Thursday, August 31, 2017

A Logical, If Dangerous, Extrapolation

I often see marijuana legalization advocates argue that it is less harmful than alcohol, and not terribly dangerous by itself.  The evidence that it causes schizophrenia, at least for some people is persuasive enough that I no longer support legalization.  Libertarians argue that this is equally valid for all illegal drugs: "It's my body."  This is also a strong argument.  But how many of the "marijuana isn't all that bad for you" crowd are going to go for this?  8/30/17 The Hill:
California would become the first state in the nation to legalize psychedelic mushrooms if a long-shot ballot initiative passes muster with voters next year.
The measure is backed by a legalization activist who says he kicked his heroin habit with the help of a mushroom trip in Death Valley. It would exempt Californians over the age of 21 from a state law that criminalizes mushrooms containing psilocybin, the compound that gives some mushrooms psychedelic properties.
“There is a cultural fascination with mushrooms that goes really deep,” said Kevin Saunders, the activist behind the initiative. “The soccer moms are all pretty much, for lack of a better term, high now, and some of them are taking mushrooms.”...
Saunders, who is running for mayor of the small coastal community of Marina, said he believes psilocybin-laced mushrooms could have been transported to earth by an asteroid.
“What I think we’re dealing with possibly is alien contact,” Saunders said in an interview. “It may be some sort of communication from an advanced society, to reprogram us, to reprogram our souls or mind. I think this could be the next big awakening.”
Some would say, "California politics suggest that they are already legal; the aliens won."

This description of the effects sounds like a bad idea:
Psilocybin can produce euphoria, hallucinations and a distorted sense of time for the user. It is very common for those under the influence of magic mushrooms to act erratically and irrationally. Behavior may include odd reactions to normal events, distinct outbursts and panic attacks.
The effects of magic mushrooms cannot always be foreseen until the drug has already been taken. Unfortunately, as with most hallucinogenic drugs, the effects of magic mushrooms are unreliable and unpredictable. Some users will experience a spiritual or otherwise enlightening high while others may experience a “bad” trip that could cause them to suffer from extreme paranoia, anxiety, depression or schizophrenic like outbursts and chaos.

1 comment:

  1. If this keeps up we may actually be happy if Chinese troops suddenly arrive at LAX to annex the territory to China. Rampant homelessness, companies running whole cities (like google), Google being called a cult by ex-employees, Berkley giving Canabis to homeless, etc.etc.etc. One has to wonder if a majority of the state will be too stoned to actually notice when the budget collapses and the State fails totally.

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