The fundamental argument here is that we can reap enormous benefits and greatly improve quality of life if we spend large quantities of intelligently allocated money on finding benign substitutes for dangerous drugs.
At the present time the trade in dangerous substances that make so many Americans feel good has enormous societal costs. Dangerous substances endanger brains and health, they divert too much income to the pockets of drug dealers, they have created murderous gangs, both here in the United States and also in our southern neighbors Mexico, Honduras, etcetera, and they have bestowed upon our country an outrageously huge jail population.
Why is finding benign substitutes for dangerous drugs so important ? Simply, because we need to destroy the demand for dangerous substances, by replacing them with superior products sold legally at reasonable prices.
There is immense demand for euphoric substances and performance enhancers. Far too many people are unhappy. Far too many people feel they are performing way below their potential. Our remarkably short sighted legislators have failed to see this as a grand opportunity and have instead implemented dire punishments for seeking euphoria and improved performance. This is really ironic in a society that claims to value freedom.
Our legislators have, thinking inside of tiny boxes, failed to see that we could take advantage of this desire to feel good and to perform well.
We need to devise substances (or diets, or combinations of diet and exercise, or disciplines like yoga) that fulfill several criteria: improved task performance; happy mood; high energy; high intellectual clarity. To this I would add high sociability, low irritability and hostility, and excellent memory.
Finding such substances or diets or disciplines could revolutionize our society and greatly enhance productivity and quality of life. And greatly reduce the disgracefully large numbers of Americans in jail. And get rid of the gangs who trade illegal intoxicants and turn low income neighborhoods into nightmarish battlegrounds.
Let’s face it, far too many Americans are seduced by substances that induce temporary euphoria, but that in the long run are deleterious to mental and physical health. Some of these substances may be far less harmful than is currently advertised, because we have a liquor industry that wants to monopolize euphoria. And some of these substances may, if tweaked, be rendered beneficial and harmless.
How many of us have never tried a substance that violates Federal law ? Maybe 30 per cent. But maybe 70 percent have tried some of the various contrivances, and some become far too enamored, and are constant users, and some of this group will become coke whores, or thieves, or just descend into psychosis, or get locked up.
I think it is worth megabucks — billions, not millions — to look for benign substitutes for dangerous substances that will make us perform better, feel good, have better memory, be more intelligent, be more tolerant, have more energy, be healthier, live longer, be friendlier and nicer, be “self-actualizing”, be less subject to anger and depression, experience “funktionslust” — the experience of functioning superbly and achieving good things.
If successful, such a quest could vastly improve quality of life in America. And everywhere else.
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PS(1) Obviously, the research should be conducted with rigorous safeguards to avoid the kind of nonsense that occurred at Harvard in the 1960s with LSD and Alpert and Leary. That created such an unholy mess and damaged many lives.
PS(2) For thousands of years humans have been discovering and refining and experimenting with mind altering substances, without the benefit of modern scientific methods. We are currently in a far better position to develop substances -- or diets -- that are beneficial without harmful side effects. At present we have substantial numbers of people damaged by alcohol, by misuse of prescription drugs, by the development of "designer drugs" by rogue chemists, and by other stuff. Over the past decades substances developed by unlicensed experimenters like crystal meth, PCP, etcetera, have been widely disseminated. Surely we can do better than this !!!
At present also, there is widespread use of performance enhancers like amphetamines and coke, that have evil downsides. Why not seek safe versions ?
Nevertheless it has to be admitted that the experimentation adumbrated above has risks. Always there is the specter of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the possibility that our inventions may create monsters. But then, when has life been devoid of risk ? With intelligent controls, with proper monitoring, risk can be reduced to manageable levels. And without taking risks we will never progress.
PS(3) The war on drugs is an immense political issue, with so many people negatively impacted by damage to family members in terms of addiction and in terms of imprisonment or legal difficulties.
Would be great if Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton could take this up as an election idea . Or, if this is too dangerous, for President Clinton or President Sanders to think very seriously about it after the election.