I've never IV'd stims, or any other substance for that matter, but I've smoked and ingested virtually every kind of psycho-stimulant known to man over the past 50 years. In fact, I've been pretty much a daily amphetamine user since the early 80's and that includes meth which I started using in 1991. I'm happy to report that at 65 I enjoy them as much now as I ever did - perhaps more so - for, in all this time, I never reached a point where I needed to increase the quantity I consumed daily in order to attain some kind of mythical "first high".
But I suppose that's understandable considering that I don't use these salubrious substances to get "high" or "wasted". I use them as intellectual energizers, psycho-sensory stimulants and creative catalysts. These invaluable and underappreciated adjuncts to an active life, a life well-lived, first and foremost provide me with the impetus to make things happen. A steady and stable supply of stimulants not only give me self-motivation but, with their help I am more productive, more creative, more clear thinking and more sociable - in short, a better person. I owe so much to the advantages accrued to me in my life through the judicious incorporation of amphetamines and other CNS stimulants into my continuing quest to make the most of what is undoubtedly an all-too-brief human lifespan.
I have always maintained the view that these drugs are for thinking people. They're not designed for those who are seeking a way to remove themselves from reality. That is simply a shameful waste of the amazing power for human improvement that is contained in these compounds. People who aim to obliterate all thought processes and self-perception are better served by anesthetizing themselves with substances like
alcohol or
opioids.
So, to all those who wonder whether amphetamines including meth have any merit, let me suggest that what you read and hear about these much maligned medicants are often nothing more than the impartial opinions of others who for personal and politically contemptuous considerations prefer to promulgate fallacious, fear mongering myths about certain substances they mistrust in the hands of the common man. Always question the impartial opinions of others, especially those in positions of power.
Allow me to shatter one more stereotype, one that has taken on the same anti-social stigma as the marijuana-crazed characters that were imposed on an ignorant and gullible public in propaganda perfidies like Reefer Madness.
I'm talking about the dentally and dermatomically challenged dropouts that we see in magazines and other media whenever the subject of meth is brought up. You know what I mean. Those before and after shots of supposedly happy healthy successful citizens whose lives have been destroyed by the insidious effects of amphetamine use. Photos of all-American kids are juxtaposed with pictures purportedly of the same person soon after they started smoking meth. It's shocking! Our fresh-faced kids next door have been ineluctably transformed into haggard old wretches. Within a matter of months they've crumbled into unrecognizable, gaunt ghosts of their former selves with sunken cheeks, scratched scabby skin and crooked toothless grins.
Well, let me set the record straight.
At 65, I haven't lost any teeth my teeth, nor do I suffer from psychological, emotional or physical infirmities from my use of amphetamines for over 50 years, half of which were spent smoking and swallowing meth on an everyday basis.
Despite such indulgences, I remain in excellent health and physical condition.
I challenge any medical professional or politician who actively misrepresents the truth about the long-term effects of amphetamine usage to identify one negative effect - physically, mentally, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually - that has resulted from the continuous consumption of CNS stimulants throughout my life. This is not haughtiness. It's how it is.
