So, what are your thoughts about this situation? — Shawn

My thoughts on the "situation" are exactly this. If I was tasked with overthrowing a nation state, or fighting an army, if I could have one condition granted to bestow upon my enemy or targeted population, it would be for them all to be high. Very high. From there it'd be a walk in the park. That's an underlying concern I feel many miss but fortunately the government does not miss the mark on.

Why are drugs so alluring to some and growing in popularity amongst (quite a few) Americans? — Shawn

But more generally speaking, it's basically the only "instant mood change" available to man. Bills too high? Wife got you down? Dog ran away? Wife ran away with your dog and left you with a bill? Don't worry, get high! Heh, something like that.

All drugs are different of course, except for the fact they fundamentally (some more than others) alter your mind state. People want escape from their mundane often dreary lives, and what quicker way then to get high for a spell. Sure, rational men know it doesn't really solve anything, in fact can amount to problems piling up, but for the average folk, if it feels good, it solves a problem, and that is good enough.

I'd like to add to my OP, that I don't quite understand the 1960's that well. I know it was the counterculture movement; but, I don't understand why it became a fascination with drugs... I mean, it was about peace, love, and political activism; but, why the popularity arose to drugs?

But more generally speaking, it's basically the only "instant mood change" available to man. Bills too high? Wife got you down? Dog ran away? Wife ran away with your dog and left you with a bill? Don't worry, get high! Heh, something like that. — Outlander

I'm hesitant to consider the listed reasons as rationalizations; but, regarding psychologizing the issue, I would like to know why people seek mood alteration? What's the reason why people want to alter their mood?

our federal government legalized recreational cannabis in 2018. There were all kinds of dire predictions about slippery slopes, a surge of drug use and increase in traffic accidents, etc. You know what actually happened? Nothing. People can buy legally what they used to buy illegally, and it's likely better quality.
It brought in a nice revenue from licenses (instead of the money-sink that policing users had been for many years) as well as boosting the legitimate economy. License holders make a decent living as well as paying taxes. Most people take their pot home or to a party and enjoy it in private. If I see somebody driving erratically or weaving as they walk, they're far and away more likely to be drunk than high.

If I was tasked with overthrowing a nation state, or fighting an army, if I could have one condition granted to bestow upon my enemy or targeted population, it would be for them all to be high. — Outlander

I wouldn't be quite so confident. List of psychoactive drugs used by militaries

I'd like to add to my OP, that I don't quite understand the 1960's that well. I know it was the counterculture; but, I don't understand why it became a fascination with drugs... I mean, it was about peace, love, and political activism; but, why the popularity arose to drugs? — Shawn

Because The Establishment made such a huge to-do about forbidding it. And people wanted to explore their subconscious, their creative and spiritual side. To see deeper into the universe, or the void, or the soul... or something. And it was fun.

What's the reason why people want to alter their moods? — Shawn

Most commonly, because they are unhappy or anxious. Most of the unhappy people have good reason to escape the reality in which they live. Most anxious people feel more in control when they change perspective.

I'm hesitant to consider the listed reasons as rationalizations; but, regarding psychologizing the issue, I would like to know why people seek mood alteration? What's the reason why people want to alter their moods? — Shawn

Why do men seek pleasure and not misery? To keep on track with psychoanalyzing, well, because a happy life is a good one, no? Other than that, it's simply the way man is wired. Historically, if it makes you go "ouch" you avoid it and if it makes you go "ooh" or "ahh" or "yum", you go for it. Not much philosophy involved, really. Perhaps I'm being dense. There's also an aspect of discovery and "having lived", I guess you could even say not being "afraid" or "too mild-mannered and boring", something men fear to be looked upon as by their peers.

There were all kinds of dire predictions about slippery slopes, a surge of drug use and increase in traffic accidents, etc. You know what actually happened? Nothing. — Vera Mont

What I view this, to-be, is a normalizing in relations between the desire for people to medicate themselves through mood-altering substances. It's a fickle game for the pharmaceutical industry who probably oppose self-medication, so the government is responding by regulating the use of drugs and not simply legalizing drugs like states did.

It brought in a nice revenue from licenses (instead of the money-sink that policing users had been for many years) as well as boosting the legitimate economy. License holders make a decent living as well as paying taxes. Most people take their pot home or to a party and enjoy it in private. — Vera Mont

The US government made $20 billion dollars since marijuana became legalized.

Most commonly, because they are unhappy or anxious. Most of the unhappy people have good reason to escape the reality in which they live. Most anxious people feel more in control when they change perspective. — Vera Mont

Have you heard about the book, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence? I mean, I think the mood-alteration is associated, as you say, with anxiety. But, what a strange way to treat anxiety, with dopamine, really?

Why are drugs so alluring to some and growing in popularity amongst (quite a few) Americans? — Shawn

Well, at least with regard to psychedelics, for some they help to catalyze higher states of enlightenment. Here’s Timothy Leary’s account of his acid acid trip:

My previous psychedelic sessions had opened up sensory awareness, pushed consciousness out to the membranes. Psilocybin had sucked me down into nerve nets, into body organs, heart pulse, and air breath; had let me spiral down the DNA ladder of evolution to the beginning of life on this planet. But LSD was something different. Michael's heaping spoonful had flipped my consciousness into a dance of energy, where nothing existed except whirring vibrations and each illusory form was simply a different frequency.

It was the most shattering experience of my life. And through it all, sitting with his head cradled in his knees, was the architect of this enlightenment, the magician who had flicked the switch to this alchemical show, Michael, the trickster. The effects of the drug began to wear off by dawn. I was still higherthan ever before, but some structure was coming back. The flow of electronic vibrations was slowing, and I felt myself freezing into a mold plastic. There was a terrible sense of loss, of nostalgia for the radiant core of meaning.

I walked up to the Fergusons' room. They were feeling the same despair, ejected from paradise. I knelt before Flo with my head in herlap. Tears came down her eyes, and I found myself shaking with sobs.Why had we lost it? Why were we being reborn in these silly leather bodies with these trivial chessboard minds? For the rest of the morning I was in a daze, stunned by what had happened, trying to figure out what to do with these revelations, whatto do with life routines that were completely artificial.

I remember driving to my office in Cambridge the next day, still feeling a strange electric noise in my brain. Why did I return? Where had I lost the flow? Was it the result of fear, greed, past stupidities? And would I ever again break through to that other illusion, dance at the center of the great vibration dance? Then I realized what I was doing. I was imposing a pre-acid mental game on the revealed mystery of life. It all had to do with trust and acceptance.

It has been twenty years since that first LSD trip with Michael Hollingshead. I have never forgotten it. Nor has it been possible for me to return to the life I was leading before that session. I have never recovered from that ontological confrontation. I have never been able to take
myself, my mind, or the social world quite so seriously. Since that time I have been acutely aware that everything I perceive, everything within and around me, is a creation of my own consciousness. And that everyone lives in a neural cocoon of private reality. From that day I have never lost the sense that I am an actor, surrounded by characters, props, and sets for the comic drama being written in my brain.

Well, at least with regard to psychedelics, for some they help to catalyze higher states of enlightenment. Here’s Timothy Leary’s account of his acid acid trip: — Joshs

Some people find some kind-of 'truth' to those psychedelic experiences; yet it seems like a shortcut for desired revelations about one's inner-life. An interesting side-note, namely, is there any 'truth' to LSD or psychedelics, in general?

It's a fickle game for the pharmaceutical industry who probably oppose self-medication, — Shawn

Are you kidding?!! How many ads do you see on mainstream tv for over-the-counter remedies for everything from indigestion to allergies to every kind of pain? (Maybe not as many as i do, since they target old people and sponsor the kinds of program old people are likely to watch.) How many emails do you get for detox, vitamins and m.a.l.e enhancement products? The pharmaceuticals love self-diagnosis and medication. And they want in on the cannabis market.

so the government is responding by regulating the use of drugs and not simply legalizing drugs like states did. — Shawn

When legalizing a drug, the government also undertakes to regulate its sales and monitor its safety. So do states that legalized it: they license the distributors, restrict the age at which people can buy it, and how much they're allowed to have.

I mean, I think the mood-alteration is associated, as you say, with anxiety. But, what a strange way to treat anxiety, with dopamine, really? — Shawn

Not so out of-the-box!
In any case, I didn't mean clinical anxiety, for which they would have prescription drugs (for better or worse). I meant feelings of fear, dread, apprehension, insecurity. Coke is supposed to be good for that. Pot lets you relax and see the lighter side. I don't know much about the effects of other street drugs: in the 60's, it was mainly pot - for casual use - and LSD for a special experience.

Marx said "Religion is the opium of the masses". In late global Capitalism, perhaps addictive intoxication (i.e. escape, distraction, self-anaesthetization) is the religion of the masses.

They provided different experiences from those on the unaltered menu.

The Timothey Leary and Casteneda versions were treating them as gates to realms not yet explored. I do not view that as negated by objections on the basis of limited functional consciousness seen in all addictions.

I like the way a friend put it. It is good to have windows but too many undermine the structure.

So, what are your thoughts about this situation? Why are drugs so alluring to some and growing in popularity amongst (quite a few) Americans? — Shawn

I think it's one of those subjects if you have to ask, it may not be possible to readily explain.

Obviously drugs are fun. They are enjoyable. They offer experiences you can't easily get straight. I know from personal experience that a bottle of Chivas can make almost any event seem interesting and enjoyable. People too.

And there are numerous other reasons for substance use - which does not always lead to substance misuse. Not everyone becomes dependent on substances, licit or illicit.

People also take drugs to self-medicate, do assist in managing trauma and abuse, to deal with chronic boredom and feelings of emptiness, as a way to relax and find hope and joy in an otherwise bleak world. Taking the rough edges off neoliberalism and bullshit jobs might be a good reason to smoke weed, for instance.

Humans are always looking to find ways to augment or enhance daily life, whether through sport or the arts or substances. We don't as a rule like sitting in our room alone just thinking.

An interesting question is why humans evolved in a way that enabled alterations of consciousness through chemical substances. That is, what did our earliest ancestors gain by getting drunk that resulted in their increased survival?

The correlation between alcohol and sexual behavior is obvious. We limit its use to adults and create specific areas for its consumption, where we gyrate to rhythmic beats around scantily dressed members of the opposite sex.

Sex, drugs, and rock and roll as they say.

If a substance lowers one's inhibitions and that results in reproduction, those best affected by it will do better to spread their genes.

We are the descendants of drunk fuckers. Literally.

Why are drugs so alluring to some and growing in popularity amongst (quite a few) Americans? — Shawn

Because they're awesome. In the short term.

People enjoy pleasure and society is worsening so people use substances to escape in one form or another. The same goes for other vices.

I mean, it was about peace, love, and political activism; but, why the popularity arose to drugs? — Shawn

Do you think perhaps you might have inverted this? It was about the drugs, then peace, love, and political activism was the result of the drug taking.

Since that time I have been acutely aware that everything I perceive, everything within and around me, is a creation of my own consciousness.

This is an excellent philosophical intuition, and it's amazing how psychedelics reveal this so clearly.

An interesting question is why humans evolved in a way that enabled alterations of consciousness through chemical substances. That is, what did our earliest ancestors gain by getting drunk that resulted in their increased survival? — Hanover

The thing is, that the human body, and brain particularly, is such a finely tuned, delicately balanced, piece of equipment, that even a microdose of the right (or wrong) chemicals will throw off that balance. And when one finds that this tiny bit of chemicals can make me perceive the whole world in a completely different way, it is revealed what T.L. says above, "everything I perceive, everything within and around me, is a creation of my own consciousness".

That insight is what is gained. Whether or not this produces an increased survival is another question. "Survival" in the context of evolutionary theory is reproductive, not personal. Maybe sex drugs and rock and roll, is a by-product of the resulting euphoria.

That is, what did our earliest ancestors gain by getting drunk that resulted in their increased survival? — Hanover

It didn't result in increased survival; it resulted in increased enjoyment. Other animals get drunk or high on purpose, too, so the craving may well have preceded sapience.

I'd like to add to my OP, that I don't quite understand the 1960's that well. I know it was the counterculture movement; but, I don't understand why it became a fascination with drugs... I mean, it was about peace, love, and political activism; but, why the popularity arose to drugs? — Shawn

Have you seen the movie, Pleasantville? It explains the '60's rather well. There was a desperate need to escape from the American Dream, because it was covering up the American Nightmare of Vietnam and became the prison of suburban convention.

There [Pleasantville],fire does not exist, and firefighters merely rescue cats from trees, and everyone is unaware that anything exists outside of Pleasantville, as all roads circle back into it. David tells Jennifer they must play the show's characters and not disrupt Pleasantville, but she rebelliously goes on a date with Mary Sue's boyfriend, Skip Martin, the most popular boy in school. She has sex with Skip, who is shocked by the experience, which leads to the first bursts of color appearing in town.

Bill Johnson, owner of the malt shop where Bud works, experiences an existential crisis after realizing the repetitive nature of his life. David tries to help him break out of his routine and notices an attraction between Bill and Betty.

As Jennifer influences other teenagers, parts of Pleasantville become colorized, including some of the residents. Books in the library, previously blank, begin to fill with words after David and Jennifer summarize the plot to their classmates. When Jennifer gives a curious Betty an explanation about sex and tells her how to masturbate, Betty has an orgasm that results in her colorization and a fire in a tree outside.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasantville_(film)

One self medicates because one is in a state of such confinement in one's own mind, and such alienation from reality, that intoxication actually brings one closer to reality for a short while. It is not a new thing, though the particular drugs were new; "In vino, veritas." the Romans used to say. Unfortunately, the conventions of drug-culture and self-indulgence quickly become as grey and confining, (if not more so), as the dreamworld they seek to escape.

Here is a pig singing about it for you.

Dr. Albert Hofmann invented LSD25 in 1938. He was studying organic isolates, especially those from rye ergot. Ingestion of rye, contaminated with the ergot fungus had long been known, to cause poisoning with a delirious* condition called St Anthony's Fire.

According to Wikipedia, Dr Hofmann described his interest in chemistry, in a speech at a conference in 1996, this way:
"Moreover, an artistic career was tempting. In the end, however, it was a problem of theoretical knowledge which induced me to study chemistry, which was a great surprise to all who knew me. Mystical experiences in childhood, in which Nature was altered in magical ways, had provoked questions concerning the essence of the external, material world, and chemistry was the scientific field which might afford insights into this."

*Edit: removed "delusional", replaced with "delirious" as a better word in the context.

Dr. Albert Hofmann invented LSD25 in 1938. — Metaphysician Undercover

It didn't seem to do him any harm - lived to 102.
I only tried it twice and didn't particularly enjoy the experience.

Drugs have been a part of societies and civilization since the very beginning. Societies sanction specific drugs which, for one reason or another, facilitate or mediate certain aspects in that society. For example coffee facilitates work, and alcohol mediates stress in many individuals usually tied to work or personal economic issues, etc.

Since society is right now in the middle of a state change, reconfiguring and adapting itself to new and novel conditions elicited mostly by new technologies, new drugs will be sanctioned and accepted as the new normal.

I think that as AI begins to take over more jobs and more and more people lose their jobs to AI, the allure of drugs will increase to cope with the feelings of purposelessness and meaninglessness resulting in their lives. This will be especially true for people who identify strongly with their job or career. Most of humanity has grown up in survival mode; in modern times, that means work, and when that is gone, it leaves a vacuum that i suspect many will fill with some drug or other (traditionally alcohol). For the same reason Universal Basic Income (UBI) will need to be implemented, drugs will also need to be legalized in order to mediate potential societal uprisings, and facilitate new modes of being.

Why are drugs so alluring to some and growing in popularity amongst (quite a few) Americans? — Shawn

It is critically important to understand that there are many different kinds of drugs that do very, very different things. And people use them for many different reasons. Different people also use some of the same drugs for very different reasons.

I did a lot of exploration with psychedelics when I was younger. But I would never touch addictive hard "pleasure" drugs like heroin, meth, or cocaine. I have always known better than to go there. My use of psychedelics was mostly about a search, a drive to explore what's possible in consciousness, an attempt to better understand what I am and what the world is. It was also a kind of adventure. It was very much an expression of my curious nature to do that. Sure, sometimes it was also a way to puncture the boredom of mundane everyday life. Mostly though, I was trying to see further, both outside and inside, like using a telescope to look at the night sky or a microscope to look at what is to be found in a drop of pond water.

Psychedelics are very, very different from "pleasure" drugs. They can be terrifying at times, ecstatic at other times. They can be unpredictable. And they are generally not addictive. They can even be quite counter-addictive. They can lead you to even quit the other substances you are addicted to. For me, and I think for most, it wasn't about pleasure or escape. Quite the opposite. Psychedelics can make you profoundly uncomfortable. They can force you to look at things you'd rather avoid looking at. You are often confronted with your own shit in a big way. Many times, after coming down, I was "kissing the ground" so to speak, relieved to be back to the mundane.

I found out though that psychedelics are not without their dangers. I flew too close to the sun and got burned. And I have had some life struggles that I am not sure aren't partly a result of my use of psychedelics. It's hard to test the counterfactual though. I can't know how my life would have gone without them.

Certainly some of the most amazing experiences of my life were on psychedelics. Some of the most horrible too. I had a three-day psychotic episode once after an LSD session. I've been very cautious about such drugs ever since. It is pretty disconcerting to discover how tenuous our grasp of "reality" really is.

Why are these drugs growing in popularity and acceptance? Many reasons. The Internet. Joe Rogan and his ultra-popular podcast. The interesting nature of the drugs themselves and growing knowledge of them, combined with the dying off of the old generations that were so frightened of them. Society is also slowly coming to realize that some of these drugs can have very positive impacts when used skillfully. They can facilitate the healing of trauma, for example, or death anxiety in terminal cancer patients.

Frankly, the effects are so interesting and powerful and so unlike what you could possibly expect prior to experiencing them, that I think people who have been there compared to people who haven't are qualitatively different in some sense. You're never quite the same afterward. You don't just see pretty patterns. It's the effects on the mind and your sense of self and what it means to be conscious and human that are most interesting. One person I know called those who have really been there "cracked eggs". I like that characterization. It implies that you are somehow both more aware/awake and also a little broken, never to be fully put back together in your safe enclosure again.

Psychedelics are not without danger. They are very powerful and can exacerbate or cause mental illness. They can also do some really, really wonderful things. I've experienced both aspects and feel ambivalent about them. I generally don't recommend them to people. If you are inclined to explore such territories, you will go there of your own accord. I suppose it's like scuba diving or mountaineering. There are amazing things to see, but some people drown or crash on the rocks. Others find much of value.

An interesting question is why humans evolved in a way that enabled alterations of consciousness through chemical substances. That is, what did our earliest ancestors gain by getting drunk that resulted in their increased survival? — Hanover

Very interesting question, indeed.

The correlation between alcohol and sexual behavior is obvious. We limit its use to adults and create specific areas for its consumption, where we gyrate to rhythmic beats around scantily dressed members of the opposite sex.

Sex, drugs, and rock and roll as they say.

If a substance lowers one's inhibitions and that results in reproduction, those best affected by it will do better to spread their genes. — Hanover

I don't think it is a matter of greater survivability. I mean, I don't know if shamans were the norm for every primordial group of humans living together; but, nearly every continent has one or another kind of hallucinogen out there.

We are the descendants of drunk fuckers. Literally. — Hanover

Food for thought, I guess. Thanks for commenting!

Marx said "Religion is the opium of the masses". In late global Capitalism, perhaps addictive intoxication (i.e. escape, distraction, self-anaesthetization) is the religion of the masses. — 180 Proof

No, I think the issue is an impoverished spiritual life. But, Marx could have been right about the substitution of drugs for religion...

"Survival" in the context of evolutionary theory is reproductive, not personal. Maybe sex drugs and rock and roll, is a by-product of the resulting euphoria. — Metaphysician Undercover

It didn't result in increased survival; it resulted in increased enjoyment — Vera Mont

It's interesting to note, that nowadays we call the use of drugs as a recreational thing. I suppose this means that the behavior is an outlet...

One self medicates because one is in a state of such confinement in one's own mind, and such alienation from reality, that intoxication actually brings one closer to reality for a short while. — unenlightened

This is perplexing to me. I say that because the use of hallucinogens or psychedelics are associated with psychotic states of the mind. Psychosis is by definition a break from reality. How can a break from reality bring one closer to reality?

I agree; but, I am somewhat hesitant to believe that any government will want its population to start taking drugs to remedy boredom.

Psychedelics are not without danger. They are very powerful and can exacerbate or cause mental illness. They can also do some really, really wonderful things. I've experienced both aspects and feel ambivalent about them. I generally don't recommend them to people. If you are inclined to explore such territories, you will go there of your own accord. I suppose it's like scuba diving or mountaineering. There are amazing things to see, but some people drown or crash on the rocks. Others find much of value. — petrichor

it seems like a shortcut for desired revelations about one's inner-life. — Shawn

This I admire most about this thread; I wonder the exact same. Turned out great btw, very highly intellectual and compelling non-biased descriptions of psychedelics here. Primarily by the quoted poster and @Joshs, IMO.

I guess to springboard off your question, if not add to it, particularly for those who have experienced psychedelics, is the profoundness really something that can't be experienced by reading or watching a really really good book or reading a good piece of detailed writing (something Nietzsche-level the average writer cannot convey in words)? I feel any physical experience is exactly that, a physical experience. Sure it's "crazy", surreal, mind-bending all that. But at the end of the day it's just a sensation overlaid by irregular thoughts overlaid by visuals. I'm sure I'll get the "no bro you gotta try it, I left my body and became God. I could hear colors and see sounds, bro" kind of verbal kitsch, but really, as an intellectual, if you can't put it into words you simply felt really weird and your making a big deal out of it because its something you never felt before.

So while I don't think its necessarily a "psychotic break" that perhaps is transient in nature altering your identity and concept of self, no different than a first time vacation or sightseeing trip would do if you lived in a small village your whole life, I think its a bit overblown simply based on the facts. People exciting themselves over a temporary period of irregular brain activity leading to a very base level change in perception that just so happens to barely constitute a "changed life perspective". Nothing a movie, in theory, couldn't replicate, if you truly immerse yourself into it.

I found out though that psychedelics are not without their dangers. I flew too close to the sun and got burned. And I have had some life struggles that I am not sure aren't partly a result of my use of psychedelics. It's hard to test the counterfactual though. I can't know how my life would have gone without them. — petrichor

Regarding counterfactuals, and the doubt in your mind about these or some of these experiences, why is there so much glamourization of psychedelics? I mentioned this in another comment; but, people think there is some kind of 'truth' to these experiences; but is there really any truth to them?

It's interesting to note, that nowadays we call the use of drugs as a recreational thing. I suppose this means that the behavior is an outlet... — Shawn

We don't call all drugs recreational. Most drugs are therapeutic (prescribed for specific symptoms of illness) and many are remedial (to correct minor malfunctions, like a headache, upset stomach or allergy). Most psychotropic drugs are also used in the treatment of mental illness; marijuana is medicinal when relieving the side effects of cancer treatment or overcoming some of the lesser anxiety disorders.
They're called recreational when people use them like alcohol, to make themselves feel good.