This is a response post to @javedkhan1989's recent article Say No To Every Drug Including Alcohol
I fully respect your point of view. And I wholeheartedly disagree. With the non-differentiating sentiment and your suggested approach to it.
While alcohol can be a great poison for a healthy society - especially in excess -, from my experience it does have its place. There is something to be said about context, drugs are never bad by themselves but ought to be viewed in what context they are and aren't used. Also in what dosage they are used. There is shamanic use of alcohol that does have its merit if one cares to find out about it, but of course societies advertise alcohol constantly as a "normal" thing and people drink it for all the wrong reasons all the time. Drinking alcohol often and a lot is a very bad idea and I am no stranger to it. I speak from experience.
However, banning something from the top down does not negate the underlying problem, it merely divides society into those who follow the ban and those that reject it. A healthy approach would be to actively discourage alcohol use and to make the negative health effects on human bodies and societies widely known - so that people choose to not use it anymore. Voluntarily. It would foster awareness and would give everyone the right to choose when or if to drink it at all - and in what amount and quality. Rather than being afraid to go to prison because they can get no other "help" for their problems.
To most alcoholics it's not a fun thing to do but rather a coping with problems. And a temporarily effective one at that, that slowly eats away at our health.
As for banning drugs in general - what "drugs" are you referring to? Presumable the "illegal" ones? Many drugs can be harmful if used improperly, but then so are coffee and sugar (which hardly anyone regards as "drugs" due to our upbringing. These substances have tremendously negative impacts on human health and can be highly addictive, yet they don't carry the same label as say cocaine or amphetamines. Things like MDMA (real ecstasy) have amazing healing potential yet they are banned in favor of toxic laboratory creations and the established clique or psychoanalysts that have done much unrecognized harm to their patients unwittingly.
The real issue I have with your proposal is that psychedelics are thrown into the trash bin, like they always are. Psychedelics have nothing in common with hard drugs that destroy people's lives, and anyone who wants to ban all drugs altogether does not speak from experience.
You mentioned God's intentions. Here is a different perspective:
Banning psychedelic mushrooms is an outright affront to reason, and - a slap in the face of God - because he obviously put them on Earth for a reason. And curiously, our brains have the proper receptors to use those substances that induce altered states of consciousness - almost as if they are meant to process these types of experience without taking damage like with actual poisons. The same goes for mild psychedelics like cannabis, or even potent things like DMT or Salvia Divinorum. They are nature's last reminders for us that we all carry the divine spark in us - all if us do - and governments hate them and have hated them because of it.
If you can suddenly see God's creation in all its glory and even talk to God yourself, why would we need priests any more? We wouldn't. Natural psychedelics can be a great fail-safe against oppressive human systems because they can show us FIRSTHAND the grandiosity of god's presence not tainted by all the human-induced indoctrination humanity has endured for time and memorial. Banning these reminder substances does not serve God nor humanity - what it does serve is evil human systems of coercion and exploitation made by tyrants and oppressors.
Lastly, if anyone could ever have the right to ban something for someone else (a right which they do not have!) it should be decided by someone who speaks from experience and has good solid logic to do so.
Until flouride in toohpaste, glutamate in supermarketfood, artifical laboratory meat and coca cola are banned, we need not even consider banning psychedelic plants that occur naturally and that have served humanity tremendously since we arrived on the scene. That of course has stopped no government in existence to do so, but asking for them to do so is not a smart idea.
@javedkhan1989,
we live in different worlds and cultures and I want to stress that I welcome your sharing your perspective. We might not agree on this issue but I do find it more important than ever we exchange our ideas and learn something about different points of view, especially in these crazy times. It's one of Hive's best features, don't you think?
Thanks for sparking this reply post dude, and all the best to you and your family in Pakistan! I hope your friend and your brother's friend can solve their problems and stop the alcoholism, and not return to it when things get difficult again in life.
Blessings!