liberty
The Gravity of Law: Taking Human Rights Seriously Reclaiming the Prohibition Debate, Part 2
In Part 1 of this six-part series, I discussed the importance of comparing terms and assumptions before debating drug policy. In this post, I re-examine the nature of law and our disturbingly casual attitude towards coercion and punishment. The primary function of any government is to protect its constituents’ human rights. The secondary goal is to uphold the smooth functioning of society. Secondary functions include zoning laws, market regulations, welfare programs, and tax collection—these activities don’t protect individual rights per se, but they (arguably) keep society running smoothly without excessively infringing upon our rights. Not everyone will agree with...
Myths and Lies of Prohibition Reclaiming the Prohibition Debate, Part 1
I have already examined the psychology of Prohibition and our neurotic desire for control. In this six-part series, I focus on the skewed language and unquestioned assumptions that taint the Prohibition debate. Language always lies… We proceed from one fiction to another, every time we open our mouths to speak. —Robert Anton Wilson Language hypnotizes us. We are raised with the phrases and conventions of our culture, and no matter how insidious or wrong-headed they prove to be—no matter how independent-minded we pretend to be—these ideas carry great power over us for our entire lives. When we name things,...
Uruguay approves world’s first national market for cannabis
The first domino has fallen. In a momentous blow to the War on Drugs, Uruguay has passed a law that regulates rather than criminalizes the cannabis trade, from cultivation to consumption. Countries around the world will be watching to see how this social experiment turns out. When this strategy is shown to reduce crime and violence without leading to the collapse of civilization, it will fuel momentum for the end of Prohibition across the world. Kudos to Uruguay for taking this pioneering first step towards sensible drug policy! This infographic by the Transnational Institute summarizes the new law. Liked...
“Ask Me Anything” Reddit Interview with Rick Doblin & MAPS
Yesterday, Rick Doblin and ten other MAPS staff members engaged in an online “Ask Me Anything” session on Reddit. The turnout was phenomenal. Questions ran the gamut from personal (“Have you ever tried psychedelics?”) to political (“Will the legalization of psychedelics will come next after marijuana?”) and much more. Several posters asked about minimizing the risk of MDMA toxicity, while others were curious about treatments for cluster headaches, depression, autism, and other conditions. A couple people even asked if MAPS accepts Bitcoin (as of yesterday, they do). As you might expect, the answers from MAPS staff were incredibly...
Control Freaks: America and its Uncontrolled Substances
I’ve analyzed the psychology of Prohibition before, concluding that the War on Drugs is a deceit maintained by the national ego. In this article I take a deeper look at how the desire for control affects our laws and language. This is a prelude to my six-part essay on language called Reclaiming the Prohibition Debate. None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free. —Goethe Humans like to feel in control. This is not always a bad thing, but it becomes problematic when we are so obsessed with the illusion of control that we forego the...
Video: The War on Drugs is a War on You
This excellent new video from Truthloader, a Youtube channel dedicated to “citizen journalism,” exposes the truth about the War on Some Drug Users: Truthloader recently followed up with Part Two, about the drug war abroad. They also have a separate series about the horrific effects of drug policy in Mexico. Liked this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed to get much more! Or enter your email address for weekly updates: Share this:
Entheogenic Spirituality as a Human Right
The following essay by Martin W. Ball is an edited excerpt from his book, The Entheogenic Evolution: Psychedelics, Consciousness and Awakening the Human Spirit, published by Kyandara Publishing in 2008. It was previously published on Reality Sandwich. For more information, visit martinball.net. The true heart of any religion or spiritual tradition is direct spiritual experience. It is from the immediate experience of the sacred that traditions arise, grow, and take on a life of their own as institutions and systems of belief. Yet without that initial spiritual experience, the inspiration that originally gave rise to the tradition, there is very...
Forbes: Meet Dread Pirate Roberts, the man behind Silk Road
The Semptember issue of Forbes has a very interesting interview with the Dread Pirate Roberts, which is available online for free. The whole thing is worth a read, but here are some highlights. Competition and Publicity Despite the giant DEA crosshairs painted on his back and growing signs that the feds are probing the so-called “dark Web” that Silk Road and other black market sites inhabit, Roberts spoke with FORBES in his first-ever extended public interview for a reason: As with physical drug dealing, a turf war has emerged. Competitors, namely a newly launched site called Atlantis with a real marketing...
New Zealand’s synthetic drug law goes into effect
New Zealand’s synthetic drug bill, called the Psychoactive Substances Act, became law today after passing Parliament last week in an almost unanimous vote. It is aimed at establishing a regulated market for legal highs, and ending the cat-and-mouse game of prohibition in which new chemicals crop up as soon as existing ones are banned. This law is the first of its kind, and (arguably) represents a step forward in intelligent drug policy. I say “arguably” because the intent of the law is to crack down on “legal highs” by requiring them to complete rigorous testing (at an estimated...
A Treatise on Psychedelics Part 2/3: The Mystical Experience
This guest post by Martijn Schirp continues from Part 1, discussing the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research that he attended. It was originally published on higHExistence.com. If we recognize the plant as an autonomous power which enters in order to put roots and flowers in us, then we distance ourselves by several degrees from the skewed perspective which imagines that spirit (Geist) is the monopoly of human beings and doesn’t exist outside of them. A new world-picture has to follow the planetary leveling; that is the task which the next century will take up. –Ernst Jünger, The Plant as Autonomous Power. Where are the...
The Chain of Destruction and the persecution of drug users
It’s almost Independence Day in America, and millions of people will celebrate this weekend with backyard cookouts, fireworks, and time with family and friends. But please take a minute to consider the people in America and abroad whose freedoms have been revoked because they committed the non-violent crime of drug possession. The War on Drugs is a war on people, most especially poor people and minorities. It the modern version of a witch hunt. Eugene Jackecki’s documentary The House I Live In discusses the American War on Drugs with refreshing candor. This seven-minute segment covers the “chain of destruction” which occurs...
A Treatise on Psychedelics Part 1/3: The Stigma
This guest post by Martijn Schirp was originally published on higHExistence.com and is reproduced here with permission. Martijn is the co-founder of higHExistence, a travel junkie, a meditation practitioner, and a yoga lover. He is a student of philosophy, passionate about science, and immensely fascinated by consciousness. The true student of science neglects nothing and despises nothing that may widen and deepen his knowledge of nature, and if he is wise as well as learned he will hesitate before he applies the term “impossible” to any facts which are widely believed and have been repeatedly observed by men...