Harvard is testing ecstasy

Here's an article from the Washington Post discussing a new FDA approved Harvard study on the illegal drug ecstasy to see if it helps terminal cancer patients deal with the psychological and spiritual issues that come along with hearing that you are going to die in the next few months. To start I'll tell you that I don't know a thing about ecstasy except for a vague notion that it is often linked with people in nightclubs. I'm nowhere near up to date or "hip" enough to know anything about this drug, and I say that with a bit of pride. I also missed the whole '60's experience, and feel that having been a part of that may shed light on the hopes of this drug. With that said, I do have some strong feelings about the "purpose" of the study, and, to be honest, have had this post open on my computer for quite a while as I sorted them all out.

My immediate gut reaction upon reading this article is that I'm all for the psychological use of these drugs. If there is a person with some serious psychological issues and this drug can help a professional deal with those problems, then I'm in! Any other use seems to become a bit shady to me though. The article seems to imply that one of the expected uses for the drug would be, in its most basic form, to help make people more comfortable talking to their friends and families about subjects that are hard to talk about. There is a fine line on using a drug for this intent, and I really think we better stay away from the line. (I also know from my younger days that if you get a few too many drinks in me I'll bear my soul to anyone who walks by, but I rarely woke up the next morning feeling good about what I had done or said, but that may be a whole other story.)

When my father had cancer he and my mother had some top secret discussions about death and the future, but he never mentioned these things to the kids. I wish he would have, but he didn't. Would ecstasy have made him comfortable doing so? Maybe. If you need to take a drug to say something does it make taking the drug right? I'm not sure. Let's go one step further. If dad would have taken ecstasy and opened up to me and I was uncomfortable talking to him about his death, would it be okay for me to take some ecstasy to loosen my tongue? How do you draw the line?

As a Christian I find the idea that taking this drug will help your spiritual experience at the least absurd and probably somewhat offensive. To believe that a drug is needed to help with the spiritual experience you have to accept two things as fact. First, God is not big enough to reach you without your first being "primed" by a drug. Second, the people who came before us/before the advent of this drug were unable to have a satisfactory spiritual experience. I accept neither, and thus can not accept that there is a need for a drug to enhance the spiritual experience. (I shared this article with two of my chaplains while mulling over what to write in this post and they both had a huge laugh at the portions of the article that dealt with the spiritual experience. I had to kick them out of my office because they wouldn't quit making jokes about the whole concept.)

To summarize, I'm all for any new drug that may help medical professionals do their job. I want to make sick people well. I draw the line there. The thought of prescribing a drug because you think someone isn't talking about/dealing with their terminal illness as well as you want them to, is just flat crazy. Some people just don't want to talk, and just because you or their family wants them to open up doesn't make it necessary. Finally, the idea that we need a drug to help our spiritual experience is far from my belief and experience, and I know I'm not near alone in that belief or those experiences. People sought enlightenment through drugs in the '60's, and as far as I can tell that trial run wasn't a huge success. Let's not try again.

I know my thoughts are going to be controversial. I know my thinking here is somewhat simplistic. I know some will disagree. I'd love to hear from some even minded people who are much smarter than me in the comments below. I could easily be wrong about the medical uses. I don't believe I'm wrong about the spiritual uses, but I'll accept any thoughts or comments from anyone who agrees or disagrees. The world's too big for me to think that I know everything.