A friend of mine Matt Radford, who is an acupuncturist in Melbourne recently sent me an article which, based on Melbourne University research, concluded that illicit drug use warps the brain’s reward system. So natural pleasure is dulled and ex-drug users can never be happy again. Accordingly, the researcher suggested that drug users need help not only to stop the drug, but also to find other pastimes to replace the drug high.

“Simply saying ‘go to detox’ is not useful. To succeed in ending a drug addiction we have to value other things, to experience other pleasures. We need to encourage drug users to get involved with other activities,” said Prof. Dan Lubman from the Orygen Research Centre at the University of Melbourne. 

Lubman didn’t suggest what ‘other activities’, though but this has been the focus of my work for over 20 years. The following are my thoughts and suggestions:

 I agree that life after drugs is different, but this can be ‘good’ different. On drugs you have truly liberating experiences. They accelerate you out of the box of ordinary reality and into a world that cannot be mapped by ordinary measurements. But afterwards, you are back where you started and can get trapped in a reactive relationship with ordinary reality: depressed, anxious, sad, aggressive or fearful. But you are meant to be this way – those feelings should drive you somewhere else and this the ultimate purpose of drugs. Don’t try and go back – go somewhere else.

 Just as your drug highs came from a non-ordinary source, so will your post-drug happiness.  What you experience on drugs is correct because it temporarily liberates you from the boring version of reality that everyone else thinks is real. You get a glimpse of your birthright and who you really are. Afterwards, the drug expects you to claim your birthright by living your life in accord with your heart and your dreams.

 You can’t expect to return to ordinary reality and to find happiness there. You escaped ordinary reality by taking that first drug so keep moving forward. Ignore comments and advice from people stuck in ordinary reality as they only confuse you and may hinder your journey.

 You will find the gateway to non-ordinary reality by developing chi-consciousness, body awareness and creative skills. Once you learn how to make your Chi flow smoothly throughout your body-mind system you will experience a permanent onset of your chosen drug: but this time its with a free and endless supply, no man-made laws to interrupt you, and a never-ending line of new discoveries and states.

 So don’t bash yourself for a drug past. Without that you probably wouldn’t have known what to look for and without the drugs you wouldn’t have been forced to search for non-ordinary reality.

 Initially post-drug symptoms make you unsettled and unhappy, but don’t medicate these away. These symptoms are the call of your soul to discover your place in non-ordinary reality. 

 There is a huge world out there. Society is undergoing a massive transition and its time to leave the sinking ship and migrate to a promising new land. The drugs made you like a 21^st century Columbus, so keep sailing forward into unknown territory. If you give into the fear and anxieties you will starve emotionally and spiritually. If you keep sailing forward you will find the treasures you envisioned during your drug experiences. Happy sailing.

HOW TO BE ‘FOREVER HAPPY’:

Get regular acupuncture from acupuncturists who are strong, fit, healthy and happy and who practice Chi-gung every day. I practice up to three hours a day to provide my clients with the powerful Chi necessary to match the intensity of drugs such as Ice or Heroin.   “I am getting a session once a week. I have been for twenty years.”

Get regular Chinese Raw Herbs from a good Herbalist (not to be confused with the little black pills that most acupuncturist prescribe – they won’t have an impact on you if you’ve done serious drugs). I recommend a cup of freshly brewed Chinese raw herbs every morning till you begin to feel energetic, grounded and non-reactive.   “I drink one cup four mornings a week.”

Get into the acai berry from Brazil.   “I drink around 75ml every morning and every evening. I use the Monavie brand as I found it to be the best.”

Develop a ‘supplement habit’. You can’t do without. Forget the stuff you buy in supermarkets; they may help non-drug users, but if you’ve done serious gear you need serious supplements. Here is a list of the stuff I take:

EMPERORS FORMULA (Neways) four tablets twice a day, four or five days a week. VMM (Neways)  three tablets two or three times a day, five days a week. RENU (Neways)  two tablets twice a day, five days a week. ORACHEL (Neways) and FEROXIN (Neways) and TRESOS B (Eagle) every day. 

These products are powerful supplements and you need to be guided by an experienced therapist to avoid energetic imbalances manifesting in irritabilities and sleep disturbances.

Get into daily Chi-gung and Tai-chi training. Check your local directory and enrol with the first available course. Experiment with different styles till you find the right teacher and the style that suits you.   “I have been practiceing Yang Style Tai-chi for twenty years. My teachers were Master Earle Montague and Allan Williams – I am eternally grateful for their guidance and inspiration to kick ass while remaining soft. I believe Tai-chi is one of the real wonders of this world. Once you begin to feel the Tai-chi you are hooked for life.”

Practice, study and research weight training. Get yourself a fit and strong looking Personal Trainer and ask him or her to show you what they did to look so hot. Obviously stay away from Personal Trainers who don’t look the part – there are a lot of half-baked fruit cakes these days ‘qualified’ in folding towels and passing bottles of water to unfortunate clients. My motto: if you don’t look it, you haven’t got it.   “I consider weight training the Yoga of the West. It’s my personal psychotherapy as I resolve most painful emotional issues during my weight sessions (in the morning). However, you need training into Chi-gung and Tai-chi to fully understand, realise and apply the psycho-spiritual-therapeutic nature of weight training.”  

If you are doing all above steps you are perfectly prepared to get into VCM – the most powerful and most suited meditation for drug users. VCM will not only match the intensity of your drug past but also your independent, rebellious and radical attitude to life and society. VCM rules!   “VCM has given me what drugs couldn’t: the never ending discovery and never ending supply of wonder, ecstasy and connectivity.”

OUTCOME OF DOING THE RECOMMENDATIONS:

If you have been doing all the above steps you will begin to discover your purpose and your mission in life. The universe will respond to your commitment by opening doors to your destiny and to provide you with guidance and support to fulfil your mission. Once you’ve shown that you are serious about your intent and your desire to be happy, healthy and independent, the universe will accommodate your intent by backing your actions. (The universe won’t back your intentions, only your actions)

Soon you will recognise that the universe is coming to you and providing the necessities to keep you moving forward. All you need is getting up at 5am, face your pains and your unresolved issues and process them through the steps as outlined above. (Get up earlier if you need to be at work by 7am). After a while your life begins to change and soon you can’t live without it (or any other way). You want more, you get hooked and you are addicted to the rush of transforming your deepest emotional and spiritual pains and to show others how this feels and how it’s done. You will express yourself in ways never done before (way beyond the expressive powers of speed or ICE).. You will embrace your drugs with love and respect, knowing that without them you wouldn’t have found your path. Now you are powerful over substance; you aren’t diseased. You are at awe about creation and the way nature works. (You were never diseased – don’t believe this gutless and totally outdated theory). 

You begin to realise that you’ve never wasted a moment in your life; that your past-actions were necessary to show you who you are, to realize what truly matters in life. You won’t do it again, you won’t ‘relapse’ – you’ve got it. Now you are an independent person responsible for your own emotional and physical wellbeing – just as the creator intended you to be.

You are here to do your job. You are part of a massive global intergalactic team that has gathered here on Earth to expand the physical universe. You aren’t alone anymore and you’ll be ‘forever happy’.

So  jump on board and kick ass!!!

also read my article “THE PSYCHEDELIC PRACTICE”