Love in the middle of an afternoon

 

Drug use is a tricky topic to write about. It’s stigmatised, yet most Australians use drugs in the legal forms of alcohol, nicotine and caffeine.

 

It’s also tricky to write about drug use when you’re my age. People think it’s something you either grow out of or become so dependent on that your entire life becomes a form of mind altered slavery.

 

I say it’s none of those things, and the way our society approaches drug use is, at best, misguided and at worst, leads to life long criminal records and the ramifications that come with that, as well as disability and death.

The reality is that people will always take drugs. In my experience, drug use has led to cioser ties and greater intimacy with the people I call friends and whom I love, as well as, to quote Aldous Huxley, opening the doors of perception. And, aside from those things, over the years, I’ve just had a great time. Music and literature hits harder; I’m transported by wonder and awe at this bizarre thing we call existence.

 

But if I did it every day, then that wonder and awe would dissipate. Instead of being transported, I’d be stuck in a new, dependent reality, one that’s even harder to escape from than the regular reality experienced by normies.

 

About every six weeks I’ll get some supplies – to quote J Spaceman:

 

“Here it comes an then it goes
And it hits me, takes me home
I don't know where I'm goin'
And I don't know where I've been
But I'd do it all again
All I wanted was a taste
Enough to waste a day…”?

 

And after the supplies are gone, I am good. I’ve been transported. My thinking has changed, and my perception altered.

 

Why does society stigmatise drug use? Why is alcohol widely available (and freely advertised) yet I’ve gotta deal with the black market to get what I want? Wouldn’t it make more sense to legalise it, tax it and have quality standards so people know what they’re getting?

 

It makes no sense to me. As I said, the reality is that people are always going to take drugs. The war on drugs has been lost, as have so many lives of people who would still be with us if the substances they took were legal and of a known quality.

 

I don’t know what the answer is. It’s impossible to have a rational discussion about drugs in Australia right now. The Murdoch media has conniptions if the topic of decriminalisation or legalisation is even raised. And that scares the pollies. But what I do know is the current approach doesn’t work and has never worked. And people will continue to die because of the head-in-the-sand way our society deals with drugs.

 

And I also know that, within limits, I will be a life-long drug user. To me, the benefits outweigh the negatives, even if it means paying inflated prices, getting uncertain quality and having to deal with shonky dealers.