Chocolate is a Drug Too

I've given great thought to the meaning of this blog, and I'm deciding to stick to my guns on this one. America is leading a dangerous "war on drugs" campaign which will only ruin civil liberties and corrupt the fabric of society, but I'll get more into that later.

Eventually, this blog will focus more specifically on various theories within the field of cognitive sciences. This blog is named synthetic_universe for a reason...

I recently became a member of my local public library. These places are simply amazing to me. Anyone can learn about anything for free in today's modern public library. It's the last vestige of a free eduction, I say! My first three borrowed books were a biography of Carl Sagan, an anthropological translation of Hopi culture and mythology, and finally, a text entitled "From Chocolate to Morphine: Everything You Need to Know About Mind-Altering Drugs" by Andrew Weil, M.D. and Winifred Rosen (revised and updated). Pretty cool, huh?

The authors make it clear that they do not advocate the use of drugs. They also make it clear that they are presenting the most qualified facts about modern drug use and it's history within society. They are honest about the information they present, and much of it adds weight to the idea that America is doing "the drug thing" the wrong way. I invite anyone to read this book, or even others like it because there are many. The facts all too often correlate. Truths are not being heard.

For the sake of brevity I'll keep this short.

The Things I Learned From This Book (and maybe already knew):

1-Cigarettes are the most addictive drug of all. This was actually a surprise to me. They made their point by saying that nicotine is both highly addictive and fatally poisonous. According to them, one cigar, left overnight in a cup of water, will produce enough nicotine poison to kill three men. Most of the nicotine is burned off during use, though, the most addictive vehicle of use for tabocco is the cigarette because it represents an easy "delivery" into the blood stream. This makes cigarettes more addictive than heroine.

2-Alcohol is the most dangerous drug of all. The authors list several reasons to back this up, but I don't think I need to do that here. Just think about it. Alcohol related deaths occur way too frequently in this country; alcohol abuse and alcoholism can be found in any neighborhood. The truth is, we've grown desensitized to this phenomenon. Drug Corporations push their products using sexy women and images of fun. The big tobacco pushers got the legal spotlight, why not the beer guy?

3- Cocaine, heroine, opiates, yes, they're dangerous. But the authors, time and time again, point out that the biggest problem with drug abuse is that drug use is criminalized. Our legal system pushes these not-really-all-that-dangerous substances into underground markets where it gets refined, cut and mixed, and that's when the drugs get dangerous. The authors also state that many of our "legal" medical drugs chemically derive from the natural form of the "illegal" ones like opiates and cocaine.

4- Marijuana is the least dangerous of almost all drugs. The authors devote an entire chapter to this plant, and as it turns out, marijuana and hemp can do all kinds of useful things. The seeds are edible. So are the leaves. You can make a strong fabric out of it. On top of that, the authors include scientific evidence suggesting that the chemical ingredient THC improves blood circulation, improves glaucoma, relieves muscle tension and thus improves the lives of MS patients. I read brief testimonials from two MS patients who confimed this, and one of them said it enabled him to walk again.

Hmm. And it 's a weed. It grows anywhere...

That's why "capitalism" is afraid. There's probably more money to be had in the prosecution of marijuana possession.

5- Caffeine, chocolate, and sugar (especially high fructose corn syrup) are all drugs that we use and mostly abuse. These were all illegal at one time, and then society got real and lifted the prohibition. Now, we can't wake up without a cup of coffee.

6- The authors make a grand suggestion. Everything is a drug. Flying a kite, driving a car, rock climbing, eating chocoalte, eating anything gratifying, having sex, turning circles until you're dizzy, and on down the line it seems like our lives are a constant quest for feeling "good" and getting high.

7- Drugs have always been a part of society. The first five words in the first chapter of the book are "Drugs are here to stay." It follows, "History teaches that it is vain to hope that drugs will ever disappear and that any effort to eliminate them from society is doomed to failure." And that's just the beginning of the book, folks!

And so, my quest is confirmed.

now, the synthetic_universe stuff...