The Jah Warrior Shelter Hi-Fi crew — Rocker T, Irie Dole, I-vier, and Jah Yzer — photographed for our cover by Jeffery Cross.
Editor’s Note: People like getting high. Whether to just shake off the busy day with a joint or cocktail, or to break free of normal sensory reality and explore the wild beyond, drugs have always been part of the human experience, shaping our societies for good, ill, or a complex and fascinating mixture of both.
Media portrayals of drug use tend toward the extremes, telling either dark tales of dysfunction or else celebrating some counterculture. But we at the Guardian take a more nuanced view, recognizing the often-subtle role that narcotics and their related hysteria play in a wide variety of human endeavors.
That’s why the Guardian‘s Drug Issue isn’t contained in a single section, but laced throughout the paper, from Paul Krassner’s op-ed on the early acid pioneers all the way back to Dennis Harvey’s list of the top freakouts on film.
In the news section, we explore the growing movement to decriminalize marijuana, rising meth-related emergencies among women, and drug use at Burning Man. Super Ego takes a muddled journey to the bathroom stall, flashing back to the alphabet soup of yesterday’s dance floors, while in Lit, we hunt for shrooms and hallucinatory reading, and take a hard look at addiction in Bayshore. And in music, Shady Nate shares the purple you can drink.
Enjoy the trip, and we’ll see you on the other side. (Steve Jones)
>> Chronic debate: Marijuana decriminalization moves forward on several fronts
>> Fewer young people using drugs: When it comes to illicit substances, SF’s kids are alright.
>> Cranked up: Are party girls starting to catch up with the boys?
>> Packing for the trip: The art of taking drugs to — and at — Burning Man
>> LSD as gateway drug: Paul Krassner reflects on acid pioneers
>> Confessions of a Bo-Fessional: Leanin’ on codeine and promethazine with Shady Nate and Livewire
>> Alphabet soup: A brief meditation on the recent history of club drugs
>> The elephant in the shroom: It’s time to start being realistic about magic mushrooms
>> This land is Methland: A new book tracks a drug through America’s cracks and faultlines
>> Drunk on words: 12 hallucinogenic novels and 8 inebriated memory pieces
>> Mothership connections: George Clinton has used, not abused, drugs
>> Letts dance: Tracy Letts’ play August: Osage County makes family dysfunction fun again
>> Time passages: Taking a listen to Coil’s music to take drugs to
>> This is your film on drugs: One film critic’s top movie freakout scenes
>> Hittin’ the tube: A&E’s Intervention — do junkies ever watch it?
>> Intoxicated rhythms: Recordings by musicians under the influence