Stories by Charles Shaw

Charles Shaw is a regular contributor to Alternet, Huffington Post and Reality Sandwich, and the author of Exile Nation: Drugs, Prisons, Politics & Spirituality (2009, Reality Sandwich). subscribe to Charles Shaw's feed

Lockdown America: Prison Expert Christian Parenti on America's Staggering Incarceration Rate

Posted on: May 12, 2011, Source: openDemocracy.net

The Land of the Free punishes or imprisons more of its citizens than any other nation. Parenti explains why.

'Born Illegal' -- Exploring the Powerful Advanced Psychedelics Invented by the Father of Ecstasy

Posted on: Sep 30, 2010, Source: AlterNet

Surveying Alexander Shulgin's pioneering work with phenethylamine compounds, the ‘alchemy of medicinal chemistry,’ and the threat posed by the Federal Analogue Act.

Why Marijuana Is Central to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

Posted on: Jun 14, 2010, Source: openDemocracy.net

Inspired by the founders' Federalist Papers, a group of reformers have penned a series of essays exploring the role of cannabinoids in Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Leading UK Drug Reform Groups Push Ahead with Blueprints for Legalization

Posted on: Jun 11, 2010, Source: openDemocracy.net

Two UK based organizations are charting a course through the miasma of international drug policy by publishing detailed road maps for comprehensive legalization.

My Experience with a Psychedelic Plant That Thousands Have Used for Release from Severe Addictions

Posted on: Mar 19, 2010, Source: AlterNet

"The first sign that ibogaine is working is generally a loud buzzing or ringing in the ears ... Soon after that I begin to feel warm and things take on a light golden glow."

Why Thousands Are Turning to a Psychedelic Plant from Africa for Release from Severe Addictions

Posted on: Mar 15, 2010, Source: AlterNet

A psychedelic plant from Africa has sparked an underground revolution in medicine.

Exile Nation: Drugs, Prisons, Politics & Spirituality

Posted on: Jan 5, 2010, Source: Reality Sandwich

Entering the world of "Dead Time," the period a convict spends in the county jail awaiting shipment to the penitentiary system which doesn't count towards the overall sentence.

Conscious Choice Publications: the Latest Victims of Changing Media Landscape

Posted on: Apr 8, 2009, Source: Huffington Post

The company had been struggling for years ever since they were bought up and corporatized in the middle part of the decade.

Emerging from the Drug War Dark Age: LSD and Other Psychedelic Medicines Make a Comeback

Posted on: Jul 10, 2008, Source: AlterNet

After a 40-year moratorium, credible research for treating illnesses and addictions with psychedelic compounds has made a miraculous comeback.

Are You Unhappy? Is It Because of Consumer Addiction?

Posted on: Apr 10, 2008, Source: AlterNet

The pattern of out-of-control consumption in the U.S. is not too different from the well-known behavioral patterns of substance abusers.

Dr. Bronner’s Magic Media Soap Opera

Posted on: Aug 9, 2007, Source: Conscious Choice

The counterculture’s exceptionally eccentric soap company hits the big screen.

Biotechnology: Still Fueling Controversy

Posted on: Apr 20, 2006, Source: AlterNet

As America responds to its oil addiction, the biotech industry is once again promising to save the world. And this time, they just might mean it.

The Failed Drug War

Posted on: Sep 27, 2005, Source: AlterNet

An ex-convict says we cannot address poverty and race in America, nor can we talk about needless death and expense, without addressing the drug war.

Unembedded in Iraq

Posted on: Dec 4, 2004, Source: Newtopia

This exclusive interview with un-embedded journalist Dahr Jamail reveals an almost unrecognizable picture of Iraq and its people

This Time, the People Are Watching

Posted on: Oct 24, 2004, Source: AlterNet

It's time to get prepared for Nov. 3 and the following weeks – the counting and manipulation could really get started after election night.