Given the recent nature of my last few months research, I believe the obsession by the intelligence communities with mind altering substances came from the first studies they did on the native populations that they displaced. Squirreling away their cultural practices as they tried hard to stamp that knowledge out of those people (like with the Vatican and their approved eyes only libraries).
They also use this to isolate us from medicinal plant knowledge, as the legend you mentioned talks of. That's why your posts on herbs is so important. Thanks for continuing on with this, and what a visit that must have been for you at the sorcerers garden.
There are positive aspects to it, but also negatives, even for well-intended use. Plants heal in many ways, and some have negatives to health. But overall, plant is the medicine for us to eat, in daily living. It's the healthiest with the least detrimental aspects to it compared to taking the lives of innocent animals and eating their flesh. Getting the whole profile of nutrients might be harder, but it's cleaner and better for health to go from the source, as opposed to taking the lives of animals who did the works to process the source and then eating them to eat what they accumulated in their lives.