The Entheogenic Experience and Erowid's search for Truth

There has been a small amount of debate on the new term, set forth to take the place of the terms hallucinogen and psychedelic. The older and much abused terms do not do the shamanic inebriants any justice with their culturally distorted meanings and associations. The fine line that has been drawn in some cases of debate stem from the intention behind using a sacramental substance for either spiritual or hedonistic purposes.

The Vaults of Erowid

The most comprehensive archive of information on entheogenic and psychedelic substances online is known to be a web site named 'The Vaults of Erowid' (Erowid).

As of March 2004 (The Vaults of Erowid 2004) the online resource consists of about 25,500 text documents and 4,500 archived images. It takes over 5 gigabytes of disk space and is visited each day by some 31,000 visitors. In the year 2003 Erowid estimated being visited by seven million unique visitors. The Mission Statement of Erowid is..

'.. a member-supported organization providing access to reliable, non-judgmental information about psychoactive plants and chemicals and related issues. We work with academic, medical, and experiential experts to develop and publish new resources, as well as to improve and increase access to already existing resources. We also strive to ensure that these resources are maintained and preserved as a historical record for the future' (The Vaults of Erowid 2004).

The Problem

Linked to the words entheogen, hallucinogen and psychedelic is an apparent problem, this is concerning information. The problem is that of authenticity, truth, law, fear and control. Herein lies the apparent problem. Entheogenic substances are, for the most part, illegal to experience. It is extremely hard to get government and DEA approved study for Entheogens (Strassman 2001). Providing accurate information on illicit substances in The Vaults of Erowid is complicated because of the absence of an overall professional peer review system. The web site known commonly as Erowid is maintained by a man and woman, he is named Earth and she is named Fire. In an Interview with Eric Davis, Earth mentions ..

“The people who know the most about this subject don’t talk about it publicly, because they are legitimately afraid for their careers” (Davis 2004).

The Solution

'..wider community of experts to verify the quality and accuracy of information and documents on the site, and would increase the number of people who can add to the collection without degrading the overall reliability of the library (The Vaults of Erowid 2004).

The archives of information continue to grow with proven accuracy and integrity from a multitude of contributions. The information is sent in the form of reviews, reports, ebooks, photo images, graphs, graphics and visionary artworks from a cross-section of passionate amateurs and professionals and devoted consciousness explorers.

'By creating an anonymous and evolving space of discussion, debate and trust, Erowid has not abandoned peer review, but precariously extended its boundaries. Published research findings cohabit with postings from anonymous research scientists and the interpenetrating comments of freelance alchemists, wackos and all manner of drug nerds. Earth calls it “grassroots peer review,” a process that involves self-selecting contributors whose collective intelligence increases through the dynamics of a highly networked and committed community' (Davis 2004).

The powerfully balanced information that Erowid contains is partly due to the fact that it is non profit and independent from any government organization. Erowid is Based in California, North America, where their country's government have instigated an ongoing 'war on drugs' campaign.

The Government of the USA

In examining how misinformation becomes widely accepted as truth, one only has to look at examples found in scientific journals and in anti drug campaigns. The Government of the United States of America have dramatic propaganda based on what seems to be misinformation, vast generalization, over exaggeration and scare tactics of the negative effects of illicit entheogenic substances. The overall drive of the governments' campaign puts forth the powerful message that all entheogenic substances are detrimental, unsafe and should not be used by anyone.

By over dramatizing its hazards, the critics say, anti drug campaigners may be achieving the opposite of what they seek. Like the crusaders against alcohol and marijuana before them, the anti-ecstasy forces may be persuading a generation of already skeptical youths that adults are more interested in scaring kids than informing them.The government's campaign is based on research that is "seriously, seriously flawed," says Charles Grob, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA and a leading ecstasy researcher (Wells 2002)

One just case of misinformation was published in the well known and prestigious journal 'Science'. A government funded study into the toxic effect MDMA had on lab monkeys resulted in widespread concern after it was believed that..

"..only moderately strong doses of MDMA experienced “severe” damage to their dopamine systems, leading to Parkinson’s-like symptoms and some deaths. (Davis 2004)

it was later discovered that the wrong substance was tested, rendering the results totally inaccurate, but by then the media had reacted to the incorrect research results.

In the current era of communication and information technology it could be largely assumed that official and government sanctioned information is accurate and truthful, with the public well-being at the forefront of any agenda. The power that main governing bodies have over information is their ability to publicize and distribute any information and have it automatically be made widely accepted truth. The misinformation then spreads quickly as news media covers stories and fear mongering sells publications to the masses. The Vaults of Erowid have an advantage of providing accurate information because they have no agenda except to provide all verified information, be it positive or negative about the substance.

To discover more misinformation it is quite easy to find government approved web sites where the facts are incorrect, distorted and the positive points of having an entheogenic experience are not discussed. There are many examples of substances that have been used successfully for health reasons. Many beneficial substances have been categorized as schedule one.

“Erowid is the trusted source for young people who want to get information that’s as uncontaminated by hidden agendas as possible,” says Rick Doblin, president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), which maintains close ties to the site. As an example, Doblin compares Erowid to Freevibe, a sassy anti-drug Web site created by Disney and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). “Freevibe is designed to attract young people, but their MDMA page is bullshit. By providing misinformation or inaccurate information, you destroy your credibility. Kids go elsewhere.” Doblin believes that Erowid is performing a public service by providing information that citizens can use to make good choices. “Erowid shouldn't have to do what it’s doing. In an ideal world, it wouldn't exist. This work would be done by the government” (Davis 2004).

Erowid contains hundreds of reports from people having illegal experiences that have had beneficial impact. Medical practitioners have used The Vaults of Erowid to seek out information that not even their medical databases have information on. This has proved to be a valuable resource, and the site's creators have been contacted many times by counselors and medical practitioners with acknowledgments that the sites information has helped out in saving peoples lives.