Recreational drugs: a question of morality?
Is it intrinsically wrong to take drugs for fun?
The Nurse - locked away in her damp, moss walled sub-basement cell - is engaged in an ongoing fight for logic, common sense and clear thinking.
She fervently hopes that her efforts might, in some small way, stem the relentless tide of idiocy and hysteria that permeates Western society. After all, one day she might be released… and the thought of being freed into the appalling nutter-fest that UK citizens call their ’culture’ makes her feel pretty sick.
Take recreational drugs, for instance. The Nurse would like to pose this question:
Is there anything morally wrong with taking a drug to have a nice time, feel extra happy or get a lot of tedious stuff done quickly and cheerfully?
Provided the drug is harmless, like Ecstasy, is it somehow dodgy, dangerous or ill-advised to neck it?
If so, why?
The Nurse asks the powers that be - admittedly without the smallest whiff of optimism - to ask themselves this question, completely without prejudice.
If - as The Nurse believes - recreational drug taking per se is not a moral issue, then why can’t a bored, exhausted, stressed population go forth and drop an E whenever they fancy a bit of a head party, without being criminalised?
Yesterday, Radio 4 news reported that the ‘war’ on drugs is being lost hand over fist. No matter how many busts the authorities make and how many resources they throw at it, neither demand nor supply is slowing. As anyone with a basic grasp of economics knows, demand’s the bunny: Lots of people want to take drugs for fun. So why not let them take the safe ones legally?
Tim wrote,
E is not necessarily harmless. It has been known to kill first time users once in a while. I have known habitual users who became suicidal. Since it is completely unregulated and made by who knows using who knows what, you could be ingesting more than just E. Please don’t encourage anyone to think it is completely safe and without side effects.
Link | August 11th, 2008 at 5:33 am
Justin wrote,
Ecstasy is certainly not harmless. Albeit it is less dangerous than the media makes it out to be, it is certainly not something I would chance using. I think a better example would have been cannabis, as that is completely harmless.
Link | September 15th, 2008 at 1:40 am