[quote]theuofh wrote:
I see nothing wrong w/ most drugs. In a lot of cultures, they serve a medical, not in the sense of medicine some would consider, or a social/cultural purpose for rights of passage, initiation, or simply to bring people together.
Not too long ago, the United Nations told Peru and Bolivia that chewing coca should be banned. The disregarded the fact that coca chewing has been practiced since the dawn of time in the culture, w/ little to no ill effects. Its somewhere along the lines of telling americans to stop watching baseball and eating apple pie, which even is a weak comparison and most Americans lack a strong sense of identity, particularly culturally. Personally, I think somebody at the UN should have been punched in the face for that display of disrespect. Theres a big difference some dipshit doing lines of coke so he can continue drinking himself into oblivion, than a group of peruvians getting together to chew coca like you may share a couple beers between your buddies.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aUeBPswGXADA&refer=latin_america
In the Bwiti cultures of Gabon, they have a hallucinogenic treebark called Iboga. It is not a pleasant experience and can be very disturbing. People recount ordeals of reliving every experience of causing emotional pain to someone, from that person’s perspective. The active component of the drug, Ibogaine, is currently being used to treat severe substance abuse disorders. People take it, see whatever negative aspects of themselves are causing them to use their drug of choice and gain some insight about where their life is headed if they keep using.
This is a video of a Westerner who undergoes a Bwiti initiation (it is long but awesome):
I’m not going to bring up ayahuasca or marijuana, but both drugs w/ a medical purpose, that usually get crapped on, but the point is drugs are not evil or the devil. Prescription medications are the same way.
Most of the people who die or experience negative effects of drugs use do it because it is their own fault. It doesn’t make drugs inherently evil or wrong. In fact, its stuff like this that is pushing a lot of drugs to labelled culturally as the root of all evils, when there is a lot more involved.[/quote]
wow, get a life, looter
