Blackwater joins the war on drugs

Sean, what a comment! I guess I don't have that much inspiration currently - generally I haven't yet been able to "produce" a comment that long despite loving to use language (both in its spoken and written form). ;) But I enjoy talking about this war, it's also an incredibly bothering topic for me, so I'll just leave a few comments.
On the general nature of the war: my favorite argument is usually that if we ban "dangerous substances", why is mountain climbing and skiing allowed? Skiing is actually my favorite sport for practising, I have of course fallen on slopes many times, but have never had an accident while skiing. But still it is dangerous; today, after several years, I'm still moved by the death of the French skier Regine Cavagnoud.
The whole cultural system accepts the idea that some subjects may be protected against their will. I believe women are still such subjects - women are nowadays allowed to practise ski jumping, but not to participate in ski flying (jumping on the largest hills, with distances over 200 meters possible), another example: a woman participating in a cliff diving competition was explicitly banned "for her own safety". In the same way drug prohibition means protection against the subject's will.
Just see - this is not a "War on Drugs", it's a war for your mind! The State sees itself authorized (by whom?...) to mobilize all its police forces - so that you don't get to see something that "doesn't exist"! How is it possible? How happens nobody sees it as injustice, a waste of time and money and utter idiocy - that billions of dollars are being spent just to keep people from being in an "altered state"!! I'm not sure if there is such an expression in English, I know it from my native Polish - "to fire a cannon at a mosquito". But it stresses rather the ridiculous side of such efforts, and the War on Consciousness is actually deeply tragic. I will never understand it.
A comment on drug use perceived/experienced as "frivolous": don't you think it's this very war which made something that should be treated seriously - something indeed frivolous, and too often perceived this way by the users themselves? Again the case of teenagers watching "The Simpsons" on ayahuasca... Many users of psychedelics never get an access to reliable information before trying the substances - I have known too many cases of people dropping acid without really knowing what exactly does it cause. How can an honest, respectful way to use those substances be presented to them if it's, as you wrote, made a criminal offence?

Oh, and two more things. Tangential things, but fuck it, I've hogged enough space on this page now that I may as well keep going. 15 Billion dollars. Can you imagine the sort of good, restoritive behaviour which could have been enacted upon this planet and it's peoples with 15 Billion dollars of capital? That's all I can really say about that without getting very emotional... On a much brighter note, to Scotto, if you by chance read this comment: Thank you for uploading the Tripside stuff to YouTube, this has been my first exposure to that material and it's really kept me laughing, so thanks for sharing, yet again!

This comment might meander...but then, no one is really obligated to read on, anyway. I feel that this situation will get worse and worse and worse until people wake up to the real issues, on both sides of the problem. I mean to say, until people realize the truth about Altered States and the truth about the Drug War...and I'm not putting any label on those "truths", simply saying that it is NOT where we're at now. Some people are making solid definitions that are based on morality, reasoning and experience (which is the apex of importance in this case, and so often the crux of misunderstanding...this brings forth my "favorite" adjunct to the Drug War: people who've never had any experience with Altered States, labeling the nature and the safety of these states...), but the overarching social trends and this "War on Drugs" we find ourselves within seems to be pretty mindless, fear based and engendered by controlling and manipulative individuals/organizations. I live in Canada, and like most Countries (I would assume all Countries which impose such Drug Laws wear this fa??ade...), my Government assumes to tell me that the Drug Laws they impose are STRICTLY for my safety. They have only my best interests in mind, and they wouldn't want me to expose myself to something potentially dangerous. That's very nice of them, you know? There are many daaaangerous things out there, and I just can't imagine what would happen if I were left to my own devices. If you'd like to believe that Fairy-Tale and accept that this is what they truly design when contemplating Drug Scheduling, then we're faced with a very serious inconsistency. It's so obvious that I'm sure we've all recognized it, but it's such a great example of the true intentions, and therefore the rhetorical and practical hypocrisy, behind Drug Scheduling and Governmental control of a Populations exposure to Altered States that I have to bring it up. If our safety is of the utmost import, why can I so readily walk to any Gas Station, Corner Store, Supermarket and any other variety of places, and buy a 25 pack of pre-rolled, chemically-treated Tobacco cigarettes? I know this is a really touchy subject, and I'm not talking about removing any persons "right" to buy a pack of cigarettes, or to access the plants and plant products (or chemical substances, or what-have-you, you know fill in the blank, haha) of their choice, I'm just talking about the skin-and-bones logic behind the fact that Tobacco, in it's current market offering of the "Machine Processed Cigarette" is legal and taxed, whereas MANY substances which have measurably lower toxicity and health risks (and when I say measurably, I really mean that this isn't even the same game we're playing...the sort of health risks associated with cigarettes are so direct and so Bodily...) are not only Scheduled, but sought out and destroyed, their advocates either forced into hiding their passion or paying for it by serving out time in Prison. So no matter what you want to say about the health risks of other plants and substances, there is this very obvious contradiction of Tobacco being so studied and well understood as being toxic and damaging yet still being legal...especially when you compare that sort of toxicity with some of the plants or substances which are Scheduled.

Take Psilocybin mushrooms, for instance. By and large the toxicity of Psilocybin mushrooms, and certainly the toxicity of Psilocybin or Psilocin themselves, is really non-existent. What I mean is that the body load, the damage induced by processing the chemicals and the long term stress on your system (not to mention the LACK of Cancer causing agents...) is astronomically lower with Psilocybin mushrooms than with Tobacco. Yet if you were to endeavor, even once, to imbibe just a single Psilocybin mushroom, and even if you were filled with moral, reasonable or perhaps spiritual intention, and approached the situation with the utmost respect and openness for what the Altered State might present to you, you are invariably considered a criminal. The context is therefore not important, not whatsoever. I'm not saying this new Altered State (the example of the Psilocybin mushroom) is without dangers...what we have to admit is that everything has some potential for harm and once you acknowledge this, you invariably begin approaching things with respect. Isn't that healthier? Respect, not fear...just respect. Understanding how something might affect you, what you're opening yourself up to, and how you can go about it with the most caution and safety, if it is indeed something you must do at all...in my opinion, this attitude is miles away from one built on fear and out of habit, without personal knowledge but merely based on social pre-definition of these States and Substances. So, yes, Psilocybin surely would carry its own set of dangers, but in my strong yet hopefully humble opinion, when they are held up to the set of dangers which Tobacco (esp. in the Modern preparation) carries, the notion that these Schedules are "strictly for our safety" is truly laughable. Well, it would be if it weren't such a terrible reality, causing so much suffering. It's the most incredibly ironic situation, so much that it might be funny if it weren't so unbelievably awful and tragic. The ruling Western mentality is one dominated by the obsession with verifiable evidence, of Science (the narrow branch of scientific thought which both depends and insists on measurability and "empirical" evidence). Within this thought system, some great minds in many (especially, obviously, Medical) fields that take up this obsession with measuring datum and performing experiments and so forth give very convincing arguments that Tobacco, especially delivered in such a convenient, easy to inhale, and chemically-treated formula, is incredibly dangerous, and DOES increase the likelihood of Cancer and does degenerate your body and does cause an incredibly strong, physical, mental, and I would certainly argue social/cultural addiction. So...you know, it's all so mind baffling that I feel myself losing steam, just thinking about this. All that I can hold on to is that it's simply not possible that the Government is only looking out for my best interests. If that were true, hey, maybe they still wouldn't let me access some of the things I would like to be able to access safely and legally, and that's not good news, but IF it were true then we wouldn't see this inequity that we clearly (or at least I clearly) do see. I don't want Tobacco to be struck down, made illegal and removed from the hands of people. I want honesty, and I think that's all that we can hope for. This Drug War is nothing but suppression, we have yet to deal with the true nature and importance of Altered States in our Modern, "civilized" culture and we externalize our suppression of these issues by fighting against them physically...but that will never, ever make this go away. That's not where the problem is; it's not in the plants or the substances themselves. The problem is the attitudes that surround them, the contexts which they have been forced into by legislation, historical misconception (often judgments about other cultures integration of and focus upon Altered States have been made through Racist, Colonial, Superiority Complex based perspectives) and social propaganda which is as unflagging as the outward violent attempts at drug and populace control which we label "The Drug War".

The way I often rationalize this situation is to look at our culture as a comprehensive Being, and therefore to envision the Drug War as an element or a consequence of that Being and it's actions and values. This helps me to fathom how we can attempt to understand the Drug War and what we're doing by enacting these cultural values (or perhaps simply allowing them to be enacted upon us, either way...). For one thing, we can then assume that this is not something frivolous. If the experience of Altered States were something frivolous, it would not have the sort of historical ties with Humanity and the type of broad social currency which it has and does, all across the World and throughout Time. So whether it's something good, bad, or neutral, it is not merely an inconsequential thing...we should be examining it seriously, no matter what our personal opinions. This war is not a serious examination, it is, as I said, a form of suppression. With the Being analogy of culture then this Drug War could actually be seen as a type of repression of Shadow Material. Instead of confronting Altered States we combat them, so we don't have to acknowledge them and start looking at the questions and complications that these states suggest. Therefore, like Shadow Material, the problem of Altered States will not disappear with repression, rather it will gain weight and ferocity in the depths of the it's dark exile, continually growing and becoming expressed with more violence and fear until it is finally acknowledged, and dealt with rationally and honestly. So, yes, it can get worse. It most likely will get worse...but the possibility is there that someday maybe enough people will open themselves up to searching for what is honest and truly felt rather than simply accepting what is, upon inspection, nothing but a maniacal suppression of an inevitable conflict. Sorry this was such a prolonged comment, and thank you to anyone who has read this far. We find hope in each other, for we are not mad to think there might be a better way of living, and nor are we alone.