This century is about 9 years in and you're probably wondering what's the big deal. Or, you think you're still lost in 2002 and you ought to be lost now. How do you stay on the cutting edge? Well one thing that's changing, and not been explained well(esspecially in the following text) is cultural attitudes toward drug use.
The late 1900s was a very strange backlash against our friends: mind altering chemicals. Before the war on drugs started, drug use in the U.S. was at an all time low, including alcohol. Not so mysteriously, It has risen since. But which drugs, in particular? Well, heroin, cocaine, nicotine, and PCP use are down, and alcohol, cannabis, and caffeine use are up. Ecstacy use is up, but I believe that is a fluke of novelty.
There you have it, and probably in your cupboard/coffee table/pocket/bloodstream. The war on drugs "taught" us that all drugs are used for escapism, because they're easier than more traditional stess relief methods: crying, self-harm and murder. However, the premise is wrong. All drugs are not used for escapism. The most commonly used drugs now and over the course of history have been maintenance drugs.
What is a maintenance drug, your mom asks? It is a drug that is not used for escapism, but clarity. A drug that is not used to hide or get away, but rather problem solve and live the sober life(as much of it as you have to) more effectively. Often attached to alcohol and cannabis is the adage "functional". As in, "functional alcoholic" and "functional stoner". To attach this to those lifestyles is as wrong-headed as saying "functional television watcher" or "functional excerciser". Of course they are functional, because as long as they're not obsessive or otherwise mentally ill, their activity is a hobby. If their hobby alters the functioning of their brain, then that is a side effect they have chosen to accept because it is mild or positive.
It is often found with not-surprising shock that heavy-drug users and non-drugs users have more personality in common than those who "moderate". It seems intuitive to me. Non-drug users and heavy drug users are people who don't-want-to-and-don't, and do-want-to-and-do, respectively. Moderate drugs users are either people who don't-want-to-and-do or do-want-to-and-don't. The last group shows a true lack of conviction, living in a wishy-washy, non-commital haze. The first keeps a firm grip on reality and takes strong stances.
Deciding "I will alter how I subjectively perceive reality through the use of this chemical compound for my betterment" is not escapism at all. Being a completely different person with completely different motives from moment to moment is. It's quite literally escaping over and over again. The sober and the habitually inebriated know who they are. Those who dabble here and there in this and that are still searching.
No comments:
Post a Comment