Psychoactive drugs have had a long, rich history. For the past 10,000 years, people have experimented with botanical material
in an attempt to cure illness, achieve oneness with a supreme being, elevate consciousness, relieve anxiety, or share pleasurable
experiences with friends.
This search through materia medica has provided our modern societies with many wonderful drugs that are capable of almost
all of the things for which we have wished. At the same time, and particularly during the last few centuries, some individuals
have created more problems for themselves than they have resolved through the use of drugs.
In the last 20 years, a great deal of money and effort has been expended in an attempt to minimize the problems of drug
dependence and drug abuse. These efforts have included many courses and books dealing with these issues. Some have been very
good; others have been more problematic than helpful.
Among the most striking elements of the majority of books and courses related to drugs that may be used or abused are the
following. Too often: