If you don't see a connection between brokerage firms' increasing reliance on virtual reality representations of stock data and the Economist 's pro-legalization cover story, you probably didn't smoke enough pot in high school. And with the FDA opening the door to psychedelic research at the same time tabloid TV is updating psychedelic scare stories to match the upswing in teen acid use, it's reassessment time. Not that my neck of the palms was a ganja paradise. Stone-cold Reagan country, and me and Senzo Joe would escape into the weed, toking up in so many lemon groves that the sharp tang of citrus peels still conjures up bud. The various social agendas of parents, teachers, and the ghost of God could be sidestepped not only by sullen monosyllables and the worship of unwholesome heavy metal guitarists but by tinkering with consciousness itself.
Parents have reason for concern.
At 13, identity is a spell woven from a bursting body, ego defenses and worldviews have yet to congeal, and the prepubescent power of fantasy lurks just below the surface. Pot lets you see dragons in the clouds again. He was a birthday gift from Senzo Joe, ripped off from someone's lawn, and once I swear he slyly peeled back his ponderous eyelids and stared me down. The ominous intensity of that gaze, conjured with so little fuel, could be evidence of the dangers mind-altering drugs pose for kids. For better or worse, acid, 'shrooms, and massive bongloads now perform this rite, leaving marks that are both scars and the deep patterns of change.