Yesterday I was writing about the topic of weed addiction. I know a lot of people would say weed isn’t even addictive, and I actually used to think the exact same thing when I started getting high on it, so I honestly don’t blame anyone who believes it. I used to listen to songs like Bone-Thugz’ ‘Weed Song,’ with lyrics like ‘if everybody smoked a blunt, relieved the mind, the world could be a better place’, or watch videos like the famous Bob Marley interview where he labels weed as ‘the healing of the nation’ and alcohol as ‘the destruction of the nation’ and I would think of these ideas as some great, profound wisdom, something really inspirational and esoteric that the masses weren’t ready to accept yet, but which was real nonetheless. I would observe some of my own first-hand experiences, and I noticed that weed made me more mellow, I would argue with my parents about all kinds of things, and when I would finally have some time to myself I would go sit outside on a street corner or at a park bench, roll up a joint and spark it, and as soon as it started hitting I would be playing back scenes of the fight I had with my parents earlier in the day, and I would start realizing how ridiculous it all was, and how there was no need for me to get so heated up about any of it, or to even react in the way that I did. These thoughts ended up making me put weed in a completely separate category from other drugs, seeing it as some sort of sacrament instead. Now, I’m not here to say anything negative about weed itself now, and I’m not saying I disagree with some of these sentiments I had in the past. I definitely do understand what people mean when they say that weed isn’t addictive, because the fact is that it’s not physically addictive like some other common substances like alcohol or tobacco, so our body doesn’t really go into severe withdrawal when we decide to quit. Addiction of any kind is a very tricky thing though, and it seems to me like we can become addicted to pretty much anything in this life, so just because something isn’t technically quite as addictive as something else, or just because something is considered to be a different kind of addictive from something else, doesn’t mean there’s any reason to disregard anyone’s addiction. Some people are addicted to food, some are addicted to TV, others are addicted to sex, and many, many people are addicted to drugs of all kinds. Does this mean that all drugs are best to be avoided? I know there’s a lot of people who would agree with that sentiment, both of my parents included. Personally, I think life offers one a wide range of possibilities, so many possible experiences, and although I think the safest and surest way to ensure one isn’t harmed by drugs is to stay away from them altogether, my own experiences with drugs don’t let me say that, because although I understand the dark aspect of drugs, I also see great potential and value in them, or at least in some of them. There are really very few things in this life which are black and white, and just like most things in this world, drugs are very complicated things, and the topic of drugs is not a black-and-white issue; there’s huge grey areas in our understanding of drugs, their differences and similarities, and their positive or negative influences on our individual lives and on society as a whole.
I appreciate you reading this post. If you have a few minutes check out my sample-based instrumental trip-hop/techno track ‘garden of peace.’
rebel eye 