D R U G S | An Overview

It's a touchy subject for some. For the older generation who grew up with adverts on the television showing heroin junkies lying in the gutter, drugs are and will always be bad news. For generation Y drugs are just part of the scenery. For some drugs spell liberation. For others they are all about fun.

Timothy Leary is quoted as saying:

“People use the word "natural" … What is natural to me is these botanical species which interact directly with the nervous system. What I consider artificial is 4 years at Harvard, and the Bible, and Saint Patrick's cathedral, and the Sunday school teachings.”

And I have to agree with him, but here's the thing: Drugs have done good things, granted... they have also done many many bad things.

I smoked Hashish for the first time when I was twelve. I sniffed petrol when I was fourteen and Amyl Nitrate. I took LSD for the first time at seventeen. Alone. From there I explored Amphetamines and Ecstasy and Heroin and Cocaine and Mushrooms and DMT and Dexies and … oh look, the list goes on. My point is, I've been around the block once or twice at least so, while I still probably don't know exactly what I'm talking about, chances are... I know enough.

I am writing this for those folks out there who haven't explored drugs or who have just explored a little, for those who are curious, for those who have explored some and are confused. Basically, for anyone who might get a little something out of it.

The bottom line for me, I would not untake any of the drugs I have taken during my life. None of them. Even the bad experiences taught me something about myself and my connection with reality. Drugs have been a great and powerful teacher for me and that is exactly how I treat them. I seldom do them nowadays. There are other ways to get far higher that don't involve substances, but that's not what this article is about. But if I am to take something, it's a big deal. If someone hands me a fistful of magic mushrooms, the first thing I'm going to do is feel it. I close my eyes and I ask myself – is this the right time? I ask – Is this for my highest good?

Because sometimes the answer is no.

Then, as I'm getting ready to take them, I feel fear. Every time. No matter what. Because I know, deep down, these things are going to change me. I'll be a different person coming out than I am now going in. Always, without question. Psychedelics shift your architecture around; it's in their nature. And that's a big deal. That fear, it's a healthy thing as far as I'm concerned, it lends a certain respect. I always respect my teachers; it's an important part of the teacher/student relationship. It creates an open channel.

It's the same with me for any drugs though, not just the psychedelics.

This is the good side of drugs. The things we learn about ourselves while we are under their influence.

Another good side of drugs is, they feel fucking great. They stimulate the nervous system in ways we generally don't get to feel. About that though... here's a theory, and I'm not the only one to think this way.

Drugs are windows, not doors. You like the view, it's tempting to sit there in that window peering out at the sights your whole life. But the door is right there, you just need to fumble around in the dark until you find it.

You want another metaphor? A friend of mine calls it like this, he says:

“You're on your way to the mountain but to get there you have to venture through the forest and after a little while all you can see is trees and it's disheartening. The drugs you take, it's like you're climbing up one of those trees, up above the canopy so you can see the mountain peak right there ahead; you can see which direction you need to head in. Then you climb back down and you keep on moving. Don't spend your time climbing up and down trees.”

All those amazing feelings, those insights... it's all available on the inside. The drugs just act as triggers. It's your own nervous system that produces the feelings.

These are the good things about drugs, in a broad sense.

The bad side... I have lost friends. I have known guys who have died of overdoses. I have known guys and girls who have ruined themselves on drugs. It happens. They hand their power over to the drug. They don't realize that those good feelings belong to them, they start thinking it's the drug that is responsible.

This is not just about party drugs. I have known very spiritually-minded guys who think they are closing in on the answers to all of space and time through their drug-use and they just keep tweaking the dose, playing with combinations, looking for that divine moment. Same deal. That divine moment, it lives in you. The drug is irrelevant.

I have taken psychedelics with some people who just think they're funny. It was always baffling for me that a lot of people take those drugs and do not experience God. But it's the rule, not the exception. The capacity to experience God is in us. The drug is just along for the ride.

I could go on for pages about all this, but my point... drugs are not evil and they are not all-powerful. They are gifts. They should be used sparingly, with respect and knowledge.

They are windows, not doors.