Who remembers the line from The Wire when one cop disses the whole idea of a war on drugs? The reason he dismissed the idea was that wars have a beginning, a middle and an end.
He argued you could never have an end to the so-called war on drugs. Drug use was endemic in Baltimore so let's find ways of 'managing' it.
While The Wire looked at hardcore drug use, we may need to have a similar opinion on the way we look at social drug use here in Ireland.
Whether we like it or not, people take drugs. Young people experiment. Who am I kidding? Given half a chance, we all had that ‘what if...’ thought. In my case, that tiny insane voice sometimes says the word Absinthe. Would one glass be THAT bad? So far the voice has never been listened to and I don’t think it ever will be.
It’s the same story with LSD. Yes, it may be my love of Prog Rock and all things flowery that made the student me think ‘one tab...’ What did I do? I asked a friend. We smoked a bit so I trusted his advice. He immediately said no, don’t do it. I trusted him and the trip was never taken. Literally.
Drugs were around me as a student. I was a teen when Nancy Reagan Just Said No! They were innocent times. Part of growing up is doing really dumb-assed things. Dabbling in drugs is on that list.
The ‘Just Say No’ reaction, while both laudable and the best option, is often unrealistic. Kids are kids. Education and information are the next best things. If you are thinking of dabbling, please get informed. Don’t do it alone. Talk to somebody you trust. Know the risks.
