to alter a human on a fundamental internal level is enough for me to consider it a drug.

———

You will probably notice that I refer to society quite a bit, almost to the point where it would seem I exclude myself from the group.  I assure you, dear reader, that this is not the case.  For the sake of convenience, accuracy, and fairness, I hope to remove myself and my personal opinions from injecting bias into my conclusions.

This being said, it is undoubtable that society has been altered by drugs.  To elaborate on this with my definition of what a drug is would be to venture though history and digress into contemplation of how some king’s cholesterol ridden diet may have made him cranky and thus strove headlong into war.  For the sake of argument, I will assume the definition that a drug is a “substance used to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, or modify a chemical process in the body for a specific purpose” (Thank you Wiktionary).  Drugs have brought splendors and plagues to our society: medicine has extended the life of people worldwide and illicit drugs (and some licit drugs too) have shortened lives or have worsened the human conditions.

Not all affects have been negative.  Drugs have brought entire societies together, or at minimal, forced societies to recognize the effect they have.  Substances such as marijuana, ecstasy, and alcohol have formed innumerable subcultures and have been the source or topic of many forms of entertainment for a populace at large.  Like most progress, it comes at a price.  Misuse of drugs has caused heartbreak and sorrow for many as they watched their loved ones overdose, wither away, or die as a consequence of another’s drug use.  Our own United States has been polarized on the topic.  Some choose the side of freedoms, others choose the side of morals and ethics.  It is indeed impossible to avoid or ignore the effects drugs have had on our society, our economy, and our ways of living.

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This is where you might out-right assume that I’m a hippie or a libertarian or a pot-head.  If that is the taste this leaves in your mouth, that’s fine by me, but at least hear me through:

I do not condone anything illegal, nor do I condone anything irresponsible.

I do, however, feel that drugs* usage** should be legalized***.

*: See first definition of “drug”.

**: This includes consumption, trade, and manufacture.

***: See the following paragraph.

There is a reason I added quite a few “catch-22s” on that statement.  There is quite a lot I wish to explain about my standpoint on the issue that cannot be summed up so briefly.  “Legal,” in the sense that I used it, doesn’t mean “free-for-all get drunk and take bong hits till you pass out while shooting up on heroin” and getting away with it.

Cigarettes are legal.  Alcohol is legal.  Sugar is legal.  Dietary supplements are legal.  Each of these I would classify as a drug, and each of these have their own control measures for “usage”.  Let drugs be integrated into our society, but not irresponsibly.

Substances would have to undergo clinical tests (as most drugs already do through the FDA) and then be categorized (similar to drug scheduling) and have certain laws, stipulations, and warnings attached to them.

I will use alcohol as an example: to consume or purchase, one has to be at least 21 years of age.  To sell and manufacture alcohol, one must have expressed government permission and adhere to all laws and regulations that apply.  Even the usage of alcohol is controlled: one cannot be drunk while driving, one cannot be drunk at work (or maybe they can, they’d have to check with their boss), one cannot be drunk in public, and so on.  Alcohol (should, not does) warns the imbiber that the substance can be potentially harmful when mixed or taken in substantial amounts.

I feel that this sort of control should be exercised on all substances.

Opinions may vary, results not typical, consult a medical professional before arriving at a conclusion.

———

If drugs were legal in the sense that I have described above, I may find myself quite predisposed to sample some of them.  I chose the word “sample” because it quite accurately described my attitude: I would choose to indulge in a substance if I found its usage to be beneficial to myself in some way, whether it be some form of self-enlightenment or just to be able to say “been there, done that, its not worth it/over-hyped/enjoyable”.

There are quite a few ways one can screw up their life, and over-indulgence is one of the more expedient ways to do so.  Although I would find myself sampling drugs, I would hopefully have the will power (as I assume I do) to resist becoming addicted or dependent on them.  Even if a substance presented no physical repercussions for dependence, I’d rather it not damage my societal life in any way; I’d like not to lose a job over “Drug X” addiction, and I would sure hate to spend all of my money on it too.

In short, I’d sample it, but only out of sheer curiosity, and I would do so with the utmost of precaution and responsibility.

———

I’m not a pot-head, I’m a scientist.

-M.