Why are psychedelics illegal?

[UnbornTao]

On 2/17/2023 at 3:42 PM, Chives99 said:

because the nixon administration wanted   a reason to demonise the hippies against the vietnam war, so they went after the substances they took to paint them as degenerates that could had no sound mind to be against the war and other western countries followed suit because they're americas bitch, after the war it continued as a narrative of leading youth astray and turning them into wastes with no ambition and service to society

I've heard this before. What you say sounds plausible and seems like it was a key contributor to psychedelics' current legal status in most countries.

Edited February 21, 2023 by UnbornTao

[Jodistrict]

5 hours ago, flowboy said:

 

But "the system" is not any sort of elites - rather it's just the unthinking masses.

There's no ultra rich people trying to keep people stupid - 99% of the 99% are stupid enough to do that all for themselves (make bad food choices, being close minded, rejecting things that could help them because they don't understand it), and they will try to make everyone else do that too, like crabs in a bucket.

The effects of the elites are in plain site.  Like all of the business schools in America that indoctrinate students with neo-liberal economic dogma, and the underling assumption that the only thing of value is progress and efficiency.  This is  top-down educational brainwashing.  It’s not initiated by a mob.  Similialy, a handful of elites control the media.  They use the control of information to shape opinion.  When they wanted to invade Iraq, the media just made up lies to convince the public.  The top-down control is a problem.

[Eternal Unity]

On 17.2.2023 at 4:05 PM, Someone here said:

I want to understand why?

One word: Fear.

[SamC]

Because they are dangerous for most people. Most people take their mind way to seriously to be able to deal with psychedelics. 

[Jodistrict]

2 hours ago, SamC said:

Because they are dangerous for most people. Most people take their mind way to seriously to be able to deal with psychedelics. 

The tryptamines are remarkably safe.  The body has enzymes that can metabolize them.  It’s amazing how few problems there are considering how irresponsible people are in taking them.  It’s not even close to the damage done by alcohol.  But that is legal.

[puporing]

Coz you'll all soon find out who/what you really are and hierarchies would cease to exist. This world would either cease to exist or change so much that it basically ceases to exist. 

Edited February 20, 2023 by puporing

[Carl-Richard]

A guy called Timothy Leary. Not the sole reason, but he exemplified the first wave of naive and idealistic Green, which was not strategic, not systems-aware enough to foresee the pushback from the mainstream.

 

 

 

Edited February 21, 2023 by Carl-Richard

[The Mystical Man]

McKenna's flagship quote explains it all: 

“Psychedelics are illegal not because a loving government is concerned that you may jump out of a third story window. Psychedelics are illegal because they dissolve opinion structures and culturally laid down models of behaviour and information processing. They open you up to the possibility that everything you know is wrong.”

[Basman]

Psychedelics are classed as drugs from a legal standpoint, and as such are illegal.

It is hard to pinpoint exactly why psychedelics are classed the way that they are, but it might be worth considering them as a political tools. Psychedelics where widely used by counter-culture movements during the 60s and 70s and associated with various political and social movements, This had lead to certain concerns around the use of psychedelics, including the risk of physchosis and adverse psychological effects as well as them being used for political/social control.

It's fair to say that psychedelics can have a radical affect on the way people think, which can be inherently very strange and weird people out. However modern research is showing promise for certain drugs to be used for treating mental health issues. As we see the popularity of legalizing weed grow, the odds of psychedelics being reclassified and made legally accessible is growing with time.

[SamC]

7 hours ago, Jodistrict said:

The tryptamines are remarkably safe.  The body has enzymes that can metabolize them.  It’s amazing how few problems there are considering how irresponsible people are in taking them.  It’s not even close to the damage done by alcohol.  But that is legal.

I agree. I am a huge advocate for psychadelics and have around 12-15 trips under my belt.. but they are still very dangerous in the wrong hands, because you're basically creating a higher logic that you can get in tangled with and if you take your thoughts to seriously, you might just listen when God or jesus tells you to kill yourself.

Most people are not ready for psychadecs which is why they are illegal. They are radical hard-core tools.

 

[Mada_]

Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi oi oi!

They just passed psilocybin and MDMA her in Australia, hopefully the rest of the world will follow.

 

[ZenAlex]

If they are used irresponsibly they can destroy a mind.

I'd say the main reason simply is fear. 

[The Mystical Man]

On 2/21/2023 at 1:06 AM, The Mystical Man said:

McKenna's flagship quote explains it all: 

“Psychedelics are illegal not because a loving government is concerned that you may jump out of a third story window. Psychedelics are illegal because they dissolve opinion structures and culturally laid down models of behaviour and information processing. They open you up to the possibility that everything you know is wrong.”

I'd like to add that I don't advocate psychedelic use. I think they're dangerous, and ultimately not necessary or even beneficial.

[Jodistrict]

Having used a lot of psychedelic medicines, I have become skeptical of anyone who thinks they understand them.  Because research has been illegal for years, we know very little.  When I was in Peru, where they have a longer history with them, they treat the plant medicines like deities.  This isn’t a bad metaphor.  A deity is unpredictable and you just don’t approach with demands and expectations.  You first make sacrifices, and approach with humility bringing gifts.  Western capitalistic culture will treat them as commodities to be sold for profit by large corporations.  What could go wrong?

[The Mystical Man]

On 2/21/2023 at 7:42 AM, SamC said:

They are radical hard-core tools.

Tools for what exactly?

[SamC]

28 minutes ago, The Mystical Man said:

Tools for what exactly?

Deep healing, consciousness work and non duality.

They are not recogniced as much as they should not because they do not work.. 

They are demonized because they work to well.

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by SamC

[The Mystical Man]

26 minutes ago, SamC said:

They are demonized because they work to well.

I haven't seen an example of it working. What exactly is it supposed to work?

26 minutes ago, SamC said:

Deep healing, consciousness work

Psychedelics don't make you more conscious, and they certainly don't have the power to heal anyone. Psychedelics can't give you anything; they can't change you -- they're the most powerful ineffective "tools" ever.

Edited February 24, 2023 by The Mystical Man

[The Mystical Man]

6 hours ago, Jodistrict said:

I have become skeptical of anyone who thinks they understand them.

I think I understand them: psychedelics simulate a spiritual path. You think you're doing something profound while committing the ultimate self-deception.

[SamC]

 

1 hour ago, The Mystical Man said:

I haven't seen an example of it working. What exactly is it supposed to work?

They revire your brain and helps you work thorugh stuff that you've been thorugh. Studies have shown that pcilioibin are very effective at treating substance abuse and alcoholism, for example...

1 hour ago, The Mystical Man said:

 

Psychedelics don't make you more conscious, and they certainly don't have the power to heal anyone. Psychedelics can't give you anything; they can't change you -- they're the most powerful ineffective "tools" ever.

Dude, you don't know what you're talking about

1 hour ago, The Mystical Man said:

I think I understand them: psychedelics simulate a spiritual path. You think you're doing something profound while committing the ultimate self-deception.

This is a fair criticism but to say that they don't work and don't heal people is conplete BS. Will psychedelics permently enlighten you. Nope, they won't but they can be used as a tool for you to realize how to get there permanently and how to trancend your fears and limitations. Psychadelics also definitely raises your baseline.

Psychedelics give you deep insights.. but they don't help you embody it which is why they don't " work". Enlightment is embodiment of it, in the flesh

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by SamC

[something_else]

2 hours ago, The Mystical Man said:

I haven't seen an example of it working. What exactly is it supposed to work?

Psychedelics don't make you more conscious, and they certainly don't have the power to heal anyone. Psychedelics can't give you anything; they can't change you — they're the most powerful ineffective "tools" ever.

 

 

 

How do you know? Have you tried them?

Just google ketamine/MDMA studies on depression/PTSD and you can see that they've been shown as very effective at healing people. If I remember correctly, they were possibly the most effective healing tool that was tested for some mental illnesses when taken sensibly.

A set of terminally ill patients were also given mushrooms in a study at one point and it drastically reduced their depression and fear of death.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/psilocybin-a-journey-beyond-the-fear-of-death/

Quote

I think I understand them: psychedelics simulate a spiritual path. You think you're doing something profound while committing the ultimate self-deception.

 

 

 

You're very confident about something I don't think you have that much experience with, which is actually the definition of self-deception.

Edited February 24, 2023 by something_else