Amphetamine Child
by itchingmyknee
Why is it always the people who know least about drug culture that end up leading the debate. So-called liberal 35-pluses who write for the Times and refer to the rampant use of pharmaceuticals as an "epidemic", as though it is a disease that can be cured, or a new threat to society.
It is neither. Drugs have been a cornerstone of civilisation for decades*. As i see it, you had the rise of weed in the 60's, moving on to psychedelics in the 70's. The 80's saw the rise of cocaine. Whereas the 90's brought about the birth of the amphetamine child. You had speed, you had pills. The naughties saw nothing new in its own right, just endless combinations of the above, cut with enough glucose and powdered glass to make your eyes water and your nose bleed.
Drugs are a great leveller. If you're out on a saturday night, the buzz of a thousand whizzing brains and dilated pupils surround you like a cocoon. A cocaine cocoon. It's the trifid that has us all in it's grasp. I don't even like the white stuff. It revolts me. But i feel it as tangibly as though i'd streaked a line up my nose. A comradeship of arseholes who think their conversation brighter and lighter than everyone else's. One is only witty among the witless.
At a primary school reunion recently, seven disjointed individuals were brought together after 15 years apart and discovered they had little in common except a love of speed and nitrous oxide. We stayed out till 7am, and knew just a little of oneanother as before.
There's no cure for this one, middle-aged liberal. Only age itself can tackle the ravages of excess. Have you forgotten how you once indulged?
* For my purposes. If you want an indication of the true impact of drugs on the human race, think of the Sybils of ancient Greece, inhaling noxious gases from a hole in the earth and predicting the future.
Why is it always the people who know least about drug culture that end up leading the debate. So-called liberal 35-pluses who write for the Times and refer to the rampant use of pharmaceuticals as an "epidemic", as though it is a disease that can be cured, or a new threat to society.
It is neither. Drugs have been a cornerstone of civilisation for decades*. As i see it, you had the rise of weed in the 60's, moving on to psychedelics in the 70's. The 80's saw the rise of cocaine. Whereas the 90's brought about the birth of the amphetamine child. You had speed, you had pills. The naughties saw nothing new in its own right, just endless combinations of the above, cut with enough glucose and powdered glass to make your eyes water and your nose bleed.
Drugs are a great leveller. If you're out on a saturday night, the buzz of a thousand whizzing brains and dilated pupils surround you like a cocoon. A cocaine cocoon. It's the trifid that has us all in it's grasp. I don't even like the white stuff. It revolts me. But i feel it as tangibly as though i'd streaked a line up my nose. A comradeship of arseholes who think their conversation brighter and lighter than everyone else's. One is only witty among the witless.
At a primary school reunion recently, seven disjointed individuals were brought together after 15 years apart and discovered they had little in common except a love of speed and nitrous oxide. We stayed out till 7am, and knew just a little of oneanother as before.
There's no cure for this one, middle-aged liberal. Only age itself can tackle the ravages of excess. Have you forgotten how you once indulged?
* For my purposes. If you want an indication of the true impact of drugs on the human race, think of the Sybils of ancient Greece, inhaling noxious gases from a hole in the earth and predicting the future.
posted by bitingmylip at 2:00 AM
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