DRUG STANCES DOMINATED BY PREVIOUS CONCEPTIONS

Taking open-minded look at recreational use could change common
opinion

I would like to begin with a disclaimer: I do not encourage anyone to
use, distribute or otherwise get involved with drugs. Drug use is
often a terribly destructive aspect of both personal and family life.
Drug use, and more specifically, habitual drug use, is a serious
matter that is not to be trivialized.

That being said, I feel that many people have an extremely skewed
perspective of recreational drug use. As I define it, recreational
drug use involves the use of a drug or drugs in an appropriate
atmosphere in the free time of an individual. Recreational drug use is
not habitual. In other words, if you are truly a recreational drug
user, you don't feel a need to use. It is simply a want.

Even under the parameters of this definition, however, recreational
drug use often has a terrible reputation, even among heavy drinkers. I
don't know how many times I have been told by the wildly intoxicated
that they "don't do drugs." Mindsets like these are what spawn
misunderstandings about drug use.

But a quick look at some of the literature of the twentieth century
can provide some pretty marvelous revelations about recreational drug
use. For example, Kerouac's "On the Road" paints the portrait of an
intensely emotional young man on a journey of self-discovery. Some of
the best moments in the book include descriptions of charmingly manic
road companion Dean Moriarty.

Why was Moriarty so manic, so energetic, so eager to experience all
that he could? Perhaps it was just his nature, but I am willing to bet
that the Benzedrine he was constantly popping had something to do with
it.

Tom Wolfe's The "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" is another example of
unadulterated joy brought on at least partially by recreational drug
use. This chronicle of novelist Ken Kesey's adventures into the world
of LSD with his commune of so-called "Merry Pranksters" tells of the
depth of connection with others and perception-altering experiences
the group achieves during its acid trips.

Additionally, some important figures in the fields of science and
technology have attributed their new ways of thinking to the use of
LSD. Steve Jobs has stated publicly that he has experimented with LSD,
calling it "one of the two or three most important things he has done
in his life."

Again, drugs can be extremely destructive and I do not encourage
anyone to get involved with them. However, there are two sides to
every story, and it's time we begin looking at drug use with an
analytical approach, rather than one already rife with judgments.

Thomas Moore, Second-year English student