The Psychedelic Movement

It can be assumed that no individual will do well in every subject or area in life. Writing is a skill that many fail to possess. It is not only a form of entertainment but also the art of persuasion. In the 2015 issue of Psychology Today, Carrie Barron’s article, “Mental Illness Does Not Equal Dangerous, Mostly” explains what factors can influence crime and argues that the mentally ill are relatively benevolent. Logos and ethos are woven into Barron’s article… Though both are rhetorical devices meant to support her claim, they are not utilized to their full extent.

Prior to doing the readings and watching the in-class videos, my general stance on hallucinogens was that they should definitely be legally prohibited. My stance on this issue was formed out of my own perceptions on what I thought of them and not really based on any real reasonable information on the subject. However, after the readings and watching the videos I find myself more educated on the subject, I now find myself questioning my previous position. My understanding of what I thought of hallucinogens was based on highly subjective views, on being stereotypical, and like the Spanish, I viewed them as evil drugs in way. However, now that I’ve been exposed to the religious and exploratory side I find myself with mix feeling and on board with both views. I can no longer solely base my opinion knowing my viewpoints and facts that were misleading.

“My first planned self-experiment with LSD was a "bum trip" as one would say nowadays,” he said, adding that if the use of the drug were at present legal, which is not the case, then is would be “handled best by a ripe, stabilized person with a meaningful reason for taking LSD”.

People who go on an acid trip will experience things that they can only with this drug which is why they 'll keep using. They also may use it to escape reality and avoid life problems. Frequent or even just one use of this drug can result in

Upon reading Gore Vidals "Case for Legalizing Marijuana" one may wonder why drugs are not legal in the United States of America. Afterall, several valid reasonings were made throughout the article. There is a demand for drugs and many people are supplying them, while also making a small fortune. If drugs were made legal and sold for high prices, their market would decrease because many people would not be able to afford them. Most people involved in the drug world do not know the consequences of that which they consume. If drugs were labeled with the affects that they have, it is likely that people would turn away from them. However, it would be the users choice to continue drug use if they wished. People are simpily uneduacated about the realtites of drug use. Sometimes drugs can be benifical to ones health but they can also be deadly. If there was an open market for drugs and Americans’ were educated on the effects drugs can have on their bodies, the monopoly for drugs would rapidly decrease.

The psychoactive revolution, a term coined by David Courtwright, in his novel, Forces of Habit: Drugs and the Making of the Modern World, refers to the production, exchange, and consumption of psychoactive substances. They were at the core of the expansion westward and the new colonization of the Americas, and eventually became an enabling condition of modern times primarily at the start of the industrial revolution. (2)

I. I know most of you in here either know someone, or have heard of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Maybe you’ve had family who has gone to war, or you have been in a bad car accident a few years back.

3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine better known as MDMA or by its street name of ecstasy or Molly is a man-made, psychoactive drug that is mainly used now days by young “ravers” to get high and have hallucinogen effects. It makes one feel that they have increased energy, exhilaration and emotional warmth. This drug highly distortions ones senses and time perception. Today I will demonstration to you the effects that MDMA have on ones Neurophysiology, behavior and how greatly harmful it may be on ones body.

The hippie movement was what brought this hidden drug to the world. During the sixties when the era of love and peace prospered, Lucy made her first entrance to the world. Millions tried the chemical and experienced a “release from reality” a new way to experience freedom at its purest; freedom of thought and expression. However, the Manson murders quickly cast a dark shadow over LSD as it was associated with them and the hippie movement. The Manson murders brought an end to the hippie movement and LSD alike (Revolution Blues, Horning). With the fear Charles Manson and his associates, the general public quickly moved away from the hippie ideals; sudden fears brought an end to the era of peace and prosperity. The generations that grew up in the seventies to nineties grew up in a time where Charles Manson, cults, and murderers were all the result of illegal drug usage. In “The War On Drugs” Dickinson talks about how “the war” served to only increase the fear, the risk, the cost, and the punishment. Stated that the forty-five-year long war on drugs, that it has been a complete failure only spreading fear, unjust punishment, and an increase in “felons”; citing President Obama’s speech on the war on drugs (The War on Drugs, Dickinson). With fear of LSD becoming more common; the average users

Psychologist William Richards has been carrying research into the potential for psychedelic drugs to be used therapeutically, and his findings have promising results when treating anxiety, PTSD, and addiction. His speciality is the psychology of mysticism and religion, and the application of therapy involves preparing patients for a high dose of psilocybin, guiding them as they have a “really transformative experience,” and then helping them integrate that into their lives. Richards and his colleagues have repeated their results so reliably that they can induce specific experiences with certain doses and stimuli, and they claim to have empirically proven Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious. Because psychedelics are classified as schedule I

People have used substances throughout history. Drug use and abuse can be caused for a variety of reasons. It’s been intertwined in our “rituals, religions and social functions throughout history” (Stevens & Smith, pg. 4). When a drug

“Turn on, tune in, drop out.” (Cite) Psychologist Timothy Leary made this hypnotic phrase popular during the 1960s. Having many ways of perceiving it, the majority of the people at the time viewed it as a creative slogan for taking psychedelics. These psychedelics were mind-altering drugs such as LSD, mescaline, or psilocybin mushrooms. The youth’s curiosity and desire for expanding your consciousness made the use of these drugs increasingly popular. The result was that this phrase was echoed among thousands emerging into the psychedelic rock era. An era bombarded with cold wars, racial discrimination, and social turbulence that tossed and turned eventually developing a new way of bringing people together through experimentation with drugs and music.

In the Book Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, Eliade explains to the reader what shamanism is according to his findings, and research. Shamanism does not have a set definition, it is a combination of religions and practices. Although, Eliade does give a safe definition of Shamanism, "a first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous will be: shamanism=technique of ecstasy." The reason behind this definition is due to the idea that a shaman goes into a different realm or world while under the effects of ecstasy. It is during this time that he is able to accomplish healing, among other abilities. Shamanism involves magic-like powers, where he is able to leave his soul to the heavens or the underworld.

*****Abuse of the drug LSD became a huge part in the in the United States government putting restrictions on the amount of research and experiments that could be done to find out more about the helping affects. Some scientists still continued to research and test the affects of LSD under very close supervision.

The document “Altered States of Consciousness in North American Indian Ceremonials” by Wolfgang G. Jilek, explores the theme of religion as a mode of knowledge by examining two rituals of the Native American Sioux and Salish Tribes, the Sun Dance, and the Spirit Dance. In this document, beginning with the Salish Spirit Dance, Jilek analyzes the significance of each dance, arguing that the Native Americans perform these dances to experience sensations from religious ecstasy, or from spirits, ancestors, or deities (Jilek, 326). Essentially, the Native Americans believed that by performing these dances, after undergoing several trials, they would receive a dream or message from these entities (335). One example of this is when Jilek examines