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Hard Times for Peyote Dealers

  • #21
Nervous systems must be outlawed!
LOL yes!

DMT is the most powerful hallucinogen in the world, it's in many plants and also made in the human brain's pineal gland nightly. Responsible for dreaming as well as near death experineces, alien abduction episodes, religious/mystical experiences, etc.
 
  • #22
Sorry if it seemed like I was accusing you or anything, swords, I actually wrote seperate thoughts and just put them together badly.

But yeah, many illegal compounds can be found normally in the human body... often the reason external ones work in the first place. Endorphin stands for endogenous morphine; "runner's high" is a flood of opioids to stop pain. Endocannabinioids are vital for our immune system. So let's ban spinal fluid for DMT, brains for opiods and white blood cells for THC like things! Whee!
 
  • #23
Interesting. Got any links on endocannabinoid studies? Last time I did reading on it they were pinning down their role in infant appetite regulation, but I hadn't heard any solid evidence on immune function. Although, all sorts of traditional medicine points that way. When I heard the Chinese used to prescribe it for asthma I LOL'd.
~Joe
 
  • #24
No biggie. I just didn't think making up a list was appropriate for this site. On an ethnogen forum where everyone claims to be 18+ I wouldn't consider it a problem. Not that 18 or even 21 means all that much (how old are the Jackazz guys, 40?) but they're at least legal to start killing themselves with cigarettes and alcohol and these substances are generally far safer than both in and of themselves - provided the user is not already dealing with heavy psychological issues. The last thing a crazy person needs is unrestrained access to psychedelics. I'm not against discussing it openly, just certain aspects to an "age appropriate audience". And don't forget kids faveorite cop-out when they get busted or wind up in the ER "so and so said..." So, I didn't say nuthin! LOL

"When confronted kids will talk - all old junkies avoid kids."
-William S. Burroughs

:D
 
  • #25
...the Chinese used to prescribe it for asthma...
Funny you mentioned that! My grandmother once mentioned about some neighbor who used it for just that, way back when her and my grandfather were first married and still living in an apartment! (She brought it up once when the news was into covering its use back in the 60-70's, adding to the news commentator, saying that it used to be used as a medicine.) Apparently it was some old guy barely getting around, and not some stoner faking it (as is common now-a-days). Indeed it does have beneficial medical applications which is foolish to overlook, as do many other currently illegal things.

If you can find any legitimate history about it, Lucy in the Sky... began its clinical use in psychotherapy and curing alcoholism. From what I had read, the results were quite amazing and beneficial. Then when the government wanted to find a way to use it for brain-washing (or as a truth serum type drug), that led to its research being done by higher faculty members at a few universities, which led to indeed to "higher" faculty members, and the rest of the story is more well known.

I find it interesting that the American Indians can respect and use Lophophora without all their kids running around as little stoners! Why is it that as "civilized" Americans, we cannot say the same for our kiddies! Seems in many ways, that the understanding, respect and subsequent lifestyle of living "with" the land instead of just "on" it, that the Indians were far advanced compared to the savages who stole their land! Go figure!

And back to the subject... I think responsible farming would be the best route to go under the circumstances. However you would have to fence your land with barbed wire to keep the poachers out!
I do hope they find a viable solution, as they have handled themselves responsibly concerning this matter (for the most part), and indeed respect the innate qualities of this amazing life form.

We forget we were placed into a marvelous "paradise" that provides for all our needs. We turn a blind eye to that fact, and prefer to pave it over, use & abuse our environment and its other inhabitants, and tear from it anything we want without concern. We are so spellbound by our inventions and technology that we know of no other "reality". (Who wants to give up indoor plumbing to go live in a grass hut!)
It is sad when the views and opinions of some people, are forced upon others with manipulation and laws. But then what can you expect with this many people living off the planet all at once.
I know... I am falling off subject again.
:offtopic:
Well, take care all! I am going back to tending to my plants!
:water:
 
  • #26
I work in an ICU in rural TN and I would have to estimate that half of the patients I take care of are hospitalized for using legal drugs: tobacco, alcohol, narcotics. I have not had one single patient there for using an illegal plant. In fact many of the patients I have cared for would be better off medically and spiritually if they were prescribed marijauna, coca, peyote... or some other therapuetic plants. Instead of many of them that are pathetic life-long, smoking, drinking, xanax and lortab addicts on TennCare and welfare and don't have to pay a dime for their irresponbile choices and repeated, often weekly trips to the hospital. (There is a difference between being on these drugs and being addicted / dysfunctional. Don't want to offend anyone using these responsibly). Sorry, rant over.
 
  • #27
It is hard to save people from themselves! ???

Fate?
 
  • #28
As a plant lover and a student majoring in toxicology, the vast array of useful chemicals produced by plants has always fascinated me. There are many potential therapeutic uses for plants that often get overlooked simply because a plant also happens to have hallucinogenic potential. I think it's unfortunate that our society often focuses only on one aspect of a plant. So many plants have been taken out of the original cultural context they were used in. Take Salvia divinorum for example. It was originally used in rituals and healing ceremonies, now it is being used by attention seeking teenagers who then post the experience on youtube, and salvia is being condemned as a dangerous drug. Another example is ephedra, which is a major part of the Chinese pharmacopoeia and never used alone. Other herbs to counterbalance the negative effects are always used alongside. In the U.S. however, ephedra's weight loss inducing effects were seized upon and it was widely used as a dietary supplement in blatant disregard of the potential negative effects. As a result, many people died from the side effects and ephedra containing supplements were banned.

Until everyone learns to respect the power of plants and the culture they originated in, we are going to see every "new" plant based drug abused and possibly banned due to the actions of a few stupid people. The war on drugs has had so many negative consequences, yet people want to ban and restrict every potential mind altering substance. As many others have said, there are so many hallucinogenic plants around that a ban would be totally impractical. Just yesterday I bought a Salvia divinorum plant and an unidentified Psychotria species (probably not active though) at a local botanical garden.
 
  • #29
Psychotria leaves are only active when boiled in combination with the vine plant's bark which acts as an MAO inhibitor otherwise the active ingredients in the leaves don't get processed by the duodenum or whatever and go from the blood to the brain. Otherwise it's just a plant, how the Indians figured out they had to cook these two plants together to get the desired effects is still a mystery considering there are some 40,000 plant species in the amazon jungle to choose from. Folktales go that "the ghosts of the ancestors told us which plants to use to brew the medicine" but I'm not a supernaturally inclined person so I don't buy that story exactly.

Good luck with the Salvia plant they always get deformed leaves and die after a couple months when I've tried to grow them. The metallic leaves & square stems are awesome but I've never seen the purple flowers. People down south who grow them planted outdoors seem to do far better with them. Growing them into trees bigger than they are then chopping them back for winter only to get them regrowing even bigger and better next year. But I can't get em to 2 feet indoors!:(
 
  • #30
Good luck with your Salvia - they seem to like highland conditions, but are sensitive to sudden changes. A friend gave me one, and I did well with it, but then I changed apartments and in the process of walking it down the street it got shocked and keeled over on me. As for the psychotropic uses... Yes, I've been curious, but after a few experiences it was very clear to me that it's something to be respected and absolutely not a toy. Alcohol is probably much more dangerous to your health overall, but Salvia never really struck me as something that would be "fun." If I want to goof off with friends, I'll get some whiskey or something. But I'd love to have one on my grow rack again - they are very, very pretty.
As for Ephedra, yeah, it's totally shameful what Western supplement companies did with it. I read the other day that the Ephedra ban has stipulations that still allow its use in traditional Chinese applications though, which seemed refreshingly progressive to me. (If that is indeed true... Wikipedia has done me wrong before.)
~Joe
 
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