Hi Steven. Thanks for your comment. You raise a fair point, and it’s something that I also think about. I’m not saying that I’m right, but I’ll at least share my perspective on this.

I absolutely agree that psychedelics are powerful and should always be taken in considered ways, and I also agree that supervision is often important (not always, in my opinion, but often). The main purpose of this article is to illustrate the concept of growing and managing and your own plants, rather than simply buying them in a package the way we buy everything else. In terms of the information provided in this article, there is nothing here that isn’t already easily available in websites like Erowid, Mycopedia, PsychonautWiki, etc. In that sense, I am afraid that the cat is already out of the bag.

But here’s why I wrote this article. For one, I believe in cultivating plants in general, especially the plants we use as humans. That includes everything from fruits and nuts and timber as well as herbs and plant medicines. Being separated or absent from the process of producing the things we consume is, in my opinion, one of the many factors that has created a society alienated from ecology and from each other. When someone else, in some distant land or factory, produces the things we use, using resources and methods and creating waste that we have no idea about, this creates a culture of ignorance. How do we try to turn that around?

Maybe what I propose it too radical. In truth, I believe the best place to start, when growing your own plants, is to grow your own food. There is less that can go wrong with that. Growing and using psychotropic plants, on the other hand, does imply a greater level of responsibility, and it’s not something that should be done be everyone. I agree. I guess where I disagree with you is on the topic of who should be the gatekeeper.

I entirely agree that law enforcement does not need any more challenges. So why saddle them with this particular responsibility in the first place? Law enforcement, in general, is necessary for the functioning of any large-scale society, but I don’t think the use of plant medicines is something that ought to fall under their responsibility. History has already shown that prohibitive laws are not an effective way to stop people from consuming substances of any kind, regardless of their constructive or destructive nature. Pragmatically speaking, prohibition is a waste of time and resources and often causes more harm than good.

The most responsible users or doers of anything are people who are well-informed. I don’t claim that my short article is the ultimate authority on anything, and I only publish an article like this under the assumption that it won’t be the only information source that someone consults on this matter. Perhaps I’m too optimistic. Perhaps I overestimate the intelligence of the people who read articles on Medium. But I really don’t think so. I don’t expect anyone to abuse this information at all. I expect them to use the information. This doesn’t mean that everyone will apply it in practice. Many people probably won’t. For those who do, I trust them to do so in an appropriately cautious and considered way. And my hope is that Big Brother has no involvement whatsoever in the process.

All that said, again I merely submit this as my personal perspective. I appreciate you raising the issue and opening up dialogue.

Respectfully,

Jerry