by Ballard Quass, the Drug War Philosopher

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 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 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? 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.

Next essay: Getting off antidepressants in the age of the drug war

Previous essay: Solquinox sounded great, until I found out I wasn't invited

I looked up the company: it's all about the damn stock market and money. The FDA outlaws LSD until we remove all the euphoria and the visions. That's ideology, not science. Just relegalize drugs and stop telling me how much ecstasy and insight I can have in my life!!

Two of the biggest promoters of the psychedelic renaissance shuffle their feet when you ask them about substance prohibition. Michael Pollan and Rick Strassman just don't get it: prohibition kills.

The DEA outlawed MDMA in 1985, thereby depriving soldiers of a godsend treatment for PTSD. Apparently, the DEA staff slept well at night in the early 2000s as American soldiers were having their lives destroyed by IEDs.

The scheduling system is a huge lie designed to give an aura of "science" to America's colonialist disdain for indigenous medicines, from opium, to coca, to shrooms.

When the FDA tells us in effect that MDMA is too dangerous to be used to prevent school shootings and to help bring about world peace, they are making political judgments, not scientific ones.

I hated the show "The Apprentice," because it taught a cynical and hate-filled lesson about the proper way to "get ahead" in the world. I saw Trump as a menace back then, long before he started declaring that American elections were corrupt before the very first vote was cast!

A law proposed in Colorado in February 2024 would have criminalized positive talk about drugs online. What? The world is on the brink of nuclear war because of hate-driven politics, and I can be arrested for singing the praises of empathogens?

There would be almost no recidivism for those trying to get off drugs if all drugs were legal. Then we could use a vast variety of drugs to get us through those few hours of late-night angst that are the bane of the recidivist.

John Halpern wrote a book about opium, subtitled "the ancient flower that poisoned our world." What nonsense! Bad laws and ignorance poison our world, NOT FLOWERS!

Americans are far more fearful of psychoactive drugs than is warranted by either anecdote or history. We require 100% safety before we will re-legalize any "drug" -- which is a safety standard that we do not enforce for any other risky activity on earth.

Buy the Drug War Comic Book by the Drug War Philosopher Brian Quass, featuring 150 hilarious op-ed pics about America's disgraceful war on Americans