ARTWORK: Rose Dixon-Campbell
towering giants of Wright and Bruce, balconies waved and folded into patterns of sacred geometry. The technicolour strees that we walked every other day became another world to explore. The campus seemed like another planet, distinctly separate from the familiar buildings and lawns we had passed just hours before. The quickly flowing stream of Sully’s Creek seemed to have been rendered in cheaply animated polygons. The bright purple trees hanging above did little to alleviate my confusion. But the most shocking effect was a dramatic impact on my own introspection. I can still recall how it felt to have my regular patterns of thought disrupted, opening new ways to consider the things that persistently run through my mind. It was personally empowering, exhilarating and freeing. As we approached the stretch of University Avenue, the paintings were like mischievous sirens, drawing us to pause and take in every detail. Enjoying the day, our minds still significantly impacted by the LSD molecules clinging to serotonin receptors, we talked extensively about our passions. The works of great poets and playwrights, the secrets and questions of mycology and our own dreams and deepest anxieties. I credit how positive I found the experience to the people I spent it with. Mutual trust gave us freedom to share the art we loved, and have tough conversations while maintaining a spirit of excitement about the trip we were sharing. Psychedelic drugs are not for everyone and should be treated with a great deal of
respect and caution. However, their recreational use can provide unique and perspective-shifting experiences. Experiences that can powerfully impact a person’s life. The ACT Legislative Assembly’s decriminalisation of these substances is not an open invitation for people to seek out and try them without consequence. But it could be the first step towards developing a legal relationship with psychedelics like that of Canada and the Netherlands. Nations in which government measures have effectively allowed for the sale and recreational use of specific hallucinogenic substances, such as psilocybin. Through my personal experiences dipping my toes into mind-altering substances, I have gained a greater understanding of who I am and want to be as a person. I was allowed visual effects more interesting and believable than anything offered through kaleidoscopes or CGI. I was bestowed a new lens through which to appreciate art. In these days of euphoric joy, LSD has fundamentally pushed me to approach life in a new and exciting way. In this way, I affirmed my belief that psychedelic drugs can have a highly positive impact on the lives of those who chose to use them. Especially when their use is freed from negative stigma and government policy directions aiming to demonise their impact. Hopefully, the rest of Australia can follow the ACT’s strong example on drug reform and turn our territory’s exciting anomaly into an international standard. And for the intrigued reader at home, I hope that I’ve drawn you a little closer to seeing the eye-opening magic that a mind-bending trip can offer.iv.
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