Casey Jones by Phil Lesh and Friends
[audio:http://www.archive.org/download/plf2007-10-14.adkA51TL.flac/plf2007-10-14d02t02_64kb.mp3]
I think I finally realized why I don’t do drugs. Its taken me a while, and over time I had come up with a few explainations which tried to put my thoughts into words. I started off quite simply by seeing someone who was drunk, stoned, or in any sort of altered state, and deciding that I didn’t want to be like that. But I didn’t have a why.
For a while I said it was because I didn’t want to alter my perspective, and that’s closer to the why. Earlier tonight, someone asked if it was just about clear-headedness, and it is, but that still isn’t the answer.
When walking home tonight I realized what it all boiled down to: independence. Now, that word has a lot of interesting political connotations to it, that I don’t want anything to do with. Let me make it very clear: the definition of independence I’m using is ‘Free from the influence, guidance, or control of another or others; self-reliant.’
Mind altering substances reduce your freedom. If you don’t find yourself having as much fun, or being as creative, or as relaxed as you are in an altered state, then you’ve certainly lost some of your freedom. If you want to reach that level again, you’ll need to go back to whatever helped you get there in the first place, and you become dependent. It becomes a crutch, which you would prefer not to be without.
I find it interesting that people claim drugs help them free their mind, when in reality the opposite is true. This concept also gives a new meaning to the phrase ‘drug free.’
The theme of independence permeiates throughout all parts of my life. I don’t want to be tied down to anything that won’t come with me. The bus is an example of that.
I really do wish more people had this view, but I won’t hold my breath.