During my watchtower days, from their 'college level education', i had the impression that all street drugs were terribly addictive, as soon as someone did a drug one time, he was hooked. That drugs reduced people to souless protoplasm. Street drugs are actually classified into two basic groups:
Narcotics
Psychedelics
Coke, heroine, speed, alchohol would all fall into the narcotic family. Psychedelics would include marijuana, lsd, psyliciben, ayahuasca, dmt etc. Tobbacco is somewhere in between. Ecxtacy is called an empathetic. I believe it's not really a psychedelic. Narcotics, especially cocaine, heroine, speed are addictive. Their positive affects are very temporary, damage is longterm. Those three are terribly addictive.
Psychedelics are completely different. They are generally nonaddictive. While they are often overused, in some ways, they can have positive influences. Some people i know, smke mj every day. They use it as a palliative to help them to cope with residues of other abuses .
The traditional use, perhaps the original use of psychedelics, was for religious, healing, guidance purposes. That makes psychedelics a sacrement. American and central american indian shamans used it in that context, as well as the south american and siberian. They were behind the greek mystery religions, possibly the hindu practices of tantra, yoga and perhaps buddhism. Tibetan buddhism was a fusion of the imported buddhism and there own shamanism. There ar suggestions that psychedelics aided the germination of zerostrianism and a few other religions.
Psychedelics have been used by some writers, artists, psychiatrists and many musicians as an aide in creativity and focusing. Recent research found traces in shakespere's smoking pipes. I use mj occasionally, every few weeks, in meditation.
So, what about it folks? Do you have information to add to my essay?
SS