Letters to the Editor
cabdriver
Published Letters: 594 Editor's Choice: 8
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you gotta understand, part 2
[Read the article: Confessions of a salvia eater]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]To focus more specifically on drug experimentation as "type R" behavior- in my view, some types of drug experimentation fit that description more than others. Really, as such behaviors go, simply ingesting a chemical doesn't fit that bill very well. The simple act of popping a pill doesn't make for much of a photo op, compared to racing a snowmobile up a ramp and doing flips with it.
Nonetheless, it's important to realize that to be alive is to be in a risky situation. The initial use of almost any drug I can think of carries a risk, even if it's medicine for liver trouble or getting a vaccination as a passport requirement. And, of course, some people refuse to take medications of any sort, including antibiotics and vaccinations. But that course, too, carries risks.
But to get back to the topic of the mind drugs: the risks associated with experimenting with salvia are quite different from the risks associated with experimenting heroin. The risk of going on a frightening voyage into the unknown and undergoing bizarre rearrangements of one's very concept of identity is negligible with heroin; the risk that someone is going to be seduced into craven addiction by something like salvia or DMT, so that they desire being constantly under the influence, is even more remote.
The inventor of LSD, Albert Hofmann (recently departed), always emphasized the distinction between what he calls "pleasure drugs", like heroin, cocaine, and alcohol; and the drugs that catalyze wholesale re-framings of perception, like LSD, psilocybin, and salvia. The effects of the first class of drugs are much more predictable, and predictably enjoyable for most of those who try them. The effects of the psychedelics are much more unpredictable, especially at high doses- that is, the experience itself is a risky one in the sense that the outcome is uncertain. In fact, at the higher doses, an initial period of disorientation is commonplace, and it can be very disconcerting. And sometimes psychedelic voyages can invoke a lot of stress during their entire duration.
So why does anyone even bother with taking psychedelic drugs? Well, consider Albert Hofmann, who was enough of a type R personality to be the first person to take LSD voluntarily- as a follow-up to accidentally ingesting it, which had led to his first experience. Hofmann felt as if he had learned something important from it. That's why he continued to take it- not a lot, but occasionally over the course of his life. All of his acid trips were not enjoyable- in fact, the first time he tried it voluntarily, he went through a stage of being terrified, thinking that he was dying or going completely mad. As the voyage resolved itself, though, he felt transformed and awakened to the miracle of existence (and all that other stuff that sounds like hippie talk...) His later trips were more controlled, partly because he realized that the peak disorientation wasn't destined to be permanent, and partly because he cut his later dosage by about 2/3. Still, Hofmann made a point of mentioning in interviews that he had once fallen into a terrible depression in the midst of one of his LSD experiences, even with his all of knowledge and preparation. Despite that, he though it was overwhelmingly worth it.
So it's important to realize that people take LSD for a different purpose than they order a double martini, or snort a line of coke, or smoke a pipeful of opium. Users of LSD, peyote, psilocybin, etc.- most of the adults, anyway- ingest those substances in a quest for insight, especially in regard to the profound questions that have always been asked by mystics, philosophers, and people on spiritual and religious quests.
(This is why so few users of illegal drugs find LSD rewarding, compared to cocaine, meth, or heroin. They aren't on a spiritual quest. They're looking for something predictable and easy- peak euphoria, not a potential ordeal. Most of the people who do experiment with psychedelics give them up once they find out that taking them isn't always blissful and easy, and reject the experience thereafter.)
It's a method of getting closer to the realm where such questions get addressed- like fasting, going on a pilgimmage, isolating oneself in a hermitage. It's a mistake to claim that psychedelic drug use is inherently a false shortcut- a frequent accusation by non-users. It can be; the mere fact of taking LSD, or having taken it, doesn't indicate much about someones spiritual development. It's easy to misuse- especially by overusing it despite the fact it's well-known that taking it too frequently deprives it of effect. The human metabolism requires a period of recharge, and the mind needs a fairly lengthy interval of time to integrate the experience, otherwise psychedelics are mostly wasted- or the relationship goes bad.
Lastly, Laura:
if you're in any way a bit shaky regarding 'what is reality', 'who am I', 'I have big mood swings and trippy experiences in the normal course of life' - then stay away from the drugs. It is not worth the risk.
I think that's excellent advice. You've also put your finger on why adolescence is an especially risky time to begin self-experimentation with drugs, especially without an initiatory framework and a stable support community of elders.
I think that one of the worst unintentional effects of Zero Tolerance Drug Prohibition is that the way matters have played out on the ground- the adolescents at the age of highest risk have the easiest access to illegal drug markets and the highest rate of initial use, and adults with the stability to experiment more purposively get condemned out of hand for their "immaturity" in pursuing experiences that get lumped together and dismissively categorized as "youthful folly", despite the body of evidence that disputes that allegation.
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[Read the article: Women and their "girl crushes"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Why ask why?