Important note: the reader assumes all responsibility in the case of possible use of illicit substances.
Drug: a word that inspires fear.
The mass media, schools, religions, and the entire socio-religious system in general constantly repeat to us that the word "drug" is synonymous with sin, evil, danger, degeneration, and death.
They told us stories of people whose lives were in disarray because of "drug" use, people who destroyed their lives and those of their loved ones to enter a dead-end tunnel. People enter into this damned dependency due to an initial difficult situation, only to then find themselves in a severely degenerate situation with almost no way out.
The socio-religious system, has forcibly imbued so much negativity into the word "drug" that when we hear it, an internal alarm bell sounds, putting us on alert and inciting fear; it has a stronger effect than even the words "nazism", "terrorism", "murder", "massacre", and other words with extremely negative meanings.
From an early age, the socio-religious system indoctrinates us to believe that "drugs" must be avoided at all costs... stay away from them... never take them... the consequences are well-known and irreversible: inevitable physical and psychological addiction that brings certain suffering to the unfortunate addict and their loved ones, if not serious permanent mental damage or death.
In Europe it is typical to see a smiling father pat his son on the back for having a hangover, as sign of approval to have spent an evening like an "adult" getting drunk with his friends, and to then see the same father fly into an incandescent rage at the knowledge that his son has consumed marijuana.
Let us quickly dispel this false and nefarious myth by clarifying a couple of concepts.
The term "drug" is defined as a psychoactive (or narcotic) substance capable of inducing phenomena of dependence, tolerance, and addiction.
Coffee and tobacco are drugs with psychoanaleptic properties, thus being in the same drug family as cocaine. Alcohol is a drug with psycholeptic properties, thus being in the same family as opium.
In modern societies, the vast majority of people commonly consume coffee, tobacco, and alcohol, which are by definition drugs, making the vast majority of people "drug addicts" by definition.
It is scientifically proven that the potential for physical and psychological dependence with alcohol, tobacco, and coffee is greater than that of LSD, marijuana, MDMA, mescaline, and poppers.
When it comes to drugs, the potential for direct physical damage should not be underestimated. Physical damage caused by alcohol (liver, cardiovascular system, stomach, oesophagus, intestines, pancreas, brain) and tobacco (cardiovascular, lungs, skin, stomach, brain, bones, reproductive system) is greater than that caused by LSD, marijuana, ecstasy, and MDMA.
The only difference between "legal drugs" such as alcohol, tobacco, and coffee, and "illegal" ones is that the former are socially acceptable drugs and sources of large economic revenue.
In these absurd legal and cultural divisions between legal and illegal drugs, one must consider that some "illegal drugs" may have important therapeutic uses, such as in the case of marijuana in cancer patients. Fortunately, things are changing, and some nations are legalising therapeutic use of certain "illegal drugs", including LSD for the terminally ill and as a treatment for alcoholism.
If many "illegal drugs" are less addictive than socially acceptable drugs, cause less direct physical harm, and have several practical uses, one naturally wonders why they are banned.
The Greek etymology of entheogen is "that which generates god (or divine inspiration) within".
Some chemical or natural substances, including LSD, DMT, mescaline, DPT, THC, psilocybin, psilocin, harmala alkaloids, and many others, are defined as entheogenic due to the intense spiritual experiences that can be experienced while taking them, even in users who are sceptical unbelievers.
Some might define an entheogenic substance as a hallucinogenic, psychedelic, psychotomimetic, mysticomimetic, oneirogen, psychotogen, phanerothyme compound, or with some other synonym depending on the field in question, be it chemistry, pharmacy, psychiatry, or something else.
Dr. R. Strassman clearly highlights the importance of correctly defining the substance in question with the appropriate term[43]: participating in an "Entheogenic Ceremony" can lead to spiritual experiences (see Entheogenic Ceremony ⇒).
When consumers of entheogenic substances report their experiences, common statements include that they felt connected to “the great spirit“, or "the cosmic order", and felt to be "at one with nature". Many experience clear out-of-body-experiences (OOBE). Many consider entheogenic substances to be a powerful tool for entering into contact with the divine.
When entheogenic substances are used in treatments, patients claim to be able to see their lives from an introspective perspective which helped to solve their problems.
Some people claim to have had real revelations through the use of entheogenic substances; such as Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, or Prof F. Crick, whose discovery of DNA structure, which earned him the Nobel Prize in Medicine (1962), seems to have been the result of an entheogenic trip, or Prof K. B. Mullis, already mentioned above, who has stated that without the use of entheogenic substances he would never have been able to invent PCR, a historical step in biology that earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
What is most perplexing is the considerable number of people who claim to have had, by using entheogenic substances, experiences so deep and important that they have changed their lives for the better.
Most of these entheogenic substances act at the neurotransmitter level, although their mechanisms of action are still partially unknown to official science.
No harmful or toxic effects have ever been found in most entheogenic substances.
Many entheogenic substances are plant-derived; DMT is even produced by the human body, has a molecular structure similar to serotonin (a neurotransmitter) and can be found in the body in minimal quantities, although the reason why the body produces DMT is not yet understood.
Other entheogenic substances commonly appearing in nature with a molecular structure similar to DMT are 5-MeO-DMT and psilocin (transformed by our body into psilocybin once taken).
Those who were previously wondering why harmful drugs as coffee, alcohol, and cigarettes are in free circulation in the majority of countries, while other drugs, in this case, entheogens, are not, now have more to ponder: most entheogenic substances are harmless and non-habit-forming, have potential medical and psychiatric applications, are a source of inspiration, increase sensitivity in various respects, and provide significant spiritual experiences and moments of profound inspiration.
Readers who do not yet have a clear answer as to why entheogenic substances are banned by virtually all the world's governments may find a further suggestion in the statement of Dr Alexander T. Shulgin, a pioneering pharmacologist, who stated the following about his first experiences with mescaline in the 1950s:
- ...I learned there was a great deal inside me... in no way whatsoever could it be argued that these memories had been contained within mescaline... I understood that our entire universe is contained in the mind and the spirit. We may choose not to find access to it, we may even deny its existence, but it is indeed there inside us, and there are chemicals that can catalyse its availability -.
Dr. Shulgin certainly had an entheogenic mystical experience. If everyone had such a deep experience with entheogenic substances, very few people would still need religion!