Psychedelic drugs were an icon of the 1960s, its role embedded within the rising counterculture in response to the economic, social, and political turmoil throughout the United States. As a means to impose a central power and control social order, federal authorities were quick to ban the recreational and medical use of psychedelic drugs without consideration of its potential benefits. The recent state laws on the legalization of marijuana in Oregon and Colorado with others soon to follow, is a sure sign of an eventual collective shift in the perceptions of psychedelic drugs. Not only does Daniel Pinchbeck document his reflections on the personal consumption of psychedelic drugs in his unconventional novel Breaking Open the Head, he also advances several assertions on modern Western society in his exploration of polarized attitudes on this controversial topic.
The rapid spread of globalization has increased economic and social benefits for the United States in the diversification of products for trade, yet Pinchbeck points out its dangers. (Claim). Pinchbeck illustrates the negative impact of globalization with multiple references that include the Amazonian rainforest’s “systematic destruction” and the disappearance of “vast treasures of botanical knowledge and linguistic and spiritual traditions” (148, 163). (Evidence) Abundant research readily discusses the devastating impacts of globalization. (Warrant). Deforestation of the Amazonian rainforest has serious implications beyond the local disruption of the natural food chain network as it contributes to soil erosion, species extinction, air pollution, and climate change (Wright, LaRocca & DeJongh; Hahn et al.; Medvigy et al.). Globalization accelerates the loss of languages al...
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The CIA’s clandestine operation known as Project MKUltra, inadvertently transformed the use of LSD from being a highly classified method of mind control into a massively popular drug that, in part, defined the counterculture movement of the 1960’s. While the CIA had no intention to supply the American public with the most potent hallucinogen known at the time, their poorly ran mission to create a foolproof truth-drug created an LSD following and changed it into a prominent entheogen. At that time, issues like the threat of an apocalyptic war with the USSR to the horrifying reports from the Vietnam War to the struggle for civil rights pervaded the minds of many young, disillusioned Americans who then sought an escape from their harsh reality. When they discovered a new and legal (until 1968) psychedelic drug thanks to public advocates like Ken Kesey or Timothy Leary, a massive demand was created, with roughly 2,000,000 individuals admitting to have tried it by the end of 1970. In the early 1950’s, prior to Project MKUltra, the groundwork for underhanded scientific research was laid.
The frequently used maxim for psychedelics, “use in a good place at a good time with good people,” is an example of this. Two rituals that are in harmony with the maxim are the selection of a pleasant rural setting for psychedelic use and the timing of use to avoid driving while ‘tripping.’ Informal sanctions, which are followed by both small and large groups of users, indicate the appropriate time, place and way in which a drug is taken and can also provide the users with a safe environment. Some users refuse to learn how to do things such inject on their own and only let a trusted person or group of people inject them in an effort to restrict drug use. Jean-Paul Grund uses an interview based experiment in “Rituals of Regulation” (Grund, 1993) to demonstrate the symbolic dimension of frontloading; meaning through sharing drugs, the bonds between the users are strengthened, increasing the caution taken to make sure themselves and their friends are all free of harm due to
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The way that drugs, especially neurotransmitters such as Xanax, are characterized and stigmatized has changed in A Scanner Darkly, a 1977 novel, compared to Taipei, a 2013 one. In this almost 50-year difference, these novels reflect the current view of drugs at the time they were written, but also give a unique look into just how quickly man’s perception of drugs has been altered. In Taipei by Tao Lin and A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick, the drugs taken in the novels, whether the several “blockbuster drugs” such as Adderall and MDMA in Taipei or cannabis and the fictional “Substance D” in A Scanner Darkly, create a distancing effect from others as well as the user themselves. In contrast, the drug “Substance D” is so heavily regarded as
“Key events in the history of psychedelic therapy(sidebar).” Issues and controversies. Facts on file news services, (11 July 2011). Web.19 Feb.2014.
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In 1943, Albert Hofman took the first “acid trip,” from accidentally ingesting his creation known as LSD, or lysergic acid diethylamide. Hofman reported his experience of seeing amazing pictures, fantastic shapes, and effervescent colors. Since then, hallucinogenic drugs have widely spread across the drug market. Why are hallucinogenic drugs used so much across the United States, as well as the rest of the World? What is it about these drugs that alter people’s decisions and consciousness? Why is it that some people would rather spend their nights buying and using these drugs than any other alternative? It is simply for the astounding effects that these drugs can offer one’s mind and alter their moods. The popularity and strength of hallucinogenic drugs have created a cultural phenomenon across the United States. How have the effects of hallucinogenic drugs, such as mushrooms, acid, and ecstasy, affected the American population?
Drugs are used to escape the real and move into the surreal world of one’s own imaginations, where the pain is gone and one believes one can be happy. People look on their life, their world, their own reality, and feel sickened by the uncaringly blunt vision. Those too weak to stand up to this hard life seek their escape. They believe this escape may be found in chemicals that can alter the mind, placing a delusional peace in the place of their own depression: “Euphoric, narcotic, pleasantly halucinant,” (52). They do this with alcohol, acid, crack, cocaine, heroine, opium, even marijuana for the commoner economy. These people would rather hide behind the haze than deal with real problems. “...A gramme is better than a damn.” (55).
A largely debated topic in today's society is whether or not psychedelic drugs should be legalized for medicinal purposes and if they should, how this legalization would affect the communities in which they’re being prominently medicinally used. Although many scientists have argued that psychedelics pose a mental health risk, closer examination shows that communities would have a significantly lower depression rate if certain psychedelics were legalized. Now to fully understand how psychedelics could be beneficial or the opposite thereof, you’ll need to understand how they work and what they are. What a psychedelic drug is, the immediate effects, both mentally and physically, and how communities might benefit and function with the sudden use of these drugs.
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Although in the modern world such drugs have developed an almost taboo status, it is impossible to ignore the tales of enlightenment reported by ancient cultures and even those rebels that use such drugs illegally today. While the American government has been one of the main influences on today’s society’s negative attitudes towards psychedelic drugs, they have granted some scientist and psychologists permission to experiment with such agents, and despite the controversy and varying results there seem to be many positive uses of psychedelic agents. These positive uses and the research that has been directed toward these uses will be reviewed in the following, as well as a brief history of psychedelic drugs.
Derenne, J. L., & Beresin, E. V. (2006). Body image, media, and eating disorders. Academic Psychiatry, 30(3), 257-261.
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