================================================================= This file is a part of the 1999 Hyperreal Drug Archives Snapshot. This snapshot is hosted by Erowid and will not be updated after October 1999. The information in these files may be out of date. See Erowid's Psychoactive Vaults for more current info. ================================================================= 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 Chr‚tien 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). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421