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 12 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.
American businesses judge people, not by the color of their skin but by the contents of their digestive systems.
The press is having a field day with the Matthew Perry story. They love to have a nice occasion to demonize drugs. I wonder how many decades must pass before they realize that people are killed by ignorance and a corrupted drug supply, not by the drugs themselves.
If I want to use the kind of drugs that have inspired entire religions, fight depression, or follow up on the research of William James into altered states, I should not have to live in fear of the DEA crashing down my door and shouting: "GO! GO! GO!"
The Drug War is based on a huge number of misconceptions and prejudices. Obviously it's about power and racism too. It's all of the above. But every time I don't mention one specifically, someone makes out that I'm a moron. Gotta love Twitter.
Drug prohibition has resulted in hundreds of thousands of completely unnecessary deaths thanks to totally preventable drug overdoses!
So he writes about the mindset of the deeply depressed, reifying the condition as if it were some great "type" inevitably to be encountered in humanity. No. It's the "type" to be found in a post-Christian society that has turned up its scientific nose at psychoactive medicine.
Drug-designing chemists have no expertise in deciding what constitutes a cure for depression. As Schopenhauer wrote:
"The mere study of chemistry qualifies a man to become an apothecary, but not a philosopher."
"They have called thee Soma-lover: here is the pressed juice. Drink thereof for rapture." -Rig Veda
(There would be no Hindu religion today had the drug war been in effect in the Punjab 3,500 years ago.)
Drug warriors have taught us that honesty about drugs encourages drug use. Nonsense! That's just their way of suppressing free speech about drugs. Americans are not babies, they can handle the truth -- or if they cannot, they need education, not prohibition.
Drug testing should flag impairment only. Any other use is a flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment.
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