john_oakland
Greenlighter
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2008
- Messages
- 27
Most eulogies here will refer to young, highly intelligent, inquisitive people who wanted to experience life to the max. Loved ones, fellow users or str8 friends and relatives, lament their interrupted lives.
Many of the str8 mourners would secretly consider the deceased to be outcasts, untouchables who could not face life. Those people could not be more wrong. It is far more likely the deceased loved life and were capable of great passion. Drugs provided a way for them to live more intensely, not to escape life. Then some stupid, bullshit little thing happened and then, ultimate irony, a life was lost.
Str8 people tend to associate drug users as street vagrants, prone to breaking into cars and other petty crimes to support their habit. When stoned they become catatonic zombies; when down their insatiable need to get high again puts their drug ahead of everything, including personal relationships. As a result of their self-obsessed attitude drug users are not to be trusted or even loved. In fact, the narrowness of the recreational drug user's life makes them too boring to be worth having even as casual friends.
Everybody reading this is aware of this derogatory and sell-serving characterization of recreational drug users. Having an easily labeled group to hate and oppress serves the interests of other groups that can be found in government, police forces, courts, religious institutions, and media outlets.
Those of us who use drugs to get high know that for one reason or another we are very different from "regular" people, and very much like each other. In nutshell, we feel life more intensely. Our disappointments are disproportionately painful, our view of others excessively judgmental, our view of life excessively disthymic, our view of ourselves excessively negative.
For some the buck stops there. To those who are haunted by psychosis or depression, drugs are not a hobby; they are essential medicine. This is obviously an illness/medication paradigm. The issue is not the drugs but why the person needs them, and how best to relieve their pain.
Among recreational users, the vibe is not nihilistic. Many have a passion for being alive and a craving for ways to feel even more alive. Think rock climbers, paragliders, and other "extreme" sports. They may use drugs to get high, but in a life-affirming way.
Some drug users are more contemplative and use drugs as a way of heightening sensual experiences like listening to music, riding a bicycle on an empty country road, making love at anenhanced physical and emotional level.
I'm sure I have left out many other reasons for using drugs in lire-affirming ways. But this post is running long and I think I have provided enough examples.
I venture to say that most of those in the memorial section used drugs in a life-affirming way, even though for them and many others it was a wrong choice. The point is not to label the person through the practice. Like other extreme activities, using drugs is a risky proposition, even at a recreation level. Where needles are involved, drug usage shoots to the top of the risk list. Even careful, experienced users can be caught out by a dirty needle or contaminated dope. While the risk is correlated with the desired level of intoxication even an innocent toke or snort can have lethal consequences.
Like so many bad things that happen to good people, way of dying just sucks. Every time you do up you have to take precautions because the risk will always be there. The big misunderstanding among str8s is that users seek out the risk, that they have some sort of death wish. Not so.
While a tiny fraction may be so depressed they see drugs as the final escape,, most of the people in this list used drugs to experience life more intensely. Or, to reduce Most eulogies here will refer to young, highly intelligent, inquisitive people who wanted to experience life to the max. Loved ones, fellow users or str8 friends and relatives, lament their interrupted lives.
Many of the str8 mourners would secretly consider the deceased to be outcasts, untouchables who could not face life. Those people could not be more wrong. It is far more likely the deceased loved life and were capable of great passion. Drugs provided a way for them to live more intensely, not to escape life. Then some stupid, bullshit little thing happened and then, ultimate irony, a life was lost.
Str8 people tend to associate drug users as street vagrants, prone to breaking into cars and other petty crimes to support their habit. When stoned they become catatonic zombies; when down their insatiable need to get high again puts their drug ahead of everything, including personal relationships. As a result of their self-obsessed attitude drug users are not to be trusted or even loved. In fact, the narrowness of the recreational drug user's life makes them too boring to be worth having even as casual friends.
Everybody reading this is aware of this derogatory and sell-serving characterization of recreational drug users. Having an easily labeled group to hate and oppress serves the interests of other groups that can be found in government, police forces, courts, religious institutions, and media outlets.
Those of us who use drugs to get high know that for one reason or another we are very different from "regular" people, and very much like each other. In nutshell, we feel life more intensely. Our disappointments are disproportionately painful, our view of others excessively judgmental, our view of life excessively disthymic, our view of ourselves excessively negative.
For some the buck stops there. To those who are haunted by psychosis or depression, drugs are not a hobby; they are essential medicine. This is obviously an illness/medication paradigm. The issue is not the drugs but why the person needs them, and how best to relieve their pain.
Among recreational users, the vibe is not nihilistic. Many have a passion for being alive and a craving for ways to feel even more alive. Think rock climbers, paragliders, and other "extreme" sports. They may use drugs to get high, but in a life-affirming way.
Some drug users are more contemplative and use drugs as a way of heightening sensual experiences like listening to music, riding a bicycle on an empty country road, making love at anenhanced physical and emotional level.
I'm sure I have left out many other reasons for using drugs in lire-affirming ways. But this post is running long and I think I have provided enough examples.
I venture to say that most of those in the memorial section used drugs in a life-affirming way, even though for them and many others it was a wrong choice. The point is not to label the person through the practice. Like other extreme activities, using drugs is a risky proposition, even at a recreation level. Where needles are involved, drug usage shoots to the top of the risk list. Even careful, experienced users can be caught out by a dirty needle or contaminated dope. While the risk is correlated with the desired level of intoxication even an innocent toke or snort can have lethal consequences.
Like so many bad things that happen to good people, way of dying just sucks. Every time you do up you have to take precautions because the risk will always be there. The big misunderstanding among str8s is that users seek out the risk, that they have some sort of death wish. Not so.
While a tiny fraction may be so depressed they see drugs as the final escape,, most of the people in this list used drugs to experience life more intensely. Or, to reduce the effects of their disorder (depression, bipolar, schizophrenia) so they can have some of the good things in life, and be able to work and enjoy the company of others.
These people were not lazy, morbid, or shirkers. They loved life and sought out new ways to experience it. They had many friends and lovers. Their talents enriched many lives. They were the kind of people you want to be around. Losing them such terrible event to those who knew them, and it's especially important that these people not downgrade their loved one's character because of their lifestyle. Even we who did not know them suffer a loss, because they were kindred spirits. effects of their disorder (depression, bipolar, schizophrenia) so they can have some of the good things in life, and be able to work and enjoy the company of others.
These people were not lazy, morbid, or shirkers. They loved life and sought out new ways to experience it. They had many friends and lovers. Their talents enriched many lives. They were the kind of people you want to be around. Losing them such terrible event to those who knew them, and it's especially important that these people not downgrade their loved one's character because of their lifestyle. Even we who did not know them suffer a loss, because they were kindred spirits.
Many of the str8 mourners would secretly consider the deceased to be outcasts, untouchables who could not face life. Those people could not be more wrong. It is far more likely the deceased loved life and were capable of great passion. Drugs provided a way for them to live more intensely, not to escape life. Then some stupid, bullshit little thing happened and then, ultimate irony, a life was lost.
Str8 people tend to associate drug users as street vagrants, prone to breaking into cars and other petty crimes to support their habit. When stoned they become catatonic zombies; when down their insatiable need to get high again puts their drug ahead of everything, including personal relationships. As a result of their self-obsessed attitude drug users are not to be trusted or even loved. In fact, the narrowness of the recreational drug user's life makes them too boring to be worth having even as casual friends.
Everybody reading this is aware of this derogatory and sell-serving characterization of recreational drug users. Having an easily labeled group to hate and oppress serves the interests of other groups that can be found in government, police forces, courts, religious institutions, and media outlets.
Those of us who use drugs to get high know that for one reason or another we are very different from "regular" people, and very much like each other. In nutshell, we feel life more intensely. Our disappointments are disproportionately painful, our view of others excessively judgmental, our view of life excessively disthymic, our view of ourselves excessively negative.
For some the buck stops there. To those who are haunted by psychosis or depression, drugs are not a hobby; they are essential medicine. This is obviously an illness/medication paradigm. The issue is not the drugs but why the person needs them, and how best to relieve their pain.
Among recreational users, the vibe is not nihilistic. Many have a passion for being alive and a craving for ways to feel even more alive. Think rock climbers, paragliders, and other "extreme" sports. They may use drugs to get high, but in a life-affirming way.
Some drug users are more contemplative and use drugs as a way of heightening sensual experiences like listening to music, riding a bicycle on an empty country road, making love at anenhanced physical and emotional level.
I'm sure I have left out many other reasons for using drugs in lire-affirming ways. But this post is running long and I think I have provided enough examples.
I venture to say that most of those in the memorial section used drugs in a life-affirming way, even though for them and many others it was a wrong choice. The point is not to label the person through the practice. Like other extreme activities, using drugs is a risky proposition, even at a recreation level. Where needles are involved, drug usage shoots to the top of the risk list. Even careful, experienced users can be caught out by a dirty needle or contaminated dope. While the risk is correlated with the desired level of intoxication even an innocent toke or snort can have lethal consequences.
Like so many bad things that happen to good people, way of dying just sucks. Every time you do up you have to take precautions because the risk will always be there. The big misunderstanding among str8s is that users seek out the risk, that they have some sort of death wish. Not so.
While a tiny fraction may be so depressed they see drugs as the final escape,, most of the people in this list used drugs to experience life more intensely. Or, to reduce Most eulogies here will refer to young, highly intelligent, inquisitive people who wanted to experience life to the max. Loved ones, fellow users or str8 friends and relatives, lament their interrupted lives.
Many of the str8 mourners would secretly consider the deceased to be outcasts, untouchables who could not face life. Those people could not be more wrong. It is far more likely the deceased loved life and were capable of great passion. Drugs provided a way for them to live more intensely, not to escape life. Then some stupid, bullshit little thing happened and then, ultimate irony, a life was lost.
Str8 people tend to associate drug users as street vagrants, prone to breaking into cars and other petty crimes to support their habit. When stoned they become catatonic zombies; when down their insatiable need to get high again puts their drug ahead of everything, including personal relationships. As a result of their self-obsessed attitude drug users are not to be trusted or even loved. In fact, the narrowness of the recreational drug user's life makes them too boring to be worth having even as casual friends.
Everybody reading this is aware of this derogatory and sell-serving characterization of recreational drug users. Having an easily labeled group to hate and oppress serves the interests of other groups that can be found in government, police forces, courts, religious institutions, and media outlets.
Those of us who use drugs to get high know that for one reason or another we are very different from "regular" people, and very much like each other. In nutshell, we feel life more intensely. Our disappointments are disproportionately painful, our view of others excessively judgmental, our view of life excessively disthymic, our view of ourselves excessively negative.
For some the buck stops there. To those who are haunted by psychosis or depression, drugs are not a hobby; they are essential medicine. This is obviously an illness/medication paradigm. The issue is not the drugs but why the person needs them, and how best to relieve their pain.
Among recreational users, the vibe is not nihilistic. Many have a passion for being alive and a craving for ways to feel even more alive. Think rock climbers, paragliders, and other "extreme" sports. They may use drugs to get high, but in a life-affirming way.
Some drug users are more contemplative and use drugs as a way of heightening sensual experiences like listening to music, riding a bicycle on an empty country road, making love at anenhanced physical and emotional level.
I'm sure I have left out many other reasons for using drugs in lire-affirming ways. But this post is running long and I think I have provided enough examples.
I venture to say that most of those in the memorial section used drugs in a life-affirming way, even though for them and many others it was a wrong choice. The point is not to label the person through the practice. Like other extreme activities, using drugs is a risky proposition, even at a recreation level. Where needles are involved, drug usage shoots to the top of the risk list. Even careful, experienced users can be caught out by a dirty needle or contaminated dope. While the risk is correlated with the desired level of intoxication even an innocent toke or snort can have lethal consequences.
Like so many bad things that happen to good people, way of dying just sucks. Every time you do up you have to take precautions because the risk will always be there. The big misunderstanding among str8s is that users seek out the risk, that they have some sort of death wish. Not so.
While a tiny fraction may be so depressed they see drugs as the final escape,, most of the people in this list used drugs to experience life more intensely. Or, to reduce the effects of their disorder (depression, bipolar, schizophrenia) so they can have some of the good things in life, and be able to work and enjoy the company of others.
These people were not lazy, morbid, or shirkers. They loved life and sought out new ways to experience it. They had many friends and lovers. Their talents enriched many lives. They were the kind of people you want to be around. Losing them such terrible event to those who knew them, and it's especially important that these people not downgrade their loved one's character because of their lifestyle. Even we who did not know them suffer a loss, because they were kindred spirits. effects of their disorder (depression, bipolar, schizophrenia) so they can have some of the good things in life, and be able to work and enjoy the company of others.
These people were not lazy, morbid, or shirkers. They loved life and sought out new ways to experience it. They had many friends and lovers. Their talents enriched many lives. They were the kind of people you want to be around. Losing them such terrible event to those who knew them, and it's especially important that these people not downgrade their loved one's character because of their lifestyle. Even we who did not know them suffer a loss, because they were kindred spirits.