This seems to be the topic of conversation for the awareness now. Scientists in the realm of botanicals have been studying the electric/electromagnetic/solar potential of plants and their interactions with one another and other sentient organisms for over 50 years now in published studies at least. With the use of electrodes and specifically patterned stimuli, the experimenters have been able to scientifically "prove" the consciousness of all plants exists. We all know that carbon is the element necessary to create an organic(alive) organism. All plants contain carbon.
Beyond acknowledging the awareness of plants, studied "proof" shows that we can even extract emotional responses from plants in a congruent fashion with human emotional patterns. You hurt me, I say "Son of a bitch". Apparently, plants share this sentiment as well. The list of emotions shown by unique testing strategies has a somewhat surprisingly wide range. The base emotions such as fear and anger arise in plant life. Sorrow, ecstasy, harmony amongst many other simple emotions exist in botanicals. The "emotions" such as embarassment, envy, pride and the like are extensions of our ego and superego. Thus, plants do not seem to show such an expression because they have not been enculturated to build a wall(ego).
All of this very common sense knowledge about plants makes it difficult for me to accept an "authority" to impose "laws" that block me from ingesting or experiencing plants. There is no such "legislation" that will bar my physical body from foraging the fields of Gaia(Mother Earth), and indulging in her glorious bounty. The induced psychoactivity of plants on their host is the 'reason' for their 'illegal' nature. It seems more popular to modify/alter/enhance your physical body, and less popular to expand your mind.
For whatever evolutionary purpose, these plants evolved side-by-side with us, most much elder than our human spurt of history. They are a symbiotic part of us that we should not neglect. As a society, we have evolved into a fraction of the sum of our parts. Most of us are operating as only a very small fraction of our native self(true self). The state of our times is a categorical indicator of our need for enlightenment. The Golden Age. The Age of Enlightenment. These are the terms to depict the natural order of things. As stated by highly esteemed, ethnobotanist, mathematician, philosopher, etcetera, Terence Mckenna: "We are an ape with a symbiotic relationship to a mushroom. That has given us culture, religion, spirituality, and all the ebb and flow that come from these things." This is known most commonly as the Stoned Ape Theory. When he says 'mushroom', he refers to any psychoactive, organic compound.
If all plants are sentient, then according to our current model for life, we have a moral obligation to not only grow these plants, but to accept them into our own experience and become a unified whole with them so that we may expand into the social memory complex which is who we really are. Do not allow any half-wit authority to rid you of your life's experience. You are your own authority. Have a chat with a cactus some time!
P.S. I welcome all open forum questions, comments and rebuttals.
