I am a bit bewildered by the 4 Corners program last Monday on the use of psychedelic drugs in conventional medicine. When I first took LSD it was not yet illegal, so as long as you didn’t try to play in traffic you could indulge in some quite bizarre behaviour with very few consequences.
The program was mostly preoccupied with the possibility of people using psychedelics as a means of controlling other people. Many of the groups insisted that drug experiences take place in a clinical setting. Take my word for it, that is the worst setting for a drug experience. I think this may be a way of trying to keep the medical profession on side as doctors often feel disempowered when people self-medicate (especially if it works). As the saying goes, take drugs in a nuthouse and you’ll have a nuthouse experience. There was little attempt to question the people whose experience had been in the natural setting in the bush.
There are also certain factors to take into consideration when taking drugs. The reason they are so much more popular than legalised drugs is that taking them offers the possibility of learning something. Unfortunately there is a law of diminishing returns – you tend to learn less on each occasion over time. Unfortunately many react by taking larger doses of drugs, which doesn’t work. At my age I wouldn’t expect to have any major insights by taking psychedelics, so I don’t.
When I last took them regularly was when I attended doofs – just a quarter trip to enhance the experience and keep me alert.
By the way, you should ignore all establishment claims that people died taking ‘party drugs’. People don’t die from the LSD or ecstasy they think they are taking but from the adulterations added to the drugs by unscrupulous distributors.
