15 Sep 2015 16:02:51
I'd like to start this post by pointing out I am a huge advocate of individual sovereignty. As long as you aren't hurting someone else, or your environment, I think every human should have the right to do as they please with their body, mind and life.
Reading Frankie and Kim's debate below, and more so Frankie's view that the world is slowing having a shift in consciousness, I can't help but agree. For very different reasons though, I would assume.
I have always dabbled in drugs. I think the first time I smoked weed was when I was 12. Fair to say I got very little out of it. From that stage, until about when I was 23, I have done almost everything known to man, other than shooting smack and ayahuasca (booked for March 2016!). For the longest time it was an escape.
Johann Hari says 'The opposite of addiction is not sobriety. It's human connection.' I couldn't agree more. Most users come from a place of pain or isolation and look for an escape. The solution to that problem is not criminal charges.
The reason I'm posting this on the conspiracy page is because I truly believe that in the 60's, the greatest conspiracy ever, was achieved. Removing drugs such as LSD (lesser extent), psilocybin, and, although earlier then the 60's, marijuana from the mainstream and beginning a propaganda campaign against anyone that uses them. As one example, in 1940ish, the man who stood to lose the most through conventional printing processing changing to hemp, ran a story with the headline - 'Marijuana the new drug - making blacks and Mexicans rape white woman'! No word of a lie. That was what helped create laws around making pot illegal in the US, and subsequently the Western world.
I'm sure a huge majority of you are still influenced by the propaganda today. 'Pot makes you lazy', 'people use LSD and mushrooms to escape reality' etc, etc. The cold hard scientific facts (the ones not obtained by scientists backed by big Pharma companies) show that Marijuana has no more physical addiction properties then gambling. Cannabis oil has been shown to massively reduces tumour size, in a host of patients. Psilocybin switches off the part of the brain that stimulates depression. It helps with PTSD. And if you look into it yourself, you will find many, many more positives from these three substances, as well as a range of other hallucinogenic substances. The majority of which are hidden from the mainstream.
Any substance, or any thing, when abused can be detrimental to ones health. Joe Rogan says it best - 'cheeseburgers are bad for you, but do we ban Burger King?' I could stab myself in the eye with a fork. Should we make forks illegal? Everyday people jump off bridges. Should we ban bridges? let's nurf the world!'
I smoke pot, maybe once or twice a month now. I don't smoke it and become a vegetable on the couch. I usually write. I take psilocybin maybe a couple times a year. And do it with intent. I dive into my psyche and fix some personality traits I notice in myself that I don't like, or try and better understand why I function the way I do in certain situations. The results and clarity I gain are far better then I could ever achieve without the plant.
I'm not advocating that you use drugs. To each their own. But for me, a first step in this world becoming a far fairer and kinder place to live, is widespread use of hallucinogenic substances. Not abuse. Use. Even if its once a lifetime.
I know I've waffled on Ed's, and I apologise, but today on the phone to my mother, a woman who has smoked pot once and hated it, and has only ever drunk alcohol twice, she said something that gives me hope. 'Australia is approaching the drug problem wrong. Decriminalisation, legalisation, and regulation are the only way we will solve rampant drug abuse. We need to follow Portugal'. At 65 years old, a non believer in conspiracies and someone who has never approved of drugs, this is a huge step forward.
Our consciousness is, in my eyes, our strongest tool. We know very little about it, and the effect it has on our environment. Those in power have made sure of that for an extremely long time. I believe the plants we were given on this earth can be a massive tool for widespread awakening.
{Ed001's Note - I don't drink, I don't smoke, I have no interest in taking drugs, but I agree with you, it needs to be decriminalised.}
15 Sep 2015 17:20:05
I agree and disagree. If people want to experiment with reality or perception altering substances then I have no issues. As long as proper support is provided to help anyone that develops issues especially addiction.
Also the benefits of ending the illegal drug trade could be beneficial especially in areas where the crops are grown by ensuring fair trade and prices for the farmers to assist with the end of poverty and society improvements. Instead of money going into criminals accounts it could be used better. Of course until the banks become involved.
Where I do disagree is with regards to certain drugs of the stronger kind such as heroin etc being legalised. But I admit its not a subject I know much on so if anyone has more expertise then feel free.
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15 Sep 2015 20:00:41
interesting post melbourne , I have tried pot a few times (i don't smoke ) but I tried it for the first time in years a few weeks ago when I was in portugal .
like edd or kim I am no expert but let's say I know a few people that tell me pot now days is laced with chemicals ,i think its to make it grow quicker or something like that and that is were you get the problems ,smoking the real mccoy weed I have no problem with and I would make it legal tommorow .
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15 Sep 2015 20:43:07
Smoking weed is what's kept me sane for decades, its a beautiful plant, it is not addictive, addiction is within the person.
franky, weed if home grown is safe, I never buy what I don't know about.
Melbourne, mushrooms as you know opens up parts of the brain that usually lie dormant, we can't have people using more of there brain capacity, the world leaders don't want that.
{Ed033's Note - They have completely decriminalised cannabis in the American state of Colorado and that state has blossomed financially because of it.
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15 Sep 2015 21:05:50
Absolutely Ed, Colorado should be used as an example of the benefits of cannabis.
The state has blossomed financially as you mention but the state also now has a lower crime rate, a better education system and the main thing. a lot of very happy people. :-)
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15 Sep 2015 22:27:47
yeah herbie growing it for yourself would be safe. the guys I know are just using it as a money making scheme.
like I said, I have no problem with it being legal.
{Ed033's Note - At the moment, anyone who wants to use cannabis can get hold of it, in one version or another so government banning it doesn't stop it.
If people really 'woke up', they'd realise that the UK government can only ban legal persons from using cannabis and then all you would have to ask yourself is whether you're a legal person at the moment you wanted to partake in cannabis.
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