I was reading the weekend edition of a local newspaper when my eye fell on a tiny article with the title "Governement agency warns about hallucinogens". In the article (just a few lines long) it said that one of the agencies concerned with monitoring cult activity sent a press release warning about the dangers of certain hallucinogens being tools to convert and control people, specifically mentioning ayahuasca and iboga. This cautioning followed after the agency got some tip offs from concerned individuals about their loved ones. To my knowledge, this was the first time mainstream media mentioning either in my country. A sad way of stepping into the spotlight.

I tried to look online if its website had a digital version of the article so I could pull it through a translator for you all, but to no avail. Sometimes I wonder if the socials stigma will ever wear, and articles like this make me pessimistic on the topic...

That point made, in all honesty, I would like to remark (and I might get flamed for saying this as i know some here visit these fora) that if you take an hour to browse the ayahuasca fora and do some due diligence, some of the content could indeed strike the laymen as cultist. Also the fierceness of the flaming of individuals who don't conform to the dominant(?) mindset on those fora leave me to wonder if there are not people who could be abusing these substances for the reasons stated in the article. (For the record, I'm not claiming that the people in these fora displaying this behaviour are cult leaders or some such.)

This got me wondering even further, the dark side of these substances are things not often talked about in the community. Scopolamine for instance is used by Bolivian criminals to make their victims complacent, most of these substances have been tested by the intelligence/military community, and there are probably countless other tales that I have no knowledge of.

The freedom to have these substances freely available for all to use, experience and learn from also entails the danger of misuse by people with more sinister plans, wich causes ethical questions wich also should be adressed when striving to claim one's own rights to do to ones body as one wishes.

I have no idea how far you guys are in deriving a manifesto for the movement, but I think it would be a good idea to reserve a topic on the dark side of these things and how the community stands on these and plans it has to adress those or minimize damages. It's too late now to carefully write up the ethical questions right now in a correct and concise way (getting sleepy) but i'll try later this week when i've read up a little more on the topic and have some spare time. If you have any input on the topic feel free to chime in.

Just some ponderings on a late sunday night.

Forever doubting but eternally yours,

PotB

Yes it is very good to bring the dark side to light. I am glad you brought this point up, if we would like more people to have the DMT experience or follow a spiritual path there must be a true, or pure intent when using these catalysts for opening new pathways and new ways of thinking.

People using psychedelics in manipulative ways are an extreme minority compared to how governments push alcohol and tobacco to the masses.

You don't see the newspapers talking about that, though.



P.S. This actually goes deep into historical anthropology. Brujerism for example has been around a very long time. This isn't anything new.

The thing to remember here though is obviously the positive aspects far outweigh the negative. There is always someone who goes against the flow. This is the nature of our reality.

AFAIK, screw anyone who thinks otherwise.

Its so whack the way people view certain things.
I mean people use steak knives to murder other people, therefore steak knives should be outlawed and considered tools of satan.
It is also worth mentioning that teddy bears, candy, and puppies are used solely in the act of kidnapping...watch out people.

Yes, a valid point indeed. But, as an emerging organisation, one that has to overcome current social stigma and is a minority in and of itself, one needs to close possible back doors that can be used to discredit the movement and philosophy it stands for by clearly formulating how it stands against the misuse of the ideas and utensils it uses. These formulations should be grounded in logic, reason and should be able to appeal to the layman. These statements should be known by heart by anyone who would speak for the collective of psychedelic users in the future, as he will certainly face a shitstorm when placed on, for say, a panel where he will almost certainly be a lone ranger among consensus opinion.

Actually, my previous post falls right into the categories of correct information and education, two things that ARE available in mainstream society concerning tobacco and alcohol, but not for psychedelics (at least not to the same extent)

PotB

Accept your smarter then most, but dumber then many. Be glad your not a moron. Do as you please.

All those government agencies can suck something... How much propaganda and other BS they have spreaded ever since the war on drugs have started...

"rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men" Douglas Bader

I appreciate your intention here, but you are missing a couple key points in this IMO.

1) There is no organization or movement. Psychonauts are generally isolated clusters of freaks with a few nodes of knowledgeable folk who dissemenate the information and goodness they unlock to those of their friends who are less able or willing to research and manifest such things. Some small percentage of those "knowledgeable node" types will join a forum such as this or otherwise network with other knowledgeable types and thus contribute to the expansion of our collective knowledgebase.

Thus, we have reservoirs of knowledge, and some very basic elements of community... but we are less organized or unified in our vision than the Occupy movement x100.

2) People will discredit and denegrate all "drug" enthusiasts so long as there is a drug war.
Experience shows that if someone says something profound or intelligent to a media agent, they will simply not show it, and instead find someone moronic to shout something more sound byte worthy like "Everybody fuckin' smoke WEED!" There are plenty of intelligent and articulate people clamoring for change and distributing good info. Go to a MAPS conference if you want to see some.

************

The sad fact is that there is no unified front in the fight to change the ridiculous and counterproductive drug laws. Entheogen users are only a tiny sliver of the affected community. This thread you posted on here was set up to push forward the concept of a Coalition for Entheogenic Liberty, and even here on the Nexus... the thread languishes and gets no real activity to speak of. The CEL website is like a ghost town.

Your enthusiasm is valued. Perhaps you should devote some of it to helping out CEL or another organization that is a bit farther along. (MAPS comes to mind). Whatever you do...

Stay hungry and stay foolish!

well said, i agree
there is no movement and propaganda will always be an issue, even perhaps if there is no formal 'war on drugs'

I guess you guys are right, I just got carried away in the moment (lucid moment of drunkness, although seemingly an oxymoron).

One can hope, can't he?

as Journey said
Don't Stop Believing
a culture may not exist formally but it exists as inchoate
perhaps one day it will move beyond this and become what we all want it to be

The hypnotist, Stephen Brooks mentions we can't neccessarily change the whole world at once, but it can be done by changing one heart at a time. He goes on to say "Give me the heart and I'll give you the change"