A personal account of a minor drug possession stop involving a police officer

But then he found the baggie. And, to my surprise, it contained magic mushrooms. He examined the contents. Then, reeking with sarcasm, he said, “So you like mushrooms, huh?” Under the circumstances, it was such a ridiculous question that | almost laughed, but | realized that, from his point of view, this was a serious offense. Julius was given a $50 citation for possession of marijuana, but | was arrested on the spot, handcuffed behind my back, and my Miranda rights were read to me. | stood there, heart pounding fast and mouth terminally dry, trying to keep my balance on the cusp of reality and unreality. Fortunately, attorney Doron Weinberg got me off with a $100 fine and nothing on my permanent record. But | finally understood what that cop meant when he snarled, “So you like mushrooms, huh?” His question was asked with such archetypal hostility that it kept reverberating inside my head. So you /ike mushrooms, huh? \t was not as though | had done anything that might harm another human being. This was simply an authority figure’ s need to control. But control what? My pleasure? Or was it deeper than that? What was his actua/ message? Back through eons of ancestors--all the way back to what psychedelic researcher Terence McKenna called “the unstoned apes” --this cop was continuing a never-ending attempt HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_015451