Drugs Forum - Blogs http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php Drugs-forum, the international drugs community. Information about Drugs forum, shrooms, magic mushrooms, kratom, mescaline, salvia divinorum, ecstasy, magic mushrooms, lsd, ketamine, ethnobotanicals, herbal highs, research chemicals, amphetamine, meth, speed, drugs, cannabis, marijuana, hashish en Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:51:52 GMT vBulletin 300 http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/images/misc/rss.jpg Drugs Forum - Blogs http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php Remember Ricky Williams? http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=666 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:30:14 GMT Ok so I'm sticking with a sports related theme here. I'm half-way through the NFL season while managing two fantasy football teams so I'm all about football these days.

Remember a few years back when Ricky Williams was suspended from the NFL for puffing the magic dragon? Well after a few year stint of chilling out and playing a year in Canadian football, Williams returned to the Miami Dolphins this season and is having a hell of a year playing backup to Ronnie Brown, and last night looked like a 25 year old on his way to having a spectacular game starting in place of the injured Brown.

I'm not going to go on about how althletes that smoke weed can go on to have successful careers(although that list is actually growing), but what makes this case stick out in my mind is how poorly treated Williams was by the NFL and Media. Sure the NFL is an Ultra-conservative organization and Williams behaviour at the time was erractic at best, but he was really hung out to dry at the time and the marijuana use was often a focal point. Don't quote me, but I recall Dan Marino calling him a 'flake' or something to that effect on CBS sports on live television.

Now Williams is having a great come-back year and had a monster of a game in the starting role last night, but no-one is really talking about him this morning. When the analysts talk about the game, discussion on Williams is kept to a minumum. Perhaps many of them are to embarassed to talk highly of him after tearing him apart a few years ago.

No mention of his pot filled past on any of the big sports pages south of the border yet, although the Canadian Press offered this snippet.

Quote:
Williams, the 1998 Heisman Trophy winner, continued his resurgence after a career that included a brief retirement and a drug-related suspension. The time off might be helping him now when many running backs decline after they turn 30.
Yes it was all that time off.

Anyways, I hope Williams finishes off this season very strong, and this may become a bigger story yet. cheers.

*the joint in the last photo is obviously photoshopped. That was a famous image of Williams on the sidelines which was often used in the soundbytes smearing him at the time.
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]]> motorhead http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=666 The El Nino effect on cannabis politics in North America Part 2 http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=647 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:01:55 GMT Flip-Flop. Actually, more like just a flop...

In the early 2000's I was confident that Canada was going to forge ahead into the new millennium a leader in cannabis reform, and eventually set an example for other nations that marijuana legalization was indeed more rational than prohibiting it. Then it all went to shit...

In the US the powers that be were deeply concerned with what was happening in Canada. A law contradicting complete and utter prohibition of marijuana in a bordering country was unacceptable, and something had to be done. A 2004 Parliament report clearly states subtle overtures from American officials threatening restrictions on trade if Canada were to proceed down a path to looser marijuana laws. I'm sure conversations behind closed doors included not so subtle language, and the bill to decriminalize marijuana possession remained un-passed despite all the previous enthusiasm and positive policy recommendations.

Interestingly enough the same report had this little tid-bit:

Quote:
the U.S. National Drug Intelligence Center has identified what it considers to be a significant issue regarding the growing importation of marijuana into the United States from Canada. It has noted that Canada is the source of considerable and increasing amounts of high-grade marijuana available in U.S. drug markets.
The American anti-drug warriors were well aware of Marc Emery and his legalization movement, and in early 2005 John Walters himself visited Vancouver to inspect the situation for himself. After Walters had been insulted by Emery and other marijuana activists while giving a presentation and in the local media, the Vancouver police dept tried to secure a warrant from Canadian Crown prosecutors to search Emery's businesses. When the Crown did not comply the VDP then reported to Walters who in turn convinced Canadian authorities to allow him to execute his own warrant. In July 2005 the DEA arrested Emery in Nova Scotia, and the rest is history, including any further hope of decriminalization in Canada. Politically speaking, the climate for marijuana reform was becoming very chilly indeed.

The reasons however didn't lie solely on external American influences. By the time of these events, the Liberal Party had been governing Canada with a solid majority in the House of Commons since 1993, and, as is often the case with any governing party, on either side of the political spectrum, they were beginning to implode after so many years in power. In 2004, after their long time and popular leader Jean Cretin retired, and scandals and abuses of power were coming to light, they could only muster a minority government. Subsequent elections have seen the party that fostered such hope for the marijuana movement delegated to the official opposition.

Liberal domination of the House for more than a decade was made that much easier by The Progressive Conservative's own implosition in the late 1980's, and that since 1993 voters had another right wing option on the ballot.

The Reform Party of Canada started as a populist movement in 1987 to represent Western Canadian interests, but by 1993 they had become a nationally registered party and thereafter gained increasing support from right wing voters. Long story short, after years of continually seeing the right wing vote split the Progressive Conservative's, in 2003, finally succumbed to pressure from the Reform Party, by 2000 known as the Canadian Alliance, to unite in order to secure a Conservative government. The result was the newly coined Conservative Party of Canada, and in 2004, under new leader Steven Harper, they formed the official opposition. In 2006 Harper became Prime Minister when the Conservatives won a minority in the House.

Why is all this really relevant to marijuana politics? Well for one the former PC party, from 1896 until 1993, only formed government five times, and, ideologically speaking, was always more of a 'center-right' party. Secondly, over the last century Liberal instilled policies regarding health care, economics, human rights, even military mandates, have created an image of our country as, well, a liberal one. It was just a natural progression of our identity that we were ready to decriminalize marijuana in 2003, if I can put it that way.

This new Conservative party is basically a morph of the old Reform Party, with a much more traditionally conservative ideology based strongly on fundamental religious values. They are anti-abortion, anti-gay rights, racist, and, o ya, tough on crime baby.

Since ascending to power, albeit with a minority government, Stephen Harper introduced Bill C-15, a bill with mandatory minimums for marijuana 'crimes', has refused to allow Marc Emery to serve his sentence in Canada, and, most recently, appointed a religious zealot to conduct and promote 'studies' on the link between marijuana and schizophrenia.

With the Liberal party still in a shambles and despite the fact that these and many of their other policies appear decidedly 'un-Canadian', this new Conservative party is actually gaining slight, but steady, support in the polls, and seems poised to form a majority government and unleash who knows what else against the evils of marijuana. With a majority mandate the Conservatives are sure to continue an American style, tough on crime approach to drug policy.

Times have changed in the last decade very much indeed. ]]> motorhead http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=647 The El Nino effect on cannabis politics in North America Part 1 http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=646 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:54:29 GMT I am going ahead and posting the first two parts of this article that I started working on more than a month ago now. It's just snap shot of the last decade in pot politics in Canada and the US within the last decade and how policies have changed. Once I got to writing it kind of ballooned to include alot of pot history within the last century, and the outline just got to big so I'm going with the original drafts I began with. I still think they are pretty rough, but I've been busy lately and was sick for a couple of weeks to boot so I'm just gonna say fuck it and post it now. The second half is still just a jumble of notes, online bookmarks, and a decent outline-both on paper and in my head-of what it will look like. I hope to have the final parts posted within the next few weeks. I'm not happy with the title really, and the spelling and grammar haven't been thoroughly edited-but here it is.

We're on top, you're at the bottom

What a difference a decade makes. I remember how things used to be here in Canada not to long ago. In the early part of this decade it seemed like we were living in one of the most Pot friendly countries in the world, reflected not just in public attitudes but political climate as well. How times have changed.

BC had become a mecca of pot culture, its bud known around the globe, and while cannabis cafes and compassion clubs certainly didn't pop up in every other province, pot smokers around the country enjoyed a reasonably liberal attitude from the public and law enforcement towards the herb. They had every right to feel at ease. Simple possession of marijuana rarely led to jail time, only 5% of tokers busted for possession spent time behind bars. Public opinion polls consistently showed that the majority of Canadians supported medical marijuana, decriminalization, and/or legalization.

The government, held by The Liberal Party of Canada, actually took notice of public opinion and court decisions of the time, and Canada became the first country in the world to legalize medical marijuana in 2001. Then in 2002 a Special Senate Committee Report recommended that Canada legalize and regulate cannabis, and the very next year the Liberal government tabled a bill that would in fact decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Jesus, we were almost there. We had cops tired of busting people with joints, judges making precedent setting decisions that were altering public policy, a public ready to accept a different approach, a vibrant, world renowned pot culture on the west coast, medical marijuana, and a bill on the table set to decriminalize possession. How far away could legalization and regulation be? I mean we were leaps and bounds ahead of neighbors to the south......

During this time things didn't look quite as rosey in the good ole US of A. While there were certainly millions of marijuana users in America, a strong culture of pot, and an increase at the state level of medical marijuana laws, the shear weight and force put forth by the federal government behind the 'War on Drugs' since the Nixon administration made legalization appear to be nothing more than a pipe dream. By the time George W. took office in 2001 the numbers were staggering.

Despite the fact that the presidency had been held two terms by Bill Clinton, a democratic symbol of change, a saxaphone touting assuager of republican evils, the truth is the 'War on Drugs' maintained steady, if not increased, momentum during the Clinton years. In 2001 the number of prisoners (and prisons) in the US had reached record levels, fueled by drug related prosecutions. Estimates by some drug-advocacy groups at the time suggest the federal government was spending 50 billion dollars or more annually 'fighting' drugs.

Arm in Arm with John Walters, his new Drug Czar, George W. just kept on trucking. There were children to save, terrorists to put out of business, coca crops to be sprayed, and most importantly, marijuana arrests to be made. By the early 2000's marijuana accounted for nearly half of all drug arrests annually, nation wide. 'Marijuana isn't medicine you heathens! Now get your ass in jail.'

How could anyone at the time think that a country that was rabidly prosecuting sick and disabled people for using marijuana as medicine would legalize it for recreational purposes? The feds weren't thinking legalization. No, they were thinking those french speaking, hockey playing hosers north of the border were up to something funny. And where in the fuck were all those marijuana seeds coming from? ]]> motorhead http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=646 <![CDATA['Fans behaving badly? Never fear', and the acceptability of drunkeness]]> http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=664 Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:27:36 GMT Hello everyone. Wow, went to Quebec City for Halloween weekend with some old high school buddies to see Metallica and had a blast. Caught the chest cold from hell however and passed it on to the... Hello everyone. Wow, went to Quebec City for Halloween weekend with some old high school buddies to see Metallica and had a blast. Caught the chest cold from hell however and passed it on to the kiddies. Been down and out for the better part of two weeks now, and just starting to come around.

Read this interesting piece from ESPN yesterday:Fans behaving badly? Never fear. It's about the general rowdiness that occurs at college football games in the US, and the new high tech measures many schools are implimenting to deal with the 'problem'. Rowdiness and rude behaviour is nothing new at sporting events, and it certainly isn't limited to the US. However, I find it interesting how the real cause of unruly behaviour-alcohol-is mentioned in the article almost in passing.

Quote:
Alcohol is often the common denominator, as exemplified by a 45-year-old woman at a Florida game Sept. 19 who slapped a University of Florida police officer and head-butted him in the stomach after being led out of the stadium for drunken behavior.

At Georgia, campus police chief Jimmy Williamson has seen his share of fights involving people in their 40s and 50s "who should know better." One man punched a woman and broke her nose, he said. His officers have dealt with people urinating from the upper deck, spitting on people, dealing drugs in the bathroom, "fights galore" and even a kidnapping.
I think the real title for the article should be:'Booze, it can turn anyone into pricks'.

Now drinking at games is nothing new, and I for one am not against banning booze. I am a big sports fan, and a big fan of alcohol. It's just that booze and sports is culturally ingrained into western society.

Quote:
Williamson said he doesn't get a sense that fans today are any worse than they used to be. But he and other campus police chiefs have seen an increase in the intensity of tailgating activities leading up to the game. That is spurred in large part by the growth in the use of portable satellite receivers and big-screen televisions running on car batteries or generators. Early in the morning, fans stake out spots around the stadium where they erect canopies, set up lawn chairs and grills, and break out coolers with lots and lots of alcohol -- even on some campuses where drinking alcohol in public is technically illegal.
The article goes on to detail how many stadiums have started a text messaging system to identify unruly fans, increased video surveillance, and other high tech methods. Nowhere does the piece suggest that alcohol or drunk people be barred from games. Tailgating is being curtailed at certain statiums both at the college and Pro level, but an outright ban on booze is never mentioned.

Of course drug use is frowned upon:

Quote:
Officers at Georgia eject more than 300 fans per game -- which is the highest among colleges surveyed -- but they arrest only about five; most of the arrests are for illegal drug possession, Chief Williamson said.
I wonder what drugs are popular at college football games? I wonder if it is marijuana and that the people being busted for dealing and possession are for weed? Either way it goes to show that western society embraces alcohol with open arms, no matter how it makes people behave.
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]]> motorhead http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=664 Our method is science, our aim is religion http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=663 Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:18:13 GMT “We place no reliance on virgin or pidgeon.
Our method is science, our aim is religion.”
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The idea of a synthesis of science and religion was central to Crowley's ideas and made him popular with later writers like Timothy Leary and Robert Anton Wilson. This quote from his Confessions expands upon the idea, in the context of drugs:

Quote:
Now, Samadhi, whatever it is, is at least a state of mind exactly as are deep through, anger, sleep, intoxication and melancholia. Very good. Any state of mind is accompanied by corresponding states of the body. Lesions of the substance of the brain, disturbances of the blood supply, and so on, are observed in apparently necessary relation to these spiritual states. Furthermore, we already know that certain spiritual or mental conditions may be induced by acting on physico- and chemico-physiological conditions. For instance, we can make a man hilarious, angry or what no by giving him whisky. We can induce sleep by administering such drugs as veronal. We can even give him the courage of anaesthesia (if we want him to go over the top) by means of either, cocaine and so on. We can produce fantastic dreams by hashish, hallucinations of colour by anhalonium Lewinii; we can even make him "see stars" by the use of a sandbag. Why then should we not be able to devise some pharmaceutical, electrical or surgical method of inducing Samadhi; create genius as imply as we do other kinds of specific excitement? Morphine makes men holy and happy in a negative way; why should there not be some drug which will produce the positive equivalent?
http://www.hermetic.com/crowley/confess/chapter48.html

Note: anhalonium Lewinii is an old name for mescaline. Crowley was experimenting with psychedelics long before acid was discovered.
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]]> enquirewithin http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=663 Absinthe, the Green Goddess http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=661 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:04:15 GMT This is an extract from Crowley's essay on absinthe. The essay is typically verbose and and not easy to read, so I have tried to extract the relevant parts. I am dubious about the effects of absinthe but Crowley waxed lyrical about it.

_______________________________

Ah! the Green Goddess! What is the fascination that makes her so adorable and so terrible? Do you know that French sonnet "La legende de l’absinthe?" .....

"The Legend of Absinthe"

Apollo, who mourned at Hyacinthe's demise,
Refused to concede this victory to Death.
Much better that the soul, adept in transformation,
Had to find a holy alchemy for beauty.
Thus with his celestial hand he drained and crushed
The subtlest harvest of the garden goddess,
The broken bodies of the herbs yielding a golden essence
From which we measure out our first drop -- of Absinthe!
In lowly hovels and in glittering courts,
Alone, in pairs, drink up this potion of desire!
For it is sorcery -- as one might say --
When the pale opal wine ends all misery,
Opens beauty's most intimate sanctuary --
- Bewitches my heart, and exalts my soul in ecstasy!


What is there in absinthe that makes it a separate cult? The effects of its abuse are totally distinct from those of other stimulants. Even in ruin and in degradation it remains a thing apart: its victims wear a ghastly aureole all their own, and in their peculiar hell yet gloat with a sinister perversion of pride that they are not as other men.

But we are not to reckon up the uses of a thing by contemplating the wreckage of its abuse. We do not curse the sea because of occasional disasters to our marines, or refuse axes to our woodsmen because we sympathize with Charles
the First or Louis the Sixteenth. So therefore as special vices and dangers pertinent to absinthe, so also do graces and virtues that adorn no other liquor.

The word is from the Greek apsinthion. It means "undrinkable" or, according to some authorities, "undelightful." In either case, strange paradox! No for the wormwood draught itself were bitter beyond human endurance; it must be aromatized and mellowed with other herbs.

Chief among these is the gracious Melissa, of which the great Paracelsus thought so highly that he incorporated it as the preparation of his Ens Melissa Vitae, which he expected to be an elixir of life and a cure for all diseases, but
which in his hands never came to perfection.
Then also there are added mint, anise, fennel and hyssop, all holy herbs familiar to all from the Treasury of Hebrew Scripture. And there is even the sacred marjoram which renders man both haste and passionate; the tender green angelica stalks also infused in this most mystic of concoctions; for like the artemisia absinthium itself it is a plant of Diana, and gives the purity and lucidity, with a touch of the madness, of the Moon; and above all there is the Dittany of Crete of which the eastern Sages say that one flower hath more puissance in high magic than all the other gifts of all the gardens of the world.

It is as if the first diviner of absinthe had been indeed a magician intent upon a combination of sacred drugs which should cleanse, fortify and perfume the human soul.

And it is no doubt that in the due employment of this liquor such effects are easy to obtain. A single glass seems to render the breathing freer, the spirit lighter, the heart more ardent, soul and mind alike more capable of executing the great task of doing that particular work in the world which the Father may have sent them to perform. Food itself loses its gross qualities in the presence of absinthe and becomes even as manna, operating the sacrament of nutrition without bodily disturbance.

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Let then the pilgrim enter reverently the shrine, and drink his absinthe as a stirrup-cup; for in the right conception of this life as an ordeal of chivalry lies the foundation of every perfection of philosophy. "Whatsoever ye do, whether ye eat or drink, do all to the glory of God!" applies with singular force to the absintheur. So may he come victorious from the battle of life to be received with tender kisses by some green-robed archangel, and crowned with mystic vervain in the Emerald Gateway of the Golden City of God....

___________________________________

For the full version, see:

http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/loc...tid=13&id=8219

For more background see:

http://www.oxygenee.com/absinthe/books7.html
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]]> enquirewithin http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=661 I went foraging in a city park http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=660 Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:44:00 GMT and I brought home enough sage to roll 20 smudge sticks. I'm going to tie feathers and beads to them, all local stuff, and sell them to the city's pagan shops, along with smudge fans. Next year I'd like to do this at the farmer's market, with fresh herbs, wild mushrooms, herbal smoking blends, and other crafts all from locally forged, or grown materials. I'm confident in my ID skills for a number of edible species and the prices for wilds are quite high. I have a growing map of sites where valuable plants grow in public around my city and surrounding areas. Fruits, spices, medicines, herbal smokes, all sorts of stuff that I could deal with in a sustainable manner. Increase the size of my beds in my back yard and give them good paths, I've got enough space for a mighty herb and mushroom garden. There's a number of edible species that do good things for your soil and I think Helikophis may have solved my problem as to a lack of logs for growing mushrooms.

I don't want a real job. I think I can do this. I've really wanted to do feather work and do a fine job, if I may be so bold, at crafting ritual implements. I'm good at foraging and gardning, I don't have a lot of space, but then again, I've got a whole city. ]]> Potter http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=660 More Thelemic Music: AL - 100th Anniversary http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=658 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:27:09 GMT Soon after finding music from the Russian OTO, this comes my way:

AL - 100th Anniversary: Compilation of an exclusive and unreleased tracks dedicated to Aiwass & New Aeon & The Book Of The Law technically called Liber AL vel Legis sub figura CCXX as delivered by XCIII = 418 to DCLXVI that was dictated in Cairo on April 8th-10th in the year 1904.

This is a surprisingly good collection of modern music dedicated to Liber Al and Crowley in general. What is intersting is that Crowley's words are used here. These days it is relatively easy to produce good quality music inexpensively. One of the highlights of the collection is a new track by Genesis P-Orridge-- one of hir better tracks too.

As for the rest, I'll quote from Lashtal, a Crowley web site:

Quote:
This limited edition album – only 418 hand-numbered copies are being published – arrives in an attractive and sturdy A5 box, numbered on the back. Inside is a splendid A3 poster, by itself worth the purchase price. A beautifully produced 8-page A5 booklet provides information on the tracks and a short introduction by the highly respected Thelemite, Carl Abrahamsson.

The first CD (“Songs”) includes thirteen widely varied tracks. None of them are uninteresting, but particular highpoints include the following. First up is Hexentanz with “Oh, Blessed Beast”. A rousing classical introduction gives way to an Egyptian-inspired riff and tabla drums lie beneath spoken extracts from Liber AL. Repetitions of the riff and classical theme make this thrilling stuff: wonderful!

Next is Musterion with “Baphomet: The Magus, The Fool (FO-Hi), The Voyager”. Gloomy sound effects – footsteps, wind, breaking glass – give way to distant pure singing. A choir and, if I’m not mistaken, a madrigal develop a fragile folk piece, before the reintroduction of sound effects: ship’s bells, clanging chains and, far away, Crowley chanting in Enochian.

Duparc’s “A Rebours” is next. Soft and beautiful. A peaceful reverie whose vocals by Isabella Piombo are simple gorgeous.

“Walpurgis-Night” by While Angels Watch is my favourite of the collection. Superb reading of a Crowley poem against a swirling, sinister ambient backdrop.

“Psychic Scent” by Cotton Ferox & Genesis P-Orridge takes us back to Psychic TV at its best – “engorged seduction”, “imprinted functions”, “sensate state”. Genesis' lyrics don’t disappoint.

The second CD (“Ambient/Electronix/Experimental”) is equally varied and impressive. “Secret Name” by Silence & Strength, recorded in Israel, is especially interesting, with its inclusion of passages from The Book Of Lies and Liber AL.

“I Was” by 3LCF [Trilucifer] is wonderfully dark and chilling, as is “Death Is Forbidden” by Ah Cama-Sotz, with its many layers swooping over Crowley samples.

“The Beauty Of The Beast” by Chaos As Shelter includes “washing machine cylinder” amongst the instruments performed.

The rather delightful “Donkey Fell Eyesleep” by Ossaserpia rounds this CD off in an upbeat fashion.

So, to summarise: an eclectic and entertaining compilation of some very interesting musical pieces. Often haunting, sometimes sparklingly celebratory, this collection never fails to entertain and intrigue. Its production values are extraordinarily high. I recommend it without hesitation
http://www.lashtal.com/nuke/Reviews-...nt-id-34.phtml ]]> enquirewithin http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=658 Six Articles on Drugs http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=657 Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:55:25 GMT *Synopsis of Six Articles on Drugs* These articles were never written -- a great loss since Crowley succinctly anticipates (by at least thirty years) the main trends in sociological... Synopsis of Six Articles on Drugs

These articles were never written -- a great loss since Crowley succinctly anticipates (by at least thirty years) the main trends in sociological and psychopharmacological hought as they developed, often painfully, in the 1960s and 1970s. Although this synopsis appears to have been written in mid-to-late 1920s possibly the early 1930s), the articles could well have appeared in The Psychedelic Review or The Journal of Psychedelic Drugs. Aside from underscoring Crowley's pioneering work in this field, this synopsis remains valuable as an outline of Crowley's mature view of drugs later in his life -- their use and abuse.

Explanatory notes are provided for this publication.


I. General Survey

A. Almost universal ignorance of the true facts about Drugs. Wild statements on both sides; delights and dangers exaggerated.

B. General account of the principal drugs which have a psychical interest:

Alcohol, Ether, Chloroform, Hashish, Anhalonium Lewinii,

[1] Opium (various forms), Atropine (Belladonna),

[2] Stramonium,

[3] Opium derivatives: Cocaine,

[4] Morphine, Heroin.

C. Two main types of drug: ``One man's meat is another man's poison.''

D. Need to distinguish between the various forms of intoxication, and
to identify the true cause of the action of any given drug.

E. The general use of each drug, and the reason in each case of any tendency to abuse. The action of a certain drug upon a certain
person in good health totally different to that upon a sick one.

II. Historical Survey

A. Ethnographical and climatic distribution.

B. Connection of intoxication, mania, and religious ecstasy. Ceremonious use of drugs by various cults.

C. My own researches since 1899. Why I took up the study. The personal equation. Summary of my results. Importance of the technique of administration. Experiments on other people.

III. The Abuse of Drugs

A. Why people resort to drugs.

1. Personal idiosyncrasy.
2. The search for new sensations.
3. Failure to fit environment.
4. Ignorance.
5. Economy.
6. Hypocrisy. (Where Public Opinion condemns pleasure, those who fear it resort to secret vices.)
7. Ambition to obtain praeterhuman power or knowledge.
8. The stress of modern life.
9. Excess of imagination.
10. Excess of sensitiveness.
11. Ennui.
12. Pain.
13. Moral weakness.
14. Vice.

B. Commoner results of abuse.

Alcohol: well known.
Hashish: insanity.
Chloroform: few cases known.
Opium (smoking): bad results rare.
Morphine: nervous collapse, madness, insomnia, digestive trouble.
Ether: the alcohol plus paralysis.
Anhalonium Lewinii: insanity.
Cocaine: nervous collapse, insanity.
Laudanum: see De Quincey, Coleridge, and Wilkie Collins.[5]
Heroin: like Morphine, with great dullness and depression.

C. Conditions which lead from use to abuse.

D. Difficulties in the way of stopping. Nature of the temptation to go on.

In the case of Alcohol and Ether I find no inclination to do so, I take either quite casually, but instinctively avoid frequent repetition.

With Hashish and Anhalonium, I have a powerful repulsion and can only force myself to take them by a stern sense of duty.

With Opium smoking, I indulge very mildly when the company is attractive; I have tried long and vainly to acquire the habit.

With Morphine, I dislike the effect subconsciously; no temptation to repeat.

With Cocaine, the first few sniffs produce an impatient uneasiness; I am almost irresistably driven to go on to my physiological limit for that time; but privation causes neither suffering nor regret.

With Heroin over-indulgence always causes vomiting. I have succeeded in acquiring enough of a habit to make it hard to break off. The
symptoms are severe; but now that I know how to employ palliatives, I can break away sharply and survive the craving with four days moderate discomfort at most. Suppression causes fear, which induces resumption; and fills the mind with specious arguments in favour of taking `one last dose.'


IV. Commercial Aspects

A. Effects of repressive legislation. Enormous profits to

1. Pedlars and smugglers.
2. Policemen.
3. Blackmailers.
4. Quack doctors.
5. Sanitarium sharks.
6. Secret nostrum vendors.
7. Sensational journalists.
8. Spies and officials.

These would vanish if prohibition became effective or the laws were abolished.

B. Cost to nation.

1. Loss of `victims'' economic value.
2. Maintenance of machinery of prohibition; inspectors, spies etc.,
support of convicts.
3. Loss of dignity, by making physicians and pharmacists subject to
police degrades those professions, keeps away the best class of
men from them, and so destroys the nation's health.

C. Cheapness of drugs tends to drive out alcohol. Most drugs can be made synthetically from `harmless' ingredients.


V. The Treament of Drug Habits

A. Some drugs, e.g. Opium, produce a physical craving due to the chronic poisoning of the tissues. Suppression may therefore be
fatal. The symptoms of suppression may be so severe that even strong willed people need assistance in stopping. Others, e.g. Cocaine,
present little physical obstacle to suppression; the pull is mainly moral.

B. Each patient needs special treatment. This depends on

1. The original cause of the habit.
2. His constitution.
3. His environment.
4. His prospects for the future.

C. Various theories of cure; the main objection to each.

D. My own theory and practice.

The Law of Thelema is the cure. Each patient must be analysed until hediscovers for himself the true purpose for which he came into the world. He will then resolve firmly to stop drugs as hindrances to hisdoing his will. He is assisted by palliatives when any physical symptoms tend to overcome his resolution.

E. Palliatives useful in various crises.

VI. The Mastery of Drugs

A. Man must be trained to use drugs with impunity.
B. Experiments must be made to discover how the undoubted physical and
moral assistance of drugs may be turned to the best advantage.
C. Results of my own researches in this direction.

Alcohol. Too general in its action to be useful.

Ether. Invaluable for mental analysis; also to discover one's own final judgment on any matter. Gives the power to appreciate the elements of which sensation is made up. Example: Feeling one's finger move in
detail.

Hashish. Good for mental analysis. Aids imagination and builds up courage. One can trace the genesis of ideas, solution sometimes given in a series of pictures. Example: How property began.

Anhalonium Lewinii. Like Hashish. (All three excellent for enabling one to get behind one's superficial ideas and discover the roots of one's
thoughts.)

Morphine, Opium etc. Aids concentration. Relieves pressure of worrying thoughts; aids creative imagination. Objection: Injures executive ability, so that ideas are sterile.

Cocaine. Prevents fatigue, enabling one to work at full pressure for an indefinite time. Example: My New Orleans method and work done atCefalu.[6]

Heroin. Combines the virtues of Opium and Cocaine. Excites imagination; helps concentration and calm; increases executive power and endurance. Example: [The Diary of a] Drug Fiend.[7]

D. The Technique of Administration. Select proper drug by experiment.
Dosage. The Opsonic curve.[8] The weather and other conditions. ]]> enquirewithin http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=657 A thought on flaming http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=656 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:14:38 GMT Let's get real here people. Flaming, in terms of an internet messageboard, is direct attack on another member. This does not include criticising or making fun of widespread opinions that many people might hold. I'm pointing the finger at you Christians! I'm sick and tired of receiving a little red dot for having a poke at your crazy delusions. And look, having a pop at Christianity isn't having a pop at any ONE person in particular. So it's not flaming. Religion is a choice. It's not something you can't change. If you can't deal with criticism or mockery, I guess your faith just isn't that strong.

PS: To those Christians that can "turn the other cheek", you have my respect. At least you seem to get the idea that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and you don't start wetting yourselves anytime someone opens their mouth. And to D-F members in general, whether Christian, atheist, pantheistic or whatever: THIS ISN'T XBOX LIVE! THIS IS AN INTERNATIONAL FORUM WITH MANY DIFFERENT POINTS OF VIEW. THE INTERNET ISN'T THE USA!!

That is all. :p ]]> Nature Boy http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=656 Music Of Thelema (Moscow OTO) http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=654 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:21:24 GMT Music Of Thelema

Music by Valentin Dubovskoy, ordered by Moscow Oasis of OTO.


Ever wondered what the Crowley's poems, invocations and rituals might sound like set to Russian music? No-- nor me! But you can download MP3s here:

http://www.dubovskoy.net/epage49.htm

1. Credo (from the Gnostic Mess)
2. Hymn (from the Gnostic Mess)
3. One star in sight
4. Hymn to Pan
5. Invocation of Hecate
6. Nekam, Adonai!
7. Lift up this love
8. The Interpreter
9. Pan to Artemis
10. Stele of Revelation (AL III:37-38)

Choir of Thelemites from the Moscow Lodge of OTO «Pan's Asylum»

Natalya Skryabina, vocal (3, 4-10)
Anna Nosko, vocal (4-6, 8-10)
Alexandra Balakireva, vocal (2, 3(2), 8)
Serafima Melnikova, vocal
Yekaterina Buryak, vocal
Olga Andreyeva, vocal, guitar
Olga Pankratova, guitar (3(1))
Leonid Kazachkov, vocal (3(1))
Valentin Dubovskoy
Attached Thumbnails
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]]> enquirewithin http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=654 DF addiction, the busy Swimmer, and things in general http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=650 Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:34:59 GMT Hello everyone, I hope all our Canadian members had a wonderful thanksgiving and that everyone on the forum is well. I'm doing great myself, settling into a life on land with my family in a new province. We moved here at the beginning of the year, and since then I've decided to find work on shore and not go to sea anymore. I still haven't decided what new career path to pursue, so I've had lots of time to spend at home and feed my DF addiction to no end. I'll break down eventually and get a job out of necessity if nothing else lol, but until then you should see my handle in the 'who's online' for most of the day, as it usually is.

I've been getting a little more active on the forum besides just posting on the board. I was recently invited to join the Cannabis and Newshawks forum crews(cheers guys), and pretty much right away started reviewing older threads that need deletion or cleaning up. There is quite a few in the Cannabis using forum, so I've been picking away at that. It's kind of tedious but addictive in its own right. But it is fun in a way as well, reading some of the older posts. I miss Nicaine!

So I've been doing that and have also taken to scouring the net looking for pictures for the image gallery, learning to find the report button more often, trying to help out in general with helping newbs along and all that good stuff, and tinkering with my blog.

A few days ago however I started working on an article that has been fermenting in the back of my mind for some time, and I've started drafting it here in my blog. It's a piece about the changing political scene on the marijuana reform movement in Canada and the US. More specifically how things have kind of reversed in the 2 countries over the last decade. With all the talk of legalization coming out of the US recently I decided it was finally time to get at it. I really enjoy writing, but it can be a time consuming and arduous process for me. Especially with kids running around the house.

So with all this writing and researching I haven't been doing much posting, or any of the things I mentioned above for that matter lol. There is never enough time. I hope to have this article posted by the end of the month, and I will try and keep an eye out for a juicy news article to post in the meantime. I'm also going to keep blogging about Marc Emery's situation as it unfolds. Pretty quiet lately, but I'm sure there will be some noise when the actual extradition takes place.

On that note, I haven't heard back about any of my letters yet. Don't know if I will, and our wonderful politicians are still really tight-lipped about the whole thing. Anyways, I'll keep you posted. Cheers all. ]]> motorhead http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=650 taking a break http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=649 Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:15:35 GMT just wanted to let everybody know in case someone thinks im missing. i ll try again to take a break from the DF for some time.. lets see if i can make it :) just wanted to let everybody know in case someone thinks im missing.
i ll try again to take a break from the DF for some time.. lets see if i can make it :) ]]> 0utrider http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=649 Marc Emery and making a difference http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=644 Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:08:49 GMT So Marc turned himself in last monday, four years after his arrest in Halifax. It's still kind of hard to believe this is happening considering the facts of the case, most importantly that he has never set foot on American soil. Anyways, we all know the case by now and that his situation would probably be alot different if Canada did not have a Stephen Harper led Conservative government at the moment.

Dispite the fact it appears the governments position is set and that our Justice Minister, Robert Nicholson, will not refuse Marc's surrender, Emery and his supporters have been urging people to voice there disaproval and write letters to various politico's, most importantly the justice minister himself. I, like many, was thinking to myself why bother, the old coot probably doesn't read letters from joe public anyways.

So all this week I've been reading the news and watching the videos of Marc turning himself in. I have to say Jodies interviews really struck a chord, this has been really hard on her, she's fucking devistated.

Then yesterday I'm browsing the CBC and I come across this story about a guy from New Brunswick, Dwight Hickey, who was due to be extradited to the US for selling a Polar Bear skin rug when he was living down in Geargia. Stupid, I know, but apparently you have to have proper import and sales permits for such items.

Anywho, our wonderful justice minister refused the extradition on thursday. In a three page letter to Mr. Hickeys legal aid attorny the justice minister outlined his reasons for his decision.

Quote:
The minister said he also received several letters of support from Hickey's friends and members of the public, requesting he decline the surrender.


"The letters speak to Mr. Hickey's good character and his positive contributions to the community. The writers also question the wisdom of extraditing Mr. Hickey given the perceived minor nature of the offence," the minister wrote.
Wow. So this guy actually reads his mail. Or at least is giving the pretense that he does. So I said to myself, fuck it I'm gonna write a letter to this guy. So I spent a good part of my day yesterday writing Mr. Nicholson, my own MP, and also Jack Layton the leader of the NDP. The NDP is Canada's 'lefty' party who have in the past been the most receptive to legalizing marijuana and also to Marc Emery and his efforts. However, they have been rather quiet recently about Marc's situation.

The letters were short and to the point, basically outlining the fact that Marc has never been to the US and that his prosecution is politically motivated, grounds to have the extradition nullified. Will my letters make a difference? I don't know. Depends on how many others write letters I guess. It made me feal a little better anyways just to write them.

So if anyone has some free time check out this thread:How to free Marc Emery Read it over and write a letter to one or all of the people listed there. Let's hope for the best for Marc and Jodie. ]]> motorhead http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=644 <![CDATA[Blog that isn't dark and dreary]]> http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=643 Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:00:11 GMT Looking to the positives, family and friends that love me. Natures beauty that is all around you, the ocean, trees, beautiful flowers. The birth of a new baby, a marvel of life. One so innocent and... Looking to the positives, family and friends that love me. Natures beauty that is all around you, the ocean, trees, beautiful flowers. The birth of a new baby, a marvel of life. One so innocent and not tainted by the harsh world. My pets who always bring me joy except my stupid German Shepard. Long story. The friends I made at df. Many people here have lots of issues but are willing to listen to yours and care. For that I say thanks :vibes: ]]> cyndi http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/blog.php?b=643