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1996-05-06
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From: eye@interlog.com (eye WEEKLY)
Newsgroups: eye.news,alt.drugs,soc.culture.canada,alt.culture.internet
Subject: EYE.NET: This Is Your PC On Drugs
Date: 15 Mar 1995 13:24:20 -0500
Approved: eye@interlog.com
Message-ID: <3k7bck$jt1@gold.interlog.com>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
eye WEEKLY March 16 1995
Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EYE.NET EYE.NET
LOG ON, TUNE IN, DROP OUT
by
K.K. CAMPBELL
Without any press fanfare, the February issue of High Times spread
across the Great White North through regular distribution channels. The
last time this happened was July '88.
That's right -- the first time in almost seven years Canadians could
read about pot freely at the magazine stand.
Back in the Dark Ages, Mulroney returned one day from fawning all over
the Yanqui presidente to inform furry little Canadians they had a "drug
epidemic." They just hadn't noticed! But the Tories would save the
affable snow creatures. They passed legislation adding a section to the
Criminal Code of Canada (462.2) making the sale of drug literature an
offence punishable by fines of up to $100,000 for the first offence,
$300,000 for subsequent offences.
Poof! Head shops disappeared. High Times disappeared. You could still
sell anti- drug literature, of course. Just not the other side of the
argument. Maybe things are changing. The first crack in this
anti-speech law appeared last fall when 462.2 was ruled
unconstitutional by an Ontario court. However, since the Chrétien
Liberals seem determined to ram through Bill C-7 -- which increases the
penalties for toking -- I ain't, er, holding my breath. Anyway, let the
Parliament Hill martini-set wank away. Read whatever you want by
grabbing an Internet account and tapping into the global treasury of
drug lit.
NEWSGROUPS
In net.news, drug-related newsgroups are among the busiest -- an
indication of the global popularity of recreational substances.
alt.drugs came first, spawning alt.drugs.caffeine , alt.drugs.chemistry
, alt.drugs.culture , alt.drugs.hard , alt.drugs.pot ,
alt.drugs.pot.cultivation , alt.hemp , alt.hemp.politics ,
alt.psychoactives , alt.drugs.psychedelic , alt.drugs.usenet . Don't
forget talk.politics.drugs .
Advocacy groups regularly frequent these newsgroups, dispensing
drug-related news. Carl E. Olsen (carlolsen@dsmet.com) regularly
uploads NORML News (U.S. version). The Institute for Hemp
(instforhemp@delphi.com) offers "Institute- Updates." The Canadian Hemp
Association can be contacted at cha@io.org . Oregon lobby group Pay For
Schools By Regulating Cannabis has been showing up a lot lately. Their
central idea is that tax troubles could be eased by making pot
available legally. In the Toronto suburb I grew up in, I think a lobby
group called Pay for Schools By Selling Cannabis In The Cafeteria would
have raised even more money.
Aside from the serious info, there's lots of relaxed chatter, including
that Timeless Debate: "What's the best album to get high to, maaan?" I
think the votes really reveal more about the person and their current
drug than the artists, but it's always fun. Latest suggestions: Dead
Can Dance, Stereolab, Hawkwind, Fixed by NIN, "Hot Pants" by James
Brown (?) and Current 93 (!). All-time most common pick: Floyd. I
suspect, however, that the drug-of-choice for Floyd listening changes
with their development: like, Barrett-era Floyd is well-suited to acid,
while The Wall fits better with carbon monoxide.
A similar ongoing thread is "What movies are best to watch on acid?"
Someone actually suggested Natural Born Killers -- which definitely has
a disjointed TV flash- cut style reminiscent of head movies, and I
thought that when watching it. But most head flicks do tend to shy away
from two hours of hacking people up with machetes and shotguns. At the
other end of the spectrum was a vote for the Freudian symbolism and
repressed sexuality of the Disney flick Bedknobs And Broomsticks.
JESUS SOLD ME STRYCHNINE
My fave threads, though, involve the endless parade of
Straight-and-Narrows. Christian soldiers, given brand new accounts from
their schools, suddenly discover alt.drugs and resolve to wade in and
"save the helpless druggies." Sometimes it's just the same boring old
drug horror stories: ecstasy causes spinal damage, LSD causes
chromosome damage, pot leads to heroin use ...
But some are more creative. For instance, in alt.drugs a concerned
citizen writes: "I've heard stories of people doing acid and getting
elephantitis of the testicles."
Here the government is, wasting bankrolls teaching parents to search
out the subtle signs of drug use in little Johnny, when all they have
to do is rip off his lederhosen and check him out for ball bloat.
Almost every urban legend involving drugs is addressed -- shrooms,
nutmeg, smoking banana skins, even licking exotic toads for supposed
hallucinogenic secretions. (Hmmm ... OK, I think toad licking would be
the ideal drug for watching Natural Born Killers.)
But the All-Time LSD Drug Myth is The Great Strychnine Caper. Barely a
month goes by without someone re-initiating this crap. As you read
these words, evil LSD chemists are lacing acid with strychnine! Why? No
one knows. But since this myth is repeated even more often than the
story about Rod Stewart having a quart of semen pumped out of his
stomach before going onstage, acid neophytes attribute some normal trip
experiences -- like powerful feelings of anxiety, hyperness and even
stomach cramps -- to evil strychnine. And the myth continues.
Incidentally, alt.psychoactives was created back in '91 specifically to
confuse dumb evangelists. "Duh, psychos?! Where's da drug groups!"
Works rather well.
SOURCES, MAAAN
A great WWW resource is Hyperreal -- http://www.hyperreal.com . The
CHEMISTRY section is a compilation of alt.drug files. Also has "The
Rave Culture Archives." Lots of Ecstasy material at
http://www.cityscape.co.uk/users/bt22/ . Don't miss HEMP B.C.'s web
site at http://www.hempbc.com . You can get their excellent Canadian
hemp scene periodical The Marijuana & Hemp Magazine there. Editor is
Dana Larsen (muggles@hempbc.com).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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