Mushrooms & The Ability to sleep

[botanika]

I hear 'respect the mushroom, the teacher' a lot...for me its more about respecting yourself and others. Different things affect different people in different ways. I guess you gotta know your own spirit and keep it in balance - for me the spiritual use of plants and substances has enriched my life and evolved with me as I mature. Anything that can give you knowledge or experience can be a good thing - knowledge is weightless as they say and Im glad I've confronted certain fears in my life. Im also glad I got into these things slowly and with plenty of research. I found the academic literature out there gave me confidence and acceptance in what I was trying to persue. It makes me feel more human and less of a sheep. Its redefined how I value, judge and articulate success. Its made me appreciate peopl and places. I like the way it makes me think a lot and challenge ideologies - its not always mystical. I work in a design profession and it certainly accomodates free thinking easier than say a legal profession job however the 9-5 groove and work commitments give me a discipline and direction that prevents me from slipping down a path of excess or depression.

I also live overseas where there is not as much paranoia, cops, dealers or black market associations and its completely freed my mind in terms of paranoia and whether something is right/wrong/excessive. For me just by having that freedom actually encourages me to be more responsible because Im approaching it all more rationally, honestly and personally. The price of australias free democracy is unfortunately sometimes a lack of privacy or excessive regulations thats sometimes not that different from socialist states. Drugs are not always good - but black markets are almost entirely bad.

We can apply for a licence to drive a car (a potential lethal weapon) above a certain age. Its a shame law abiding citizens who wish to use naturally occuring flora in a spiritual and safe way can't apply for a similar licence given you are of suitable mental stability/character etc. The sheer fact that a naturally occurring plant or fungi can be ILLEGAL still baffles me all the while free enterprize and governments commit civil and humanitarian crimes on a much more profound scale.

As for the tiredness, I feel it more on stronger doses early on in a trip - that half wanting to rest, half wanting to run about feeling. Age has something to do with it, as does experience and frequency of use. I didn't touch hallucinogens for 10 years until earlier this year and it was wonderful for me after such a long break and so much to contemplate and think about. I very much feel its there to compliment my life, like coriander in thai cooking, not something thats completely life changing or something to abuse everyday. Unless I have it at 10pm at night I've always had very refreshing deep sleeps and even had people, who have no knowledge of what I've done, comment on how refreshed and alive I look the next day. If I use it properly I always feel mentally and pyhsically refreshed for a few days or even weeks.

Amsterdams a fascinating place - one of the reasons its laws are progressive is because its people have always had reasonable input into shaping laws. In its past when floods would destroy communities because the netherlands is so flat and even below sealevel in places, every member of a community rich or poor was affected. They had to band together and become tolerant. In other countries many rich and powerful groups have been able to avoid such situations. Jared Diamonds book 'collapse' covers this well.

I've had a few experiences where I have had a sore throat or slight cold and it has vanished upon consuming mushrooms for their duration. Anyone know why this happens?

Anyway sorry for rambling... must be that illegal chinese coffee Im drinking too much of...

[Torsten]

I really appreciate your perspective. I was in europe soon after the german reunification and many of the people I met and hung out with were east germans. While they enjoyed their new freedom to travel etc, they did not feel that the ability to vote more freely made up for all the new restrictions. As for freedom of speech they felt that the new oppressive laws (such as drug laws) pretty much negated this new freedom especially since they did not feel the right to vote really made that much of a difference to what the government is doing. They had this cynicism that the influence of the party machine had been replaced by the influence of big industry and that in both system people were insignificant.

For someone in the ethnobotany community the differences in freedoms are not quite as apparent. Sure in communist countries they lock up political dissidents, but look at how many drug law dissidents are in jail in the west!?!

I am concerned about the way things are going in china though. They have recently announced tough new laws for party drugs such as ketamine, MDMA, speed, etc, which comes on top of the draconian laws they have for cannabis and opiates. It's almost as if ther eis abalance between westernisation and drug laws. As soon as one increases so does the other.

Have you been able to find out more about the caffein laws I cited recently. This has got me very curious about chinese law.

[botanika]

Firstly China's a huge place with a heap of people so generalising about the country is difficult as different provinces have different leaders and socio-political contexts. Secondly chinese law is baffling even to most lawyers so Im probably not in much of a position to comment on its dynamics. However China is big on what they call 'showing face' and is known to make examples out of a crime by punishing a select few. Given the size of the country it may not be a true representation of how the laws are actually implimented. Theres still corruption here but the chinese are generally peaceful, if chinese drug authorities are anything like other chinese police, they are probably sometimes bad or sometimes exceedingly lenient.

The western media in particular seems to still have a fascination with reporting the unhumanitariun side of china. It definately happens but its not evident because of china's size and apparent oppulence in cities such as shanghai where I am. I know beijing is more political and would likely have more harder line cadres and also revolutionaries. There has long been a rift between workers in the provincal agricultural/industrial areas and the socialist politics, but unlike the past china has the olympic games and its associated development to focus on and its economy is booming so people with money in the cities are at least living a pretty contemporary life on par with most of the west. But this hence upsets the poor workers in the country.

The thing is chinese people as a whole just dont get into drugs that much. MDMA is probably something the authorities want to watch in regard to young people in clubs and especially around the southern cities near HK and of course opium has always been disciplined throughout the last century. Whether its because there is a real problem or because the goverment wants to impress is western friend governments as being a tough power or whether its because the government officials in charge of drafting the laws simply dont know the context of drugs and thus follow suit with whatever the USA/UN hands it I dont know. From what I've read and been told, opium was a fairly common activity in china's past, not neccesarily looked down upon - just another esoteric pursuit. In any society they are a temptation for young people but honesty I believe most young chinese people simply prefer shopping, dumplings and tea. Hardly any of my chinese colleagues drink and they hardly ever let loose and go wild. The culture is culturally quite rich so perhaps they just dont have the desire for that kind of escape. Some chinese men drink Bai jue (Buy Joe) rice wine and I reckon that stuff should be illegal for its taste ;) The type of people who are affected by draconian laws surely are the smugglers who are moving large amounts of gear not private citizens in ther own private home. China would grind to a halt if it had to police everyones movements. I personally think brisbane police charging people for jay walking is draconian!

As for caffeine - if your referring to the plain old caffeine you get in coffee and tea, well it can't be illegal or would surely not be inforced. There's coffee and tea houses every 500m here. I have no trouble finding a smooth expresso to the same quality as I get back home. Everyone drinks caffeine somehow or another here. Trying to find decaf is almost impossible though :S maybe decaf is illegal

Foreign media might cover real facts but I dont know if it will ever give you the whole picture. In the same way foreigners often think australia is a dangerous place full of sharks and spiders (of zen) waiting to eat you. But I think your comment on how laws and restrictions change with democracy development are interesting. It will be fascinating to see what happens in china in the future. At least they haven't gone litigation mad like australia yet. So much money in australia is wasted through its legal system. It sucks money out of society and australias drug laws ensure a healthy black market that is the real cause of drug related problems, mental health and crime. Out of all the people I know who have had problems with substances most of it comes from smoking too much quickly grown commercial hydro weed in a context where they feel guilty for what they are doing or a community context that doesn't offer them the richness or opportunities in life they deserve (sprawling suburbs with nothing to do are not examples of good community planning).

Must be time for another coffee...

[spiders]

Im in Taiwan at the moment and I would say that the drug laws here and in most asian countries are particularly harsh perhaps because of the perception that westerners are outrageously decadent (a taxi driver in Beijing calmly stated to me that all westerners are on drugs and have AIDS) and that drugs are a result of this western decadence.

This could be a hang-up over latent anger from the past (I refer to the opium industry and the huge amounts of money the british made by peddling opium to the addicts in China that they created - I live in

Danshui the port where they offloaded it by the tonne). Or it could be what the Chinese culture often likes to do - ignore their own often obvious societal problems by pointing the finger at the west.

While I was in China myself I experienced some of the best that Chinese culture has to offer. I would say that I have experienced two months of the opposite while in Taiwan.

Taiwan maintains a culture where ethics are regarded as a distraction from the true 'free economy' where you can seperate the lines between humanaterian considerations and making money at any cost. And this is all while your employer will blur the lines considerably between the social and working relationship of - employer/employee so that they can impart a feeling of debt or obligation from the employee.

But the free economy means that money - even governmental spending is only focused on those areas of the infrastructure that can increase economic growth - so this means that you can be living in taipei - a city that makes Kuala Lumper in Malaysia seem like a first world nation, with pollution and trash simply everywhere, because the government doesnt want to spend money placing rubbish bins anywhere in the city, or employing people to pick them up - while all around you walk millionaires...

Ill be honest and say im pretty jaded about chinese culture at this moment - or my perception of the lack of it here. Everyone you meet keeps telling me that in Taiwan, chinese only have one god, money. If you dont believe that in the most literal way, come here and see for yourself. and ill also be honest and admit that im quite drunk right now

[spiders]

Im interested also in the paranoia issue brought up here earlier.

Having been to a variety of places around the world, I would say that Australians would be the least paranoid in general about these issues other than the Dutch that I have met.

[botanika]

Yeah interesting stuff... I have to admit I've had my fair share of getting annoyed with people from taiwan. They can be quite arrogate as can HK people but for me this is mainly based on business people I have met from there and their differences between mainland china. As I mentioned China's a huge place full or contrasts and ironies so all you say is right. I've been here almost 3 years and working for a foreign design company that handles city, environmental, landscape and architectural planning services. I've been to many cities, provincial areas and have morphed through many different view points on china. Im sort of lost in it all now!! I've become decensortised to a lot of what happens.

The cultural revolution really did have a big impact on peoples perceptions of the west and on their own cultures creativity. Its a shame because the generations who went through it are the ones making some of the high level decisions now. The younger generation are much more open but still niave. I used to get quite annoyed at people who if confronted with something would have a mantra of 'thats a cultural difference between east and west'. There are obviously differences but we're all human - they would sometimes hide behind that comment instead of opening their minds. I've had construction workers unconfidently tell me chinese can't do as good as quality as in the west, while leaning up against a 500 year old carved stone dragon that displays perfect craftmenship. So yeah they lack confidence at times but they have unbelievable man power and so things get done somehow or another. Socialism. While many chinese I've met are humble, funny, hard working, very kind and happy people, I've come to hate the public desire to constantly push into ques, talk noisily during meetings and show other displays of generally disturbing public privacy. I also get really annoyed when they want to copy the west or european styles in design as if that's a way of reaching a level of afluence, rather than referencing their own cultural legacy for a contemporary solution.

I read in the papers the other day here they thought china could be a role modal country for environmental sustainability and I laughed out loud. Yeah they're building wetlands and managing habitat, but are you kidding me? 1.6 billion people that have been slowing disconnected from nature by urbanisation and 10000 years of land use? I dont get it. Its all shoing face. Their air quality sucks and they are all obsessed with having cars that are starting to choke the streets.

I also think australia is an amazing open minded and free place - you just have to compare an australian to an american to see that but well Im here and not in australia for many good reasons at this stage of my life. Shanghai is very cosmopolitan and I can work on projects I could never get the opportunity to do in australia. In my experience here people look up to the west more than they look down upon it or worry about its decadence. And I would say I definately take advantage of being an australian here and not only earning great money in comparison to a local but also leading them towards better living environments.

Anyway they got some damn nice women here...

[spiders]

yeah well said.

But here you just get people constantly trying to fuck you over everything in every way - you cant even get a straight answer about a fucking simcard for a phone - let alone a flight to Taipei or a job interview.

And a lot of the westerners here are the worst - they take advantage of your perception that they will act with ethics to fuck you in the same way or even worse like the shit with apartment.

We have two days to find someone to move into our apartment and take over the lease. We get 12 replies to our original ad - only one who I can tell is a normal guy - but he wants to move in late November and we want out before then.

I explain to him,then proceed to show the people around the place, one after another...

The dudes do the usual taiwanese thing where you say 'ill call you and let you know' and then never do - its annoying, but i can deal.

But then I get this chick from Canada saying 'can my friend make a deposit ? I realy want to move in! Please hold the place!'

So we are like - if you pay a deposit we will hold it, but as we are under a deadline we cant really promise anything.

And she is telling us not to consider other people - she is a definate.

Ofcourse she changes her mind at he last minute LIKE 1 day before our lease runs out and we lose our security ($500 AU)

So I readvertise saying 'only genuine people' and 'we need someone to take over the lease ASAP!'

This british guy rings up named 'Wayland' - I should have known...

He says he wants to come have a look and arrives with his chinese girlfriend.

As soon as I started talking to him i knew something was wrong - the inappropriate length of his stares and the weirdness socially made me feel kinda weird about him - but normally Im an accepting person and im cool with what ever.

He walks down to the apartment with us, refusing to stand near us - sort of trailing behind...

We bring him in and he literally spends an hour looking at the apartment - looking and looking, breaking into taichi up on he roof-top garden and all this crap and then insists he speaks directly to the land lord.

THis is a little weird if we are subleasing - as subleasing is legal here.

We oblige and he asks her to come meet us straight away (at 9pm)

She arrives and his girlfriend breaks into mandarin and talks to her - telling her its too expensive and that its too small for the price so they arent interested unless she can lower the price (I understand because I can talk mandarin - but pretened I couldnt understand).

The landlady (who is a nice chick although most are nasty) says - no you need to take over their lease and pay the same or they will lose their bond.

She says 'we dont care if they lose their bond - if the lease lapses can you negotiate a lower price?'

So after wasting an hour of our time and knowing our situation fully, they had arrived to fuck us...

I told them there and then to get out and that we werent interested - the land lady was confused but it worked out ok.

The guy knew our situation and tried to screw us so he could get a iny discount on rent. Wanker

We found only our second really normal westerner here and he took it (thanks Ed!) ANd I say normal because A.he wasnt wearing an obvious wig, B. he was nice and honesty and not uptight and anal and C. he had social skills... Im sure the freaks of the west run here and hide...

I loved Beijing - the people there were more relaxed, werent trying to make money off you at every chance and basically were sorta normal. Here they have nothing to gain from westerners - so basically they try to make us feellike shit - cops trying to demean you, locals spitting at you as you walk passed, dudes yelling 'fuck you ' as you walk by - lovely... and dont get me started about 99% of the employers (erin found a good one - i didnt.

its not all bad here but it is if you took it all seriously and didnt have the option of getting the fuck out let me tell ya!

Back to the pub!

As for the chicks - the american guy in our hostel openly ordered a call girl while we were sitting in the lounge room next door - she arrived and while he was showering, sat next to him and did a shit - all the time smiling like a cute little school girl - even whipping her arse in front of him. \

Man i just couldnt have done anything after that... Serves him right i guess...

[botanika]

Man - your making me feel very lucky to be on the mg mainland. I can't imagine anyone spitting on a foreigner, let alone shouting obscene comments. We have a few taiwanese in our office and they are not trusted by anyone foreigners or locals. They're particularly bad because they all have big US masters degrees and like to look down on everyone... as if they're better. I dont know they just seem to have a hidden agenda. They're really competitive with the Hong Kong folk too.

Small island syndrome?

My only apartment woes have mainly concerned renovations early int he morning - the price of china's development means drills and hammers have replaced the sound of birds and insects.

I've had some good luck with girls. Managed to find one thats spunky, attractive and full of charisma without attitude - Im going to marry her. She's even into mushrooms!

Cheers P