The day-to-day reality for most people throughout the US has been pretty intense as of late. No one really seems to be sure what’s going on with the Federal government, or in the news, or even within our own neighborhoods.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot and didn’t know how to cohesively put together my thoughts on it for a while. I’m not an activist, my day-to-day is pretty normal, with a more than a few strokes of good luck in how my current life has turned out, along with some lucky breaks and massively undeserved blessings along the way.
So this started off as my own reflection on the sociopolitical state of the people and this country, and how we got there. But after I started putting thoughts into words, I realized that there is still a piece I wanted to share about substance abuse and mental health before getting into some history. Because at the end of the day, there is no such thing as a ‘personal’ problem. Our individual stresses, concerns, hopes/fears for the future, and past experiences profoundly and directly affects everyone in our personal lives, at this current moment. So I’m going to share some thoughts regarding drug use and addiction here, and will save my recent readings on history for a separate musing.
Are other countries out to manipulate and break down Western civilization, or are did the American public and it’s elected officials bring this upon ourselves? Or is it both?
Let me clarify what I’m referring to by ‘this’- this refers to ‘the perfect storm’ that is causing distance in our human relationships with our neighbors, community members, friends, family and the politicians charged with representing the public interest. Drug abuse, homelessness, political corruption, racial inequality, gender inequality, materialism, lack of contentment/gratitude/authenticity, and sheer apathy generated from mainstream media and social media.
I’ve been trying to decide where to place my energy- but I intended on this being a piece focused on my own reexamination of the history I was taught in school, but past events are so strongly connected to current events that I will be splitting this up into two parts- first some thoughts on where we stand with addiction, and then a bit on politics…
The War on Drugs is at a place where new synthesized compounds can be created at an exponential factor and imported, consumed, and enhanced long before public policy notices or catches up. I certainly don’t romanticize current events with dystopian literature, but prior to recent years, these things only existed in fiction. Elephant tranquilizers (carfentanil) and fentanyl have become the new face of the opioid epidemic, killing users with dosages no bigger than a grain of salt. Drug users and addicts continue to be stigmatized, while local organizations, non-profits and community-driven efforts, (often founded by from those who have lost loved ones) are the main sources of small change and hope.
The image of an addict is commonly associated with low-income, poor health, and then an array of character traits that are presupposed by the outside observers- laziness, lack of motivation, dishonesty, and anything that makes it easier for the observer to justify the human condition they are watching from their own safe space- this space is usually a sharp contrast to the reality of an addict on the street, consisting of employment, housing, healthcare, and perhaps most importantly- they believe that they are loved, and love others.
There is a solid post on Medium that cites a variety of neuroscientist’s theories and anecdotal experiences, hypothesis of this famed neuroscientist is- people need authentic, loving human connection. They need it. Connection can bring humans out of addiction, where will power alone may temporarily stop the physical drug use, but does not address the doubt/uncertainty/darkness left within someone’s mind. Do you feel loved and cared for, by at least 1 person, near or far throughout the week?
Do you know that at least 1 of your parents loves you, or you have at least 1 friend who truly has your best interests at heart? While I would hope that anyone reading this would have an abundance of those figures in their life, it is not the case for many. As hard or as painful as it might be, try to meditate on that for a minute…
And I’ll go as far as to ask- if you have not felt this way, how does it feel to try and envision a reality like that? Quite bleak, no? It’s impossible to imagine what someone would be willing to do in order to perhaps experience these feelings for the first time.
Everyone I know in ‘our generation’ (current teens, people in their 20s and early 30s) knows someone who is or was addicted to drugs, in most cases far more than just one individual. It’s certainly a strange epiphany to make it into your mid 20s and realize your gene pool flipped a coin and you just weren’t born with strong presupposed addictive tendencies, or weren’t born with existing imbalances in the wildly complex hormones that make up the feelings of joy and happiness that we experience.
And although this is a sad reality to grow up in sometimes, my hope is this- we all have current and recovering addicts in our life who we love. We know their humanity, and their ups and downs mirror our own, just to a greater extreme sometimes. So as our generation slowly becomes those who make public policy, hopefully we will not forget our friends, neighbors, and family who may have suffered, but are no less worthy of a vibrant and fulfilling life.
Addiction is complex, and I didn’t know any of this growing up. “Woohoo for D.A.R.E!’ Wow. In hindsight, I really don’t know what to even think of the existence of such a failed program. It’s almost nauseatiing for me to think that the default is to recycle inaccurate, unproven, and exaggerated claims about drugs, when there is more than enough scientific studies that we could have started off with the facts to make our own choices. I learned how different drugs affect the brain in an API psychology class- not D.A.R.E, or anywhere else. I was also the first generation to grow up with the internet, and I’m sure that played a factor in it. The local police officers leading D.A.R.E maybe didn’t expect or know what as 8th graders or early high-schoolers, we could go home, open up google, and prove or disprove everything that they just told us. This is my anecdotal experience going to a public school that was ranked top 100 in the country.
Policy makers would rather save face, recycling politically correct yet factually false information (‘all illegal drugs give you cancer, they all destroy your brain, you can’t use drugs and function in society.’) Sooner or later, all of these statements are proven false, or at the very least, that issueing them as binary statements is incredibly dangerous. What happens when the first kid dabbles in drugs, and he’s ok! And then a second kid maybe tries a different drug, and then wow-he got accepted into a great college! And then new friends are made after high school, and perhaps you’ve made a new friend whose been secretly using drugs without your knowledge for months or years.
My point here is not to glorify drug use in any regard- because as much as I grew up with these experiences around me, the terrible, multi-faceted affects that have on individuals, friends, and family is undeniable. I’m 7 years out of high school and have lost a countless number of my peers in the that time frame. The point should be that drugs, drug use, and addiction is far to complex to be reduced to a simple framework of abstinence and ignorance that my generation was provided.
So while the opioid epidemic ravages the country, there are promising funded studies that would’ve been unheard of 10 years ago. Ketamine has improved symptoms in clinically depressed patients much faster than any currently used pharmacological substance for 6 months. Psilocybin and LSD are being researched for a wide array of applications, including overcoming and addressing past traumatic experiences, increasing connectivity and empathy (the mid to post-psychedelic experience of ‘ego death’ is incredibly well documented), and improving the day-to-day of PTSD patients. There’s so much evidence for the applications of cannabis for various mental and physical issues that I won’t even begin to touch on here..
You can trace the early origin of ignorant prohibition and initiatives like D.A.R.E to a few policy makers… Everything I’ve learned has been from others around me as we’ve sorted out how to best support and love our own friends and neighbors. Addiction and drug use are influenced by social factors, income, mental health, family history, but. it is most certainly not caused by intrinsic personality flaws.
What allows this to still up for debate among policymakers?
Money. Pharma companies have a very difficult if not impossible time patenting naturally occurring compounds. Still want proof? Purdue, the manufacture of OxyContin, still had a sales team for their opioids, responsible for endorsing and recommending the drugs to doctors, until just a weeks ago.
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I’d be happy to chat with anyone if this made you feel something, give me a call/shoot me a message and I’d love to talk.
Thoughts and Musings 