This issue of the MAPS newsletter describes MAPS' agenda for 1996. I've used the occasion of the New Year to take stock of where MAPS has been and where it is going. The review of MAPS' main projects helped me to place things in perspective; hopefully it will do the same for you. By laying out an organizational road map, MAPS members can now get a sense of the big picture. This enumeration of goals also provides a checklist with which to evaluate MAPS' progress over the course of the upcoming year. If you think any of the goals should be modified in any way, please don't hesitate to contact us to express your opinion. Sylvia and I appreciate your input and will give it serious thought. MAPS' overall goal remains to demonstrate scientifically the value of psychedelics and marijuana and to clarify accurately the risks to be avoided, minimized or taken when necessary. As always, rational fact-based arguments play only a small role in national drug policy and are frequently overwhelmed by emotional and symbolic issues. Still, like a rudder on a boat in high seas, scientific data does help to determine somewhat the direction of the ship of state. Since many of you have asked, I'd like to clarify a somewhat embarrassing but humorous mistake I made in the last issue. As you may recall, I included a picture of Eden, my new baby boy, on page 1. In the picture he had a round thing on his nose. I've lost count of how many people didn't know what it was and were scared to ask me in case it was a birth defect, perhaps resulting from some damage I had done to my chromosomes through my past use of LSD. (Note: the supposed link between LSD and chromosome damage was disproven years ago.) What I failed to mention in the article or include as a caption for the photo was the information that the circle was a Cheerio. Even some people who had seen Eden in person without the Cheerio weren't sure what it was! Since being a first-time dad is so consuming, I lost a bit of perspective. I thought that somehow everyone else would know what it was. At first, only a small percentage of the Cheerios that Eden picked up managed to make it into his mouth. The one in the photo stayed on his nose undisturbed for several minutes, a feat I found exceedingly cute. Speaking of parenthood, my wife Lynne and I are going to have another baby due June 3, a girl. We're elated and very grateful for our many blessings. We're both late bloomers but once we started our family, we've moved along rather directly. We're even getting ready to purchase a station wagon. Before too long, teenagers will think I'm totally square. Perhaps this fragile psychedelic renaissance is another late-blooming phenomenon, decades in coming and slow to develop but possessing of solid roots that can support new growth. Let's hope so.
This newsletter presents an ambitious agenda for MAPS in 1996. I'm rather exhausted just thinking about it all. Still, I'd be disappointed if most of MAPS' goals were not reached. Perhaps it is best to think of these goals as a menu of options. At the end of the year, we can all look back and determine how well MAPS performed. If MAPS is to continue to earn your financial support, it needs to set ambitious goals and work towards them.
Best wishes for a challenging and satisfying New Year.
Rick Doblin, MAPS President.