I got this from Maya this morning, I'm on their mailing list. Just thought you may be interested.

Dear all,

The United Nations International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has published on their website their annual report about the world situation on drugs in 2010.
In this report, the INCB has included the preoccupying recommendation towards governments to outlaw traditional plants such as Ayahuasca (a decoction made with botanicals like Banisteriopsis Caapi and Psychotria Viridis) and Tabernanthe Iboga among others, neglecting their important role as traditional medicine, as a sacrament and as therapeutic tool. These are the primary uses of these plants found in societies all over the world.

The United Nations’ International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) “recommends that Governments should consider controlling such plant material at the national level where necessary”, in its annual report of 2010. That is, the INCB is seeking an international criminalization of Ayahuasca, Iboga and other botanical species which belong to the cultural traditions of uncountable civilizations of our planet.

If you want to read more about this preoccupying recommendation of the INCB click here:
http://iceers.org/what-we-do/campaigns.html

ICEERS proposes to send letters to the INCB urging them to rectify their official report by removing this recommendation, and to inform the member states of the UN that nor Ayahuasca, nor Iboga, nor other botanical species (such as Peyote, Psilocybin fungi, etc.) are under international control.

ICEERS also proposes to send letters to the Secretary-General of the United Nations to ask for the recognition of Ayahuasca, Iboga and other ethnobotanicals which the INCB proposes to be outlawed by the governments, as Cultural Heritage, to avoid its disappearance. Both the ritual preparation and the traditional practices associated with the use of these plants have a central role in the traditions of many civilizations across the world; their eradication would be a loss of myriad value for the cultural heritage of our planet.

Please help us spread this information in your networks and contact the INCB, UN, UNESCO & OHCHR by writing your letter proposing the above, or by using the model found on the bottom of our webpage. If you would like to join forces with ICEERS, click here:
http://iceers.org/get-involved/join-forces.html

Yours Truly,

Benjamin K. De Loenen
Executive Director
✆ +31624841232
Skype: 'Ben De Loenen'
✉ bendeloenen@iceers.org

Saw this a while back and then I realized who was leading suggesting. The United Nations rarely has any influence over countries.

I signed their petition... Hopefully we can get enough signatures to make a difference.

You just gave them all your details. Do you really see people behind that site ? I would not trust it and also when did any signatures help ?

I'm not too worried about them "coming after me". The way I see it is there isn't much we can do and signing petitions has helped with lots of different causes in the past.

It's better than just hoping that everything magically gets better on its own.

If we're not willing to speak up for ourselves, do you really think someone is going to speak up for us?

I've published various articles criticizing the drug war and giving insight into my chemical and political drug knowledge, using my full name, because I feel that it is important that we show the general public who we are. That we are not crazy, demented killers out to bespoil and pillage society, but rather hardworking and responsible individuals who choose to engage in substances that do not cause societal ills or negatively impact others within the society. Until we are willing to speak for ourselves, the only voice in the debate over the "War on Drugs" will be that of the Nanny state's propagandizers.

Hey! Speak for yourself!

I never thought of that point of view. Who is behind the site? What do you suppose they are doing with our info?

i think its important to react to this kinds of things, they are also trying to prohibit all forms of natural or alternative medicines.. if this goes on, its really an attack to our freedom of choice, so i think people should not be afraid to manifest themselves, i dont really care what they do with my information, care more about oposing an idea the goes on because no one oposes it...

I looks like you do not understand it. It does not matter what you think, or do, or vote for. All has been decided already. If you don't change the system you have not done anything. They do NOT give a f..k about you or your voice. Once it become too loud they will silence you trust me. If you still not in jail it means you mean no harm for the system.

I do not see this petition signing act as of any importance. Why ? As I said it will change nothing and you only attract authorities to your self. They may not come after you right away but they will eventually.The only way to fight this stupid system is turn your back to it.

Smoking spice is the way to fight the system. But going out there to promote it is stupid.

That's going a bit too far, isn't it? Would you even be here--or have ever even heard of spice--if someone didn't "promote it?"

I did not mean talking about it here on this forum. Or other forums where people understand it. I was talking about signing the petition. Did you read my whole answer ? Did you actually understand the point I was trying to make ?

And the way I got to spice was my own research. Nobody ever told me about it till I started to ask about it my self. What do you do ? Do you go out to the streets and talk to people about DMT ?

Your research? Were you researching amazonian plants yourself, and happened to try vaporizing an extract you had made?

Probably not, I think. Instead you probably READ things written by people discussing the effects of it--i.e., promoting it.

I suppose you could have found information from sources that were attempting to DISCOURAGE its use. More likely, you read things--or watched videos--from people like McKenna, etc. No?

So...do you think Terrence McKenna was stupid?

"It does not matter what you think, or do, or vote for. All has been decided already." - Really? Don't you know this is what "they" want you to think?
Its the only way "they" actually have any power, as long as we think we have no say, no influence and its all been decided already for us. The only power "they" have is what we allow them by not opposing it.

Its hard to tell who we are dealing with here when it comes to ridiculous laws like this. One obvious instinct I have is that the people who are leading this war on drugs are the people who know exactly how beneficial most of them are so they are doing this only to prevent us from achieving true peace, enlightenment, and knowledge (i.e. illuminati and other high ranking string pullers in the world)

On the other hand many others involved in this are just extremely ignorant, yet relentless people who have got too caught up in the system and actually believe they are doing something beneficial for the world. If they would only listen to the logic behind what we are saying they would understand but they just refuse to listen...

SWIMfriend tell what is it you did not understand ? If I say I did my research first that means I did my research first. Don't twist or change my words please ok ? I say I found out about DMT before I was reading any reports and before I even got to this forum. Do you understand it now ? I did not know that some Mr.McKenna existed before my first extraction. After that I only saw few videos with him. I do not know Mr.McKenna at all so why would I think he was stupid ?

What I said was that promoting dmt is stupid and promoting means going out there among people and telling them to smoke it. Promotion on Internet, TV or in newspapers.

Trip report is not promotion.

So please read what I write and try to understand before you answer and don't twist my words. I am only voicing my opinion here so be respectful. If you do not agree its ok with me but you do not have to attack me like you did.

In my opinion it really depends on what you mean by opposing. If you want to go and fight them than you will be squashed like a fly. You have to be very careful with the method you want to oppose the system.

I haven't attacked you. I suppose there is a problem with the definition of the word "promote." Any writing or speaking that points out the positive or desirable aspects of something can be seen at least tacitly to "promote" that thing--unless it explicitly says otherwise. To say entheogens shouldn't be "promoted" is to say they shouldn't be spoken of or written about in a positive manner.

BTW, the original issue--the "letter" posted on linked site--is not a petition, and it's not "promoting" anything. After explaining what is incorrect about the INCB report, it requests two things of the parties addressed: 1) The INCB should rectify the errors in the INCB report, 2) The UN should recognize the cultural heritage aspects of some plant entheogens as they have developed in their own countries.

On the flip side (for as much as I feel governments are insane ), didn't the Daime win its big court cases mostly because... people spoke up? Oregon is coming to mind?

BUT, a human jury and a fair hearing is also vastly different from Soul-Sucking Reptilian Void Lords...

Still. I think it's worth a shot. I certainly don't want my plants sucked into the void. And what else on earth would give me the power to vanquish the Soul-Sucking Reptilian Void Lords?

(disclaimer: this thread promotes neither ETs nor CTs and all references to unverifiable phenomena are stated solely in the spirit of facetiousness )

You can still send a letter pointing out the GROSS crime against facts published by the INCB (they list terms of "Ayahuasca abuse" and talk about the side effects in a most disgusting light, and if you aren't pissed off it means you haven't read what the INCB has actually stated yet!)... nowhere does it have to say, "I DO LOTS OF ILLEGAL DRUGS!"

Like the name of my favorite industrial distortion preset for rocking out, "Just the facts, ma'am."

Cool post SnozzleBerry. It reminds cactophage of a video of Alexander Shulgin where someone was saying (to paraphrase), that the political act of stepping forward and publishing THIKAL and PHIKAL under his real name had every bit as much gravity as the trip reports and recipes themselves.

Cactophage is also vexed by the tension between, on the one hand, wanting to express one's rational and self-evidently correct opinions to the world, and on the other, risking penalties worse than a convicted rapist just for boiling up a couple of plants.

There are drugs that could improve a lot of people's lives, and a few that tend to do the opposite. Imagine what life might be like if just about any substance was legally available, and we we spent the annual cost of the "war on drugs" instead on research, counseling, advertisements, education, harm reduction and policing the crime left over.