Drugs and Dreams
UPDATED June 2000:
I think my perspective on this topic has changed greatly since I wrote this article a year ago. Perhaps those beliefs that have been so ground into our minds, which we hold so dear, may not have as strong a basis in reality as we think. Anyway, I feel differently about drugs than I did when I wrote this. Drug abuse is a horrible and scary thing. But making every drug out to be instantly evil is a false snap judgement. So, I will leave this article so you may still read it, until I have time to write a new one. But keep in mind I have opened my mind to other possibilities, and hope this does not serve to prevent you from doing so, as well.
March 1999:
People occasionally are led to believe that drugs can enhance a dream or even cause prophetic visions spiritual awakenings. Truth be known, drugs may actually have a negative affect on the quality and clarity of a dream as a result of their effect on the mind and body.
Antihistamines, alcohol, sleeping pills, hallucinogens, marijuana, and various narcotics and chemicals can have a bad influence on dreams in general. These are toxins to our systems, foreign substances that require a lot of attention and special handling. They lower vibrations in the body and especially the brain waves. The body uses the sleeping time normally to repair and rejuvenate itself. When we sleep under the influence of drugs the adverse effect is that your system has more pollution to deal with and thus interferes with REM and dreaming, often allowing neither to occur.
Heavy abuse of these toxins can result in the effect of not letting our consciousness re-incorporate. That is, we may enter a dream and then become "trapped" until the body has rebalanced itself. Because of the struggle going on internally, the dreams we find ourselves "caught" in are likely to be unpleasant nightmares. You probably have experiences a mild case of this before when you are in a terrible dream and you know you are dreaming but can't get out of it.
Because many times we must take a drug to stave off an illness, this creates an obstacle to the goals of clear, informative dreaming. But keep in mind a simple rule. A recommended dose of a safe drug (over the counter or prescription) will not cause your dreams any interference as long as you are abstinent from any other toxins, such as alcohol or street drugs. A healthy dreamer is a healthy person.