11/14/16 - If you ask most people what a drug is, what will they tell you? Most people will answer "Heroin, cocaine, LSD, marijuana..." and so on, naming all the illicit substances they know off the top of their heads. What if you ask them to categorize the cold remedy they buy from the supermarket? Most will quickly answer "medicine". Subconsciously, your average person thinks of these examples as separate things belonging to the categories of "drug" and "medicine", regardless of the fact that these things are synonymous. The OTC medicines you buy at the store are undoubtedly drugs, and all illicit drugs were originally recognized for their medicinal properties and applications. "What's yer damned point, son?!?" My point is to point out the influence of an ideology upon this simple concept. The fact that certain substances were made illegal creates a new, subconscious category for such things, where there was no other category before the fact of illegalization. A substance is considered a "drug" when it is foreign to the body and produces an effect upon consumption. A drug is then considered "medicinal" if we subjectively assess that effect to have a purpose. Are "recreational drugs" then "medicine"? Most will quickly answer "No, there is no purpose in getting 'high'." But that's a subjective and personal determination, an "opinion"! It is legitimate to take drugs that get you high seriously for their effect, when that effect alleviates depression, inspires artwork or enthralls you with the simple appreciation of your own existence... Especially when there can be found no other means of achieving these things. The effect of illegal medicines can drastically alter the course of an individual's life, long after the acute effects of such substances has worn off. Where one found no purpose or meaning in their existence before, a new life presents itself after the ecstatic experience. Most people, even those who have taken drugs, trivialize this effect, saying "It was a lie... you can't live that way" or "I know I was 'breaking the law', and I don't take getting high seriously, it was just for kicks" These are typical ideological explanations of a very complex inquiry, and do not adequately suffice in the mind of a continuously thinking individual. This is the primary reason rehabilitation programs fail. I do not take any illegal drugs, but I am certain that they all were useful catalysts in generating my current purpose in existing. When I did not care for my life, I found illegal medicine, by the grace of the God who made me to find it. "Get a life, loser!" What, with people like you around? Dream on. Now, I live for myself. If you would like further instruction, please pray. I don't respect blasphemers, idolaters or any other form of proud fool. |