DEFINITION
Drugs
A substance that is used as a medicine or narcotic
Yeah, let’s get high!
Have you tried drugs? The ones that are illegal, like cocaine, heroine, acid, speed, ecstasy, or marijuana? Are you one of the millions of people around the world who have sat getting high or danced the night away in a nightclub? Or maybe you’ve just passed out in a doorway somewhere?
I’ve tried drugs, and whatever anyone tries to tell you, drugs are good! Of course they are, that’s why they’re illegal, they’re too good. Forget what your parents tell you. Forget what the government and your teachers tell you; if drugs were so bad, why do you think people would continue taking them? People aren’t stupid! They belong to the most intelligent species on the planet, and if they say they’re good, there is no reason to believe they are not telling the truth.
There is evidence that man has been taking stimulants of some kind or other for many thousands of years. Perhaps the drugs had some positive benefit during our long evolution; perhaps they staved off cold or helped us to work in harsh conditions. Whatever the case, drugs are now here for one thing: Pleasure.
Do you remember the old pleasure centres in the brain we talked about in the topics addiction and alcohol? I won’t go into this in detail again, but let’s all just accept why we take drugs. It’s because they make us feel good and we get great pleasure from taking them.
Drugs are no different to alcohol, they were just commercialised a lot later than beer and wine. I’m sure that if beer was to be invented now it would surely be banned; it certainly causes far more social problems than drugs ever have, but we digress. Let’s get back to the task of getting high…
It’s cool to smoke a joint with your friends, isn’t it? Passing it round, inhaling the sweet smoke, feeling spacey and chilled, or dropping a couple of pills before going clubbing; getting that loved-up feeling as you sweatily dance around feeling sexy.
Let’s face it, most people who take drugs don’t have a long term dependence or addiction to them, in fact it’s usually something that is done in your youth at college or university, and gradually fades as one grows up and has more responsibility.
There are, of course, long term abusers, who are addicted to the strongest drugs (because they’re the best), who cause social problems, and steal to fund their habit, but these people are the exception. They are the drug equivalents of long term alcohol abusers. So let’s not blow all this out of proportion by saying that drugs are the worst thing in the world (I’m sure some of you anti-drug campaigners are getting quite hot under the collar reading this!).
We waste millions of pounds each year with our “war on drugs” campaigns, trying to crack down on the production and supply of something people want! That’s right, they actually want these drugs, so let’s not demonise the pushers. This is pure capitalism; supply and demand; someone wants it, so someone supplies it. If no one actually wanted drugs do you think these big drug cartels would still be in business? The only reason that there is a large amount of violence associated with the trade is due it being illegal, it attracts the more criminally minded types to it, but apart from that, it’s just a business.
Ask anyone who takes drugs, why they do it, and they’ll tell you “because it feels good.” Most people who take drugs aren’t addicts, they’re just like all your other friends. They could be lawyers, doctors, or senior managers, it doesn’t matter what job they do, they take drugs because they like them. I have had many friends who took drugs regularly (every weekend), and you wouldn’t class them as addicts, these were good citizens who paid their taxes on time, and went to work every day. They just saw it as a bit of fun. They never thought what they were doing was in anyway bad, immoral, or illegal, they were just exercising their right as human beings to get high!
Of course, the come down from drugs is much stronger than that of alcohol, but that’s the cost you have to be prepared to pay if you want to get high.
All in all, taking drugs is no different to getting drunk. You may have more intense experiences with some drugs, you may see things that aren’t there (acid); you may experience a rapid pulse, sweating, and jaw clenching (ecstasy); you may feel as if you just can’t stop talking (speed); or you may feel ultra confident (cocaine); or you may feel as if you are glued to the spot, unable to move, and maybe a little bit paranoid (marijuana). Hey, but this is all part and parcel of getting high. You want the pleasure, you pay the cost.
So there you have it. If you want to feel good take drugs, they are much longer lasting, and also a much cheaper night out than alcohol. The end.
Of course, if you’ve never wanted to take drugs. or you have known someone who has become addicted to heroine or crack then you may feel like taking me to task over my last comments; telling me how you’ve seen what drugs can do to people, and what a terrible curse they are on society, but as I said, people choose to take them to feel extra good; to feel more pleasure than they can in normal life. Just because the after-effects are unpleasant (not only to the drug taker, but also the family members around them), and the person who has taken them may regret having done so, it doesn’t mean they didn’t enjoy themselves in the middle of the high! It’s easy to apologise and feel sorry for yourself the next day.
Do you follow?
I have no sympathy with anyone who takes drugs, they are doing it for their own pleasure, nothing else. If – by over consumption – they become addicted, I have sympathy for the rest of us having to listen to them complaining they are addicted, and how they are trying to get onto a program or get into rehab.
Once addicted, the drug takes over the mind, and tells lies to ensure it gets its supply. It cheats, it hurts, it destroys relationships, all so the brain can feel one more taste of pleasure. I have no sympathy for the users of drugs; why have sympathy when someone is doing something they love doing?
You’ll notice when someone (a friend, partner, parent, or child) has started to become addicted to drugs; just like alcohol, you will notice a change. They may change their patterns of behaviour, they may lose their job through repeated non-attendance, they may get sick more often, or stay in bed longer than usual, they may become apathetic, depressed, or depending on what drug they are using, increasingly paranoid, hyperactive, or aggressive. They may start spending much more money than usual; money may start going missing from the house, and they may become demanding and use emotional blackmail to get what they want – money. Remember, it takes a lot of money to be a drug addict.
If you start to notice any changes which you feel uncomfortable about, it pays to deal with them as quickly as possible. You will find it hard to confront someone who is addicted. They may become defensive and lie blatantly to your face that they are not taking anything. Don’t stop there. Talk to your local doctor, look online, try to arm yourself with facts.
Confrontation is only likely to make you more upset.
Addiction is a terrible thing only because the people it harms most are the people who love the addicted person. They can’t bear to see someone going through such pain, and they would do anything to stop it. The addict then exploits this to get what he or she wants; a fresh supply of their chosen pleasure pill.
Don’t give in, no matter how much you love someone. Don’t let it carry on for any period of time, once addicted that person is now in a prison, under the guard of their substance, ready to fight off anyone who interferes with their supply. Get them help immediately to get off the drug, it is available, but if you leave it too long they will drag you down with them.
While they are under the spell, they are lost to you; the person you used to know is no longer there. You are now dealing with a drug, and it’s sneaky and cunning. Only once they are free will you be have your loved one back. Don’t listen to their lies. That is the drug talking to get more of its supply…
Wow! When you listen to all that advice about drug addiction it makes you wonder why you even tried it, no?
I tried drugs only a handful of times, although I have tried cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy, and speed. It wasn’t so much an experimentation as a “I was drunk anyway and someone offered it to me” experience. I never really liked drugs and was wary of them from the outset. Although the feeling was often good at the time, the come down (or hangover) from the drugs was often a cost more than I was prepared to pay. I felt panicky and anxious, and regretted my stupidity at having said yes to them, but that’s peer pressure for you.
No one wants to be the one who says no, and gets laughed at; we all want to be cool, part of the in-crowd, don’t we? So we take them anyway, no matter what the cost; we worry about that the next day. For now, it’s time to have fun, and for most of us, taking drugs is all about having fun.
It’s a laugh, isn’t it? Being off your head on drugs, in a different world, experiencing things that other people can’t. It’s no wonder your parents can’t understand you taking them, if all they do is drink alcohol; alcohol’s tame isn’t it? This is an instant buzz! You can’t expand your consciousness with a glass of chardonnay can you? You can’t see into a different world with a pint of beer can you?
But you’re not expanding your consciousness, and you’re not transcending dimensions, all that’s happening is that the drug is acting on the brain and the body in ways which don’t occur naturally; putting your system under tremendous pressure, raising your heart rate, amongst other things. The drugs are poisoning your system, but still you feel great. You’re on top of the world. You are invincible, you can take on the world; everyone is in love with you, you are a god, you are all-powerful. Until the next day. And you are nothing.
When the drug wears off, it’s just plain old you again, feeling slightly worse than you did the day before you took the drug. It’s just you with the same old problems, the same old job, the same bills. Life is suddenly boring without the drug, isn’t it? So in order to feel slightly less bored with life, you take it again, then take it again.
Suddenly, you can’t live life without it, and, wow! You’re addicted. Not because the drug itself is addictive (which it is), but because you become addicted to the emotions you experience when taking the drug. Real life – natural life – isn’t good enough for you any more, you need more; you need to feel different to everyone else. So go on, take the drug, escape reality, because that is what you are doing, and pretty soon, you won’t want to come out of that world any more. It will become your reality. Albeit a false reality.
So tell me, oh great homo sapiens, what’s wrong with reality, the world we all inhabit? Why is it so boring that you have to escape it? Why do you need to experiment? Tell me, were all those millions of years ultimately worth it? Now there are millions of us, snorting, injecting, smoking, swallowing substances that help us forget about life, that help us forget that billions of people have died to help us exist. That nature has been providing for millions of years to help us eat and drink, and our mothers have gone through pain and suffering to give birth to us. All for what? So we can “have a laugh,” get drunk, get high, and stagger around saying “Wow! This is cool. Man I’m so wasted.” Congratulations, life just passed you by.
And what a life it is. Full of wonder, beauty and surprises. Full of enjoyment of nature and each other. Such an abundant place, this earth.
Imagine for a moment, lying in nature, looking at the hills, smelling the fresh, clean air, watching the clouds roll past, imagining different faces in each one, free of tension, smiling; and now cross quickly to the seedy club.
You’re drunk, you’ve just dropped a pill, your face is starting to become contorted, you start chewing or grinding your teeth, your heart rate is up, your starting to sweat, you can feel the rush going through your body! You feel like a million dollars, you’re dancing hard, you’re in love with everyone, the music is pounding…
But now cross quickly again to the hills, and imagine you have just been transported back to nature, and you meet your other self, the calm, relaxed self, smiling and enjoying life without any artificial enhancement; just pure relaxation. Imagine what your other self would say to you, while you stood there chewing your teeth, sweating, pupils dilated, disorientated. What would your other self think of you, seeing you on drugs there in the hills? Would he think you were cool, or would he just feel sorry for you; sorry you couldn’t enjoy life as it is, that you couldn’t learn to love reality, which is in nature all around us?
Learning to accept who we are, and accept reality is one of the greatest challenges we face as humans. We may look different from the animals and the birds, but we are a part of this great earth, just like them, and we are supposedly the most intelligent species on the planet. But every time we put a drug into our system, we detach ourselves from reality more. The drug allows us to retreat to a fantasy world, which exists only in our imagination.
Make a choice whether you want to discover reality, or whether you want to stay locked up in a drug prison. I know which one I choose, but maybe you are really dissatisfied with your life, maybe it’s too boring; maybe it’s not exciting enough for you; maybe reality’s not cool enough for you; maybe you’re too afraid of what your friends would say if you didn’t join in, or maybe it’s just you, you who wants to deny yourselves a chance at living a wonderful life with a clear mind.
Think for a moment, of all the people who are being killed in wars at this very moment. People who are being beaten and tortured. People who are starving. People with nothing – no running water, no electricity, maybe not even a place to sleep. Now think of you, sitting there with your friends, talking about drugs and how cool they are, waiting for the weekend to enjoy yourself, and maybe you will see what a waste of a life it is.
On the one hand, there are people trying desperately to cling on to life with their last breath, and on the other, there’s you, throwing life away. If you are so intent on escaping from life, maybe you would be prepared to swap with someone who really wants to live.
