I prefer not having my mental capabilities messed with by substances that I am not familiar with and don't know how they work. Strongest stuff I'll take is caffeine, I won't even take aspirin unless it is absolutely necessary.
In my case, I studied the effects and actions of drugs on human biochemistry before I ever did them. Extensively. Sure, it wasn't in a classroom, but I don't think I've learned hardly anything of use in a classroom, except for how to interact with other people, and a plethora of random facts that will probably never be useful, such as, "Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492."
It was interesting. I don't like the thought of something changing my brain around fundamentally, though. That's basically the same thing as death.
... No, pretty sure death is when your brain stops working entirely. Mind-altering =/= death. Your entire existence is made entirely of the signals of chemicals flashing through your brain all hours of the day. If a different signal comes through, it doesn't mean everything just stops and dies on the spot. It means something different happened. Different =/= death either. It's also not like shrooms entirely change everything about everything in your brain. You are still you, if you choose to be. This isn't some Fineas Gage shit we're talking about here. Nothing shuts down forever, completely altering your personality permanently. People who have used mushrooms usually report that it changed their outlook for the better, and that they are happier on the whole with their lives. I've done mushrooms, and I can tell you that... It's not really any different than it was before. I have a highly enjoyable experience that I can look back on, but that's about it.
Drugs are fun. illegal. bad. good. dangerous. drugs.
This. Things aren't good or bad, regardless of the normative connotations people attach to them. Value judgements are based on how we use them.
I will agree that some drugs can lead to highly destructive behavior on the part of their users. Most especially methamphetamines, heroin, and cocaine. The vast majority of the time, drugs boil down to sitting around and feeling funny. That's really it. Seriously. I've done pretty much every drug under the sun. I've never gone out and destroyed something just because I was high. I've never hurt someone because I was high. Why? Because that is not who I am, fundamentally, and I am smart enough to not let the excuse of 'I'm high' dictate my behavior. Why do people go out and do shitty things while they're on drugs?
Because they wanted to while they were sober, but they were too inhibited to do so. Not because 'drugs made them a bad person'. Drugs gave them a sufficient excuse to go out and do what they might do. Frankly, there is pretty much zero difference between the actions of someone who is drunk and someone who is high, except that being drunk is more culturally accepted.