There’s a lot changing in our society with drugs these days, but I’m not sure it’s all for the right reasons.
Here’s my current position on drugs, and I welcome you to challenge it.
What are drugs?
First, let’s think about what drugs are before we dive into how to handle them.
I’m working with the concept that everything I could put into my body is a drug. I love the idea of food as a drug so I’m having trouble finding a situation where that broad definition breaks down.
Oxygen is a drug. Honey is a drug. Caffeine is a drug. Marijuana is a drug.
Personal Freedom and Drugs
A key tenant of Personal Freedom is to offer freedom to other people. Frankly, I don’t want responsibility for what you put into your body and in exchange for that I don’t want you to decide what I put in my body.
I think that’s totally fair, but it presents an ideology that is very counter to our culture.
Essentially, I want to give you permission to put whatever you want in your body and I am willing to offer you full responsibility for your body. That means I cannot tell you whether you can eat honey and garlic for a cold, or smoke marijuana for glaucoma or use meth to lose all your teeth. Totally your call. In exchange for that I appreciate you allowing me to have responsibility for my body.
That’s Against the Law!
I can’t justify these drug consumption and possession laws no matter how I shake them. If I’m going to back a law that says you can’t smoke dope, then I may also have to back a law that says you can’t eat honey, or tomatoes. All of these are naturally occurring on earth.
HOWEVER, should you decide to conduct violence onto another person or damage their property, regardless of what you’ve put into your body, then I fully support apprehending you and holding you accountable for those actions.
A Black and White Line
The issue with the laws as they are now is that there is all sorts of room for interpretation within the grey zone. For example, why should possessing 1/10 of an ounce of marijuana make someone less of a criminal over another who possesses 1 ounce? Grey zones open up opportunities for unfair interpretation between parties and therefore should be removed from our system at every opportunity.
If we make the line black and white it either needs to be that drugs are not legal, or drugs are legal, and since I think that food is included as a drug, I can only be on the side of drugs being legal.
Victimless Crimes
I would be remiss if I did not mention the concept of victimless crimes. You smoking a joint causes nobody any harm. There is no victim, therefore there is no crime. If you pull a line of cocaine there is no victim. If you shoot heroin into your arm there is no victim.
Laws should be written for the protection of people from each other, not for the protection of people from themselves. I think that we enter very dangerous territory when we grant authority to anyone (let alone our government) to protect us from ourselves.
Again, this warrants re-statement, should anybody inflict violence toward another person or cause damage to another person’s property I believe strongly that that is a crime and should be handled with the least force necessary to neutralize the threat.
Employers and Drugs
I grant you full permission to do with your body as you wish.
However, should you decide to enter a contract with another person or entity who is willing to exchange compensation for work, I believe the members of the contract can set whatever terms they desire. If you don’t like the terms, you either negotiate or don’t enter the contract.
As I hope I’ve made clear, I believe strongly in personal freedom, but I will share that I have voluntarily entered a contract where my employer may collect my bodily fluids at any time they wish to test for drugs. I think that is reaching deep into my personal space but it’s something I’m willing to sacrifice as part of my job for a bi-weekly paycheck.
This Doesn’t Mean I Support Using Drugs !!
Simple minded people will use the 750 words above to accuse me of promoting recreational drug use by teens. Please don’t be that person. It isn’t further from the truth.
Here’s the thing: laws aren’t stopping kids from using drugs! Please stop being naïve.
There are far superior ways of having fun than by using drugs. The issue is not with the laws, it’s with education and society.
Be honest with me, have you ever glamorized the use of alcohol? I have. The novelty and the over-glamorization have more to do with young people using recreational drugs than anything else.
Removing the laws removes the novelty.
Revamping society eliminates the glamorization.
Stop turning innocent people into criminals and change society by changing yourself. Start talking about drugs. Stop making it so taboo. Set the example by sharing the reasons why you choose to not use recreational drugs.
A Small Commitment
I’ve made the commitment to my family that I won’t consume any alcohol when I know I’ll be driving my kids. Black and white. Not one beer. No beer. I’ll have one when I get us all home. I will happily share my reasoning for making that decision with my kids whenever they express curiosity.
I will also share with them why I choose not to use most recreational drugs, both because my livelihood depends on it, but also because I have found so much joy in other aspects of life. Drugs can’t compete with taking a run with the dog, or sawing some wood in the woodshop, or harvesting food out of the garden or taking my kids to the park to go swinging and biking, or reading a book. There’s just too much else in life that interests me that rank above using drugs to get that sense of joy and happiness.
Do you have a commitment to your family, or yourself? I’d like to know, leave a comment if you don’t mind sharing publicly, or hit me up at the contact tab above.
Live free or die,
-NHMan
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