ENLIGHTENMENT OR
ENTERTAINMENT?
The use of
hallucinogens by many indigenous peoples is tightly controlled by their cultures, which restrict such drugs to
ritual use for purposes of healing,
enlightenment, or prophecy. In many cases,
only particular individuals in a society are permitted to use the drugs at all.
Has the use of hallucinogens evolved from this spiritual
purpose to recreational use/abuse in
contemporary society? If you talk to college student users, the reasons they give for using these drugs vary tremendously. Some clearly and simply aim for a novel and
exciting experience. However,
interviews with regular and heavy users reveal a substantial percentage who use the drug for the sense of
enlightenment they feel they gain by separating
from themselves.
The difference between the novelty seekers and
those seeking enlightenment may
simply be in how they frame the experience. For example, many users report a sense of "dissolving
boundaries" while under the influence: A user might be sitting on the ground and feel that the boundary between the ground and his body no longer exists. This feeling could lead to the very exciting (or
unsettling) feeling of being sucked into
the earth, or it could lead to a calming sense
of "oneness" with Mother
Earth.
Dr. Timothy Leary (1920-1996) provides an
example of varying perspectives on LSD. He
started out as a professor at
Harvard, pursuing a traditional
academic study of the potential therapeutic
utility of hallucinogens. The stories his subjects told him convinced
him that LSD had tremendous spiritual value,
and he became famous (and lost his job at Harvard) for his advocacy of the free use of LSD. Today he is better known for coining the phrase "turn on, tune in, drop out" during the 1960s than he is for his
academic research.
Unfortunately for LSD advocates, their attitudes conflict directly with the illegal status of these drugs. Both sides can argue this issue persuasively, but the fact
is that the majority of Americans prefer that use of such
