The depressing thing about reading Thomas Szasz1 today is that it makes me think as follows: If such an intelligent man can so clearly present the facts of the case and not succeed in changing mainstream minds, what chance do I have as a relative dimwit, a thoroughly "unconnected" dimwit at that? For I am sorry to say that the situation since Szasz's time has gotten worse when it comes to America's drug attitudes, not better. This is obvious given the bizarre reaction of pundits of all stripes to the case of Claire Brosseau, the depressed Canadian who is fighting for her right to assisted suicide.2 Had Szasz been around today, he would surely be pointing out the fact that Claire's morbid activism must be seen in light of drug prohibition, which outlaws all the drugs that could cheer Claire up in a trice! The state first outlaws Claire's right to heal, and now Claire demands that the same state help her to die BECAUSE of the depression that the state thus brought about! Claire should be fighting to end drug prohibition which outlaws her right to heal, not arguing for a new recherché right to have the state help her to die!
In the 2015 movie "No Escape," the only place that was safe from anti-American hysteria was an opium den. How ironic that the U.S. forced Iran to outlaw opium.
Despite the 50 year-long war on drugs, the global cocaine supply has grown by 400%. --Elma Mrkonjic
It is a truism to say that we cannot change the world and that therefore we have to change ourselves -- but the drug war outlaws even this latter option.
Drug prohibition has resulted in hundreds of thousands of completely unnecessary deaths thanks to totally preventable drug overdoses!
There are no merely recreational drugs. All drugs that elate have obvious potential uses for the depressed.
My approach to withdrawal: incrementally reduce daily doses over 6 months, or even a year, meanwhile using all the legal entheogens and psychedelics that you can find in a way likely to boost your endurance and "sense of purpose" to make withdrawal successful.
All drugs have potential positive uses for somebody, at some dose, in some circumstance, alone or in combination. To decide in advance that a drug is completely useless is an offense to reason and to human liberty.
As great as it is, "Synthetic Panics" by Philip Jenkins was only tolerated by academia because it did not mention drugs in the title and it contains no explicit opinions about drugs. As a result, many drug law reformers still don't know the book exists.
The confusion arises because materialists insist that every psychological problem is actually a physical problem, hence the disease-mongering of the DSM. This is antithetical to the shamanic approach, which sees people holistically, as people, not patients.
In a sane world, we would learn to strategically fight drugs with drugs.
(up)