Addictions

Addictions
Humans had been using addictive and stimulant drugs probably from prehistoric times. 
They included tea to,  coffee to, psychedelic drugs.
 
Careful examination of the practices in the monasteries both in the East and West, provide ample evidence to support the use of psychoactive drugs, if not habitually but in secretive ceremonies.
 
They were kept out of reach of the laypersons.
 
It is even postulated that discovery of divine spirit and religious teachings originated under the influence of these mood elevating psychedelic drugs. 

They are kept away from layperson so that the divine incarnation was for only a few selected individuals in the hierarchy of the religious institutions.
 
Even the Red Indians and natives of the South America had used various preparations obtained from plants.
 
But the discovery of these methods and plants in the last century and their extraction in concentrated form changed the secretive habits to the public domain.

LSD was a case in point in nineteen sixties but the ban on LSD did not stop the discovery or the use of cocaine and heroin. In fact, the use has been gradually increasing and drug cartels started emerging all over the world.
It is controlled by the underworld and no government in the East or West was able to stop this trend.

My own views are strong and against their use, even in minute quantities. The simple reason is that the user is not satisfied with the milder form and their tendency is to go for stronger and more addictive ingredients. 
 
That is the nature of the affliction called addiction.
 
If they have been used in monasteries or by so called gurus or ascetics, in my pervasive view is, it defeats the very intent of meditation practice or mental culture.