Me dejé engañar por este camino

El avanzar de la soledad se hace manifiesto con el paso del tiempo.

No es solamente la despiadada benevolencia del olvido sino que la distancia toma una postura diabolica pero austera.

Entre mayor es la cantidad de kilometros que recorre el espíritu libre, este no sólo se hace más individual, ligero y volátil sino que también más etéreo y con ello… extraño.

La experiencia es una carga grande pero también pesada. Sin ella se vuelve fácil el cometer errores pero con ella se torna infantil el cometerlos. Pero no es acaso en el errar que encontramos la fascinación de la inocencia?

He llegado tan lejos para simplemente sentir que soy más extraño que antes. Que todos esos mares y montañas que subí y nadé no eran más que sólo eso, mares y montañas para nadar y subir.

Estúpido me siento ahora tantos años después de haber pensado que la aventura me haría mas rico espiritualmente cuando lo que verdaderamente pasó es que mi espíritu se ha vuelto más pegajosamente lento y nostálgico.


Has tenido tu un episodio de nostalgia? Sabes acaso lo que es extrañar tanto algo que ya no sabes de que se trata? El calor seco de mi tierra y el sol que quema parecía tan normal, pero ahora la neblina está por todos lados y el verde de esta montaña parece que me aburre un poco.

Si tan sólo la gente a mi alrededor pudiese hablar mi lenguaje y no me refiero a las palabras sino que a los significados. Un tomate con orégano es casi como querer mirar el otro lado de la luna. Y lo crujiente del pan no hace más que quebrar mi corazón.

Aveces la medianoche es mucho más cruel de lo que uno piensa, sobre todo si tienes un vaso con alcohol en la intimidad de tu sillón y con el privilegio de tu sola compañía. No es que no quiero estar con nadie sino que porque alguien querría estar conmigo? Soy un ballena en el desierto y lo único que hay es calor denso y deshidratador.

La noche trae recuerdo y pensamientos de baja frecuencia y de profundo sentir, pero si se suma a eso la latitud correcta, se vuelve en una fórmula secreta pero efectiva para la locura. Ni siquiera del tipo que te vuelve completamente loco sino que es un avance constante pero cuidadoso. Ha de tener cuidado el paciente de esta terrible enfermedad porque es mejor dejarla que se tome al huésped por completo sin siquiera pensar en ello que tratar de luchar contra ella.

La vida es una aventura pero carajo que yo elegí una de las bravas, eh? Como hacerse amigo de la distancia, del olvido, de la nostalgia sin tener que hipotecar la dignidad? Me duele un poco la garganta de tener que tragarme tantos sentimientos pero por lo menos si me voy a lamentar de lo que he hecho, creo que puedo inmediatamente después de hacerlo, darme el lujo de regocijarme en mis recuerdos.

Una lástima que aquí no hay tomate con orégano y pan, pero otros manjares que si bien no me hacen dichoso, me hace feliz el probarlos y revive mi espíritu aventurero. Quisiera si volver a esa calle oscura donde me despedí del amor de mi vida, pero desde entonces no he hecho más que arrancar.

Chilean Grassroots of the cannabis culture.

(Translation: Senator Ricardo Lagos W: “They are consuming [weed] dude!... Let them consume better! [weed]”)  Photo: Revista Cañamo

It is impossible to go through a complete analysis of the culture of pot in Chile without having Revista Cañamo as the cornerstone of a whole movement. In the cover of this magazine pictured above, the bearded man is Ricardo Lagos Weber the son of an ex-president and himself a former Vice President and Senator. The editor of the magazine, known as El Palmera (translation: The Palm) has been a candidate for Congressman a couple of times, though hasn’t been too successful in politics.

Things were never easy for anybody that publicly recognized the use, for any kind of reason, of marijuana. Even though it has been used for years and years, even before the criminalization by law and the whole War Against Drugs. Weed culture has already gone through the hardest part and is now on the up. These are the Chilean Grassroots of the cannabis culture.

Throughout the years Chilean stoners have gone through different times, all of them in their own form and tone. Back in the day it was mostly used by rich hippies and (almost inexistent) open minded people as well as some folks in the rural areas. At the same time, it wasn’t at all as strong as you can find today. They used to alternate the crops between hemp and corn so they could give some time to the soil to recover nutrients. In this way people grew weed but mostly left it there to mix with the old dirt so they could have better soil for the next season. Some people took advantage of the rewards of mother nature and, without harming anybody, cut a bud here and there. You know, just to relax after a hard day of labor.

(Translation: ) O.S.7 Carabineros of Chile [militarized police] Photo: Emol

This picture is a great example of how this practice was kept until today. But nobody today would believe such a naive excuse. Any reasons aside, this is an example of how pot has been used for ages, even before prohibition laws.

The prohibition itself led to a particular situation, which is what happened pretty much all around the globe. This is the black market.

Here is where a new product it was introduced to the Chilean territory but this time it came in a much more stronger and destructive way. It was in the form of Prensado Paraguayo (a.k.a Paragua or “umbrella”). It is basically squashed weed, similiar to the little brick that you will find in places like Thailand, but this was way more toxic and harmful, basically because it was squashed in major quantities using glue and industrial solvents, resulting in a very powerful and intoxicating substance that led to generations of Chilean drug addicts. The next picture shows you what it looks like. One not-subject-to-inflation joint of $2 (dollars) has remained steady at this price and pretty much in constant abundance. Just one joint will leave four regular smokers heavily stoned and regular use will cause speech impairment and diminished motor skills. It is important to note it is found exclusively in the ghettos and slums. Always alongside other imported “items” like very cheap (read: cut) cocaine and cocaine paste.

Photo: www.taringa.net

Chilean army general, Augusto Pinochet, was in power since the fall of the democratically elected Salvador Allende in 1973, a socialist physician that allegedly killed himself after a US backed coup destroyed the government palace, resulting in decades of terror, torture and political persecution until 1989 when the first democratic elections in 17 years were realized.

It is interesting how such a big market was created out of nothing and under such restricted circumstances, like Pinochet’s martial law. When something like this is going on, many times it’s because very dark powers are making it work. I don’t want to point fingers, but it happened in much the same way as with Freeway Rick Ross in the United States, where the CIA was supporting the import of cocaine by secret agents to generate money to support the war on communism in Central America.

Before Pinochet’s regime, drugs like cocaine, prensado paraguayo and others like pasta base (cocaine paste) were unknown in Chilean society. But after his regime, the use of all kinds of drugs was bigger year after year. The most addictive was pasta base, which was sold for a solid price of  $1 per dose, becoming increasingly popular among the lower and poorer segments. Similar to crack cocaine, the euphoria and excitement produced by this chemical substance spread like an epidemic all across the country, dragging hundreds of Chilean drug addicts to a circle of poverty, crime and misery.

The return of democracy and the new age movement brought not only hope but also awareness to the Chileans. Holistically conscious, the new generations turned to healthier and more eco-friendly lifestyles. Vegetarianism became popular as well as other “healthy” habits like yoga, giving rise to a general mind opening movement. Political activism gained power once again and a recovered Chilean society was ready to change the world. In the mid 2000’s the Revolución de los Pingüinos (Penguins Revolution, mid and high school students are called like the swimming bird because of their black sweater and white shirt uniforms) showed the world how angry a generation of 15-year-olds can be and how much energy they have to get hands on when it’s about changing the status quo. Year-long protests were seen all around the globe via the media as teenagers took over theirs schools for days and even weeks (more than 500 schools) with the help of their parents and teachers, becoming the first major social movement after the dictatorship, but no less than 15 years after the democracy came back.

(Translation: No More Convicts for Growing. Cannabis Regulation Now!)

Foto: www.taringa.net

Here is where the proper Pro Weed movement saw its birth. In my humble opinion, the original seed was ADC (Amigos Del Cannabis, Friends of Cannabis). A big online forum where growers started talking to each other, sharing knowledge and tips about growing weed. Later, this was the perfect hub to exchange seeds and suddenly there was a whole group of people on the same page. With the help of a couple of students unions, they formed the first group to work exclusively on the drugs-users-rights turf. The group called Movimental started working on different projects like Revista Cañamo, the Chilean version of High Times. It was not always an easy job to publish a magazine about weed and drugs, but they found their way to swim the sludgy waters of Chilean bureaucracy.

With this publication, the political arm started to germinate, called Cultiva Tus Derechos (Grow Your Rights), more like a social movement and a campaign than a solid group. In the picture above we can see a huge mass of people marching through the streets of Santiago de Chile with a three-lanes-wide banner that says “No More Convicts for Growing”. The first rally was back in May of 2005 (May is when the home-grown harvest season is ready) and since then has become a major event in young people’s agenda. Decriminalization is a serious situation that at that point had become increasingly uncomfortable for the Chilean green-thumbs. Manuel Lagos is the most known case, the music producer and brother of famous TV host, Sergio Lagos,  was meant to be an example for the society, facing between 3 and 7 years of time in jail for possession of 500grs of weed when he was arrested. But the weed-activists were more than inpatient to resolve it and this is how they went to the Parliament to lobby.

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(Translation: Senator Fulvio Rossi. Is he rolling a joint?) Photo: Revista Cañamo

The first kick in this match was from the handsome guy in the picture above, the socialist politician Fulvio Rossi, who publicly recognized that he smoked pot at a moderate rate of 2 times every month. This generated a whole chain of reactions from every different political sector. As usual the right-wing was tough and stubborn, claiming that he was a “drug addict” and not in his full capability to take decisions for the people of Chile. Others, like the center and the left-wing, were mixed in their opinions, but many of them supported him (in private).

Even though he is currently working next to Isabel Allende and other politicians with a special commission from the Senate to change the laws about personal use and decriminalize home-grown weed. At this time, this project is being reviewed to mutate the older law called Ley 20,000 (Law 20,000) which only allows users to have fun in the privacy of their homes and not to grow at all, into a more permissive body that will allow Chilean growers to have a maximum of 3 plants per home and small quantities with them when in public. Currently the cost of a gram of good quality weed, probably with brand name like White Rhino or Ak-47, is approximately $10, which is pretty high considering that the minimum wage in Chile is $2.50 per hour.

But new times came and recently Rodolfo Carter made a revolutionary statement in drugs use, the mayor of La Florida, a municipality in the south side of the metropolitan area of Santiago, with more than half a million people and just one hospital. And also the place where I grew up. With the help of a cancer pain relief foundation he came up with the first medical marijuana project in Chile.

Foto: AP

This soft right-wing lawyer has a very ambitious project to provide help to patients with cancer during his administration. He saw his dad die from this terrible disease and knows what pain means to these people. Because of the lack of support from his political party he resigned from the party and kept the project running. He just started the first medical marijuana project in Chile and South America. In the picture above he is holding a couple of seeds, next to the actress Ana María Gazmuri, imported from the Netherlands that will benefit patients from La Florida. Even though the idea lifts more than a couple of eyebrows in Chilean society, he is convinced that this is not about the wellbeing of “potheads” but pretty much last-stage cancer patients that haven’t found relief to their pain or an alternative treatment for their condition. The news has been covered all across the globe including by the BBC.

Chile is past the baby steps stage when talking about weed, but there is still a lot to do. Like Uruguayans did a couple of years ago who are now enjoying the sweet taste of legal marijuana, Chileans are not far from their goal. The public opinion is becoming year after year more empathetic about the topic and for sure we are going to see free-white-smoke in the air soon.