<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Most psychologists and anthropologists believe that early humans ingested these substances during religious ceremonies as a way to </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/ayahuasca-the-shamanic-brew-that-produces-out-of-body-experiences-52836"><span style="font-weight: 400;">quickly</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> attain meaningful spiritual experience. Although </span><a href="https://mic.com/articles/14276/magic-mushrooms-how-they-played-a-crucial-role-in-the-evolution-of-human-consciousness#.rlhXqVHi1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">linked</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to human evolution, drug use did not quicken evolution directly. Rather, anthropologists now believe that the underlying religious component to this drug use enabled different </span><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/2153599X.2015.1063001?journalCode=rrbb20#.V3AeNfkrLIU"><span style="font-weight: 400;">communities</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to cohabitate in peaceful ways.</span></p><p><div data-conversation-spotlight=""></div></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjAzNjc1OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTExOTExM30.cgIBdRui_OgjI_Rq_qpTAKRfWZeT76wRdGaxMRPGL5Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="4ce8e" width="700" height="459" data-rm-shortcode-id="6cfee5badbbcec1fbafd84b6cccabb78" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Ayahuasca ceremony. Credit: <a href="http://www.adventuresofagoodman.com/Ayahuasca-Peru-Sacred-Medicine">Source</a>.</small></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These communities touted these substances as natural ways to achieve a “heightened” state of mind that could strengthen one’s spirituality and general well-being. Over time, however, as Western religion became more prevalent, people began to associate these altered states with subversive and potentially violent behavior. As a result, use of psychedelic drugs in ceremony dwindled and was outlawed in many societies.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Counter-culturist and psychedelic drug advocate Timothy Leary believed LSD and other psychotropic drugs were necessary for spiritual enlightenment. While a professor at Harvard, Leary conducted </span><a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/5/21/harvard-lsd-project-leary/?page=2"><span style="font-weight: 400;">several experiments</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> using mescaline, a hallucinogenic compound found in some plants, to induce religious experiences in a handful of Harvard Divinity School students. Nine out of the ten students given mescaline reported vivid hallucinations, which they related to deep religious states and revelations. Leary’s experiments were cut short, due in no small part to the illegality of his methods (both mescaline and peyote were </span></p><p><b></b></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">illicit substances at the time), and after being dismissed from Harvard, his reputation as a counter-culture icon overshadowed his research. Throughout his life, Leary would argue that the supervised use of psychedelics could alter damaging behavior, such as alcoholism and criminal activity, with comparable results to traditional therapy. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some of his contemporaries agreed. </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/03/09/288285764/the-60s-are-gone-but-psychedelic-research-trip-continues"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Stanislav Grof</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> was also examining the effect of psychotropics on addiction around the same time as Leary. Grof found that there was, </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“A tremendous deepening and acceleration of the psychotherapeutic process,” while his patients were on psychotropic substances. Further testing led Grof to believe that, when compared with traditional therapy, which mostly focused on suppression of symptoms, he had discovered something that could “[a]ctually get to the core of the problems.”</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Leary and Grof’s experiments are just a few examples of psychoactive substances clashing with federal anti-drug statutes. Leary’s tests, in particular, led to the federal government’s classification of LSD as a Schedule 1 drug, which have no currently acceptable medical use in the United States. While many in the medical community </span><a href="http://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/why-do-humans-have-an-innate-desire-to-get-high/page-2/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">discourage</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> banning psychedelics, the FDA maintains an </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Schedule_I_drugs_(US)#Hallucinogenic_or_psychedelic_substances"><span style="font-weight: 400;">extensive list</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of illegal substances, many of which exist naturally.</span></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjAzNjc1OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxODUzMTQzMH0.2cz9CFbKv65BHtwkkAjQ40RaXviXLtk4ULFz_ZBbY6s/img.jpg?width=980" id="ca0bb" width="425" height="295" data-rm-shortcode-id="18557d73aab13a81d8e3efc14a3f74c7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Timothy Leary. Credit: <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/turn-on-tune-in-drop-by-the-archives-timothy-leary-at-the-n-y-p-l">Source</a>.</small></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The argument against banning psychedelic drugs has roots in their new-found uses in Western medicine. Like Leary in the 1960s, many medical professionals are experimenting with these types of drugs to treat everything from </span><a href="https://thesocialedgen.wpengine.com/technology-and-innovation/first-ever-trial-magic-mushrooms/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">anxiety to addiction</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Most widespread currently is the use of marijuana to treat those in end of life care and cancer treatment programs. This rise is accompanied by a growing movement to decriminalize the drug, which has already happened in several states, with many legalization measures going on to </span><a href="https://www.potbox.com/blog/california-adults-responsible-use-cannabis-auma/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">state ballots</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> this November. Whether this is a result of medical progress or human nature trumping federal law is up for debate. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These recent pushes against the established illegality of psychedelics highlight the substances’ cyclical tendencies. While puritanical and legal obstacles halted its use in the last hundred years, new studies as to their benefits and impact on human nature have been </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/06/lsd-anxiety-study-psychotherapy-_n_4906596.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">cropping up</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> with increasing frequency, causing many to rethink their stance toward legalizing certain drugs. You probably won’t be able to buy LSD at Target any time soon, but the future looks brighter for psychotropics.</span></p>
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