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Conscientious guide to drug abuse 

Pg. 412 WEC (Dope)

     The WEC (World Earth Catalog) published by Stewart Brand, was a product catalog that included many reviews of products and essays throughout. The main focus of the WEC was reviews of different items in categories such as tools, technology, drugs, machines, clothing, household items, Etc. Although it did have a wide variety of items listed, it did not sell any of the items but instead provided contact information for the consumer to buy it from the vendor directly. 

     People purchasing the WEC were most likely the kind of people that wanted to know everything about a product before they purchased it. The WEC provided that service by having detailed and extensive reviews for each item; one such item was the "Conscientious Guide to Drug Abuse." The guide to drug abuse educated people on how to treat different people who may be on a certain drug. Not only did the guide provide education it also provided supposed "cures" to a drug trips, or psychedelic episodes. I found this interesting because during this time, in my opinion, drugs were used more often or just as much as they are now. Yet there is an entire book educating users how to stop the effect of the drug from happening. Also the risk of contracting hepatitis from sharing needles with other drug users was mentioned. 

     This book still exists today and can be purchased from amazon or ebay. If one were to purchase this manual today it would be a collection piece rather than an actual educational book. Drugs and drug treatmeants today have changed tremendously from 1972. After some research I have found that there is no credible source to a medical treatment to aborting LSD trips but in the guide it says to administer certain vitamins according to body weight. While this treatment may work it apparently hasn't been tested enough to be widespread knowledge. 

      Historians "see the early culture of the invention of the personal computer as closely related to the environment" of the WECs because they both can access a wide variety of topics. Now, the WEC is limited to what the publisher allowed into the book while the personal computer was not and could access an unlimited amount of knowledge at any time. When it comes to browsing/shopping for random items I do enjoy having a hard copy catalog which a personal computer can not provide. The WEC gives the reader a physical touch rather than a computer key board. Having a hard copy of a book makes it easier for the reader to comprehend what they are looking at and is less distracting, at least for younger children. Also, looking at a screen can be tiring on the eyes therefore having a paper copy is also better for ones health. 

 

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Context from reading (Trevor Morris):

     In the book "From CounterCulture to CyberCulture" by Fred Turner, he speaks about how the WEC is helpful to the public when he says "often enough, the theories themselves were not explicitly theories of social organization so much as theories of local social practices, such as how to make art or how to take LSD"(Turner 45). The Conscientious Guide to Drug Abuse is one such theory Turner is talking about.

     Brand was quoted "the insights of Buckminster Fuller are what initiated this catalog" (Turner 57). Which proves that everything is usually inspired by something else; the WEC was inspired by Fuller's writings. Overall, real life experiences contributed to the creation of the WEC.

     The WEC has helped many people and brand always thought that people would need "tools and information" (Turner 68). The slogan has proven itself time and again with the extensive amount of information that the WEC holds.