The AP Mugs a Dead Albert Hofmann

R.I.P. Albert Hofmann

News organizations have acknowledged that their coverage leading up to the Iraq War was “far too deferential and uncritical.” (LINK) At least they had an excuse – how do you investigate cooked “intelligence” cloaked in “national security”? When will news organizations acknowledge they have perpetuated the War on Drugs by echoing its falsehoods? Is it too much to ask that they investigate scientific literature?

A case in point is the AP article, “Albert Hofmann, Father of Drug LSD, Dies in Switzerland” written by Frank Jordans. The bias is exposed in the opening sentence:

Albert Hofmann, the father of the mind-altering drug LSD whose medical discovery inspired – and arguably corrupted – millions in the 1960s hippie generation, has died.

LSD alters the mind temporarily. There is no evidence it affects the brain permanently. Is alcohol “mind-altering”? Is being sleep-deprived “mind-altering”? Who did LSD corrupt? Did it corrupt the youth into protesting the Vietnam War and segregation?

By plucking and placing quotes Jordans also gave the impression that Hofmann agreed that LSD had to be kept from responsible adults by law enforcement so that there are not “catastrophic consequences,” and that LSD should only be taken out of, “scientific interest.”

Of course, Jordans couldn’t restrain his moralizing and also had to wander into the land of urban myths and outright lies to justify its criminalization:

But away from the psychedelic trips, horror stories emerged about people going on murder sprees or jumping out of windows while hallucinating. Heavy users suffered permanent psychological damage.

The U.S. government banned LSD in 1966 and other countries followed suit.

Murder sprees? Is it 1955? Who’s feeding Jordans this crap, J. Edgar Hoover? Can the press still get away with this? Jordans knows that when these LSD horror tales have been investigated they turned out to be blarney which is why he used the untraceable and unverifiable language of “horror stories emerged.” Yes, a microscopically minute percentage of people have used LSD in idiotically irresponsible manners and hurt themselves. The same can be said for alcohol, cars, ladders, gas stoves, and trampolines.

There is no evidence LSD causes brain damage. (It can exacerbate the symptoms of those who already suffer from mental health disorders.)

Of course this article failed to mention how acid was intricately linked with the early developers of the modern computer like Steve Jobs. (Bill Gates did it too.) It doesn’t mention how the likes of Aristotle, Plato, & Cicero partook of a natural form of LSD in the rites of the Eleusinian Mysteries. And it doesn’t mention how responsible users often describe tripping as one of the most awesome experiences of their lives.

In the words of Albert Hofmann himself on the 50th anniversary of his discovery:

You, my dear friends, and millions all over the world who now commemorate the 50th birthday of [LSD], we all testify gratefully that we got valuable help on the way to what Aldous Huxley said is the end and the ultimate purpose of human life–enlightenment, beatific vision, love. I think all these joyful testimonies of invaluable help by LSD should be enough to convince the health authorities, finally, of the nonsense of the prohibition of LSD and of similar psychedelics.

For an LSD article that dares to stray from the “Just Say No” party line go to Wired, LINK.

Sources:

  1. “Albert Hofmann Foundation,” Hoffman.org, ret. 1 May 2008. LINK
  2. AP, “Study: Bush Led U.S. to War on ‘False Pretenses,’ Hundreds of False Statements on WMDs, al-Qaida Used to Justify Iraq War,” MSNBC.com, 23 Jan. 2008, ret. 30 Apr. 2008. LINK
  3. Robert Arthur, You Will Die: The Burden of Modern Taboos (2007). LINK
  4. Frank Jordans, “Albert Hofmann, Father of Drug LSD, Dies in Switzerland,” AP, 30 Apr. 2008, ret. news.yahoo.com, 1 May 2008. LINK

Pro-Drugs Column Runs In UK

London’s esteemed Times newspaper ran a pro-drugs piece by one of its columnists, Martin Samuel (left). This is amazing. In the United States even articles that simply make policy arguments against drug prohibition – while still echoing the “drugs are bad” mantra – are almost never published. (See Eric Sterling’s post, LINK.) Samuel’s piece was a flat-out defense of recreational drugs. Wow.

Here’s an excerpt:

Now I don’t see my views on drugs reflected too often in the mainstream media, so here goes. This is the comedian Bill Hicks quoted in performance at the Laff Stop, Austin, Texas, December 1991. “I don’t do drugs anymore,” he said, “but I’ll tell you something honestly: I had a great time doing drugs. Sorry. Never murdered anyone, never robbed anyone, never raped anyone, never beat anyone, never lost a job, a car, a house, a wife, or kids. Laughed my ass off, and went about my day. Sorry.”

Martin Samuel, “Better to Have an E Than a Bee,” Times, 4 Jan. 2008. LINK

Leave Your Cocaine Outside the White House

Drugs Equal Death?

This cartoon uses the same rationale that the Office of National Drug Control Policy used in the following asinine marijuana ad, LINK.

Barack Obama is open about his past cocaine use. (Although it would be interesting to know how candid Obama would be if his admission had not been published in 1995.) Despite the fact that most cocaine users never become dependent, the mainstream media finds it noteworthy that Obama could have used cocaine without having drug problems as this New York Times snippet shows:

In more than three dozen interviews, friends, classmates and mentors from his high school and Occidental recalled Mr. Obama as being grounded, motivated and poised, someone who did not appear to be grappling with any drug problems and seemed to dabble only with marijuana.

Bush on the other hand is not open about his raucous past. Multiple people allege that he used to use cocaine like fellow staffers from a 1972 Republican senatorial campaign who have claimed he, “liked to sneak out back for a joint of marijuana or into the bathroom for a line of cocaine.”

Bush himself has never denied using cocaine, instead choosing to be coy. Republican hacks like to seize on the fact he once denied using “hard drugs,” however, put in context this appears to have meant heroin. Of course, at Fox any notion of Bush using cocaine is blasphemy. LINK

Sources

  1. Robert Arthur, You Will Die: The Burden of Modern Taboos (2007). LINK
  2. Kitty Kelley, The Family (2004).
  3. Serge Kovaleski, “Old Friends Say Drugs Played Bit Part in Obama’s Young Life,” New York Times, 9 Feb. 2008, ret. NYTimes.com, 28 Feb. 2008. LINK

Deadly Nuts: If Peanuts Were Portrayed Like E

Drug War Logic

This cartoon is based on national news coverage of an ecstasy (MDMA) death in 2002 and the anti-E government ads that followed. E kills roughly 3-9 Americans a year. Peanuts kill roughly 50-100 Americans a year. The death rate of first-time ecstasy users has been estimated by one study to be between .002% to .05%. Comparatively, .1% of Americans are estimated to have a life-threatening peanut allergy.

To read about golfing on E go to this post.

Source

  1. Robert Arthur, You Will Die: The Burden of Modern Taboos (2007). LINK

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