Taylor+N.+-+POSITION+PAPER

 = Do psychedelic drugs help people physically and mentally? = =Hallucinogenic drugs have been illegal for over 50 years now due to "health risks". recently it has been found that these drugs have very important benefits and are virtually harmless, leading to people overcoming very serious personal issues. =

 ==== LSD, mescaline, magic mushrooms, DMT, etc. These are examples of psychedelic or "hallucinogenic drugs". These are either used for personal or for research purposes. Many people use these for spiritual purposes;" Ayahuasca, a tea brewed from two Amazonian plants, contains the potent psychedelic dimethyltryptamine, or DMT. Although the tea often triggers nausea and diarrhea, Indian shamans have prized it for its visionary properties for centuries, and since 1987 it has served as a legal sacrament for several churches in Brazil."(Horgan). LSD, mescaline, etc. (all listed above) are schedule 1 drugs in the United States, meaning they are banned because of their "health risks". Scientists have found that these "drugs" can be harmless and even beneficial under the right circumstances. LSd has been shown to help people overcome alchoholism and depression. ====

==== Long before the formation of the U.S. many cultures were using plants with hallucinagenic effects for reliqous ceremonies and to expand their mind and explore the depths of the concious mind. Psychedlics have been cast out in society as illegal and horrible things to ingest into your body because of their apparent health risks. Possesion of such "drugs" is cause for arrest, but recent studies suggest that psychedelics are not only harmless for you but actually good for you, they help chill you out. Psyhedelics now have the potential to be reintroduced into American culture as socially acceptable as tools to help people overcome serious problems. psychedelic drugs help people explore mystical experiences, find inspiration, and understand more about consciousness and the brain (feilding). i want to see a world were people (the sane ones at least) can be free to do what they please, and are free to try whatever they want, honestly i believe if psychedelics (including marijuana) were legal the world would be safer and more care free, however, this is not simply about legalization but giving the human race the oppurtunity to prosper and unite as one. ====

Everyone, at least me and my pals are tired of seeing how many people are arrested and all that, i just want a world were everyone get what they want and there arent stupid issues and the government controlling citizen's every move. No on focuses more on something then themselves, making sure every part of them is perfect for whatever it is they are doing, everyone is concious of what they are doing, sometimes the conciousness is blurred by everyday life and we, as most people do, get tired or something is distracting, but when we are in tip top shape and we are heavely concious of almost everything, we can do astounding things. we want to enhance the function of the concious mind, it helps us succeed in what we do, this is important to just you or i, it is important to society as a whole. for society to understand what the human mind is capable of take a lot of work, not just one person can change how society percieves something, it takes a movement.

Humans have been on this plant a very long time and as long as humans have ben on this planet, so have psychedelic plants and substances. even longer than humans. Usage of plants with hallucinegenic properties can be traced backed to ancient civilizations, where these plants were considered sacrements from god, and still are in some cultures today. Many well known Hallucinagens are LSD or acid, Magical mushrooms, mescaline, peyote... etc. There are many types of hallucinagens in the world, not all available in one region. Two of the most popular of these drugs is shrooms and LSD. LSD was "accidentaly" discovered in 1938 by Albert Hoffman. " Hofmann's initial discovery was set aside for five years until April 1943, when he returned to his earlier therapeutic research on the compound. After accidentally absorbing a small amount of the synthesized drug, he experienced dreamlike [|hallucinations] . Following his initial experience, Hoffman purposely ingested the drug numerous times, concluding that it could be of significant use in psychiatric treatment. He spent years investigating LSD's hallucinogenic properties in the belief that the drug would one day be useful in the therapeutic treatment of schizophrenics and other psychiatric patients. While disapproving of the casual recreational use that came to define the drug in the 1960s, Hofmann maintained that the drug, when taken under controlled circumstances and with full knowledge of the possible effects, could prove useful in both psychiatric and spiritual contexts, an argument that he conveyed in his 1979 book // LSD, mein Sorgenkind // ( // LSD: My Problem Child  //, 1980)."(encyclopdeia Britanica). Hoffman also qouted the " Eleusinian Mysteries" which described ancient Greek's religious rites.

On October 24, 1968 President Lyndon B. Johnson enacted a bill to increase the criminality of LSD and other psychedelics. "I HAVE SIGNED a bill that increases the criminal penalty for those who illegally possess or traffic in harmful drugs such as **LSD**. In February of this year I sent to the Congress a special message on crime. In it I called for many new steps to strengthen our hand in dealing with lawlessness. The Congress and the Nation have responded constructively to these recommendations:" "Today we are taking a fourth step. I am signing into law a bill to increase the penalty for the sale or manufacture of **LSD**, and to impose, for the first time, a penalty for its possession. Under this bill the illegal manufacture, sale or distribution of **LSD** and similar drugs is made a felony, punishable by 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The illegal possession of such a drug is made a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year in prison and a $1,000 fine." These are all direct qoutes from a primary document from President Johnson.

1949: LSD is introduced for the first time in the United States at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital (now the Massachusetts Mental Health Center), and research on its psychotomimetic properties begins. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1950: Busch and Johnson publish first recommendation of LSD as an adjunct to psychotherapy. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1951: Humphry Osmond begins work with mescaline and LSD at a Saskatchewan hospital. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1953: First clinic using LSD in psycholytic ("mind loosening'') therapy established at Powick Hospital in England by Sandison. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1953: Aldous Huxley writes to Humphry Osmond about one of his papers on mescaline; a correspondence follows, and Osmond administers mescaline to Huxley. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1953: William Burroughs in the Amazon taking yage; Wasson in Mexico in search of psychedelic mushrooms. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1954: Huxley publishes //The Doors of Perception// describing the mescaline effect and reflecting philosophically on it. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1954: //Virola// tree identified as source of Amazonian snuffs. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1955: Wasson takes //teonanacatl// in Oaxaca. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1955: Atlantic City meeting of the American Psychiatric Association includes symposium on psychedelic drugs addressed by Huxley; the book //LSD and Mescaline in Experimental Psychiatry,// edited by Louis O. Cholden, comes out of the conference. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1955: Peretz and others present first clinical report on TMA. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1956: Stanislav Grof begins his career of LSD research in Prague. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1956: Expedition to Oaxaca by Wasson and Heim; //Psilocybe mexicana// identified and the mushrooms sent to Hofmann. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1956: Stephen Szara presents first clinical report on DMT and DET. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1957: Article on magic mushrooms by the Wassons appears in //Life.// 1957: The drug house Smith, Kline & French issues report on clinical trials of MDA since 1949. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1958: The theologian Alan Watts takes LSD for the first time. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1958: Hofmann reports isolation and synthesis of psilocin and psilocybin. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1959: Hofmann isolates Iysergic acid amides from //ololiuqui// seeds. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1959: First international conference devoted to LSD; from it comes the book, //The Use of LSD in Psychotherapy,// edited by Harold Abramson. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1959: Phencyclidine introduced. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1959: The novelist Ken Kesey takes LSD, peyote, phencyclidine, and other drugs as an experimental volunteer at Menlo Park Veteran's Hospital in California. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">1960: Over 500 papers on LSD in print

(Lester Grinspoon & James B. Bakalar)
Hallucinogenic drugs have been illegal for over 50 years now due to "health risks", recently it as been found that these drugs have very important benefits and are virtually harmless, leading people to overcome very serious personal issues. There are many people for and against the use of psychedelic drugs, many people such as politicians have lied about their history with drugs to meet a status que. It isn't the drugs that are hurting people, it's the idea of drugs and how they are viewed in society. The world is a nasty crime ridin place, psychedelic drugs wouldn't stop any of that, but it would minimize it. Drug lords selling these drugs can't justify anything peacfully in court, for they would be arrested. The only way to settle a dispute in the drug game, is through violence. The government is distracted by other things right now, this isn't that big of an issue to them, they won't care if you or i were arrested on drug possesion charges, but if they were to open up to see the benefits and study the drugs and study the cultures that advocate for the use of psychoactive plants for healing and cleansing of the human mind, they would find out a much brighter, simpler way of going through the whole legality process of psychedelic drugs in the United States. What needs to happen first is let scientists in secret discreet facilities observe the shamans ritual of South America were they give recipiants of the ritual an amount (depending on how much healing a person needs) of ayuasca which contains DMT or give test subjects a certain amount of LSD of psilocybin to see the effects of these drugs, and they will find that there are very beneficial properties that alleviate people from a lot of emotional troubles and pain. Once the government sees this it could be sold over the counter or prescribed by doctors to patients whome need this drug and they could tax it and generate so much revenue it's ridiculous. This would benefit a variety of people, from religious shamans in South America, to alchohol or opiate addicts in Ohio, no one would be persacuted for something so harmless.

In the past LSD was studies very thouroughly. "So began the first phase of LSD's history, which lasted until the early 1960s. During this period Sandoz supplied it to medical researchers in Europe and America as an investigatory drug; scholarly papers described its effects on various human functions at various doses, compared it to other drugs, and examined its therapeutic uses and the relation of its action to schizophrenia. Stoll had already noted the resemblance between LSD and mescaline; soon it seemed advisable to speak of a class of drugs variously named psychotomimetic, hallucinogenic, psycholytic, psychodysleptic, or psychedelic; the rather appropriate "phantastica" (or "phantasticant") was unfortunately abandoned. Dimethyltryptamine, ibogaine, harmaline and many synthetic drugs of indole and methoxylated amphetamine structure were soon placed in this class, and so were psilocin and psilocybin after their discovery in the late 1950s. The number of scientific reports on LSD alone rose from six in 1950 to 118 in 1956; thereafter it remained at about one hundred a year until research with human subjects was cut off almost completely in the mid-1960s" (Hoffer and Osmond 1967, p. 83). Psychedelic drugs should be legal, the governement has a huge part of it that is flawed, it isn't their body that is being used with the drugs, they don't care though.

Even so, many people disagree with the use of these drugs, many of them parents and groups against drug use (in general). One group in particular, Above the Influence, states, "LSD is one of the strongest hallucinogenic drugs. It can disrupt the normal functioning of your brain, possibly for the short term, or possibly for life.”(Above the Influence). It then goes on to say “LSD… is a potent hallucinogen that dramatically alters your thoughts and your perception of reality… LSD has a high potential for abuse.” A trend I noticed with this article is that this group in general notes only the bad parts of the drug, NOTHING on the good. Above the Influence also dramatisizes the effects, using special wording to make LSD sound very frightening and harmful. The article goes on to list the risks “LSD disrupts how your nerve cells and the neurotransmitter serotonin interact throughout the brain and spinal cord. By disturbing the normal functioning of the brain, LSD distorts visual judgment, sensations, moods and feelings. And these changes can quickly become frightening. Some users experience terrifying thoughts, feelings of despair, fear of losing control, fear of insanity or even death. When you're completely unable to get a grip on reality, it becomes very easy for an unexpected, fatal accident to happen.” (Above the Influence). The long- term effects “Flashbacks are a strange but relatively common experience of LSD use. Suddenly and without warning, a few days or even a year later, the brain can produce feelings and thoughts that replay the effects of being on the drug. In some people, these flashbacks can occur over and over, causing a debilitating condition known as Hallucinogen-Induced Persisting Perceptual Disorder (HPPD). Flashbacks or not, LSD users can also experience long-lasting psychoses (a complete loss of contact with reality) or severe depression.” And the “bottom line” “LSD disrupts the normal functioning of the brain, making you see images, hear sounds and feel sensations that seem real but aren't. As one of the most important organs of your body, your brain works tirelessly to oversee all of the feelings, actions and operations of your body. When you think about it, LSD seems like a cruel and dangerous hoax to play on your brain.” (Above the Influence). This website does nothing to offer how LSD has it’s potential for safe recreational use. Above the influence offers basically the same views and information on other, much safer hallucinogens. For shrooms it says almost exactly the same thing except for that they are natural.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #800080; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">The Internet is full of information, typically it is very useful but in some cases the Internet will misinform you. Buying things online is very popular and is on the rise, now you can buy “legal” psychedelics online “At a time when authorities are cracking down on illegal sale of steroids and prescription drugs online, substances such as kratom and Mexican prickly poppy, which pack a psychedelic and narcotic-like punch, are flourishing on the Internet. Authorities are beginning to take note… Many of these substances are legal in much of the United States, but the situation is changing quickly, especially for salvia. At this writing, 13 states have regulated salvia in some way, and bills to regulate the drug are pending in several others, including Texas. Federal officials are also considering regulations on the drug.”(about.com). It is impossible to get LSD or marijuana online but these websites offer alternatives which all in all have the same powerful effects “Online shops such as [|Bouncing Bear Botanicals], [|Psychoactive Herbs] , and [|Purple Sticky Brand] sell a panoply of substances capable of delivering a powerful high. At Psychoactive Herbs, for example, you can buy kratom, which the site describes as an "opium substitute" that produces feelings of euphoria. As recently as last fall, eBay sellers were auctioning //Salvia divinorum//, a fast-acting and powerful hallucinogen that researchers say is comparable to LSD, for about $15 a gram (in September, eBay instituted a ban on the sale of salvia).”(about.com) "There is a lot of misinformation about these substances on the Internet and what their effects are on those that take them." States Dr. Ikhlas Khan, assistant director of NCNPR “PC World purchased 19 supposedly psychoactive substances from a variety of online sources, and then we asked researchers at the [|National Center for Natural Products Research] (NCNPR) at the University of Mississippi to analyze the products we received and to explain the risks involved in taking them. Their verdict: Most of the substances--for the most part a variety of roots, mushrooms, and leaves from around the world--really can get you high. But some could also make you very sick or even kill you.”(about.com). The Internet is making it easy to get substances formerly known to only “obscure Amazon shamans”. The article mentions a couple of people who have died due to either the drugs effects or and overdose. The sites that offer the drugs post disclaimers such as “None of the products sold are for human consumption." Rather, they are "sold for research, education and propagation purposes only.” And then the website has reviews about the products, testimonials from people who have used them.

All this being said, for people to simply enjoy a psychedelic trip these days, they either have to submit their bodies for rigorous testing or do it illegally. That comes with consequences. Regulating these drugs through the government would make it possible for people to enjoy them and cure themselves instead of risking it by buying hallucinogens off some shady website. There is only one way to do it safely. Legalize it for at least test purposes to a point where eventually it is legal.

The human brain along with the subconcious in a very powerful thing. It is very important to realize that the brain does many things even without people knowing that, the brain controls every last thing in our bodies. From emotions to going to the bathroom and to controlling our organ’s functions. Making sure your brain is healthy at all times is the key to living a happy and healthy life. “Hallucinnogenic Drugs alter a person's perceptions of reality and may cause hallucinations and other alterations of the senses.”(Ebbitt). This could be for either the good or the bad, when someone has the anticipated effects or a “good trip” what he/she sees can be life changing, it will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it changes your life for the good. “I called out to god asking him why he hadn’t appeared in my life, i then began to question him and begin to just say he wasn’t real, I then suddenly felt my bed shake and a loud rumbling noise, that is when i began to worship god.”(Primary source). The opposite of a “good trip” is a “bad trip”, what a bad trip does is it grips your most inner fear and rips it out and presents it right in front of you. “It is quite possible to have a bad reaction to hallucinogenic drugs. This is referred to as a "bad trip" and may cause panic, confusion, suspicion, anxiety, and loss of control. The long-term effects of these drugs can be quite dangerous. These long-term effects may include: flashbacks, mood swings, impaired thinking, unexpected outbursts of violence and eventually possibly depression that may lead to death or suicide.”(Ebbitt) With most people it becomes a fight for survival where they actually believe they are going to die, these drugs are not somerhing to mess with in high doses, in high doses they are meant for one thing, and that is healing, healing of the mind and soul. The drugs show you how much you have screwed up in your life, where every last one of your flaws is and thus it lets you change that so you can live a much healthier, happier life. If someone is too mess around with them, they and other will notice the changes “Quite a lot of interest concerning hallucinogens has been generated by neurobiologists and other scientists. The effects that hallucinogenic drugs have on the brain are quite complicated and very interesting. Many users of hallucinogenic drugs have experienced whole personality changes which raises questions about the relationship between brain and behavior. Scientists are also curious as to how total alterations of the senses can occur as the result of hallucinogen usage. Many people that have used hallucinogens claim to have "seen sounds" or "heard colors". Scientists ask questions such as: How can a person under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs see things that aren't there? or How do flashbacks work? Another aspect of hallucinogenic drugs that interests scientists is that they are psychomimetic meaning that they mimic certain aspects of psychosis. Through the use of hallucinogenic drugs, one can induce temporary symptoms of psychosis.”(Ebbitt)

The issue at hand is that people are stupid, people are just really stupid and aren’t going to be reasonable with the drugs, they will go way over the limit and use them for the wrong purposes, they won’t use them to see the beauty they can produce right in front of you, the spiritual possibilities of hallucinogens in breathe taking, it will turn an atheist in to a christian, an alchoholic into a sober person, as well with a drug addict, psychedelic drugs can do amazing things, if you let them.

The government has no right to destroy a persons belief in something, to crush what they hold very near and dear in their hearts. People also should enjoy a right of expression, to dress and do what they please so people know their views. Psychedelic drugs let people and encourage people to do both of these. Psychedelic drugs have encouraged people to paint and make beautiful works of art and many works of music. Jim Morrison, singer of the band The Doors said "In the beginning we were creating our music, ourselves, every night . . . starting with a few outlines, maybe a few words for a song. Sometimes we worked out in Venice, looking at the surf. We were together a lot and it was good times for all of us. Acid, sun, friends, the ocean, and poetry and music." Psychedelic drugs have created bonds between people, deeper than that of just enjoying each other, but they had a link, people who experiment with acid and other psychedelics are transported to a different dimension and it is rather beautiful, it WILL makes you want to stop a lot of bad things you have done before, it helps drug addicts and alchoholics, these drugs have very beautiful properties, it's so very amazing what they can do. “Nobody stopped thinking about those psychedelic experiences. Once you’ve been to some of those places, you think, ‘How can I get back there again but make it a little easier on myself?’” This is what Jerry Garcia said on regards to acid. These people such as the Grateful Dead and The Doors all felt society, as a whole was being and still today is extremely constrictive, once someone is judged, everything about them is based off of that. What Jerry Garcia and Jim Morrison believed, which i follow in that belief, is that you need to relax, society just needs to relax and let go of these inhibitions about how life should be lived or the perfect example of society. To day more than in the past, a drug offense with the law screws you over for the rest of your life, someone who has commited a rape or a murder can get college grants but someone who is arrested on charges of drug possesion cannot and are cast down in society as people who will ruin the world. I believe that if this country were run by pot heads and acid heads, it truly would be a more relaxed society. I'm not saying that is the perfect solution, that would end in trouble to but it would deffinetly make for a much more laid back society.