acolon_5 said:
Also I'm really sick of the word "drug" being thrown around to include every single mind altering substance. The connotations of the word are not good...
Abuse of many substances is very unhealthy, while others have proven to not impact ones health to any substantial degree. Is pot the same as cocaine? Is coffee the same as methamphetamine? Is alcohol the same as Prozac? All are drugs, but each is VERY different.
I also use the term psychoactive or centrally active compounds. I just use the term 'drugs' more often because it's more broadly understood. And I guess I hope that using the word in the correct manner (to encompass all mind-altering substances) will help break the irrational conception that "drugs are bad".
As you say, every drug is different, and so each must be considered on its own merits. But to claim that a whole class of drugs ('natural' substances or 'entheogens') are not drugs simply because some drugs are quite dangerous and people want to avoid any association between them is both asinine and misleading.
long term use of alcohol can and will kill. I guess the same goes for cigs.
This demonstrates the irrationality of the doublespeak perfectly. I absolutely agree that alcohol can and does kill. Same for tobacco.
And yet, according to Aegle, alcohol and cigarettes are
de facto entheogens. After all, they're natural, right? And yet, in this very thread, Aegle was claiming that she doesn't use alcohol
because it's a drug, not an entheogen. Did I miss something here??? Last time I checked, yeast is a fungus.
Little-known fact: methamphetamine is a naturally-occurring compound. If you get your methaamphetmaine from Acacia berbeiri, does that somehow magically make it an entheogen?
And how about cocaine? All of the cocaine on the black market is derived from the coca plant (which has a long history of use as a tonic as well as entheogenic use. Since it's 'natural', is cocaine an entheogen? (And in case anyone needs reminding, the process of extracting cocaine is no less natural than the process of extracting DMT, the singularly unique and revelatory drug that gave rise to this very forum)
Or look at tobacco. It's been used as an entheogen for years, but some people will classify it strictly as a drug because of its detrimental health effects.
Whether or not a drug is an entheogen depends entirely on the context of use. Many people eat psilocybin mushrooms and have direct revelatory experiences of the divine, or at least experience a direct immersion in the ecstatic experience. Others eat psilocybin mushrooms and watch TV or movies.
Drugs have the
capacity to be entheogens. Some have a much greater capacity for this than others.
I'm just sick and tired of all the damned hypocrisy surrounding this issue.
The people of this forum aren't stupid, so why is it that so many people want to put the issue in black and white? Especially the self-contradictory ones like Aegle here (sorry to pick on you, I mean no offense... you just kinda walked right into this).
This doublespeak makes no sense! Aristotle must be rolling in his grave! Let's review the logic of Aegle's post in plain terms:
* Assertion: Natural psychoactive substances are entheogens, not drugs
* Fact: Alcohol is a natural psychoactive by any definition (unless you consider fungi unnatural, in which case Amanita and Psilocybe mushrooms must not be entheogens)
* Logical conclusion: Alcohol is an entheogen
* Aegle's conclusion: Alcohol is not an entheogen; it's a drug
What am I missing here????????
Can't we leave behind the childish world of black and white? Life is full of gray areas. Embrace this; it's part of the cosmic Mystery dancing away the years of the universe.
Alcohol has a great capacity to be physically harmful. The decision not to use it is completely valid. In fact, not using it is completely valid regardless of the reason.... I don't eat mayonnaise, not because of any health effects but simply because I don't like it. I don't feel the need to justify myself by saying that mayonnaise isn't a foodstuff. I just don't use it.
The whole attitude of "my psychoactives aren't drugs, they're entheogens" strikes me a petty, puerile, irrational, and immature. And it completely misses the point. You may use your drugs as entheogens; that doesn't mean that they aren't drugs.