The reason for the difference is simple. 20-somethings think that it is cool to be stoned, and that they are immortal. The 30+ know that being stoned is a waste, and have attended too many funerals of friends who died of drugs in their 20s to have any misconceptions about the dangers.
Personally I lost three people I knew to drugs. One in particular was a very close friend and former room-mate. His funeral was beyond horrible. The parents (immigrants who came to Canada to give their child a better life) had to be hospitalized and couldn't even attend due to grief. His life had been full of possibilities. He had recently finished a degree in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo and was making lots of money in the early dot-com era. He had a passion for cars and recently bought some 80s V8 muscle car which he was souping up. Who knows what he could have accomplished if he had not overdosed?
Now the only reminder of him left in the world is his cat that is currently owned by his ex-girlfriend (who had to dump him early on in his drug use, you can imagine the amount of guilt she felt although it was not her fault, she tried but could get him to quit). The cat is very old now, probably will not make it through the winter. After that there will be nothing left of him. He would have been 38 this year.
Yesterday my baby daughter was sick with a cold. I took a vacation day and stayed home from work to take care of her. We spent the day playing and having fun (in between naps). It was a perfect day. Maybe it is just chemicals, the Dopamine, Oxytocin and other natural hormones that makes parents love their children, all I know is that the 'hit' from real life so outweighs the artificial hit from drugs, I think that anyone who bothers with them is a fool.
Good call friend
ReplyDeleteYour V8 musclecar friend sounds exactly like my buddy Louis... Glad my story inspired you, and yeah... Fuck cocaine !!!!
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's my status as "20-something", but that seems a fair bit oversimplified to me. On the one hand, (many) drugs are dangerous and have a high potential for misuse, and it's true I suppose that you could call it a waste in that, other than feelings, you don't really get anything out of taking them.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, a lot of things are dangerous and have high potential for misuse, also don't really give you anything but whatever feeling (accomplishment, adrenaline rush, etc.) you get from the activity, and yet we accept those much more readily. My riding dirt bikes for example has a pretty high potential to hurt me (and often does - one shoulder has been a bit loose for years now after I landed on it), and aside from momentary excitement and a fairly minimal amount of exercise as far as sports go, does nothing for my life but use up money. Occasional hunting is much the same, minus exercise (I only shoot pest animals, so no food).
I guess I don't specifically disagree in that people doing anything just to be cool probably aren't taking any involved risks seriously, and maybe people who talk about it a lot are more likely than others to be doing it for that reason, but at the same time I can't really judge them more than anyone else who does something dangerous for fun. If I were to die of an overdose (I don't personally take drugs because it just doesn't interest me, but as an example) I don't think that would really represent anything more stupid than if I died in a hang gliding accident (haven't tried that either).
To some people, the reward is worth the risk, to others it's not. Some might go about it stupidly, as with anything in life, but I know people in their 60's who still take drugs, and others who have died in perfectly socially acceptable yet dangerous activities they happened to enjoy (does anyone on a motorcycle not have a close call eventually?) so ultimately I think it comes down to the way you approach it and just plain luck more than anything being inherently wrong with taking a risk. Certainly to be quite so general in grouping people seems a bit overzealous, for whatever that's worth, even if I can see how it would be tempting after a bad personal experience with it.