My thoughts on the UK's drug crisis

 

“Just what is it that you want to do?”

“We wanna be free
We wanna be free to do what we wanna do
And we wanna get loaded
And we wanna have a good time
And that's what we're gonna do.”

From the film ‘The Wild Angels’ (and Primal Scream sample on ‘Loaded’)

The multi-million pound drug abuse problem in this country is so huge and I know of no solution to it apart from a radical change in lifestyle (which is what I had to do). I took drugs back in the 90s, during the height of the rave scene, when I was at uni, but haven't done so since I became a believer. I took LSD, ecstasy, amphetamines, ketamine and had cocaine available (I was spared heroin and fentanyl... other modern drugs were not around). My dealers had guns and knives which they would place on tables before we scored.

As I write this, I'm watching a TV show in which they are asking 'Should all drugs be decriminalised in the UK?' No, they shouldn't (except perhaps for palliative care), but something needs to change. There is a very good argument for the legalisation of cannabis, but on this I am neutral. I’m not likely to say a word for or against it. Although at the very least it should easily be available for the dying. It certainly helped my brother.

Why take them? The main reason people take them is to alleviate suffering and enhance pleasure - the same reason a person may reach for a drink. That's the underlying reason. The 'God-shaped hole' may not be filled by these things, but when you want or need some kind of peace or high, you don't care so much about the longevity of it. Although the shocker for me was to read that cocaine only gives you a 30-minute high (although I imagine this can be extended). If you understand why you might reach for a drink, you understand why you might reach for drugs. The first time you take them; it often really is a mountain-top experience of a kind. The valleys and chasms come later.

It is such a huge, real problem and we are massively unequipped to deal with it. If there were a full Christian revival here then drug use would decrease, as evidenced from the past when even drunkenness decreased, but there is simply not (although there are rumours and facts that there is at least, a start) and so it might be that all we can do on this one for now is to live by example. I simply do not know the solution except for what worked for me which was a huge change in lifestyle. But no-one using wants to hear that.

If a street cleaner hadn't had mercy on me and told me about God's love then I would not be writing these words here now. That was the message – God loves you – God is love, as evidenced by the cross. I know of no other good news. It is still true enough for you and I but brings some obvious and legitimate questions. It is never too late.

Unfortunately, some believers also use illegal drugs and this is a problem too. ‘People in stained-glass houses shouldn’t throw stones’ and all that. The reasons are the same as before - I'm not saying they aren't Christians, and I understand the motivation, but it is far from ideal, isn't it? Especially because it is as far away from 'fair trade' as you can get - with people getting murdered in the drug supply and organised crime wars. I would suggest the solution is the same – a radical change of lifestyle. Maybe weaning off works, I’m not sure, but it didn’t work for me.

And as writers, some of us are often vulnerable to such things - I am certainly still tempted and have not been healed of the desire. After all, where in the Bible does it say that we shouldn't take illegal drugs? Except, unfortunately, it is clear from the mouth of Christ himself who warned against all kinds of drunkenness and intoxication. How does intoxication affect God though? It probably doesn't but it affects us and can destroy our lives and relationships and God prefers to see people not dying, I imagine. If, indeed, he is love.

Something needs to change as the problem is very real here in the UK and it literally is life and death. As I say, in my case the solution was not to wean myself off them but to abstain completely and change my lifestyle radically. It’s basically my ongoing fast.

For those who take drugs to seek some kind of meaning in life (as opposed to the hedonists), I understand the motivation. Looking for unconditional love is probably not going to be found on the devil’s ground though. But, it’s a fair question – if we have such a short life, and after we die, we become nothing (or worse), then why shouldn’t we have such intense pleasure before we die? ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’ as has been said. I think the answer to that is because the whole multi-billion trade system is absolutely devastating in terms of its destruction. Plus, we are likely to hasten the oblivion through our own deaths and destroyed relationships…and the crime… and debt… and the murders… and worse.

I remember, when I was using, making an argument that I was not harming anyone but myself – and I had free will and all that (we always think we are free whoever we are, just as we all think we are ‘awake’). So, I was gullible and naïve along with all the rest. And when it all went wrong – which it did, and I was intensely suffering (I cannot forget how awful that time was). When I fell into the chasm from the mountain top, I realised how wrong I had been.

My conviction is that the stronger drugs I took caused my lifetime mental health problems. Maybe not cannabis but certainly LSD did. I was not self-medicating at the time. That's why I think it is such a bad idea to treat mental health problems with acid or LSD. Because it makes everything worse and can even cause PTSD.

I don’t take drugs anymore. I struggle with a lot of temptations. But something in the UK has to change – it is at a stage where more official drug-use facilities cannot make anything worse. Where the antidote to heroin overdose should be widely available. Where the root causes of drug-use are tackled – and those root causes are often simply that life in this country can be so grindingly awful that we crave peace, comfort, pleasure and an alleviation of suffering.