“We’re losing badly the war on drugs. You have to legalize drugs to win that war. You have to take the profit away from these drug czars.” — Donald Trump, 1990

I am not a Trump supporter. I am not a Hillary supporter. However angry my millennial generation may be, we’re stuck with president Trump for the next four years; so let’s seize this opportunity to do something positive for humanity.

The quote may be over a quarter-century old, but at least it’s from a time when Donald wasn’t running for president, he was in Miami selling business books and expanding his casino empire.

Donald was Right about the Drug War

Entering it’s 46th year, the US drug war’s impact on the world has been enormous. It’s domestic effects include mass incarceration, misinformation, and institutionalized racism in police departments. Abroad, there has been a dramatic rise in the power of violent criminal enterprises. If you’re unfamiliar with the origins of aspect of US policy, watch this 6-minute documentary from Kurzgesagt. US drug policy has caused harm and political instability around the world, and it’s time for it to come to an end.

One Group of Trump Supporters has the Power to End It

The group which holds the power to end this war is one of it’s biggest victims: war veterans. Citizens with a military background voted for Trump by a 2:1 margin, according to exit polls.

Donald wants to stay in the White House. He needs to keep this group happy. He mentioned veterans in his victory speech. He will do anything necessary to keep their support over the next four years.

US Veterans are hurting

Consider the following facts about the extent of veterans problems when when they return home from service:

3 in 10 have PTSD

40% of veterans never seek treatment for their problems

60% more likely to end up homeless, especially male veterans

About 20 commit suicide every day

MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy Therapy is an Effective Treatment for PTSD

If you’ve ever taken MDMA (the desired ingredient in what is known commonly as M, molly, or ecstacy) in a good setting with a good group of friends, you know that it can make you feel a profound sense of connectivity to the friends you take it with. Empathogens like MDMA make it easy to communicate emotionally with people, and it’s typical to develop deep emotional bonds which last a lifetime.

Contrast this profound connection with the feelings typically exhibited by a depressed person. These people feel lonely and helpless, and see the world as cold and unforgiving. Those with PTSD feel disconnected from the world, and nobody can possibly understand what they’ve gone through.

In trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to treat chronic, treatment-resistant PTSD, 83% participants felt dramatic relief from post-traumatic symptoms, and one even quit the program after a single session, saying that his PTSD was gone.

Don’t be confused, MDMA itself is not the cure; it’s therapy that those with depression, and the substance-assisted therapy helps incredibly well. When patients take MDMA in the best possible setting and have the help of trained therapists, they can talk freely in ways never before imagined. Instead of feeling lost and disconnected, participants form a deep personal connection with their therapist. This trusting friendship (like the ones from our first times experiencing a music festival with your friends) is what can help veterans feel better about their traumatic past and help with depression.

However, social opinion about psychedelics is largely stuck in the 60’s. Indeed, it’s common to meet people who drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes, but ‘never touch hard drugs’. Ravers and hippies are probably not going to convince rural-middle class America that MDMA can have a positive impact society, but I believe veterans can.

Why Now? Because the wheels are already in motion

The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is the organization carrying out the above-mentioned trials to get MDMA approved as a treatment for PTSD. In fact, they have a 5-year plan to make MDMA legal for therapeutic purposes. If the medical power of one psychedelic is accepted, this would be groundbreaking for the legalization of others, many of which have been shown to have value for treating those with mental health problems.

The president-elect wants to cut FDA regulations and allow more drug treatments to be approved. Trump’s business-first views dictate that he wouldn’t impose additional restrictions on the FDA, nor would he want to get in the way of an American business selling something beneficial to the local market.

Donald’s family history of addiction and trauma

This is Fred Trump, Donald’s father.

Fred Trump was only 13 when his father (Frederick Trump, Donald’s grandfather) died. Two years later at only 15, Fred began a real estate venture with his mother Elizabeth. He was also angry and confrontational with police, leading to an arrest in New York in 1927.

This was Donald’s father, a short-tempered man who experienced a traumatic event during his adolescence, and developed a relationship to his mother intertwined with hard work in business.

These patterns are evident in Donald’s character, who has never touched cigarettes or alcohol, but is famously short tempered and undoubtably a workaholic . It only stands to reason that the source of the Trump family’s success is pressure from Fred Trump. Four out of Fred’s five kids responded to that pressure in the way Fred hoped. Donald’s living siblings are a judge, a former Chase banking executive, and Robert, who helped run the Trump empire but has since retired.

Freddy Jr., the fifth child, did not follow in his father’s footsteps. Freddy was a pilot; a profession which requires tremendous dedication and hard work to be involved in, but doesn’t usually lead to enormous success in business. Freddy was an depressed alcoholic, who died at 43 from health complications which Donald says are related to his drinking.

Psychedelics have the ability to pull people out of depression and alcoholism; and what more powerful of a message could we deliver to Donald than: these substances could have helped your brother.

This issue is pro-veteran and pro-business, two things that Trump will need to deliver on, and I don’t think he can possibly comprehend the revolutionary healing potential that can be provided.

So what do we do?

“Civilization is in a race between education and catastrophe.” — H.G. Wells

Trump is my worst fear: a rageaholic with missile codes. Between nuclear war, climate change, dysfunctional government models, and an unsustainable economic system, there is a lot to be worried about in 2016. That’s why it’s so important to act on this today.

If you’d had a positive psychedelic experience and wish to see social change on this front the most important step you can take is to tell your friends and family. The type of public opinion transformation we’ve seen for issues like domestic abuse, homosexuality, and marijuana have had the common thread: people came out of the closet. Secondly, you can donate to MAPS. The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies is doing more to help end the war on drugs around the world than any other organization. The only thing that is missing from their five-year plan to legalize MDMA is your donation. Spread the word. MAPS needs $20 million by 2020. Bernie raised that much every month he was on the campaign trail.

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