Ensaio de Carl Sagan sobre Cannabis

Abaixo encontras algumas citações de um ensaio que o astrónomo Carl Sagan escreveu em 1969 para Marihuana Reconsidered, um livro publicado por Lester Grinspoon. Nessa altura Sagan tinha 35 anos de idade, e continuou a usar Cannabis o resto da sua vida.

"A experiência com a Cannabis melhorou grandemente a minha apreciação pela arte, um tema que nunca apreciei muito anteriormente. O entendimento do intento do artista que consigo alcançar quando estou pedrado por vezes continua quando não estou. Esta é uma das muitas fronteiras humanas que a Cannabis me ajudou a atravessar".

"Uma melhoria muito semelhante na minha apreciação musical ocorreu com a Cannabis. Pela primeira vez consegui ouvir as partes separadas de uma harmonia de três partes e a riqueza do contraponto. Desde então descobri que os músicos profissionais podem facilmente tocar muitas partes separadas simultaneamente na sua cabeça, mas para mim esta foi a primeira vez. Mais uma vez, a experiência de aprendizagem quando pedrado passou pelo menos até certo ponto para o meu estado sóbrio. A apreciação de comida amplificou-se; emergem sabores e aromas que normalmente por qualquer razão parecemos estar demasiado ocupados para notar. Posso dar a minha atenção total à sensação. Uma batata ganha textura, corpo, e sabor como as outras batatas, mas muito mais intensos. A Cannabis também aumenta a apreciação do sexo – por um lado dá uma sensação única, mas por outro lado adia o orgasmo: em parte distraindo-me com a profusão da imagem que passa pelos meus olhos. A duração do orgasmo parece aumentar imenso, mas isto pode ser a experiência usual da expansão temporal que se dá ao fumar Cannabis".

"Não me considero uma pessoa religiosa no sentido geral, mas há um aspecto religioso em algumas pedras. A sensitividade em todas as áreas dá-me uma sensação de comunhão com o que me rodeia, tanto as coisas animadas como inanimadas".

"Quando estou pedrado consigo penetrar no passado, recordar memórias de infância, amigos, familiares, brinquedos, ruas, cheiros, sons e sabores de uma era desaparecida. Posso reconstruir as ocorrências de episódios da infância apenas meio compreendidos na altura. Muitas mas não todas as minhas pedras de Cannabis têm nelas um simbolismo significativo para mim que não vou tentar descrever aqui, uma espécie de mandala embutida, tanto visualmente como na própria pedra. A associação livre a esta mandala, tanto visual como em forma de bricandeira com as palavras, produziu uma rica disposição de percepções".

"A proibição da Cannabis é escandalosa, um impedimento da utilização completa de uma droga que ajuda a produzir a serenidade e a percepção, a sensibilidade e o companheirismo tão desesperadamente necessários neste mundo cada vez mais louco e perigoso".

Bem dito, Carl...

Podes ler o artigo completo (em inglês) aqui: Dr. Lester Grinspoon's Marijuana Uses

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Comentários

Jay - 2009-10-07 18:56:18

+14

cannabis... the brain tonic :)

i allways thought carl sagan was special and one of us, now i'm shure :P

Rastaman - 2009-10-10 13:44:03

so true my bro

Zioneye - 2009-10-13 01:22:05

We all need a psychologist sometimes:
mine is called Mary, Mary Jane.

geremias - 2010-01-27 13:21:43

po eu ja era fam do sagan, depois desse texto virei mais ainda, belas palavras!!!

Peter Jackson - 2010-02-09 06:19:18

I was going to say the same things myself but never got around to it. :-)
Good jazz, especially, becomes the rhythm of living.

macbone - 2010-07-20 00:05:59

+10

I last used cannabis 30 plus years ago, and now that I recently started smoking it again, I regret I didn't continue. I recognise all aspects of the essay extract above. It's an amazing release and can only agree that it is criminal to restrict access to this beautiful stuff.

Francisco - 2010-11-29 18:01:56

-1

uma pequena correção, mas IMPORTANTE:
a tradução de "stoned" não é "pedrado", mas sim "chapado"!

stoner steve - 2011-01-27 16:42:27

-25

as a 18 yr old going on 6th year of pot smkin, i have come to enjoy this sensational past time. It has brought together many ppl i have come to noe as my friends.. my sex life is amazing as well as i too enjoy the simpliar things in life music n art is was cool when ur high..the stnr life is a life not only for me but shud be tried by evry1 on this amazing celestial ball of earth

Billy Bob - 2011-02-15 22:03:26

+16

@stoner steve
You arent helping.

A Pirate - 2011-05-20 01:43:06

It's because of people like stoner steve who create the stereotype for idiot potheads. Learn some grammer, douchewad.

Lam - 2011-06-19 17:42:00

The irony in A Pirate's post is overwhelming.

Trommy - 2011-07-01 04:09:59

Carl Sagan, A modern genius and incredible astronomer. Pothead just like me! Yep I'm a pothead, college graduate, rich, happily married,Drive a new Porsche, Productive and with an IQ of 157. Boy I love me some OG Kush and I love me some scrilla. I don't love me some ignorant people who want to control my liife and yours.

Jonathan - 2011-08-19 06:10:53

I think the Benefits from this go far beyond just the personal level. Say on a national level a country could do so much by legalizing this herb. Not only will it reduce the pull of people to drug dealers but it will ensure what people are buying is safe. It will help the countrys tourist industry. There would be a market opening Fore stores,shops and cafes to sell and cultivate weed. Dispensorys could be set up for the distribution of legal weed, all the things above creating much employment also there would be a new line of work in Cannabis farming the possibilities are endless

glowinggreenant - 2011-10-14 18:09:07

There is a new book out which explains the effects of a marijuana high, including the enhancement of episodic memory, pattern recognition, introspection, empathic understanding and the enhancement of our ability to produce insights: "High. Insights on Marijuana" by Sebastian Marincolo (dogearpublishing 2010). Highly recommended!

Liam - 2011-11-06 05:14:06

I think "the illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world." is my favorite quote in the whole essay. That was written in 1969. Look where we are today, 2011, where marijuana is a Schedule 1 narcotic, right along with Heroin.
I wonder what he would say...

Also, as a 14 year old regular marijuana user, I definitely have to agree with A Pirate's post (except the "douchewad" part). People like stoner steve and like all "uneducated fools" are what give stoners a bad name. Anti-cannabis folk refer to these people when explaining what it "does to you", meanwhile those people were like that in the first place!

The situation of marijuana today is simply unbelievable. *sigh*

Amanda - 2012-02-07 20:20:00

I can't say that I've had a particularly extensive experience with pot, however the few times I have partaken in cannabis consumption, the experience was intriguing to say the least. I am a color-graphemic and ordinal linguistic personification synesthete...so my experiences with pot are quite intense. I find both pros and cons to these experiences...for example, my perception of the color orange (specifically the pinkish, salmon-y sandpaper rough shade of orange) is thrown off, which can be irritating...However, my perception of translucent greens and choppy, frothy, slightly salty blues (shades of blue with slight sandy hints of gray-greens and silty beige) is enhanced, making the beach a really enjoyable place to go when high.
I just recently turned twenty though, and as a young relatively attractive and genetically healthy women, I find that men seem to frequently ask me to get high with them, because pot does tend to lower ones inhibitions, and they assume that, if high, I will be more likely to consent to sexual intercourse. So, I do tend to stay away from pot simply because of that, and how much of a pain in the ass it can be to purchase without getting ripped off. As an artist, I find that when I’m in the throes of inspiration, the feelings and heightened awareness are quite similar to being high…and those moments of inspiration are magnified by pot. I do not enjoy smoking it, I prefer it in either a vaporized or edible form…the smoke makes my eyes burn and I do enjoy cookies quite a bit, so baking it into sweets has always been preferable than lighting up. I have dated the unintelligent type of stoner before, and dislike those who fit that stereotype…pot is a lot like a nice glass of wine, it should be enjoyed with tact and class, savored and not overused.