Before I talk about anything else, I want to talk about the nature of drugs and this misrepresentations I found in this rant and in many arguments presented:
“They can make the real world more appealing and let you see the beauty of the little things that are overlooked or are taken for granted most of the time. That is not being in a fantasy world, THAT is being in the real world and appreciating it.”
“If you spend hours basking in the glow of complete contentment despite your current situation is it a fake feeling of happiness just because a drug helps create it? How can they be a waste of time if they make you happy?”
These are two of the statements that really stood out to me. First, let’s look at “making the real world more appealing” and “fantasy world” and the like. Drugs do not help you see the real world. They do not put you in the “real world.” They are an escape, pure and simple. I would, perhaps, concede to the argument that some drug use would quiet down the disruptive noise in someone’s addled brain long enough to allow them to see and hear things for once–it’s a shame that they see through a skewed filter and could not learn to see and hear in the first place.
And that is what this is really about–do we, as a society, teach our children and our people to need to rely on other things to “see the world,” other things that will not let you really see what is going on. Drugs skew your perceptions and your reason. These are the tools you have to interpret and define reality. When they are skewed, you are living in a fantasy world. What is more beautiful? Sitting in a dark closet “opening up to the universe” or the feeling after a long warm shower/bath? What is better, laughing like an idiot at every little thing (but, this allows the humor in the world to be brought out… perhaps you should have been able to look at it with humor at first) or the smell of your partner as you snuggle with them? What is better, blurry tunnel vision and your stumble looking for a toilet or the wonderful feeling after you defecate? There are some very wonderful things in the world that people take for granted. There are some wonderful things people miss. Drugs do not help you see them–drugs help you find empty things to replace them.
And that brings us to happiness.
DRUGS DO NOT MAKE YOU HAPPY.
No deal, here. Happiness is not a state of perception or a state of mind. It’s a state of being. There are highs and lows, up and downs, and everything in betweem–but if you are happy, you are always happy, no matter what is going on. Drugs do not allow you to love yourself or to love others. Drugs do not allow you to have pride in your work or actually accomplish something. Drugs do not give you beliefs and values and stand up for them. Only YOU do that, and only YOU can make yourself happy. Drugs are an externalization for happiness. Just as people externalize through religion, god, etc… other people choose to externalize through drugs and debauchery. None of it will make you happy. And none of it will really matter if you are happy.
I do not really have the time to get into anything I want to, but let me end on this. For those who say I am being to harsh, that people cannot just “be” happy, that drugs can help people:
You can sit and wallow in the problem and your own misery. Me, I am going to be out looking for a solution and being happy. People may not be able to up and resolve these issues, but it is damn well worth trying.