Mr Green wrote:I don't look down on drug use of any sort, the only thing I object to is people robbing to feed their habits, but when their useage affects no-one but themselves, I have no problem with it
Dear Mr Green, we are not Shamans, are we? I have not met any Shaman in my life. If you have not seen in the films and newspapers and TV, you have been working for seva in the prisons, you must have seen that people not only rob to feed their addictions, but also stab and kill others, and they let their small children at home starve; and if they are not killed by the police on some crime, then sit in jail for years.
Drug addiction may start with small doses of marijuana but the hunger can grow for bigger doses which ends with heroin. After a while a drug addict can not discriminate any more right from wrong, looses the sense of ethics, sells home, furniture and the cloths of his family. They beat their old mother to death to get some money. If they are still young and attractive they sell their body on the streets. They run around like a time bomb,you can never know when they will kill somebody for money or themselves with an overdose.
I once met on a journey a mature couple from France, man was on duty in Civil Service taking care of drug addicts, woman was engaged full time in a company for living and in her free time she had devoted herself since years to voluntary work for drug addicts, helping them with shelter and hospital if they wanted. After some time I learned the tragedy in their life. Their beautiful young daughter started with marijuana, and later became heroin addict as the parents were working to help drug addicts.
The mother was telling me crying that there were times, when she was running on the streets to get some stuff for her daughter in crisis. This parents gave a big struggle to help their daughter to get rid of her addiction. She became sober for some months and then one day, one friend gave her a shot and she was found in a dirty hotel death.
I have heard and read and listened countless similar real life stories. If you believe everything to be spiritual, you must know that all sorts of psychoactive drugs and hallucinogens cut the average person's connection to higher realms and the person is drawn into unknown dark space without any help.
We are social beings, every drug addict does not only harm himself, but their parents or if they have their own family their children and their partner, and/or others on the street to get some money. Even if they get sober, the spiritual damage done to the higher self of the person can not be cured for lifetime. So the damage of the hallucinogens can not be compared to the damage taken by food or by TV.