Alcoholic Darwinism

I come here thinking to write one thing only to write another. I read an article in the N.Y. Times this morning about the use of psylocibin to treat depression and other psychological "disorders." I put it in quotation marks because I read R.D. Laing when I was young, and then other existential and phenomenological writers along the way. "Disorder" can be used so prescriptively and punitively that it begins to circumscribe a person. I recall all those pinhead rednecks in charge of education when I was a kid calling us to "order."

But I lose my way. There are studies once again looking at the effects of psylocibin on the brain. And the results are promising. These studies were going on in the '60's, but got sidetracked when Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey started having too much fun. And then Dr. Gonzo, H.S. Thompson. John C. Lilly, who invented the sensory deprivation tank, did some important work. He was using injectable LSD before it was illegal. A close family member of mine went to the clinics in California when they were still dispensing it in laboratories to study the effects. He was there with Steve McQeen. To my never-ending astonishment, Cary Grant said that his experiences in those clinics were one of the most important influences in his life. Cary Grant, for god's sake!

But I remember a study that showed very positive results using LSD to cure alcoholics. The next year, though, they were showing us pictures of broken chromosomes and babies with terrible deformities--the result of using hallucinogens, they said.

And so the studies ended.

But you can read about the resurgence in interest in the article I mentioned, which is sure to bring much unneeded attention to it all.

Not that I am for drug use. I like it as a metaphor, but as daily therapy. . . I'm just too busy. When I retire, though, and everything is past, I may eat mushrooms to help me transcend the daily misery.

When I opened the blog this morning, I saw yesterday's heading, "Artistic Darwinism," and I thought I could write a funny piece called "Alcoholic Darwinism." It didn't happen. But I will title this entry that anyway. You will have to make up your own definition.