Based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Physiological and safety needs must be met before an individual is capable of pursuing self-fulfillment needs. Thus, I can hypothesize that only those with sufficient mental aptitude dares to challenge their own consciousness by seeking of ways to alter their perception of the world. It is the desire to experience and BE something else other than your usual self.

psychedelic experiences can often be "mind-opening" and "out of the body" and thus does wonders in raising empathy and social awareness in certain individuals. Other than the rare case of schezoiphrania in some, there has been no proven health risks and recorded fatalities linked psychedelics and marijuana.

Sadly, the use of drugs is often illegal and wrongfully vilified by very conservative beliefs and governments, who would lead you to believe that only troubled and wicked will associate themselves with the drug culture. I find that governments have their hearts in the right place when it comes to protecting the less informed general public from possible harm, however, their execution is completely wrong in most cases. Through the use of fear by making these substances illegal rather than actually educating and informing the public, causing unbiased, irrational exaggerated fear of drugs and the drug users by the general public; A counter-productive measure that ensures the drug culture goes underground and more difficult to regulate.

No working government in the world has been able to fully regulate the drug economy by outlawing it. When you outlaw something, you simply forfeit control over it to somebody else to operate. As long as there are a demand and money to be made (because there certainly will) there will always be a supplier. "If there is a will, there is always a way" Instead of spending billions in tax dollar on maintaining a Drug Enforcement Administration and the jails that house, clothes and feed minor drug offenders, we should be funding drug research and rehabilitation programs instead.

These substances are our "best tools" to journey into the mind, but as long as they are outlawed, further research and funding into how they may be used to enhance our everyday lives are impossible. Like all tools, these substances are not inherently good nor bad, it all depends on your perspective and how you use it is used. However, even the mildest of substances have the potential to be abused depending on the user. Anyone with any wit will tell you it makes no sense to blame the tool for a job done poorly.

I am not encouraging drug use by any measure, but rather I'm encouraging people to form their own educated opinion on it through researching unbiased credible sources. Treat drugs with the same respect they would a firearm and learn how to take it safely and in a controlled environment may just save your life. Moreover, I wish everyone can withhold their judgment over drug users because you don't know their story and everyone has their own reasoning. Drug addicts are victims who attempted to use drugs as a means to escape troubles in their lives.

Understand that the drug culture isn't suitable for everyone as everyone will have different tolerance and beliefs. Know yourself well so you can weigh the pros and cons. Understanding all the risks and the precaution you can take to avoid self-harm can help you make the correct judgment call if you are considering to try a new substance. Never use drugs as a means to escape your life as this can lead to dependency and severe problems later on. Unfortunately, your responsibilities don't dissipate just because you're high.

You're a risk taker who wants to try everything once. Open-mindedness and the desire to experimentation with drugs for the purpose of mental self-discovery is often a quality shared by those with higher than average intelligence. If you're one of the rare few who has an open mind and considered yourself to be fairly intelligent, then you'll know to never to leap blind, but rather only take calculated risks (a risk you can measure).