Fear of the Unknown

Intro
Part One was written on June 3rd before my first shroom trip, and part two was on June 4th, after the trip, while I was in Amsterdam. It was not transcribed until now. I felt that it woud be appropriate since it requires no research and I am almost too busy to read any of the major news sources.

Part One
Americans know Amsterdam for their drug reputation. Since marijuana have been all but legalized (they consider it tolerated) in Amsterdam, Americans believe that it is a country of "anything goes." This is far from the truth.

Amsterdam treats substances like America treats cigarettes. You must be 18 to enter a coffeehouse -- the places where one can buy and use pot as well as a normal energy coffeehouse -- or a headshop/smartshop: where one can just buy shrooms, pot, energy, and other mild chemicals. Amsterdam does have its limits though. LSD, Coke, and other hard drugs are illegal, as is ecstasy and ephedra (rave drugs).

I have to believe people have died from the last two, hence the banning in Amsterdam as well as America. They might have addictive properties, but the real problem is dehydration. One can die from dehydration, or other conditions, caused by/combined with these drugs. In any case, Amsertdam's take on drugs makes more sense than America's take on them.

I tend to believe biased documentaries like Grass where they report that the USA banned marijuana for political/control reasons. They were controlling the minorities and restricting their integration with the young and rebellious with the ban. That the government has repeatedly ignored studies that marijuana is safer than tobacco speaks more about our lobbyists than anything else. Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, and other major tobacco companies fear a new product would cut into their profit margin, even if they produced it.

Perhaps it is that I grew up near, and developed in (college years) Ann Arbor, where you can smoke cheaper than you can drink (in terms of legal fines), but I am firmly pro-marijuana. Not even for just medical uses either.

Part Two
After 3 days in Amsterdam, with one shroom trip under my belt, I can safely ask, "What's the big fucking deal bitch?" Drugs like shrooms and LSD and pot are less likely to be addictive than tobacco, and way less likely to cause crime than alcohol. If most of America wasn't so scared of what they don't know, we'd be a much happier culture. I'll admit, hard drugs like heroin and cocaine, which have statistically caused intense addictions, should be illegal because they do lead to crime to get it. However, in Amsterdam, where a dose of shrooms is 12-20 Euros, and a trip lasts 4-6 hours, the drugs lead more to introspection and people standing or sitting around looking at nothing...but the drugs aren't addictive.

Ed's note
I have taken E twice since I wrote this entry. Once was for medical study, which I got paid to do it, legally. The other was in the desert which is my annual trip. I took a small dose of shrooms in the desert, but not because I needed to. Drugs aren't for everybody, but it shouldn't be a jailable crime for those who would like to try them.