JnEverett

Drugs don't seem to be the enemy
11-16-06 l Collegiate Times l Tim Tracy

Nat Sherman Lights. They're New York cut, luxurious and delicious. The fresh scent of additive-free tobacco echoes through the foamy filter and into its buyers' soon-to-be milky lungs. It's friggin' beautiful. You light, the tobacco sparks, the paper crinkles and glows as nicotine rushes through you. Frankie says relax, and you do.

Smoking may not be for everyone, but then again what is?

It's dangerous, repugnant and the precursor to a myriad of terminal diseases. But the question remains, is it safer than other drugs?

No.

The traditional argument between wrong, right and stupid continues feverishly in our nation's capital over the legalization of marijuana as a recreational substance. We're talking about a drug that's been in use by dozens of cultures for thousands of years for medicinal, ceremonial and religious reasons. It has yet to kill a single individual and poses a quarter of the health risks associated with alcohol and tobacco. Am I missing something?

The debate doesn't end with cannabis. Mushrooms, LSD and other herbs have also been used to enhance the human spirit and open minds to new ideas and cognition. Granted, I do not expect these substances to be legalized, I still consider them as an invaluable artistic tool. How else would we have traveled with Alice down the rabbit hole?

People underestimate the power of moderation. How often during the weekend do you see ambulances rushing into campus to take away some poor bastard who drank him or herself into oblivion?

Knowing how, and when, to stop, in any aspect of life, results in healthy living. It is easy to bash substances for what they do to people, for how they alter human consciousness. Substance abuse, however, poses a problem for anyone and transcends legality.

Stigmatizing people for dabbling in drugs also seems blindly hypocritical, even fallacious. At any given party, the two immutable concerns for virtually everyone are "How much can I drink?" and "Will the alcohol keep flowing?"

Freshmen, sophomores and even underage juniors can be seen stumbling outside DX or down Main Street in a haze. Authorities overlook this form of substance abuse, internalized by the population as socially acceptable. Keeping other drugs illegal simply for their social stigmas is not only ridiculous, but completely illogical.

Then again, logic has never played much of a role in politics or the media. Such is the case with drugs. In a material world where the average teenager sensationalizes brand awareness, cultural trends and Paris Hilton, the moral agenda of our youth is ambiguous and politically apathetic.

The freedom to vote and push for change, activities pursued by earlier generations, have been trivialized. Drugs are a non-issue in that they will be pursued regardless of the restrictions imposed on them.

Ever seen the commercial where the one boy kills the other inadvertently with a gun because he is high? What the creators don't show you is the behind-the-scenes footage where Jess and James eat Doritos and play Super Smash Brothers before vegging out to Chapelle.

I'd like to think the parents are to blame for giving the young man such easy access to a firearm. Fear can be a wonderful motivator, even if it delineates complete and utter ignorance. What's next? A chimp choking on bark because it decided it was too heady for bananas? High people don't shoot other high people because they're high. That's what cocaine is for — and those shootings aren't by accident.

Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" details the journey of a journalist and a lawyer on a hallucinatory trip into Vegas. As the trip continues and the pair descend further and further into a mescaline-like fantasy, the presence of narcotics takes second to a cultural statement made by Thompson.

Drugs are not the enemy. They aren't worth the fight, the time or the hype. Drugs are what they are for better or for worse. Some people trip on God, others on drugs and others over their own two feet. Whatever your poison, never go quietly into the night. That is the American Dream.