some great points raised here....and quite a contrast in terms of personal experience, but interestingly we all seem to reach the same conclusions....If it's the done thing (ie within your peer group) you'll be involved. So @Moons your experience was that sports was an outlet and a point of contact...and you went on to become a professional no less! Others with less talent went on to pursue different things. If @zed's son's social group are exposed to drugs, then some will inevitably get involved. Some will do it on a recreational level, and eventually get bored, or find another outlet, others will get well into it and find themselves with serious issues (physical,mental or both) down the line. Comparing the two, when asked, the vast majority of people will say that sports are a wholesome, healthy activity and taking drugs is a wholly negative and a social ill...As an adult, I'm in that majority, but as a kid, making a fire, sitting round with mates and getting completely 'tatered on whatever, was a positive, formative social experience. I don't advocate drug use per se, but I do believe that in context they have their place. It comes back round to education and parenting....not the dictatorial 'do this-don't do this' education advocated by some, but a more holistic approach, where children are presented with the facts and steered towards a balance that's right for them. As responsible parents it's our duty to enable our offspring to become who they are, not what we would like them to be. Hopefully, they'll be well-adjusted, healthy individuals with a sound moral compass, a well developed sense of empathy, fairness and self-belief....sadly, this won't always be the case. I lived in Ireland for a time, and my then partner and I were trying for a baby. She was a buddhist and used to chant...I found a piece of paper that she'd written on, as a guide for her meditation....she'd written "Happy and Average"....I didn't mention it, but I was quite indignant that she wanted our future child to be only 'Average'...I wanted a highly successful, extraordinarily talented kid that would go on to achieve great things...with hindsight I realise how insightful she actually was. @Moons ...you made the point that as parents we sell them bigger, faster, stronger = best...how much dross are children exposed to in the media and elsewhere that actively serves to reinforce this message? Everything from irresponsible Dicks on Radio 1, shoot 'em up computer games, getting the highest score in a spelling test to amassing the most number of 'Friends' on Facebook...and all at an age when they're unable to consider the issues with any real objectivity...
Drugs are such a tricky issue to deal with, I'm glad I'm not in charge of legislation as whatever you do is likely to be wrong in some way, hence the staus quo being maintained. My gut instinct is to make fewer substances illegal so that the criminality is taken out of drug use and the quality is easier to control. However, I am not sure that widespread use and the resultant increase in physical and mental illness would be a good thing long term, even if 'crime' was reduced.
In pilot studies where they've tried this, the results are largely positive....it's a case of managing the supply and demand, and having an opportunity to monitor intake and it's consequences, without the stigma attached....As with most good schemes, they tend to pull the funding when votes are at stake. People should accept that drug use needs to be 'managed' not banned or decriminalized....
We are designed to hunt and forage...work and play...movement makes our chemistry balanced. Huge animation of our minds be that drugs or computer games isn't good for us (though @paradox video shows dancing as a good equilibrium) without the physical outlet...massive adrenaline rushes etc and no outlet. I might be over simplistic with the above.
Indeed and i used to love dancing till the sun came up at free partys Being off my face on somthing that not only didnt aid the dancing but actually detracted from it or stopped me dancing at all Well i dont see the point of that When i had taken exctasy i could feel the music and my body would intereprate the music into dance moves There was a sense of unity with the other people around you and a feeling of love along with massses of energy and motivation Nowadays it seems people just want to get out of it as much as possible using whatever possible The getting of there face is the night for them instead of the raving being the night and the drugs bettering the experiance Id be pretty *******ed of as a dj if i had a field full of people in front of me that were to wrecked to even dance and were just stood there like zombies
I think it's a very valid point....we've been hounding local Doctors to 'prescribe' cycling to counter depression...or atleast let us set up a 12 month Pilot study...No such luck. Think Para mentioned it earlier, but as a species, we've been using drugs of one kind or another since year dot....for spiritual, recreational or ritualistic purposes. Interesting that Para should also mention the union felt at raves, where MDMA enhances the experience....same as when we stand on the terraces and sing en masses at the game, or in the shower with your team mates after you've won...It's that sense of belonging or communion, that seems to be missing, nowadays....and people are seeking to recapture it in all sorts of ways....drugs, internet, sports you name it.
Id like to thank everyone who has contributed to this thread its been a pleasure I awoke this morning and expected to find it had deteriorated into an argument or a slagging match Instead i was very pleasently pleased about everyones input and how it had progressed
Have you ever watched the series with bruce parry called tribe? He travels around the world spending time with whats left of the traditional tribes in remote areas and living as they do He spent most of his time getting of his tits with shaman using whatever local sacred plant they used http://www.bbc.co.uk/tribe/bruce/
Bruce is a bit of a hero of mine...not for what he does, but for the way he does it...a lot of these 'action johnnies' disappear up their own behinds, but the Brucester always comes across as deeply respectful, but at the same time, he seems to have retained a childlike sense of joy and wonder...and he wears his heart on his sleeve...all good traits IMO
The same reason i admire ray mears over bear grills Id like to think of myself as a mix of bruce and ray but stuck in the modern western world
