Avocado Anonymous

"Virtues of a drug free life"

I don't use drugs. Legal or illegal, I make no distinction, I just don't use drugs. Full stop. Quite often this is actually the end of the story, because people are often into what you do, but not why you do it. Especially when your "what" is different to what they do themselves or see as appropriate. Who cares about your reasons! Well, I do. So let me explain my take on the virtues of a drug free life.

First things first, why do people use drugs? Two main reasons I guess. Escapism in this form or another would be one of them. This is what it boils down to I'm afraid. People want to forget about their troubles, kick back and relax, not have to think about their everyday struggles or escape the pressures of work or family life. And they also want to "have a good time", do the whole social thing. Strip it to the bone and it's just that - escapism. Instead of dealing with your issues, you try to numb the pain. Instead of being your true self, you try to be someone else - perhaps someone more outgoing, and less shy. Without wanting to sound too judgemental, I must say this is quite typical and equally short-sighted. You can run, but you cannot hide. Sooner or later, you'll have to deal with whatever you're trying to escape. Either more external problems of some sort, or the internal issues we all have. And what you're doing now is just delaying it. The second major factor when it comes to drug use, especially when we consider the young people, is the "rebellious nature" of these substances. They have a cultural aura of disobedience - and therefore offer a promise of freedom. This is actually quite ironic, because with the false promise of freedom comes the actual price in the form of imprisonment. Ask an alcoholic or a heroin addict if they feel free to see what I'm talking about. The rebellious nature of drug use is a factor vastly exploited by the providers of both legal and illegal addictive substances. There's money to be made, and if you want to believe it's a rebellious act to smoke or drink this or that, than you might just as well do. But in reality, there's nothing defiant about using drugs, on the contrary - in the society that widely accepts drug use it's in fact an act of conformity. The only difference is that some of us believe the marketing spin and some of us don't.

Coming through from an alienating perspective is my last intention, but I know that my opinions may seem judgmental. And there's a fair basis for that, because "in my judgment" the two common reasons for doing drugs, as outlined above, are pure nonsense. They just make me wonder: are people stupid, or what? Sooner or later, shit's gonna hit the fan, and we're all going to have to deal with some problematic or hard issues in our lives. Why "delay" the moment? And why, even more importantly, waste the time on delaying, if you could use it to prepare yourself for whatever is coming your way. You cannot numb it down forever, sooner or later it's all going to backfire. What's more, escapism creates additional problems, it distracts us from the real issues in our lives, and potentially gets us into a whole lot of other trouble in the process. Why would you do that, I don't know. And as for the rebellious aspect of drinking, smoking or doing illegal drugs - I feel like a revolutionary every single day, living my life without these "rebellious" necessities. And trust me, by the looks I get from people when tell them "no, I really don't drink" - I am more of a rebel than Billy Idol with his "Rebel Yell" ever was.

One thing I have a serious problem with is the discrepancy between what drugs offer and what they deliver. Great times, lots of fun, party spirits, generally speaking "love and happiness" on one side. And regret, despair, alienation and hopelessness on the other. Is it just me or is there something wrong with this picture? It was supposed to be all fun, "welcome to the latin quarter" or "the spirit of adventure", but somehow all I see is "I got kicked in the head and I don't even know who did it" or "oh my god, who's this naked dude next to me and can someone please tell me the story of the last 12 hours because it's all kinda hazy?" - It sometimes seems to me like people will actually use the stories of how they got messed up and what stupid things they did as a badge of honour. It was a great party, sorry I puked on your carpet... And to add insult to injury, these pathetic stories are usually either fabricated or exaggerated, because no one remembers whatever was going on anyway. That's another thing I cannot relate to. When I'm having great times or when I'm celebrating I want to remember every second of it. I don't want it to all to be a blur. Similar with the rough stuff, I want to remember it all. I want to know why it hurt, like because it was real, or because it was significant.

Ok, here's the important part. I don't know what's good for you, or anyone else, I only speak from my own experience and I know what is right for me. The bottom line is that I simply can't think of a single situation in life where drinking or drugs would solve problems or improve things, and I can see plenty of occasions where they fucked things up.

Western society sees any form of restrictive behaviour as freedom curbing. In my experience it's quite the opposite. If today's world is telling us that doing anything and everything is equivalent of freedom, I say being free is about being able to chose. My choice is to not take part in this and it's the liberating experience of everyday drug free living that keeps me on this path. Clarity of mind and a healthy body. Self respect, awareness, responsibility, integrity. Just couple of things most people couldn't care less about.

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