Medical tourism

I am not unaware that someone wishing to receive a dental implant or have liposuction or have a gall bladder removed can receive such treatment for far fewer pieces of paper considered ‘legal tender for all debts public and private’ (or a smaller deduction from a bank account by a computer after swiping a magnetic piece of plastic…for that is what our currency has come to…but this is beside the point) on a Caribbean island than in the U.S. That is, someone can actually book a flight, stay at a resort and receive some type of surgery or medical service for cheaper than the surgery alone stateside, in many cases. Medical tourism has likely become just as big of a business as generic tourism, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean islands, where implant clinics are nearly as abundant as mango stands – nearly. However, this sometimes requires going off the beaten path, quite literally. But as the debate rages in the states over the legalization of medical marijuana (just as an aside…I’ve heard people argue that had our history been different then alcohol would be completely illegal and the contentious substance now and marijuana would be as ubiquitous as alcohol is presently. The issue, however, is one can consume some amount of alcohol without inhibition or an altered state of consciousness, which is not the cases with marijuana. Second, even if marijuana has legitimate medical uses, this a whole other animal than other substances given that one cannot go down to a pier and purchase other similarly potent substances from a guy in a tie-dye t-shirt as they; not to mention the plethora of startup companies chomping at the bit for legislation to pull through so they can promote their marijuana-laden food and recreational products…). Nonetheless, as the debate rages over this substance, an even more potent, dangerous and highly experimental drug with extreme psychedelic and even out-of-body experiences associated with it has now become all the rage among ‘medical tourist’ aficionados; that is, ayahuasca. Dennis McKenna, an ethnopharmacologist and a leading researcher of ayahuasca wrote “[Ayahuasca is] the conduit to a body of profoundly ancient genetic and evolutionary wisdom that has long abided in the cosmologies of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon who have guarded and protected this knowledge for millennia, who learned long ago that the human role is not to be the master of nature, but its stewards…Our destiny, if we are to survive, is to nurture nature and to learn from it how to nurture ourselves and our fellow beings. This is the lesson that we can learn from ayahuasca, if only we pay attention.” This is extremely telling of a worldview that first elevates nature to a pseudo-personal or meta-personal guru and teacher. Second, this ideology says that these psychedelic experiences are a “conduit” to the true nature of reality and not a disassociation from it. Finally, it elevates nature to the level of the ‘ultimate good’ and we as humans as mere products of it who are ruining it rather than protecting it. This is in stark contrast to a biblical worldview in which men were given the command to be good stewards of and have dominion over all of creation, even to “subdue it.” (Gen. 1:28-29) Ayahuasca should not be seen as a the next step in the ‘evolution of the human conscience and consciousness’ but rather a very furtive and incisive weed that can lead someone to think they have been enlightened when they have actually been plunged further in to confusion and darkness. Yes, everything in creation was given for our good, but weeds came up after the Fall. Fire can be used for good – to cook, heat a house, burn coal for electricity – but it can also burn you. Weeds, on the other hand, don’t have any positive functional purpose and should rather be plucked and thrown in a fire…and not one that is three inches from your nose.