Controlled substances

Controlled substances, drugs, snort, smack, grass, blow, or whatever you wish to call them – why? The strongest substances that have entered my body (not counting during surgery!) are alcohol and nicotine, and the latter not for 18 years (at least not directly – passive smoking does not really count as I have no control over that). I have been around people using them, well, smoking pot at least, and have been offered them, but I have never felt the need to try them, and certainly have no desire to poison my body with anything that could potentially change my personality forever.

I take pleasure in simple things in life – the beauty of a leaf or flower, the laughter of children, the smile of a beautiful woman (actually the smile of anyone – it lights up the face and makes everyone beautiful), the smell of newly-mown grass, fresh bread or  cooking bacon, the wonderful shapes of icicles, the intricacy of a spider’s web, the sound of a favourite song, the feeling of sun on my back, the smell of the ocean and sound of the waves – and you know what? Not one of them costs a penny. You do not need to be rich, or live a fabulous lifestyle to enjoy life and everything around you – these sights, sounds and smells, are everywhere, but we seem to have lost the ability to look around us and marvel at life. We live in such a materialistic, manufactured society that we believe that we need money to enjoy ourselves, and if we haven’t got it then filling our veins with vile substances will somehow make things better – it doesn’t! It just creates a vicious spiral where life becomes a struggle to find the next high, and to find the money to pay for it. How long before the chosen “drug” no longer gives enough release, and a stronger one is needed, and how long before the need for this next fix becomes overwhelming, an addiction that cannot easily be broken.

What surprises me even more is that people who do have money, who have everything they could ever want or need, take these “recreationally” – what, they want to forget that they are filthy rich? Or are they so uptight that they feel a need to “loosen up” in order to be themselves? In a way I can understand that people who live miserable lives, in poverty and often desperation, turn to drugs as a means of escape (though when you have no money why spend what you have on drugs, which gives such a temporary release, and leaves with a bigger craving for the next fix?) – for a fleeting period their lives seem less unbearable, and they feel that they can achieve anything, but the comedown and the low that follows makes their lives seem even worse.

I am, of course, oversimplifying things – I have never had a close family member or friend’s life totally destroyed by drugs, so how can I know what it is really like? I also know that some people get addicted through having drinks spiked, or through coercion from others, and not through fault of their own, but mostly people have a choice whether they take drugs or not – it is their own free will whether they start or not. I willingly smoked my first cigarette at 14, and though at first they tasted horrible I persevered, and at one stage was smoking 30 a day, though when I gave up I was down to around 10 (mainly because of cost!). I stopped overnight, one day I smoked, the next I was an ex-smoker, and have not had a smoke since, though I do not consider myself a non-smoker, rather an ex-smoker. I have no idea what damage 27 years of nicotine intake has done to my body, and whether I will suffer later – some people are lucky and do not seem to suffer the same effects as others – but it was my choice to start, and my decision to stop when I did.

There is a lot of debate on “soft” drugs and whether these should be legalised – particular Marijuana – with the argument put forward by the pro-lobby that they are harmless and cause no lasting damage to the users. The problem is we just don’t know. There does appear to be a correlation between Marijuana users and Schizophrenia (I read somewhere that 30% of new Schizophrenics were Marijuana users), but scientists cannot really agree on it. I had a close friend years ago in Mozambique, who was a habitual pot smoker, and his personality was changed dramatically by his usage – so much so that he set off on a 500 mile motorcycle ride (on a 50cc Suzuki) on dirt roads to join the revolutionaries in Tanzania. Fortunately his geography was not that good and he ended up in a Malawi prison (he did not have the correct paperwork and refused to return to Mozambique) for a few months, until they forcibly repatriated him. I met him shortly after his return home and he was still adamant that he had to join the revolution, and was still a changed man. The pro-lobby are always pointing out that Marijuana has medicinal uses, so therefore should be legal, however Opium is also used a medicinal base, so the same argument could be used on Heroin, and indeed on most “drugs”, as many started off pharmaceutically. Most medicinal drugs are controlled in their manufacture ( I say “most” as there are always horror stories about unscrupulous manufacturers cutting corners, or including “extras” to reduce the overheads), and therefore in their purity, unlike most “street” drugs which contain all sorts of nasties, some of which can kill in their own right.