On Hamilton Morris

I can’t contain my crush.

Say hello to Hamilton Morris, also known as the other human male that I trust after Attenborough, who is a chemist and documentarian that studies psychedelic drugs. If you haven’t heard of him, you are in for a treat. He has a huge body of work available online from his work with Vice on HBO and his current Patreon that helps support his work. His program, Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia, has three amazing seasons, each episode focused on a different psychoactive substance.

My favourite episode is by far the sweet Xenon episode, with a clip below, in which Hamilton inhales the gas that is apparently psychoactive (who knew?) and trips out on camera, his already deep voice deepening as he giggles about L. Ron Hubbard’s use of Nitrous Oxide amid pulsing euphoria. The whole episode is epic, the twist at the end is upsettingly brutal. But here, I side always with Hamilton, as I’ll try anything once, especially this.

Morris (the son of documentarian Errol) is a collector of sacred texts and documents relating to psychedelic drugs, and he is clearly obsessed with the subject matter, having tested many substances along his path. He is, like Sir David A., a collector of experiences that border between naturalism and anthropology. His mind is a mass of chemical formulas and clandestine techniques, and I can barely contain my crush on his salt and pepper hair and the sound of his voice. Sorry!

He has spoken at length in print and in online interviews about the subject of drugs from nearly every perspective, specialising on the idea of freedom of choice. He is an advocate for the legalisation of all drugs and speaks openly about the damage that the prohibition and regulation of drugs have done on chemistry and medical development. He also talks a lot about the damage that has been done by conventional media coverage of the war on drugs. I find myself agreeing with him on every front, especially about the role of people in the actual damage that drugs do on society.

As Hamilton says, it’s never the drug that causes harm to a person, a drug is an inanimate object, much like a gun. It is the activity of humans that causes the problems. The prohibition of drugs leads to people taking untested, unregulated drugs of unknown origin that lead to overdoses and misuse. Listing drugs like cannabis as Schedule 1 drugs means that there is no medicinal use, which has clearly been disproven many times over at a state level, but remains federally listed.

He points out in an interview with Joe Rogan that cyanide is not listed as Schedule 1, and it is a potent poison. It is only substances of pleasure that are listed federally in America. It is shocking to realise that this is the case. The listing of these substances and compounds, which is all that they are, prohibits scientists from federal funding to explore the potential benefits. It’s a shame, and hopefully something that will undergo political reform in the near future.

Hamilton speaks the language of molecules, and in the poetry of psychedelic experience. I have always been interested in altered states of consciousness, and coming from Oregon, have experienced various psychoactive substances in my youth. His voice, deep and generous, slowly brings chemical formulas to life. I could listen to him talk about NMDA receptor antagonists until the end of time.

Five years ago, I ran into Hamilton online in the comments section of a drug interaction forum. He let me know that even though the comment was seven years old, it was still as true as the day it was written. (This Instagram DM gave me feelings for the past 5 years. Instagram now loads the chat but not the images so I can’t remember where exactly this was on the internet, but it was niche.)

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I sincerely hope that he will continue making media for us to consume, so much so that I am going to pay to subscribe to his Patreon (my first!) because I want to hear everything that he is putting out there. He has a ton of content available on YouTube as well. His voice feels very important to me, now more than ever, and I want to do what I can barely afford to support him in the true spirit of patronage.

Michael Pollan’s 2021 book How To Change Your Mind seemed to bring a conversation about psychedelics to the common New Yorker reader, and had a much more heady approach to the exploration of substances. It was great, in theory, but lacked the chemistry chops that Morris brings to the table. I hope to see Hamilton’s name on the cover of a book in the near future, I believe the world needs to know what is contained within his brain.

I’ve been on a kick of listening to Morris’ thoughts on podcasts and interviews across YouTube the past week, and I love revisiting the Pharmacopeia episodes when I need a bit of mental expansion. Each episode is a capsule of pure information, both chemical and anthropological, and delivered in a style that is both entertaining and educational. I highly suggest that you check them out if you haven’t seen them yet, regardless of your expertise with psychedelic drugs, as they are an exemplary piece of cultural commentary.

I am moved here, dear Reader, to share the things that bring me joy, as I struggle sometimes to keep them front of mind, and writing about them feels like a positive way to keep my fingers busy while trapped in a defective body. My crush on Mr. Hamilton Morris should be shared with the world, because you, too, might need some chemical poetry in your life right now.