Drugs Of Hallucination - Sidney Cohen

 DRUGS OF HALLUCINATION - SIDNEY COHEN

To have or not to have? To have or have not? When it comes to the Covid-19 vaccination that is the question and whilst for most it might well be a no-brainer, for some it's an issue of procrastination. It's not for me to advise what to do but as it's one of the most important questions of the age it demands some consideration at least. Which brings us in a very roundabout way to Drugs Of Hallucination, written by Sidney Cohen and first published in 1965.

To give it its subtitle, Cohen's book is 'The LSD Story' and though any link between lysergic acid diethylamide and the Covid-19 vaccination might be non-existent, a similarity on the point as to whether the drug should be taken or not is there. There are differences, of course, but it's all to do with the reasons why some people say yes, do it, take it, have it, whilst others advocate caution and some even outright condemnation and rejection.

The thing about imbibing LSD - as with almost anything - is that once you've taken it there's no turning back. It's too late. It's in you. Which means whatever effect it might have upon you be it physically or psychologically is going to be there potentially forever. It's going to leave a footprint. Might your whole outlook and perception of life be any different to how it was before the drug was taken? There's just no way of knowing.

Cohen's book touches upon and explores a good many salient points in telling its story, many of which can be interpreted and translated so as to apply to circumstances other than the imbibing of a drug. The similarities between a model psychosis and a visionary state for example are discussed and whether the taking of LSD can lead to either? It's an obvious question, of course, and one most famously cited by Aldous Huxley's Heaven or Hell quote.

There is also the subject of mind control and whether psychochemicals can lead to robotization and a kind of dictatorship without tears? It's a fear shared by a lot of Covid-19 anti-vaxxers who seem to think vaccination will lead to them being controlled by Bill Gates. It's certainly possible that drugs can be used for mind control, says Cohen, though there is probably more to fear from a television advertisement or even from your own parents when it comes to such manipulation of the mind.

When it comes to the question of LSD and whether to take it or not, Cohen comes firmly down on the side of caution citing not only examples and testimonies from those who have benefited incredibly from the drug both psychologically and even spiritually but also from those who have been permanently damaged by it to the point of death by misadventure or even suicide.

Not surprisingly there is no love lost between Cohen and the likes of Timothy Leary and other advocates of free use of the drug for all. In his condemnation of Leary there is, however, a whiff of elitism on his part particularly when talking about the availability of the drug to 'the lower classes'.

At one point when talking about marijuana, Cohen tells us that in Western cities it's 'the marginally adjusted' who smoke it either for ''kicks' or to work up enough courage to commit a felony'. Which is plainly wrong and even somewhat ludicrous. He then goes on to say 'some 300 million (worldwide) are supposed to use hashish regularly, almost as many as those who take opium'. These are figures that I suspect need to be verified and quantified but if true then following Cohen's logic that's an awful lot of felony.

There are similar clues dotted throughout the book that suggest Cohen isn't learning from his own insights and that his judgement and evaluation is being guided by his own prejudices and academic elitism. He's very good at capturing the effects of LSD as in 'the breathing of flowers, the undulation of walls' as he is in capturing its power and profound impact: 'I have just come back from seeing the world for the first time' and 'How do you describe red to a person who was born blind?'

His more complex insights, however, hang glibly upon coat hangers like suit jackets bought but never worn: 'It is important to realise that the world as we see it is far from an exact image of the physical world. Perception is variable and often quite erroneous. One limiting factor is that we perceive only what we can conceive; knowing is prerequisite to seeing and strongly determines what is seen. We tend to see what can be incorporated into our established frame of reference and try to reject that which does not fit.'

Hence Cohen's comments about 'the lower classes' and 'the marginally adjusted'?

'A map stands in the same relationship to the territory it covers as our idea of reality stands to reality', he tells us. And that's it. Cohen's revelations, points of view and insights are maps; some leading to where you might wish to go, others leading to the back of beyond, some detailed and precise, some clearly very wrong as if drawn with crayons. Cohen's book is a map. Some of it being very useful in regards to drug culture, some of it being less than useless.

As to the question about whether drugs (or vaccines, even) should be taken or not, if applying the same Cohen map analogy then it depends on which map you're reading. If anti-drugs (and anti-vax) then you can only wait and see where that gets you - which is probably nowhere. If reading only your official, government sanctioned ordnance survey map then again you can only wait and see where that leads you - along a very straight and narrow path.

As to my own personal opinion, I would never advocate the use of drugs but I would never condemn it either. As for the Covid-19 vaccination, yes, I've had mine and had no qualms about it either, if only for the very simple reason that against some of the dangerous stuff that in the past I've willingly and very happily put into my body, up my nose and in my veins well, I feel it just doesn't compare. As Danny, the purveyor of rare herbs and prescribed chemicals in Withnail And I said: 'Why trust one drug and not the other? That's politics, isn't it?''

John Serpico