Prince Harry spoke candidly about his recreational use of illegal drugs during an intimate chat with a toxic trauma expert.
The discussion took place on Saturday evening in an “intimate conversation” between the Duke and Dr. Gabor Mate on “Living with Loss and Personal Healing”.
Tickets for the live stream, which cost £19, included a hardcover copy of the prince’s recent memoir, Spare.
King Charles’ second son said marijuana “really helped him” but cocaine and alcohol were “more sociable”.
The timing of the discussion is particularly ill-timed for the palace as it came just days after it was announced that King Charles was evicting Harry and his wife Meghan Markle from Frogmore Cottage, their grace villa on the Windsor estate.
When asked by Dr. Maté on whether he sees himself as a victim, Harry said, “I certainly don’t.”
The live stream costs £17 and comes with a hardback copy of the Duke’s memoirs
The trauma expert Dr. Gabor Mate spoke about how people use drugs to cope with problems in their lives before asking Harry’s about his reasons for using drugs like cocaine and cannabis.
“The first one you mentioned didn’t do me any good, it was more of a social thing. It gave me a sense of belonging and probably made me feel different from how I felt,” Harry said.
“Marijuana is different, that actually helped me a lot.”
The prince said alcohol is also “more of a social thing” and lamented peer pressure when drinking.
dr Mate, who has faced much controversy in the past, denied allegations that he had been threatened with arrest by the Canadian government for using ayahuasca on his patients.
In 2011, Health Canada threatened to prosecute the trauma expert if he didn’t stop using the Amazonian plant to treat addiction.
In the two years prior to receiving the warning, Dr. Mate the drug between 150 and 200 patients.
The addiction doctor said during the interview: “I was never threatened with arrest.”
He also spoke about the side effects of the drugs, denying they can include vomiting and hallucinations.
He said: “You defecate with it sometimes, that’s a good thing.
“It doesn’t give you hallucinations – it gives you visions… You think it’s really happening.”
dr Mate added, “I don’t think it’s a panacea for dealing with trauma.”
Harry agreed and described his own experiences with psychedelics.
He said: “It was cleaning the windscreen, removing the filters of life.
“It took everything away from me and brought me a sense of relaxation, release, comfort and lightness that I was able to maintain for a period of time
“For me, I started doing it for free and then I realized how good it was for me. I would say it’s one of the fundamental parts of my life that has changed me and helped me deal with the trauma and pain of the past.”
Prince Harry admitted in his explosive memoir Spare to doing cocaine, smoking weed and trying magic mushrooms at Courtney Cox’s home as a teenager.
Courtney Cox responded to the claims last week ahead of her induction into the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
She told Variety that the prince stayed with her for “a few days” and is “a really nice person.”
‘I haven’t read the book. I want to hear it because I’ve heard it’s really entertaining. But yeah, I remembered.
Prince Harry met with trauma expert Dr. Gabor Maté on a live stream event on “Trauma and Healing”.
dr Maté told Prince Harry that he believes he has Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), which can affect people’s ability to focus and cause them to become easily distracted
Prince Harry has admitted to using psychedelics – magic mushrooms, psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) and ayahuasca, an herbal psychedelic made from the leaves of a shrub – to help him heal from “grief”.
“I’m not saying there were mushrooms! I definitely didn’t pass out on her,” the actress said.
dr Mate has also been criticized for previous remarks, and Harry has come under fire for sharing a platform with him.
The doctor has sparked fury over his history of controversial comments, including comparing Hamas to the Jewish heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising against the Nazis.
The 79-year-old Hungarian-Canadian Holocaust survivor has also defended Palestinian rocket fire against Israeli civilians and once branded the Israeli government as “terrorists.”
The “intimate talk” comes amid concerns from the Sussex camp over the recent revelation that they are being asked to move out of their Windsor home – which may be handed over to Prince Andrew.
The couple were reportedly given “weeks” to pack up their UK home at Frogmore Cottage after Harry’s memoir Spare hit shelves in January.
Earlier this week, journalist Omid Scobie claimed some members of the royal family were “appalled” by the decision to evict Harry and Meghan, and the couple are also said to have felt “stunned”.
A source reportedly told him: “It all feels very final and like cruel punishment. It’s like [the family] want to take her out of the picture forever.’
But the couple are not as “stunned” as previous reports have suggested, believing “if we have to move out, we’ll get ourselves out,” a source told The Times.
The reveal comes as preparations for King Charles’ coronation take place in May, amid speculation that Harry may not receive an invitation.
What is ayahuasca?
Ayahuasca, also known as caapi, yaje, or yage, is a hallucinogenic drink made from tropical Amazonian plants.
The concoction is made from the leaves of the Psychotria Viridis shrub along with the stems of the Banisteriopsis Caapi vine, although other plants and ingredients can be added.
The drink was used by Amazonian tribes for spiritual and religious purposes and is still used in rituals in some places in South America.
Psychotria Viridis contains DMT, a psychedelic substance.
The drug has several potential benefits, including improving brain health and mental well-being.
Uncomfortable side effects include vomiting, diarrhea, paranoia, and panic, and while the effects are usually temporary, they can be very distressing.
The substance remains illegal in many countries, including Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Source: Britannica
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11820861/Harry-opens-drug-use-saying-marijuana-really-helped-cocaine-social-thing.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490 Harry opens up about drug use, saying marijuana “really helped” but cocaine is “a social thing.”
