I am not an expert on drugs, but let’s talk.
Some drugs alter the body, and some alter the mind, and some both. Certainly, some drugs give great benefits to people with disease or abnormalities. But in my observation, we have a problem.
Imagine a spectrum illustrating substances that alter your mind. To the left are very mild substances like sugar, coffee and energy drinks, and to the right are drugs like heroin and methamphetamines. In the middle might be things like beer, wine and marijuana.
Where do we put the line to what is “OK” or legal, and what is not? I drink coffee. I like coffee. Am I addicted? Perhaps, but this addiction is mild and could be broken rather easily with no side effects. I cannot overdose on coffee, and it does not impair my ability to think well or cause me to act strangely or put others in danger.
What should be the criteria for where we put the line on our spectrum?
Tell us with the orange comment button.
All things in moderation when it comes to any form of drug use. That includes all types of food consumption. Sugar addiction is over the top and not recognized.
I don’t think having a drink (alcohol) and smoking pot are in the same category. People smoke pot for one specific reason to get high . I have a beer because I’m thirsty. If I’m foolish enough to have 6 beers then I’m trying to get high etc.
It is my belief that this should largely be up to the individual for the lower risk part of the spectrum. Each of us can decide and choose our own goals and desired lifestyle. Then based on that we can make a wise choice about what to do and not do in order to achieve those goals. As for the ones you define as high risk, I think they need to be regulated – particularly the opiates. At some point the individual right to choose has to be balanced with the potential societal cost of the substances. I don’t know exactly where that is, but for me my personal goals are focused enough that I pretty much stick to coffee and the occasional beer or glass of wine.
Timely post Larry. I have a nagging interest in someone performing a study to determine if there is any correlation between the prescribed mind altering drugs used to treat mental disorders and the extreme behaviors of people we hear of too often in the news. In many cases it is reported that the terrible actions were committed by someone under treatment for a diagnosis such as bi-polar where those drugs are prescribed. I support self regulation of your low and medium risks mentioned and much tighter enforcement of higher risk areas as well as independent analysis of opiates and other drugs not only once but on an ongoing basis to determine long term need and effects on individuals and society as a whole.
I’m not an expert either, but what I find interesting is the usage of drugs around the world. The mind-altering drugs have been used for ancient rituals and healing (to this day) have a certain purpose because they open different parts of the brain. Obviously when taking these drugs you’re not going to drive a car, run errands, or even sit and have a normal conversation with someone else. The people that I have known to go to South America to go on their “journey” used the substances in a controlled environment, not to party or get high. In my opinion, that’s A-okay. Chemical drugs that are meant to get you “high” are absolutely disgusting and have taken too many lives. I think when you abuse anything in life-coffee, alcohol, food, etc. the effects are going to be nasty. Check out this TED Talk. I saw it last year and found it very interesting: http://www.thefader.com/2015/04/21/this-banned-ted-talk-on-ayahuasca-is-mind-altering
Larry, I realized the difficulty discussing this topic as soon as I attempted to gather my thoughts on the subject. I was struggling to condense my thoughts and then was drawn back to your sentence “Imagine a spectrum of illustrating substances that alter your mind”, that was when it hit me! What responsible, healthy adult wants to live life with their mind altered? Excluding medical diagnosis, I’ve seen in my life the bulk of substance abuse, above your lower tier, are a way of escape for most. A responsible, healthy adult can self regulate the middle tier, but most choose not to because they don’t want their mind to be altered if that substance is abused. Everyone knows where their line is, question is, how many are responsible about it?
In my opinion, the line depends on the person and the situation. Some people tend to have an addictive personality, and others do not. Most things in moderation tend to have no long term impact. Some people can’t control themselves and are of the mindset that if a little is good, more must be better. I think this is too individual of a subject and can’t be answered or solved in broad terms or absolutes.
I think if using substance starts to interfere with your work, personal relationships and having a “life” then your over the line. Many addicts spend endless amounts of time trying to get drugs, looking forward to using drugs and then being drugged it destroys a lot of relationships!
When I was younger I smoked marijuana socially on the weekends with friends. Let me tell you there was no way my employer was getting what he paid for on Mondays.
I also worked in the Safety Department of a company and no surprise most accidents happened on Mondays followed by Fridays(because many start their weekends early!
All drugs should be legal. Therefore, monitored and controlled. Being much safer for all sides. The drug companies won’t allow it, though. Their form of heroin and amphetamines generates too much money.
Amber…thanks for the link ! Interesting….. I for one, think about having a drink and how my next day will be affected if I can’t stay in focus or my mood would change. I grew up with my dad and his side of the family being alcoholics. Although he was a good hard working man, he caused a lot of stress on our family and himself. Experiencing that first hand, I knew that wasn’t for me.
I just read a scientific report about the affects of Alcohol on society. Alcohol does the most damage in our society bar none.
We need to get away from outlawing or prohibiting substances that people clearly demand and will use no matter what. Then figure out a way to educate and regulate. Do people need safe spaces or materials to use them? Take drugs/alcohol out of the dark and be honest of the dangers. We need to do the best we can to limit the damage to families and society, but some individuals will be more inclined to destroy themselves and if we can bring it out of the dark, we can do more to help them.
Like mom said “Honesty is the best policy”
All of the previous comments made absolute sense. The legality of some of the drug issues is primary. Moderation is also a key. Every individual is responsible for their behavior, unfortunately abuse is rampant and affects all society.
The line that our company is mind and physical impairment drugs are not permitted. Our staff is aware that we will test after any incident. A tool was broken, somebody else’s vehicle ran into one of our vehicles, somebody got hurt on your crew ( the whole crew gets tested), A tree branch scratches the paint on one of the company vehicles because of a tight driveway. These are all incidences that need to be reported and will require drug testing.
That line is based on individual complexity.
Do you have an addictive personality? If so, then your line might be closer to coffee.
I have an addictive nature. Fought multiple addictions for years. Thought I cured it by starting this business 29 years ago. I only substituted the endless journey of business success for substances. You can still hurt yourself and your loved ones being addicted to business performance.
We should lead by example, does anyone have kids? What kind of society do/would you want your kids to grow up in?
Powerful & potentially dangerous drugs are typically prescribed (Rx) for good reason. But many others are self-administered for better or worse: Caffeine/stimulant, Camomile tea/calms, ginger/antinausea, alcohol/relax-entertain, nicotine/?, aspirin etc./pain.
I’m all for personal responsibility and not impinging upon the rights of others. Alcohol has great potential for misuse, abuse and addiction, yet outlawing it was a flop. Laws don’t stop bad behavior unfortunately, but having good standards in place, providing education, and setting good examples can. And even though I was recently hit by a drunk driver abusing alcohol, I’m not in favor of banning it. Better is to both educate & have sanctions and remediation in place for abusers and addicts. Humans are imperfect creatures after all. Put common sense guidelines in place for good behavioral standards concerning drugs that are dangerous, have laws that set limits where bad behavior hurts others, hurts the user or innocents around them, then enforce those rules with compassion.
We don’t live in a perfect world just yet but we can work this out intelligently, allowing people to make good decisions everyday about using “substances.”
-Ray