Sublime

Discussion of alcohol gives us our first opportunity to examine the distinction between natural and synthetic drugs, for though distilled alcohol waited for hundreds of years to be joined by a second example of a chemically refined intoxicant, it was the first highly concentrated and purified drug, the first synthetic drug.

which was the same as the Hindu soma, and was unquestionably a drug. The experience!

While the passage cited suggests that Paul regained his sight almost immediately, he himself recorded that “in that very hour I received my sight”. (Acts. 22:13). This makes perfect sense, for it would take some time for the pharmacological effects of the ointment to manifest. And then Paul was in for an incredible psychedelic ride.

LSD too, it is easy to forget, was derived from a fungus, Claviceps purpurea, or ergot.

There is no way to avoid a discussion of Thomas De Quincey at this point. Like Timothy Leary in the 1960s, De Quincey was able to convey the visionary power of what he experienced. For De Quincey this was a power imprisoned within the labyrinth of the poppy.