Writings
Life: My Anti-Drug » Sun, Jul 17th 2005 1:33 pm
I do not drink. I do not smoke or abuse drugs. I wasn’t convinced that this was the way I should live by any book or group of people. I don’t believe it’s a result of any negative experiences, either. I’ve always just questioned everyone else’s motivations for doing them while effortlessly avoiding them myself.
Drinking and drugs are mostly synonymous. Some say they drink because they enjoy the taste, but apparently they’ve no complaints about its affects on the mind and since there are plenty of other beverages out there that taste great too, I’m left believing they have ulterior motives. I’m sure people start drinking and doing drugs for various reasons, but they continue to use and abuse substances because they are bored or unsatisfied with their realities and drugs are a way out that they and their friends can all do together. I don’t do it because I would much rather improve my reality than temporarily convince myself that it’s really not so bad. There are kids whose parents buy them everything and never work a day. Then they graduate and get jobs and realize life is suddenly very, very hard. I imagine the same fate for people who frequently abuse drugs. When they come down off their high, they’ll have to face a seemingly-hard life. Or they’ll simply never come down. Neither is good.
Smoking, while it may taste good, is dangerous. Other things taste good and won’t hurt you; try eating an apple for instance. I don’t care what “casual, non-addicted, smokers” tell me: they don’t smoke because it tastes good. I can’t tell them why they smoke, but I can tell them that it’s not because it’s so delicious or calming. Ulterior motives… Maybe smokers want to hurt themselves? Why not just coat a razor in delicious chocolate sauce and scrape off their taste buds? It’ll taste great, but when they’re done they won’t be able to taste anything else and they’ll probably bleed to death. Smoking is that, only slower. Apparently even ungodly pain and suffering are better when brought on slowly?
While I am accepting of my friends’ choices to engage in all of the above, it is not comfortable to watch. Some of them I knew to be against alcohol when they were younger and while watching them get drunk, I wonder what changed their minds. Others never really expressed any disagreement towards any of it, but still I can’t understand why they do it. They’re better company when they’re their sober, witty, coherent selves. What are they escaping from? Why is sobriety so unbearable for them?
I don’t think too hard about the deeper reasons why I despise the idea of using drugs and drinking; I don’t want to lose total respect for everyone who does these things. I don’t think the people who do them are necessarily more adventurous or exciting people; I think that at some time, on some level, they were weaker than I (and those like me). I perceive the need to escape reality as naïve and wish that people would first try to understand why they’d want to in the first place. I will never drink, and I will never smoke. I will never want to and I will never need to. I will better the bad things in my life and enjoy myself without chemical crutches. I don’t know why so many others are unable do the same.
1 josh on Sun, Jul 17th 2005 6:39 pm
Smoking is the result of awkward individuals who don’t know what to do with their hands in social situations (kidding).
However after reading your article I started to think why I bother doing any drugs, I can’t say I do it to escape reality; I’m a pretty happy content person, and I generally once I get high or drunk I start to wonder why I did get high/drunk and wish that I wasn’t. For as often as I do drink or do any drugs (about once every couple months) I think I would much rather not even bother. Even last night I had said to myself that I wasn’t going to do anything, it had been so long since I had really enjoyed alcohol or drugs that I thought why even bother. But then I start to think of the time that I have had really good times with all my friends’ years ago.
Maybe you’re correct when you say some individuals (like myself) are much weaker then you but I say this for different reasons, once I get around a lot of people drinking and doing drugs then I feel the compulsion to do them myself. I never go out of my way to get drugs for myself and I never think “I need to get drunk tonight”, but usually when someone offers me something for free that I know I will never go out of my way to do again I usually do for the experience. I have done quite a few drugs now beyond pot and alcohol but all only once, and I have no intentions of ever doing then again as I generally start feeling paranoid/neurotic afterwards and never want to experience it again.
2 Aaron on Sun, Jul 17th 2005 6:47 pm
Well that just sounds like you don’t want to be the odd one out. I mean when everyone else is getting drunk and you aren’t, I can see why you’d opt to join in. Being the only sober person is rather alienating.
Greg and I talked about it for a bit and basically we were both arguing that people do drugs to escape, but he simply didn’t see a problem with people wanting to escape. Doing it “for the experience” is still wanting to escape. It’s adventurous, but you’re venturing away from yourself. I just told him that I couldn’t understand why people would rather temporarily alter their state of mind than permanently alter the way they live. I mean why smoke pot? Because it alters your perception? Helps you relax? Helps you talk more freely to others? Shouldn’t people be capable of doing these things without chemicals? The dependence people have on mind inhibitors to fully enjoy any kind of social function disturbs me.
3 Josh on Sun, Jul 17th 2005 8:03 pm
“Well that just sounds like you don’t want to be the odd one out. I mean when everyone else is getting drunk and you aren’t, I can see why you’d opt to join in. Being the only sober person is rather alienating.” That’s exactly what I said in different words.
It’s easier for someone like me or Greg to see how someone like you could not understand doing drugs as it would be for you to understand our choices. The choice I made is really the illogical one, I can have just as much without these vices, they harm my body and cost a lot of money so why? Given I generally don’t spend my own money on them I can rule that out, but regardless I’m still doing them.
I think sometimes it’s good to escape reality, sometimes it feels like you can temporarily step out side yourself and see things from a new perspective; I’m not saying drugs help you understand things. Sometimes you can your natural prejudices and beliefs sort of slip away, and you think of things from a more neutral point of view. Or that’s how the feeling I really enjoy, that I get sometimes.
When it comes down to it all they are is another Vice, which I’m sure you yourself have. For some people it’s TV or chewing gum, something that helps you relax and something you enjoy to help the day go a little easier.
4 Aaron on Mon, Jul 18th 2005 9:22 am
It’s a vice alright: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=vise
TV or chewing gum aren’t like drugs. Drugs change you. TV makes you laugh by showing you funny pictures, not by altering your perceptions and tricking you into thinking what you’re seeing is funnier than it is.
Being able to see things from a new perspective is another thing people should be able to do without drugs. The effect is similar to placing a magnet near a TV screen: the colours go weird and it’s neat to watch, but you’ll eventually damage the TV and your perceptions may be permanently changed.
That said, I still don’t care much about the physical effects of these things. It’s the psychological reasons behind doing them that bother me. It’s beyond merely wanting to see new colours.
5 josh on Mon, Jul 18th 2005 12:05 pm
The Vice Guide to Rehab
6 Aaron on Wed, Jul 20th 2005 4:59 pm
I certainly respect your choice(s) about what you are willing (or not willing) to put in your body. That said, I think your post has a few underlying assumptions that could stand closer examination:
1) “I’ve always just questioned everyone else’s motivations for doing [drugs/alcohol] while effortlessly avoiding them myself.”
The unfortunately difficult thing about questioning other’s motives is that unless you are telepathic, you really have no idea what those motivations are.
The fact that you have no way of knowing any one person’s true motivations, much less “everyone’s”, also makes this statement rather suspect: “I’m sure people…use and abuse substances because they are bored or unsatisfied with their realities and drugs are a way out….”
I don’t think you can really know that all people who use drugs/alcohol are just looking for a way out…can you?
2) “Apparently even ungodly pain and suffering are better when brought on slowly?”
Well, you’re on to something there, but it’s a surface treatment of something far larger. Yes, drugs/alcohol are often used to escape some kind of pain and suffering. But pain and suffering are an inevitable fact of life.
Whether or not someone uses drugs/alcohol doesn’t make a whit of difference. As long as we remain attached to a material and temporal life that treats reality as something we can actually know and/or relate to, pain and suffering will be with us. The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism already spell this out, no reason for me to elaborate more.
3) “I don’t want to lose total respect for everyone who does these things… I think…on some level, they [are] weaker than I… I perceive the need to escape reality as naïve.”
Think back to the last time you saw a great movie, or read an amazing book, or just watched TV. Why did you enjoy that so much? Could it have been you were caught up in the story, in something outside yourself…and you enjoyed the experience and had fun?
I’m not equating art and drugs. But I would ask you: if escaping is naive, what experiences must a person not have in order to stay in reality? And at what point does avoiding such escapes become its own kind of unreality?
4. “I will never drink, and I will never smoke. I will never want to and I will never need to.”
I don’t know why it is we can remember the past (albeit sometimes hazily), but not the future. Time is mysterious like that. But what it means is we have no way of really knowing how our life will turn out. You’ve made some quite striking predictions about your future there. I’ll be interested to see how it all pans out for you. (And I sincerely wish you the best!)
5) “I will better the bad things in my life and enjoy myself without chemical crutches. I don’t know why so many others are unable do the same.”
It probably isn’t possible to know why others don’t act like you do. My guess is that it’s because they’re just different. In the meantime, the art of compassion is one that, once cultivated, can bridge many divides between people…perhaps you might explore its practice.
Thanks for the thought-provoking post.
7 Aaron on Wed, Jul 20th 2005 5:56 pm
And thank you for yours.
I don’t hold it against it my friends. I do sometimes feel sort of angry for being “left behind” at parties and such, but it passes quickly.
The comparison to art and storytelling etc. was interesting, and after giving it some thought I’ve concluded that while they may be similar, I am able to step out of a theatre at any time. However, while under the influence of drugs, I would be trapped inside whatever new world I was in until its effects wore off; a feeling that would seem very claustrophobic to me. The similarities are important too in that if I can experience new worlds without “strapping myself in”, why use drugs?
I don’t pretend to know why people do drugs, and I admitted that there were more than likely a vast number of reasons for it. I merely stated matter-of-factly that they do it to escape because after over a decade of thinking about it and observing others’ drinking/drugging habits, it seemed most fitting.
I suppose my reason for avoiding drugs is simply that their effects cannot be switched off, especially when similar effects can be experienced without the use of drugs. I suppose that breaks down to fear, but I don’t think it’s unjustified fear.
Negative physiological effects aside, I suppose that if you can be sure you’re doing drugs in an absolutely safe environment and it will remain safe until the drugs wear off, drug use wouldn’t be so bad. But this isn’t practical as there are no truly safe places. Chalk that statement up to pessimism or cynicism, but I think it’s true enough.
8 Tyler on Wed, Jul 20th 2005 8:15 pm
I, personally, indulge in marijuana the odd time. Not everyday. I never pay for it. I don’t need it to have a good time and I’m not addicted to it at all. Then why do it you ask? It helps me relax and speak my mind. I don’t like to smoke a lot of it at once, and if I don’t I still have a grip on reality; I can make proper decisions and still function properly.
I don’t believe that smoking marijuana, in small doses, puts you into a “new world”; it only slightly alters your emotions. The effects are somewhat different from person to person but usually you’re more relaxed, and you smile and laugh more. With that said I don’t see a problem.
People can continue to knock it; it’s not going to change my thoughts on the subject. I don’t see the problem with marijuana or why it’s against the law. It’s not classified as “hardcore drug”. Drinking alcohol has more of an effect. Of course any drug can be abused, but if you use them responsibly like the majority of the population there’s nothing wrong with it.
Just my two cents.
9 Aaron on Wed, Jul 20th 2005 8:42 pm
But you use it to help you “speak your mind” when really you should just learn to speak up on your own. Personally, I enjoy saying the first thing that pops into my head and trying to dig myself out of awkward situations… Heh. You shouldn’t use it to alter your mind because you can do that without drugs. It just seems like cheating or something. You don’t learn any new skills and when it’s over you’re back to wishing you could speak your mind. “Give a man a fish, he eats for a day… Teach a man to fish, he’ll eat for a lifetime.” That seemed relevant.
10 Aaron on Thu, Jul 21st 2005 8:57 pm
Well, a couple of other thoughts…
Caffeine is highly addictive (at least for some individuals)…and it is widely known to have unpredictable effects on different individuals depending on body chemistry. It even has performance enhancing effects for some athletes.
Refined sugar, corn syrup, and its relatives have negative consequences for the body like rotten teeth, obesity (and the health issues that come with it), the “sugar high”, etc.
I noticed the photo of the wasp on your site wherein you mentioned using some “Raid” to kill a spider. Pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, etc. are all legal despite the documented ill effects those chemicals have when ingested. (And ingest them we do - there are legal limits to how much, but why do you think mercury is showing up in breast milk? Not because mother nature intended it to be that way…)
Yet we use all of these chemicals every day in some form without complaint. In fact, using them on an everyday basis is not only legal - it is promoted widely.
Why? A couple of possible reasons come to mind. (And I’m sure there are more, but can’t think of ‘em at the moment.)
To some people at least, the benefits of those substances outweigh the risks. Another line of thought is that more powerful substances (to take speed as an example) have too many deleterious effects on productivity among workers. Milder chemicals boost performance (and profits!), and the negative effects are borne by society at large, rather than the profit-makers.
The concept of “mind-altering” is a bit of a straw-man argument. Our brains in particular are a huge chemical stew, subject to influence from everything…from the amount of daylight we get to the conversation we have with our boss at the end of the day. Literally everything alters one’s mind. We’re happy, then someone cuts us off in traffic, and we’re pissed. And at some level, all of those emotions are choices, just like it’s a choice to have a drink after work. I don’t think it is is “cheating” to smoke up any more than it is to meditate.
Reality is always in flux - and it only exists to the person experiencing it. So how real is that? Well, not at all to anyone else. So if I alter my reality by consciously imbibing, what’s the diff? My reality was completely different from yours already anyway.
From a lifestyle point of view - chemicals are so pervasive in our society. Once you start down the road of “if this chemical affects me, I won’t consume it”, how long until you are living off the grid in a rural mountain state? (Not saying that is a bad idea, by the way.)
11 Aaron on Thu, Jul 21st 2005 9:53 pm
I don’t drink coffee. Or pop. It seems good and all but I fear caffeine gives me migraines so I avoid it. I don’t like the idea of using it to jump start one’s day though as—-like other drugs—-people get dependant on it because they haven’t learned how to emulate the effects without it (exercise will wake you up).
Granted chemicals affect our minds all the time. Natural chemicals our body produces to chemicals we digest in our food. The difference being that I don’t eat popsicles for the sugar high or turkey to put myself to sleep. I don’t believe I’ve ever experienced a sugar high, but I know they aren’t damaging to my body and that driving under the influence of popsicles isn’t going to get anyone killed.
Realities differ, but I’m talking about sobriety; the state you’re in when you’re “clean”. That’s who you are (or who I believe people to be…) and it’s one thing when that person decides he isn’t satisfied being himself, but it’s another when he decides he’ll only improve himself temporarily by setting some grass on fire and inhaling what the flame couldn’t destroy only to return to his usual unsatisfied self again when the affects wear off. I hope you see my point. The problem isn’t necessarily in the doing of the drugs but rather in the reasons people do it.
12 josh on Fri, Jul 22nd 2005 12:22 am
Ty’s Comment has “Aaron” credited as an author.
13 Aaron on Fri, Jul 22nd 2005 8:37 am
It’s not Tyler. And posts by me have orange numbers. I’m pretty sure it’s just another guy named “Aaron”.
14 Josh on Fri, Jul 22nd 2005 3:19 pm
Some one we don’t know is posting her… I feel so vulnerable…
15 Aaron K. on Fri, Jul 22nd 2005 6:07 pm
Yep, I’m just another guy named Aaron, which is how I happened to find this site. I’ll use the initial from my last name from now on…sorry about the confusion.
Aaron, I don’t completely agree with you but I do see your point, and I think I understand your reasoning better now.
Drugs can be used to achieve “satisfaction” or for “entertainment”. Most recreational drugs are better suited for the latter. (Anti-depressants and the like are a bit different…when taken under medical supervision and used with therapy/counseling, they can be a help in eventually acheiving the former…)
Just to back up a post or two to address TV…
Strictly speaking, a drug is a substance that can used to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, or modify a chemical process or processes in the body.
But more generally, I think a drug is a something that, when administered to an organism, modifies one or more of its functions.
On that score, TV (and maybe other media, too) is most definitely a drug, albeit one consumed through the eyes and mind rather than lungs or stomach.
TV has profound psychological and mental effects on people. It changes how much we learn, what kind of information we retain, etc., and it definitely alters one’s perceptions about the world, sometimes on a permanent basis (i.e., watch only your local news channel to learn about your world and there’s a good chance you’ll come away believing there are only murderers, molesters, and rapists “out there”.)
People even refer to themselves as “addicted” to a particular show. It is true the TV can be turned off. But you can’t “un-see” something, and in fact, many people find it quite difficult to turn off their TVs.
Of course, like many other drugs, TV can have beneficial as well as harmful effects, depending on its use.
Hopefully my posts have come across as they were intended - not argumentative or trying to change anyone’s mind, but just seeking to further the discussion about an interesting topic.
Thanks for an interesting discussion so far.
16 Aaron on Sat, Jul 23rd 2005 9:54 am
A drug is: “A chemical substance, such as a narcotic or hallucinogen, that affects the central nervous system, causing changes in behavior and often addiction.” TV doesn’t change behaviour. The ideas it shows us may change our minds or give us new opinions or feelings, but that’s no different than talking to someone. Drugs are physicaly ingested with the intent to change the user’s behaviour.
I understand what you mean by people getting addicted to TV, but them not wanting to turn it off is very different than not being able to. That’s obviously not enough to convince people that drugs are a bad idea though.
At my most cynical, I see the world as some writhing mass of humans with everyone snorting coke and smoking grass and puking up booze, all for the sweet highs they produce. And when the morning comes, their glazed eyes look up at the bright sun with contempt as they’re slammed back into horrible sobriety. If everyone on earth did drugs, would you still support them?
A disturbing conclusion. We can “see into the future” because it is the result of choices made in the present. Nothing in my future could change my mind about drugs. Things’ll pan out just fine.
17 Aaron K. on Sun, Jul 24th 2005 1:13 am
Okay, my definition of drug is not meant to be comprehensive. I don’t imagine yours is either. Just google “drug definition” and you’ll see there are lots to choose from.
TV doesn’t change behavior? So presidential candidates hire consultants for debates and other TV appearances for…no reason? And companies hawk their wares on TV…because they like to spend money with no guarantee of a return on their investment? TV absolutely changes people’s behavior.
There is no line between wanting and doing. If you want to turn off the TV badly enough, you can. It’s just a matter of how badly you want that more than other things.
Everyone on earth is doing drugs. Coffee, sugar, TV, coca leaves, birth control, whatever.
I wish you no harm, hold no ill will toward you, nothing like that. I just think predicting the future is a dicey business, and that you might be confusing “seeing the future” with “20/20 hindsight”.
18 Paul D on Sat, Oct 8th 2005 9:22 pm
Aaron W, I’m conflicted reading this, because while on the one hand I know where you’re coming from, on the other hand I think you’re out to lunch.
I don’t do drugs, and I know many people who do. While it’s not something I’m interested in, I can see why people do it. They have lots of fun doing it. Most of the people I know who smoke pot aren’t any different, and they certainly don’t have a mind altering experience… they just like being chilled out. For the most part I don’t judge people who do drugs, although that depends on the drug.
I also don’t drink coffee, because I figure I have enough vices as it is, but I drink too much pop, so who cares.
I’ve never smoked, and that’s the one that gets me the most. I quite literally can’t understand why an inteligent person would smoke. And yet, they do. Hell, my girl friend smokes. I have never been able to wrap my mind around the fact that people do something that makes them smell terrible, wrecks their lungs, hurts the people around them, and costs all kinds of money.
On the other hand, I drink. And the reason is fairly simple. It’s fun. I don’t feel like my mind’s altered, I just find it fun, and I’m more likely to dance. I respect your decision not to drink, but I think you’re out to lunch when you analyze people’s motivations for not drinking… this is similar to a previously mentioned point, but if you’re superior to me because you don’t alter your mind and drink, am I superior to you because I don’t transport myself to another world to play Counterstrike?
I mean, I think both those statements are pretty ridiculous.
19 Aaron on Sat, Oct 8th 2005 10:17 pm
Damnit. I’d written a response to this and my site like crashed…
Basically, I think drinking’s too much of a crutch for people. If I don’t dance but drinking makes me dance, then drinking’s changed who I am. I think drinking’s too easy. I personally get a strange kick out of forcing myself to combat my own shyness when meeting new people. I think it’s better to exercise ourselves like that than it is to look to booze (or anything else) to turn us into who we’d rather be.
20 Paul D on Sat, Oct 8th 2005 10:20 pm
Okay, but what if I don’t have a problem meeting people and just drink because it’s fun?
And I can dance sober, I’m just better at it with some beer.
21 Pete on Sun, Jan 15th 2006 6:46 pm
there is so many reasons for both that i cant be bothered to say them, just think about everything, look around where you are and look at all the drug-related things, think about the amount of chemicals you take in that alter you in some way. plus everything is temporary nothing is permenant.