An Evolving View Dallas Morning News A reflection on William F. Buckley's controversial call to regulate drug use by legalizing them.
An LSD No-No Weekend America How Dock Ellis managed to pitch a no-hitter while ripped on LSD.
Creators of “The Wire” Offer Solutions Wall Street Journal The guys behind one of the greatest TV shows ever argue against our anti-drug approach.
April 03, 2008
Maybe it's the death of hardcore libertarian William F. Buckley, or maybe it's the bizarre behavior of our neighborhood meth addicts, but I've been thinking lately of the War on Drugs. Is it just me, or do the drugs seem to be winning?
Which would make sense, given the head start they have. Various chemical and biological manifestations of nature have been conspiring to addle our brains since man crawled out of the caves. The effort to restrict and criminalize them has, at best, a century or so of middling success behind it.
For Exhibit A, we turn to ergot, a natural fungus that can grow on certain grains and is the foundation for the active ingredient in LSD. Ergot outbreaks have periodically visited societies ever since the beginning of grain cultivation, possibly blessing us with gifts ranging from the Salem witch trials to "Beowulf."
Ergot (Claviceps purpurea) is a parasitic growth that can form on improperly stored grain, particularly rye. It reduces crop yields, but, more importantly, it's loaded with ergotamine, an alkaloid that can -- in small amounts -- have interesting effects on neurotransmitters. In larger quantities, it can be fatally poisonous.
Mass outbreaks of ergotism were common enough in the Middle Ages to earn the nicknames "Holy fire" and "St. Anthony's fire," a reference to physical symptoms brought on by the poison, which constricts blood flow to the point where amputation was common. Historians argue that repeated ergot outbreaks in France during the Middle Ages left the population too decimated and too weak to fight off the invading Norse and, later, the bubonic plague.
But it's the mental symptoms that are a real trip. Ergotism has been implicated in numerous instances of mass hysteria and hallucination, most notably the Salem witch trials. Researcher Linnda Caporael argues convincingly that physical symptoms displayed by supposedly demon-afflicted girls -- particularly convulsions and skin disorders -- are similar to those of ergot exposure. Weather conditions around that time would have favored outbreaks of the fungus.
The "Great Fear" that kicked off the French Revolution, in which anxious peasants attacked their feudal overlords, could be another case of ergot-taking. France was in the midst of a serious grain shortage that would have encouraged the desperate to resort to ergot-infested stores.
In his book "Beowulf & Grendel," John Grigsby argues that the foundational tale of English literature was a reaction to Norse invaders who used ergot (known as "the tooth of the wolf") as part of hallucinogenic religious rituals. The monster Grendel certainly seems a likely product of a bad trip. Ditto for Caliban's fits in Shakespeare's "The Tempest."
Over the last century, ergot has become more of a blessing than a bane, with scientists synthesizing cures for migraine headaches, Parkinson's disease and more. And, of course, LSD, which is merely a purified form of the ergotamine chemical and did not turn out to be all that useful for anything other than inspiring music of extremely variable quality.
So on the one hand, we have nature's seemingly endless creativity. On the other, we have a splintered and not entirely committed international drug eradication effort.
I think I need a drink.
Ergot of Rye Vaphblueblog A comprehensive history of the problematic fungus.
The Story of LSD Social Media Tracker How LSD went from a lab experiment to a cultural phenomenon in a few short years.
Drug Clock Death By 1,000 Papercuts We're spending $600 a second to keep the War on Drugs going.
Ergotamine DailyMed Ergot derivatives could cure those nasty headaches. Or make your fingers fall off.
How should the War on Drugs change?
56% 38% 0% 6% 0%
Ergot has also been proposed as the cause of lycanthropy (werewolves). There have been reports of men (why is it always men?) who have become wolves or acted like wolves over the centuries. One researcher has said it might've been caused by ergot. Interestingly, ergot apparently affects groups of people not isolated individuals. This is because the ergot infected food is ingested by several people in a community at one time. Of course, it could make one individual think he's a wolf and cause all the others to "see" him as a wolf.
It gives new meaning to Marie Antoinette's comment that the peasants should eat cake. Humans are always looking to refine their drugs. By refining bread flour into cake flour perhaps Marie thought she was doing every one a favor: A better quality of ergot.
Of course, it wasn't something to "lose your head" over.
reedd said...
America is likening itself to the far east of the 19th century where a major portion of the population was addicted to opium. China's standard of living collapsed. I'm not sure if we're in that state of affairs yet, but we're getting there. Just ask any modern day American high schooler how many times per week they are offered to purchase drugs in school. My niece died of a drug overdose and it all started in high school. How about doing a short blip on heroin in high schools today. A hit of heroin is cheaper than lunch. That's a real issue!
Well that is definitely something we did not learn in school. Mrs. Brinkerhoff, why do we need to learn about Beowulf and Tituba? Are you high? And I don't see a good excuse for not turning my term paper in on time, being that my dealer of ergot was running late and I couldn't think about that little yellow bird up in the rafters at Salem. America has unfortunately moved beyond ergot and entered a world of drugs that I hope we will be able to get out of by the time our kids are older. Drugs are one of the many down falls in this country and our current administration has done little or nothing to fix it (among other things). Of course some may believe that since this "problem" has been around for as long as it has, there is know resolution in sight. We shouldn't shoot this down that quick, in life there is always a solution. But for now when you read Beowulf, ponder the world of the Salem witch trials or even possibly attend a showing of Cirques de Soleil just remember that Ergot was the original HDTV..
I don't think we've progessed too far from those days of ergotism. The only difference is we now intentionally prescribe the mind-altering compunds. Ritalin, Prozac and the like are leaving the general population fairly addled.