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18 Chitty's L.J. 120 (1970)
Psychedelic Drugs - Who Use Them and Why and Their Legalization

handle is hein.journals/chittylj18 and id is 120 raw text is: Psychedelic Drugs Who Use Them and Why and Their Legalization SAMBHU N. BANIK, Ph.D. The author is the Acting Head, Psychological Services. and Assistant Profesor. University of Saskatchewan. After the invention of nuclear weapons, nothing has caused so much concern to the whole world than the -danger of increasing abuse of so-called psychedelic drugs during the recent times. The word psychedelic was first used by Humphrey Osmund meaning mind manifesting or mind expanding. Later the terms like hallucinogenic, psychotropic and psychomimetic (mimicking a psychosis) ap- peared into the scene as a corollary to the word psychedelic. Among the host of psyche- delic drugs, the following are reported to be commonly used: LSD-25 (Acid), DMT (Dimethyl- traptamine), STP (Megahallucinogen), Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans), Morning Glory (Heavenly blue or Pearly gates), Marijuana (grass, boo, pot), Hashish (hash), THC (Tetrahydrocannabin- ol), Amphetamines (speed), Peyote, Mescaline, Bufotenine (toad skin). The above mentioned psychedelic drugs have the potentiality of altering and expanding the mind or consciousness. The effects of these drugs are multifold and the effects generally depend upon the type of psychedelic drugs, the dose, mental state and personality makeup of the individual. Some people might experience a good trip, some a bad trip and some no ex- perience at all whether good or bad. Of the psychological effects of these drugs, the follow- ing can be summed up: changes in all the areas of sensory perceptions including visual, tactile, olfactory, auditory, gustatory and kinaesthetic; changes in experiencing time and space (a given time interval is experienced as being greatly extended and to pass slowly); sensation of floating in the air; changes in the rate and content of thoughts; body images change; illu- sions and hallucinations; vivid imagery-eidetic images-seen with the eyes closed; increased sensitivity to and appreciation of emotional context of sound, color, touch and smell; heightened suggestibility; enhanced recall or memory; depersonalization and losing of ego boundary; derealization; dual, multiple and fragmental consciousness; seeming awareness of internal organs and process of the body; up- urge of unconscious materials: enhanced aware- ness of linguistic nuances; increased sensitivity to non-verbal cues; sense of capaen : to com- municate better by non-verbal means, some- times including the telepathy and ESP; feelings of regression; increased urge to be close to the member of opposite sex; concern with philo- sophical, cosmological, mystical and religious questions; thought processes are disturbed with difficulty in concentration, vagueness, pressure of ideas and a firm belief that subject has at- tained an intellectual . brilliance approaching genius, with attendant stunning insight into his own personality and a conviction that the dilemma of existence and earthly suffering has been solved. Some of the derived solutions to social and world problems may be absorbed into the general philosophy of the -psychedelic cult, i.e. turn on, tune in and drop out and love to all, indiscriminately. (Master & Houston, 1966; Unwin 1968). People who indulge in psychedelic drugs like to claim that they fill them with joy and rapture and enrich their inner life. They call such drug- taking a soul revealing experience that permits the individual to discover new and subtler as- pects of the personality and to distil the im- pressions from the external world filtering through the effects of the drug. The question now arises as to why do people use psychedelic drugs. The answer is not an easy one. People use drugs for a variety of reasons depending on 120 Chitty's Law Journal April, 1 9 7 0

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