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Features Introducing NEM3SI$’s new label Infinite Resistance! Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases! Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup! Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast! Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music! SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023! The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023! NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music! Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22! A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik! PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records! Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters! N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood! Celebrating International Women’s Day and Ten Years of Psy-Sisters with Amaluna A Catch Up with John Phantasm ahead of his upcoming set at the Tribal Village 4 Day Outdoor Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! 'The Maestro that is Tristan talks barn owls, Shazamming and keeping it Psychedelic ahead of his upcoming performance at the Tribal Village 4 Day Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022!

Stop the war Reported by MIKE1234 / Submitted 03-06-06 13:57 This year, a UN report showed that drug use around the world is up by 15% on last year’s figures. In Britain, drugs are cheaper and more available then ever before, and are a part of normal life for many people. Is the ‘war on drugs’ a battle that was lost way before it was waged? Before the media panic about drug use at the end of the 60s, there was generally a tolerant disapproval of drugs in our society. A sort of ‘help but don’t punish’ approach. But then America launched its campaign against the use and users of drugs, and the world followed suit, turning ‘drugs’ into some kind of abstract villain, and spreading a message of ‘Just Say No’. But the statistics show the complete opposite has happened, and more and more young people are saying ‘yes’. Cocaine John is 17. He has been using ecstasy for two months. “Most young people don’t take these drugs because they are desperate or their lives are a mess. They take them to have an experience, or to have a good time. The same reason people go to the pub. I know there are risks, but this is normal life for so many people. It’s not the shady world people think, and not all drugs are as bad as each other.” Ecstasy tablets, which come in many thousands of designs or ‘brands’. John is not un-typical. Whilst teenagers have always been associated with drug use, it seems now, more than ever, recreational use of drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy is commonplace. The risks from drugs certainly cannot be ignored, but the government’s approach has been focused on scare tactics, rather than on accepting the facts and dealing with the problem rationally. Take ecstasy for example. Despite the media hype that comes around every so often when another young clubber falls victim to the drug — Leah Betts for example — it is statistically and relatively safer than alcohol and cigarettes. More often than not, it is a lack of knowledge about the drug or an adulterant in the pill that kills people. Poppers/amyl nitrate In fact the poor quality of drugs manufactured by unregulated back street chemists poses the biggest risk to users, not the pure chemicals themselves. Ecstasy is a recreational drug, and not physically addictive. So when the government designates it a class A drug, making it in effect as bad as heroin or crack cocaine, you begin to understand why people see them as out of touch, and therefore don’t take the laws seriously. How can people be taught the real dangers of these drugs, if the very teaching is undermined by a lack of an honest, open debate? Psyclobe mushrooms (commonly known as magic mushrooms) are a natural substance that has been used in spiritual healing for thousands of years. A loophole in the law had meant that fresh mushrooms containing the active chemical Psilocin have been legal to possess and trade in the UK. In the last five years the UK witnessed a huge rise in their popularity, spawned by online headshops and hip areas such as Camden Town in London, that notoriously sold them. Instead of taking a step back and looking at how best to regulate the popular fungi, so as to limit possible damage caused by them, vendors were left to regulate it themselves. Joints of cannabis/marijuana or hash When the government finally became aware of their popularity they instead moved to ban them completely. A badly drafted clause was pinned to the Drugs Bill 2005, which made fresh magic mushrooms a class A drug, again in the same league as heroin and crack-cocaine. The bill was rushed though the Commons before the close of parliament, with no scrutiny or consultation with drug groups such as Transform, that often advises the government on how to minimise the harm from drug use in society. LSD/acid It is this knee-jerk reaction that is typical of the government’s attitude towards problem solving. On the surface it may seem that criminalising mushroom use solves the problem, but now a potential black market exists, not to mention the fact that people could turn to much stronger drugs such as LSD or start picking poisonous mushrooms in the hope that they contain psilocin. The fact is, recreational drugs are more popular than ever, and their use among young people continues to rise. If the intentions of the government are to limit the damage caused by drugs, then through prohibition they have not been successful. Turning users into criminals has clearly done nothing to stop people using, it just makes the government appear to be, to coin a phase, ‘tough on drugs’. Heroin Recreational drugs are one thing, but the drugs that undoubtedly destroy lives — the highly addictive heroin and crack cocaine — are fast becoming an unavoidable problem in our country. A recent investigation by Derbyshire Police found that crack use in small towns outside Derby was seriously higher than expected. It seems what was once thought to be the scourge of inner city life is spreading around the country as more vulnerable people become embroiled in addiction. It is here that treating the symptoms rather than the cause really makes the problem worse. The extremely addictive nature of these drugs causes many users to steal and burgle, and it is the inflated value given to the drug by prohibition that produces such a profitable market for dealers. So when we treat addicts as criminals and lock them in prison we see that, aside from the obvious detrement to their situation — prison often fuels drug addiction — there is also a huge monetary loss to society as a whole. Does it not seem more sensible to look at the root cause of the use of these destructive drugs? The money saved by government regulation of these drugs, could be better spent on educating potential addicts, and ideally learning how best to make sure the vulnerable people in society don’t turn to addiction. Rocks of crack cocaine The high levels of drug and alcohol abuse in Britain are just some indications of an underlying problem in our collective psyche. The current media hype about our binge culture highlights a socially interesting, if not worrying British trait. It probably cannot be put down to one answer, and it certainly can’t be solved with one solution, but it might have something to do with the way our society deals with taboos. Perhaps the problem lies in the very fact we have created taboos about subjects that really shouldn’t be given a mysterious or vice-like quality. Take sex for example: Britain of the past had a notoriously stuffy attitude to the most natural act we can perform, and that still sticks. Even now the way we try to teach it ‘openly and honestly’ seems to be over compensating for the past lack of education in a way that does nothing to remove taboos, just makes them more talked about. The end result is we have the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Europe. Ketamine The same can be said for alcohol and drugs. In the comestible haven that is Italy, children are brought up to respect alcohol, because they drink wine with their meals and don’t see it a vice. Subsequently Italy does not face the same problem with binge drinking that we do. On the 24th of November 2005, the 24–hour drinking law came into place. Whilst it’s healthy that the government has realised that we need a more continental approach to drinking, and that we don’t all go home at 11 o’clock, it probably won’t translate in the same way, and it will take more than that to loose the attitude that has lead us here in the first place. Again, we are putting a plaster on a virus, when we should be developing a vaccine. Being tough and creating a battle simply does more damage than repair. Cannabis/marijuana As we continue to fight the ‘war on drugs’, apart from losing, we may also be losing sight of the very intention of it in the first place: to limit the potential damage caused by them. All images from http://www.drugs.gov.uk/communications-and-campaigns/image-library/ Share this :: : : : Follow HarderFaster :: The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable. Comments: From: rossy on 4th Jun 2006 05:08.19 Good read imo From: Alan-Banks on 4th Jun 2006 07:39.07 A very interesting read From: Psycloud on 4th Jun 2006 12:37.35 Excellent article!!!! I don't think for one minute the government or the police believe the war on drugs is having any effect but regardless of how many millions of people use recreational drugs that is still only a minority %age of the voting population and middle class England will not vote for a government that isn't seen to be tough on drugs. From: k_devil on 4th Jun 2006 19:36.26 intersting read i all ways find things like this intersting as i belive in drug education pleas could you let me know by p.m where this information came from so i can evaluat it properly thanks. From: ~deleted12332 on 6th Jun 2006 11:26.17 interesting read.. but again only touchs on one side/perspective of the war on drugs.. Was a littel concentrated from the recreational drug users side with out realy going into all the issues which evolve around the war on drugs.. However as i say.. It would take a whole book to cover this.. From: Red5 on 6th Jun 2006 13:40.09 Good read, but I get the feeling it's kind of preaching to the converted really. Could have done with some stats to backup some of the points. From: Futon on 6th Jun 2006 17:53.34 Drug designs are not brands. Brands are protected by copyright and trademark laws. Just because you have two pills that have a mitsubishi symbol on them does not mean they are made of the same substances, let alone by the same people. It is dangerous to tell people they are brands, as people may start to treat them as such. Drug symbols are not necessarily to be trusted [/rant] Good piece though, although tend to agree with the comments that it appears a little one-sided from the users' perspective, and seems generally anti-legislation. From: DMX on 13th Jun 2006 00:50.34 Re ecstasy, "it is statistically and relatively safer than alcohol and cigarettes". Can you tell me which stats show that E is safer, please? I never knew this was an established fact. Safer in terms of less likely to kill immediately, or less damage over time... or...?

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