introduction to the Drug War Philosopher website at abolishthedea.com orange rss icon with stylized radio waves orange rss icon with stylized radio waves label reading 'add as a preferred source on Google' bird icon for twitter bird icon for twitter


back navigation arrow forward navigation arrow


My First Journey on Psilocybin

presented in the convenient form of a presidential news conference

by Brian Ballard Quass, the Drug War Philosopher

July 15, 2024



I'll just make a brief statement and then I'll take questions. As some of you might know, I flew out to Oregon last week to receive psilocybin treatments with the help of Sammy Kahuk at the Psilocybin Center in Salem. The good news is, the medicine worked great for me for the first two days. The bad news is, I ran into limitations in my psychedelic experience thanks to the fact that I am taking two Big Pharma drugs. Fortunately, however, I also discovered benefits to psilocybin use that were noticeable even after I had left the center. That is, I left the Psilocybin Center feeling far more interested in the world around me than I have in years. And this, remember, in spite of the muted nature of my experience thanks to my daily use of Big Pharma meds. So I'm psyched now about using such meds to get off of my current Big Pharma 1 2 drugs, after which, by the way, I look forward to trying ayahuasca, as sort of a gift to myself for persevering.


Hey! Mr. President. Are you thinking of moving to Oregon?



Yes, it is a distinct possibility.


How distinct?


Let's just say I'm already looking for plane tickets for August of this year.


To Salem?


To Salem.


And leave your house on the hill with a great view of the resort valley and lake?


Well, I've always felt that attitude is what matters. I'd rather truly appreciate a humble life in Oregon than be unable to appreciate a fancy life in Virginia.


And let me get this straight: you'd never submit to a drug test, right?


Never. Unless, of course, the drug test was fair and they gave you high points for using substances like coca and opium 3 wisely. If things were done by rights, I should get excellent marks for all my drug use! I've always insisted that I only use drugs that help me live life honorably while yet thinking as creatively as possible all the time and silencing those deadly inner voices within what keep you from living large in front of la gente, dost thou dig? I'm not like those (if you'll forgive me) rich yuppies what goes to San Jose del Pacifico to have a once-in-a-lifetime experiencing mushrooms. I want to leverage the power of psilocybin to the max in my life so that I can enjoy life as much as possible and learn from it, till death do I do part, which, come on folks, I'm 65 now: it's not like I'm going to live to 100. But if I do, I want the door to the goodie basket to be open 24-7 when it comes to my mental life, and that's, of course, a freedom that Drug Warriors will never recognize -- and my upcoming move to Oregon is to move to that spot in the country where the citizenry is (as like as not) to appreciate my views on these topics, namely the evil of the Drug War and the wonder of psilocybin.


And what about MDMA 4 ? Didn't Sammy told you that it will be available for use in Oregon within a couple of years?


I fancy he rather did at that. It's this progressive mindset that makes me want to move to Oregon, especially in this age wherein everything seems to be political. But don't get me wrong: the idea that Mother Nature should be free is not some progressive fanaticism, it is the way that people have always lived until the intolerant show up and try to determine how much you're allowed to think and feel in life.





Notes:

1: Seife, Charles. 2012. “Is Drug Research Trustworthy?” Scientific American 307 (6): 56–63. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1212-56. (up)
2: LaMattina, John. n.d. “Why Is Biopharma Paying 75% of the FDA’s Drug Division Budget?” Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2022/09/22/why-is-biopharma-paying-75-of-the-fdas-drug-division-budget/. (up)
3: The Truth About Opium by William H. Brereton DWP (up)
4: How the Drug War killed Leah Betts DWP (up)








Ten Tweets

against the hateful war on US




Someone should stand outside Jefferson's estate and hand out leaflets describing the DEA's 1987 raid on Monticello to confiscate poppy plants. That raid was against everything Jefferson stood for. The TJ Foundation DISHONORED JEFFERSON and their visitors should know that!

First we outlaw all drugs that could help; then we complain that some people have 'TREATMENT-RESISTANT DEPRESSION'. What? No. What they really "have" is an inability to thrive because of our idiotic drug laws. 3:51 PM · Jul 15, 2024

Trump supports the drug war and Big Pharma: the two forces that have turned me into a patient for life with dependence-causing antidepressants. Big Pharma makes the pills, and the drug war outlaws all viable alternatives.

We've got to take the fight TO the drug warriors by starting to hold them legally responsible for having spread "Big Lies" about "drugs." Anyone involved in producing the "brain frying" PSA of the 1980s should be put on trial for willfully spreading a toxic lie.

The first step in harm reduction is to re-legalize mother nature's medicines. Then hundreds of millions of people will no longer suffer in silence for want of godsend medicines... for depression, for pain, for anxiety, for religious doubts... you name it.

Drug warriors aren't just deciding for us about drugs. They're telling us that we no longer need Coleridge poems, Lovecraft stories, Robin Williams, Sherlock Holmes, or the soma-inspired Hindu religion.

I can't believe that no one at UVA is bothered by the DEA's 1987 raid on Monticello. It was, after all, a sort of coup against the Natural Law upon which Jefferson had founded America, asserting as it did the government's right to outlaw Mother Nature.

His answer to political opposition is: "Lock them up!" That's Nazi speak, not American democracy.

"Users" can be kept out of the workforce by the extrajudicial process of drug testing; they can have their baby taken from them, their house, their property -- all because they do not share the intoxiphobic attitude of America.

Antidepressants might be fine in a world where drugs were legal. Then it would actually be possible to get off them by using drugs that have inspired entire religions. In the age of prohibition, however, an antidepressant prescription is usually a life sentence.


Click here to see All Tweets against the hateful War on Us






Next essay:
Previous essay:


No cookies, no ads.


Attention, Teachers and Students: Read an essay a day by the Drug War Philosopher and then discuss... while it's still legal to do so!

The Partnership for a Death Free America is a proud sponsor of The Drug War Philosopher website @ abolishthedea.com. Updated daily.

Copyright 2025, Brian Ballard Quass Contact: quass@quass.com

tombstone for American Democracy, 1776-2024, RIP (up)