Psychedelics and Society

Hayes, Charles, Is Taking a Psychedelic an Act of Sedition Tikkun, March/April 2002, http //www.tikkun.org/magazine/index.cfm/action/ tikkun/issue/tik0203/article/020313c.html. Tikkun A Bimonthly Jewish and Interfaith Critique of Politics, Culture, Society is a print magazine published in Berkeley, edited by Rabbi Michael Lerner. 

The paper by Stafford shows the ways in which psychedelics tend to be used at present in the community of users. The substance spoken of as "Yage" was probably not Yage, but harmine or harmaline. Of special interest are the use of one psychochemical to ameliorate any difficulty arising from the use of another, and the use of marijuana in conjunction with the experience without any thought that the marijuana might influence the experience. Elements of this experience lead Mr. Stafford to speculate on psychedelics in general and their possible future impact on society. 

The content of the mystical experience is thus inconsistent with both the religious and secular concepts of traditional Western thought. Moreover, mystical experiences often result in attitudes that threaten the authority not only of established churches, but also of secular society. Unafraid of death and deficient in worldly ambition, those who have undergone mystical experiences are impervious to threats and promises. Moreover, their sense of the relativity of good and evil arouses the suspicion that they lack both conscience and respect for law. Use of psychedelics in the United States by a literate bourgeoisie means that an important segment of the population is indifferent to society s traditional rewards and sanctions. 

It is also true that the popular press, with its many articles on the psychedelic group, helped to spread among the groups themselves a knowledge of rituals, language, and habits of the others, so they were able to develop a common style and a sense of identity. It seemed to us that while all the psychedelics differed greatly from the rest of society, they tended to be more like one another in appearance and attitudes than other sections of society did. 

This book is a broad and serious inquiry into this much-discussed topic. It will enlighten and surprise the uninitiated, as well as the frequent user. It includes first-hand reports of the nature of the experience recent scientific theories the use of psychedelics in primitive and non-western cultures and the sociology of drugs in our own society. There are also sections on the potential creative uses of psychedelics, from the enhancement of religious experience to the treatment of alcoholics and the design of mental hospitals. 

The Summer 1990 debut issue describes this new journal as a "quarterly paper trip into visionary consciousness and the exploration of psychedelic/cybeidelic society. We seek to provide a rich and diverse... 

Almost no one who has taken a powerful psychedelic has come away unimpressed. Psychologist Ralph Metzner observed over a period of years that people awakened by psychedelics to the myriad possibilities for human consciousness often go on to pursue other ways and methods of increasing awareness. Osmond, writing in the Annals of the New York Society of Medicine, described the awe that is a frequent sustained effect ... 

Andrew Weil, who has sought out and tried most of the psychedelics, recently told a gathering that their greatest impact for him—and he hopes for society—has been the elimination of limitations. Here are some of his comments ... 

The use of psychedelics on a mass scale released enormous creative impulses that continue to affect us all. Whether or not one uses these substances, they have permeated society down to the grass roots. Many had hopes that these powerful compounds could be absorbed in society in legitimate ways, thereby changing the character of use and avoiding unnecessary paranoia. Ivan Tors, probably best known as the producer of the "Flipper TV series, was one who gave up LSD once the laws banning psychedelics went into effect ... 

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