What makes using pot or other drugs a “lesser pleasure”? Just because it tingles your receptors directly and not indirectly through different experiences (which can be harder to accomplish if you, for example, suffer from clinical depression)?
I’ve never understood the people who smugly imply that they’re better people than us drugs users because they can enjoy life without the use of drugs. Well, good for you! I still want to use the drugs, though. I can also do all the other awesome things in life, like have sex, spend time with loved ones and be in nature, and at the same time get the pleasure of various state-altering drugs.
Opiates are my favorites. Why couldn’t I just use them the rest of my life? When the product is clean and it’s administred safely and in reasonable doses, opiates are very safe. The only problem is the fear of not getting the drugs and having to go through withdrawal (sucky, I tell you). But that would not be a problem if it they were legal. People use opiates for pain very safely, why couldn’t the same be done for people who want to use it to improve their life?
I’m a much happier person, now that I’m a daily opiate user. I went through a couple of years long phase of psychedelics, stimulants, dissociatives and weed, but I’ve now mostly settled down with various opiates (with maybe the occasional stimulant), which simply feel the best. I’m actually able to function. I have energy to do things. I feel motivated to study and improve myself. I don’t have panic attacks. I’m not anxious. I can actually be around people and talk to them. I’ve made friends. It’s great. So what’s the problem?
Is it because it’s “cheating”? Sometimes it feels like some people are jealous that drug users are able to feel good, and would rather have us suffer instead. Because it’s “natural”. Well, if it’s natural to be depressed and anxious every living moment because your past was fucked up and you were bullied and raped, then fuck natural. Some people are lucky enough to be able to feel okay. But for us that are hindered by crappy experiences, isn’t it better to cheat so we can be productive members of the society?
Now, it’s worth noting that not every person uses drugs to be able to function, but all do it in order to feel better or do better, in some way. Sometimes the risks certainly outweight the benefits, but most often it’s the other way around - and that should be for the user to decide, anyway.
Now that’s a strange thought. A drug doesn’t inspire same thoughts in everyone. Not only does everyone react differently to each drug, but the insights depend wholly on what goes in your brain and what experiences you’ve managed to scoop up in the there. This is especially true for psychedelics, but also weed and other psychoactives.
That’s also how bad experiences while tripping happen. It’s not because of some “bad batch”, it’s because there were more troubling thoughts tucked away in the corners of your mind than you thought, and you weren’t quite prepared to face them.
