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Take this Drug Test

to find out why drug prohibition is the outlawing of religion

by Brian Ballard Quass, the Drug War Philosopher

April 27, 2025



Drug prohibition is the outlawing of religion. This is clear from the fact that many reports of drug-use are indistinguishable from experiences of religious epiphanies.


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To prove this to yourself, take the following test. Decide which of the following quotations are drug user reports from the book "Pihkal" by chemist Alexander Shulgin1 and which are reports of religious epiphanies cited in "The Varieties of Religious Experience" by psychologist William James2.


1) "I have the sense of a presence, strong, and at the same time soothing, which hovers over me. Sometimes it seems to enwrap me with sustaining arms."

2) "At one point I went out back and strolled along to find a place to worship. I had a profound sense of the Presence and great love and gratitude for the place, the people, and the activities taking place."

3) "I thought that I was near death; when, suddenly, my soul became aware of God, who was manifestly dealing with me, handling me, so to speak, in an intense personal present reality. I felt him streaming in like light upon me."

4) "I began to become aware of a point, a brilliant white light, that seemed to be where God was entering, and it was inconceivably wonderful to perceive it and to be close to it. One wished for it to approach with all one's heart."

5) "I felt a love to all mankind, wholly peculiar in its strength and sweetness, far beyond all that I had ever felt before. The power of that love seemed inexpressible."

6) "I am experiencing more deeply than ever before the importance of acknowledging and deeply honoring each human being. And I was able to go through and resolve some judgments with particular persons."

Click here to check your answers.

Of course, one does not really need such a test to determine that drug prohibition is the outlawing of religion. They have only to reflect that the Hindu religion owes its very existence to the use of a drug that inspired and elated3, from which it is blazingly clear that it is the outlawing of the religious impulse itself when we outlaw drugs that inspire and elate.


ANSWERS: Quotes 1, 3, and 5 are descriptions of religious epiphanies as cited in "The Varieties of Religious Experience" by William James4. Quotes 2, 4 and 6 are drug user reports that are quoted in "Pihkal" by Alexander Shulgin5.












Notes:

1: Shulgin, Alexander T, and Ann Shulgin. 2019. Pihkal : A Chemical Love Story. Berkeley, Ca: Transform Press. (up)
2: “The Varieties of Religious Experience : William James : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive.” 2021. Internet Archive. 2021. https://archive.org/details/the-varieties-of-religious-experience_202109. (up)
3: How the Drug War Outlaws Religion DWP (up)
4: “The Varieties of Religious Experience : William James : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive.” 2021. Internet Archive. 2021. https://archive.org/details/the-varieties-of-religious-experience_202109. (up)
5: Shulgin, Alexander T, and Ann Shulgin. 2019. Pihkal : A Chemical Love Story. Berkeley, Ca: Transform Press. (up)




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Ten Tweets

against the hateful war on US




Someone tweeted that fears about a Christian Science theocracy are "baseless." Tell that to my uncle who was lobotomized because they outlawed meds that could cheer him up -- tell that to myself, a chronic depressive who could be cheered up in an instant with outlawed meds.

Imagine a world in which we were told about both the potential benefits AND the potential harms of drugs like cocaine and opium.

Typical materialist protocol. Take all the "wonder" out of the drug and sell it as a one-size-fits all "reductionist" cure for anxiety. Notice that they refer to hallucinations and euphoria as "adverse effects." What next? Communion wine with the religion taken out of it?

We should start taking names. All politicians and government officials who work to keep godsends like psilocybin from the public should be held to account for crimes against humanity when the drug war finally ends.

Scientists are censored as to what they can study thanks to drug law. Instead of protesting that outrage, they lend a false scientific veneer to those laws via their materialist obsession with reductionism, which blinds them to the obvious godsend effects of outlawed substances.

It's always wrong to demonize drugs in the abstract. That's anti-scientific. It begs so many questions and leaves suffering pain patients (and others) high and dry. No substance is bad in and of itself.

The government causes problems for those who are habituated to certain drugs. Then they claim that these problems are symptoms of an illness. Then folks like Gabriel Mate come forth to find the "hidden pain" in "addicts." It's one big morality play created by drug laws.

The DEA is still saying that psilocybin has no medical uses and is addictive. They should be put on trial for crimes against humanity for using such lies to keep people from using the gifts of Mother Nature.

Aleister Crowley actually TRIED to get addicted to drugs and found he could not. These things are not inevitable. The fact that there are town drunkards does not mean that we should outlaw alcohol.

Did the Vedic People have a substance disorder because they wanted to drink enough soma to see religious realities?


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






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

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