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Ripple effects of Dutch mushroom ban

As the Dutch rocket toward their unhappy mushroom ban, a recent Time update offers speculation as to what might take the place of "paddos," as they're called, in the hearts and bodies of consciousness-expanding thrill seekers. LSD use, for instance, might come back into style:

Rogier Bos, speaking for the expert body that advised the minister on the issue, agrees. "If these consumers switch back to LSD, public health will suffer." The synthetic hallucinogen, which has been banned since 1966, is usually sold as a piece of impregnated paper, and thus easier to hide and trade than the bulky mushrooms.

LSD is not the only drug set to benefit from a paddo ban. Some experts predict that San Pedro, a cactus of the Andes, could fill some of the hallucinogenic void in the wake of the mushroom ban. And a range of other flora remains off the radar, and thus not prohibited, according to Bos. "There are so many blossoms or cacti that can be tried," he says. "We can't even scientifically say if these products cause a hallucinogenic effect, let alone what the health risks may be."

Hmm, you mean banning a psychoactive substance isn't going to result in a totally and constantly sober population? I'm stunned, nay, shocked.

Posted By Scotto at 2007-11-15 10:35:58 permalink | comments
Tags: mushrooms amsterdam netherlands
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sean : 2007-11-18 17:20:37
I'd have to say I agree with you Nowhere Girl, and perhaps I might even suggest taking this analysis a step further. I see this a lot these days, especially all over the internet (with certain on-line vendors of "Ethnobotanicals" being a prime perpetuator of this attitude): the notion that certain drugs/states are essentially "interchangeable". Now, feel free to disagree with me here (and in fact, I'm quite interested to know how other people feel about this, so I hope this gets SOME response) but I think this is one of the saddest, most disrespectful (and therefore dangerous) attitudes that is associated with this "Drug Culture", and what's worse is it seems to be being propagated from the inside out. The idea that a state can be interchangeable with another state says a few things to me. First of all, it says that people are not so much interested in discovering the unique character of a plant, chemical, etc. and it's associated state, but are actually more interested in the aspects which are already familiar to them. You know, getting f*cked up, to put it bluntly. This seems to suggest that people (and I'm using this term broadly, obviously not implying the whole culture but rather a section of it) are embracing an attitude of seeking a state simply because it is an altered state, rather than because of it's unique, undoubtedly important, nature. Maybe there's nothing wrong with this, maybe I'm just being a prude...but from my perspective it really does seem to present a problem. In my mind, Salvia is about as far from being "LSD in plant form" as any other drug that's NOT LSD, yet I see this comparison endlessly. To me, it's the logic of ignorance, of people who have not had the first hand experience of altered states and don't pick up on how individual and unique these experiences are. Hell, you can easily take the same substance, say Psilocybin Mushrooms, two days in a row in the exact same physical surroundings, at the exact same dosage levels (wearing the same clothes, even!!) and still have totally unique, and vastly different, experiences each time. We have to stop looking for the "Legal Cannabis" and the "safe, legal high" because they are merely bastardizations, commercialized and packaged in a highly glossy, shallow sort of way, of plants which are already existent and don't need to be changed in any way...we simply need to change our attitude towards them. I'm not saying that bringing new plants/states into the picture is a bad thing, this is a big big world and we should be exploring it and all of its well-kept secrets with vigor...yet trying to fit a new plant into the niche which has been created by another plant (now outlawed by our "duly elected representatives") is somewhat silly, and it's an attitude which mirrors the sort of commercial, market-based mentality of the rest of our culture. Something might not sell well for it's unique qualities, since it does not have the infamy of being illegal or the privilege of being ubiquitously recognized by this "Drug Culture", but if you slap a sticker on it that says "Legal Cannabis Replacement", you are bound to pique somebody's interest. The largest issue I see with these attitudes is that they are the attitudes of the "Dominator Culture", which has taken our freedom to explore our world and our mind (upon pain of imprisonment), and the last place I EVER hoped to find those attitudes was within the magical, incredible and promising world which is altered states of consciousness.
Nowhere Girl : 2007-11-17 07:01:30
Anyway, I don't think salvia is a good replacement for mushrooms, nor would mushrooms be a good replacement for salvia. The effects of those two substances are just too different. By the way, salvia is legally available in Amsterdam... I don't think it's likely to be banned, a short trip makes it less likely that the person trying it will do something silly.
The mushroom ban shows that even the Netherlands are still rooted in the prohibitionist logic - the primary assumption that the state may control people's state of mind rather than teaching them how to avoid harm. But it's not the same as US-style prohibition, they don't seem to shiver at the very thought that someone could alter his or her mental state.
sean : 2007-11-15 22:18:46
Oh, there is a Salvia explosion all right. It's the explosion of your mind and body, when altered on Salvia. Salvia divinorum is much too demanding for those with a mind towards simply "having a good time", in my opinion. This plant deserves respect and careful observation, so I really hope it doesn't merely start filling the void of those in need of a party drug. Not that there's anything wrong with seeking a party drug every now and then, but this plant simply isn't it.
silas : 2007-11-15 16:13:34
Somehow I doubt there'll be a salvia explosion. Despite what the mass media here says, there hasn't really been an explosion. Joe Tripper just doesn't seem to like it very much.
DJVelveteen : 2007-11-15 12:18:43
Here comes the salvia explosion...

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