PSYCHEDELICS - Sciencemadness.org

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____________________________________________________ Psychedelics
use of psychedelics has lingering effects upon personality and
life style. As time passes, the values heightened by LSD will
slowly but definitely creep into and transform our daily
habits.
A question of growing importance has to do with the effect
the psychedelics might have upon family life. To date, their
main influence has been to exaggerate the generation gap.
Once parents have actually tried a psychedelic, the majority
will continue, in time, to be interested in the drug's effects
and the possibilities it opens, and many will come to take
pot with some regularity. Since the family, a highly struc-
tured unit, is the foundation of society, regular psychedelic
use within a family could have enormous social consequences.
I think the traditional structure might change from its present
patriarchal or matriarchal orientation to that found in a group
of equals. The child would truly, then, become adviser to the
man.
Such a restructuring of the family unit might shake society
to its core. But such a shift may be neither traumatic nor
even widely noticed. When we consider social restructuring,
there is a tendency to forget just how absorbent and flexible
the human animal can actually be.
* * *
I was impressed by simple sights: the rushes growing be-
side the water, a small gentian poking out from behind a
rock, the patterns and swirl of the shale beneath me. As I
approached the water to join the others, it suddenly seemed
ludicrous to think of wearing a swimsuit. Up on the moun-
tain, with no one around, I had taken my trunks off; on my
descent, I had put the suit back on. I took the impediment
off, feeling much better, and dove into the water.
No one, it turned out, seemed to care. As I floated, I
mused about how long it might be before public parks and
beauty spots like this would be opened and arranged for psy-
chedelic exploration.
* * *
For some time yet, society is bound to experiment with
the concept of prohibition—rather than control—of psyche-
delic drug use. In attempting to prohibit anything easily ac-
cessible that is at the same time greatly desired, what usually