The Myths Surrounding Drugs and Alcohol


I just finished the book This is Your Mind on Plants by Michael Pollan. It is about his personal interest and research into plants which alter our minds. They alter in good ways when taken in proper amounts and bad, even fatal, when taken incorrectly. 

We all know there are drugs we find acceptable and others unacceptable. Also, we know these change over time. Cocaine was legal and acceptable for a long time within the life span of my parents. It is said the women who spear headed the drive toward Prohibition enjoyed cocaine lased tea while passionate against alcohol. Cocaine was in all kinds of patent medicines, cough syrups and such. 

Before pain killing medicines were produced, ancient medicine administered opiates found in plants. Opiates were the first topic of the link book. In the middle of the War on Drugs, late 1990's, the author wondered is he could grow poppy flowers in his garden, harvest a tiny bit of the fluid from one poppy and make one cup of opium laced tea. Consumption would be in the privacy of his home. He bought poppy seeds legally from a seed catalogue. He asked law enforcement officials and attorneys if he might go to prison for doing this. The answer was definitely. He was writing for a publisher who guaranteed his legal defense. He drank the tea and wrote about it in Harpers. 

He wrote about caffeine. It is a drug that has a positive effect on billions of people everyday. There is even a theory that caffeine has helped improve education and ambition. When we start shaming people who need small amounts of heroine and opiates to keep their spirits up aren't we talking of something identical to caffeine? Yes, dangers of too much are worse, but there are virtually no dangers to health of proper amounts.  

The link reviews some of the long and complicated tale of peyote. Peyote we all know is used in religious ceremonies of Native Americans (use of either "Native American" and "Indian" are objected to by various faction with the community).  The link author tried to understand the effect of peyote in Native ceremonies. He concluded it is not possible. But, those who experience it have no doubt is connects them to a place they cannot reach without it. One of the current problems is cactus-based peyote has become popular with non native people and is scarce. Lab produced substitutes are available. 

Out of all this one thing is certain. The Drug War has had absolutely no influence on the amount of drugs imported and consumed in the U. S. It was all a mistake.

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