Dear MAPS,
... As I have been reiterating these many years, what is most important about psychedelic work is the way things are experienced by real people, one by one. And my only criticism of your well-made magazine is that is seems too arid and impersonal to me.
In fact, this question raises another more important one, namely how do we win acceptance for this type of personal exploration in the present climate of American public and government opinion? The MAPS approach may easily be defended by those with more titles than I possess, but still it remains open to challenge. Until something fundamental changes, is moved, alters in shape, in the paranoia with which most Americans view not only psychedelics but the world in which they find themselves, I seriously doubt if any progress can be made. Let me be even more provocative and say that the attempts to obtain respectability by donning the white gowns of the "scientists" is about as convincing to the public as the Madame of a brothel attempting to pass herself off at a middle-class ladies' luncheon as the headmistress of a school for girls. Those of us who have been trying to move the consciousness forward, an inch at a time, are well aware that those in opposition may lack knowledge but they don't lack intuition. Some day I will tell you about my brief meetings with Anslinger back in the days when I was at the United Nations doing research on drug use. The point is that my fundamental disagreement with his approach, that was based on his own inglorious career as a prohibition commissioner, came through no matter how hard I tried to keep it hidden... and believe me I did try.
Outside my window my neighbor, who is a farmer and a good man, is turning over the drying hay with what the French call a pirouette, a device that is pulled by the tractor and spins the cut hay so that it presents a new surface to the sun. I am trying the same thing with you and with MAPS.
For example, enclosed I find an ad about LSD Blotter Art. It is not my cup of tea, but art is. Why not consider a small booklet featuring psychedelic art? or even devoting a page to such a subject in each issue of MAPS? I recently came across a book of posters for Rock Concerts done in England some time in the early Seventies (Get on Down, 1977, edited by Mick Farren). Most of the best work was clearly inspired by psychedelics and it puts much of what came after to shame.
Well it is even hot here in the Alps after a cool spring so it must be considerably more so in the Carolinas. This means I will end the letter now without making any further recommendation...but donŐt forget the Huichols!
Enclosed is my check for continued full membership in MAPS. I know it will be used wisely and well.
... It seems to me we are all in some sort of disorganized school for learning, psychedelics are there among the pencils, papers, computers, books... and we are still not quite sure of how best to use them. But a lot of us are still trying.
best regards,
Nedd Willard
Thorens / Gliares
74570 France
Dear MAPS,
... Your ongoing dedication is inspiring and much appreciated. I'm wondering if anyone has investigated MDMA and other similar drug research/therapy in places such as I see advertised in Mexico - so called "Life Extension" clinics - or even Indian reservations? My husband has cancer and I wish he were able to experience some states I read others describing. Having taken LSD during the sixties, it still remains the peak experience of my life. I feel sad that responsible, serious people who see these substances as sacred are unable to have access to them - but this is what makes your work so important!
best wishes,
Virginia Gordon
from the Editor:
We know of no MDMA therapy in clinics in Mexico or on Indian reservations. Sadly, few clinics offer therapeutic psychedelic drug experiences, and those that do are mainly for the treatment of substance abuse. A clinic in Panama:
contact: Howard Lotsofoffers ibogaine sessions, particularly for heroin and cocaine dependence. Takiwasi, a clinic in Peru, offers ayahuasca sessions in the context of an in-patient treatment program for patients suffering crack cocaine dependence and other addictions. It also offers "Seminars in Personal Growth" centered on the ritualized ingestion of sacred plants. Takiwasi is a non-profit pilot center for the rehabilitation of drug addicts and for research of traditional medicines.
NDA International
P.O. Box 100506
Staten Island, NY 10310-0506
Contact: Takiwasi
Prolongaciun Jiron Alerta #466
Tarapoto, Peru
tel: 094.52.5479
fax: 094.52.5479