Nature's Most Wanted
Have you seen these botanicals?
by Brian Ballard Quass, the Drug War Philosopher
May 24, 2022
#1 Erythroxylum coca
UNLAWFUL PROVIDER OF CLARITY, GIVING HUMAN BEINGS MENTAL POWERS THAT GOD NEVER INTENDED
ALIASES: Coke -- and a variety of snarky pejorative epithets like 'blow'
FAMILY: Erythroxylaceae
LOCATION: Last seen on the eastern slopes of the Andes
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#2 Papaver somniferum
PROVIDER OF FORBIDDEN CREATIVITY THROUGH THE UNLAWFUL CREATION OF METAPHORICALLY INSTRUCTIVE DREAM IMAGERY
ALIASES: Opium poppy
FAMILY: Erythroxylaceae
LOCATION: Last seen in Eastern Mediterranean, but sightings have also been reported in North Africa and Eurasia.
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#3 Psilocybin cubensis
UNLAWFUL IMPROVEMENT OF HUMAN MIND, FIRST DEGREE THREAT TO LIQUOR INDUSTRY AND MODERN PSYCHIATRY
ALIASES: Golden Teacher, Golden Halos, Cubes, Gold Caps, Shrooms, Stropharia cubensis, Mayan name: "k'aizalaj Okox"
FAMILY: Hymenogastraceae
LOCATION: Last seen in Cuba, Southwestern USA, Northern South America, Pacific Islands, Australia
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#4 Psilocybin semilanceata
UNLAWFUL SPIRITUAL BENEFITS, POTENTIAL THREAT TO ESTABLISHED RELIGIONS
ALIASES: Liberty Caps, Panaeolus semilanceatus, Phrygian Caps, Mongui, St. John's Mushroom
FAMILY: Strophariaceae
LOCATION: Last seen in Europe, North or South America, Asia, Australia, or New Zealand
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#5 Psilocybin ovoideocystidiata
UNLAWFUL LAUGHTER MAKING, POTENTIAL THREAT TO GOD AND COUNTRY
ALIASES: Ovoids
FAMILY: Hymenogastraceae
LOCATION: Last seen in Eastern US, especially Ohio and West Virginia, but appears to be on the move. Reported sightings made in western USA and Europe.
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#6 Psilocybin azurescens
UNLAWFUL THOUGHT GENERATOR, POTENTIAL THREAT TO CONSUMERISM AND MATERIALISM
ALIASES: Flying Saucers, Blue Runners, Blue Angels, Azzies
FAMILY: Hymenogastraceae
LOCATION: Last seen in Pacific Northwest, especially Oregon and Washington state.
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#7 Psilocybin cyanescens
UNLAWFUL PROVIDER OF MENTAL FLEXIBILITY, THREAT OF GROWING NEW BRAIN CELLS IN USER
ALIASES: Blue Meanie, Wavy Cap, Wakefield, Cyan, Blue Halo, Gold Tops, Copper Tops
FAMILY: Hymenogastraceae
LOCATION: Last seen in coastal US western states. Occasional reports of sightings in Europe.
#8 Amanita muscaria
SUSPECTED OF CAUSING PLEASANT DREAMS AND INSPIRING USERS WITH NOVEL MENTAL VISTAS
ALIASES: Fly Agaric, Fly Amanita
FAMILY: Amanitaceae
LOCATION: This shroom is constantly on the move. Reported sightings span the globe, in North America, Mexico, Central America, Asia, Europe and Australia
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#9 Banisteriopsis caapi and psychotria viridis
THREAT TO CHRISTIANITY, SUSPECTED OF PROMOTING ILLEGAL SELF-INSIGHT
ALIASES: Ayahuasca, La Purga
FAMILY: Malpighiaceae
LOCATION: Last seen in South America
#10 Lophophora williamsii
THREAT TO MATERIALISM, SUSPECTED OF INSPIRING CROSS-CULTURAL DREAM IMAGES
ALIASES: Peyote, Nahuatl peyōtl, Caterpillar Cocoon
FAMILY: Cactaceae
LOCATION: Last seen in Mexico and Southwestern Texas
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Notes:
1: The Truth About Opium by William H. Brereton DWP (up)
read more essays here
Ten Tweets
against the hateful war on US
"My faith votes and strives to outlaw religions that use substances of which politicians disapprove."
Many psychonauts (like Terence McKenna) praise psychedelics while demonizing other psychoactive substances. No substance is bad in itself. All substances have some use at some dose for some reason for some people in some circumstance.
There's more than set and setting: there's fundamental beliefs about the meaning of life and about why mother nature herself is full of psychoactive substances. Tribal peoples associate some drugs with actual sentient entities -- that is far beyond "set and setting."
We should no more arrest drug users than we arrest people for climbing sheer rock faces or for driving a car.
The formula is easy: pick a substance that folks are predisposed to hate anyway, then keep hounding the public with stories about tragedies somehow related to that substance. Show it ruining lives in movies and on TV. Don't lie. Just keep showing all the negatives.
If I have no right to mother nature's bounty, then I surely have no right to manmade guns. If hysterical fearmongering justifies the eradication of the Fourth Amendment, then the Second Amendment should go as well.
The "scheduling" system is completely anti-scientific and anti-patient. It tells us we can make a one-size-fits-all decision about psychoactive substances without regard for dosage, context of use, reason for use, etc. That's superstitious tyranny.
Think you can handle a horse? So did Christopher Reeves. The fact is, NOBODY can handle a horse. This message brought to you by the Partnership for a Death Free America.
This just in on the drug scene: A new New York Times report shows that America has been flooding the world with antidepressants, alcohol and cigarettes!
The FDA says that MindMed's LSD drug works. But this is the agency that has not been able to decide for decades now if coca "works," or if laughing gas "works." It's not just science going on at the FDA, it's materialist presuppositions about what constitutes evidence.
Click here to see All Tweets against the hateful War on Us
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Unless otherwise indicated, no AI is used in the creation of site content. These essays represent the original ideas of their author and not the ideas that the author SHOULD have based on an algorithmic parsing of existing data. For more on this subject, consider the AI-related viewpoints to which the author subscribes as delineated in the New York Times opinion piece entitled "What 370,000 College Essays Tell Us About A.I.’s Effects on Creativity" by Rebecca Winthrop of the Brookings Institution.
Copyright 2026, Brian Ballard Quass
Contact: quass@quass.com
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