w.atching the w.orld unw.ind

Today’s lyric reminded me of the guy who used to be my best mate, when we were at college. He was the only child of an upper middle class family and had the time and money to indulge himself unchecked – so he quickly entered the world of drugs.

Now over 35 years ago, hard drugs were incredibly easy to obtain. Tabs of acid were so cheap, people fed them to their pets at parties, for amusement. Reefers were openly smoked in front of the less-worldly teachers who, unbelievably today, believed the response that they were ‘herbal’. My mate would sit for hours in a self-induced catatonic state, tripping out and presumably enjoying his own private, small-e ecstasy, while the rest of us had fun.

He was eventually caught, not exactly dealing, but obtaining for mates and got a six-month stretch for a first offence in an Open prison. I guess it was the wake up call he needed, but after giving him his first decent meal and some alcohol when he got out, I never saw him again, so who knows how he eventually turned out?

A friend’s son is apparently going through a similar experience and we asked our lad what the current take on drugs was. “Just about everyone takes something” was his immediate response “and the only advice is to not mix stuff”. So you don’t take E and drink booze, etc.

I guess it’s a shame that with so much on offer in this life (regardless of your financial situation) much of the world seems to be hiding behind some sort of chemical curtain.
I’m certainly not without vice – although red wine is allegedly good for you, the quantities I drink probably isn’t – but I confess I never felt the need to experiment. I just seemed to be able to have a great time without pills. Natural serotonin, I ‘spose.