It seems kind of logical too. If you had psychedelic experiences of any sort I don't see it likely for someone to get an idea "Hey, let's pop some Vicodin for fun!"

A typical opoid (ab)user these days is a person that doesn't really know something better than that exists. It's really sad to see more people get prescribed pain pills than those who smoke cigarettes.

Even when it comes to heroin, so far I've only heard of a few people being interested in the rave scene because they have to pop a handful of ecstasy pills to barely feel anything. Those are also people that use drugs just to experience quick euphoria and don't really see outside the box either.

I used to almost become that kind of person before I had my psychedelic adventures. The idea of something that could make you feel at the top of the world regardless of the circumstances seems great at first, just to realize at the end of the day that it didn't solve anything.

Psychedelics show you that there is more to life than it meets the eye, the remind of what your options are and that you actually have them. It can always show amazing things to anyone and fill you with insights. After experiencing something like that, I don't see why degrade back to those empty, boring drugs that don't offer pretty much anything, you're basically better of taking a bath than taking an opiate.

I feel psychedelics make us aware of our unexamined destructive or negative compulsions and habits and dissolve them. They also dissolve ego, which is one of the biggest obstacles an opioid dependant individual must face...

it's not that these compounds "cure" anything, they simply allow one to be open and aware, they expand your consciousness beyond the confines of ego and self, they allow you to "step outside" of "yourself", and view the situation in a truly objective manner...



I have high hopes for ibogaine, because ibogaine possesses the ability being described above, where it allows you to recognize your destructive compulsions and habits, and it dissolves them or allows one to work on them in a productive manner, or it dissolves ego and self and provides a novel perspective, however, it also eases withdrawal, which makes it incredibly valuable as a tool for treating opioid dependence.

ibogaine is a rough experience, physically and mentally, and there are potential risks involved, however I still feel that this psychedelic molecule may be an incredibly valuable tool for treating opioid dependency.

-eg

While I agree with the McKenna statement above, I'm not sure I can agree with you here.

There are several points in your post where I felt there may have been drastic oversimplification or misunderstanding or even ignorance regarding an incredibly complex issue.

...to attempt to generalize these drug users and their motivations is actually somewhat offensive. It's not as simple as "these people just have not found better drugs" or that they are seeking "unconditional euphoria".

There are many complex reasons why people would choose to consume these compounds, I know individuals who have tried every psychedelic known, but still prefer whatever their drug of choice may be...it's complex, I'll just leave it at that.

I believe in psychoactive freedom, however, this entails a good deal of personal responsibility.

-eg

I know people like this too, that have tried half a tab of acid once and never touched it again. Those are also the people that are too deep in the drug business, being an addict and a scumbag is what they learned to be comfortable with. When you realize that the only "friends" you've got are people that are just like you it is not an easy thing to swallow so they shrug it off as drug intoxication and move on.

These people often say they are afraid of psychedelic drugs, or that they don't understand psychedelic drugs. They went as far as saying meth is harmless to the brain but magic mushrooms fry the fuck out of you and turn you into a vegetable. Weird statement from someone who is known to have ingested psychedelics and pretty much every drug under the sun.

I see you're a McKenna fan, and I remember him saying that psychedelics can't expand your consciousness if you don't have a consciousness.

I think that might be the case for those people you know. The people I know certainly seem to avoid psychedelics, and being someone who took what they were trying to show me with an open mind I can tell you from personal experience that sometimes it isn't enough just to try a psychedelic, you also have to work with what you learned. This can be done if you put an effort in integrating the experience or even repeated exposure, either way sooner or later if you let it, it will do its job.