Are you a drug user, an addict perhaps?
Some people are against drugs, others have no issues with it. Some are only against hard drugs (cocaine, LSD, and so on) and not against soft drugs (cannabis). It is not said that those who are against drugs ever used it or know how it feels to be high.
In several countries, it is recognized as a painkiller and you can even get it on prescription in the Netherlands.
What exactly is the problem people have with drug users? Is it the drug, the fact so many can not pull the brake in time, or the violence and corruption it triggers with which the whole society has to deal with?
Just like alcohol, drugs can do something for you. Some feel better, others feel miserable. It can kill pain, give you the wings to fly, the courage to jump off a cliff but it can also open the mind and make you more creative and give you brilliant ideas. At least that is what the world-famous psychiatrist Sigmund Freud stated (a part of his ideas can be found in his book "Über Coca").
Is it true what Freud said? Will the use of drugs - in Freud's case cocaine - give brilliant ideas to all of us good enough for the next Nobel prize?
Unfortunately, this is not the case. The biggest group of drug users start at a young age. They are not the smartest kids around and the use of cannabis, LSD, or cocaine will not level up their IQ. To those who hoped this is the case, they can forget about it. Drugs, especially an overdose of it, will only harm and take away the last piece of common sense and the will to stop in time.
A lot of research is done if it comes to drug use. Many wonders if there is a relationship between intelligence and the use of it. The results, knowing which people have the highest risk to start with it, can help to prevent drug addiction. Low educated people clearly use way more drugs than higher educated people.
The Dutch Trimbos Institution monitors the annual outcome among children till the age of 18 years old.
The Cardiff University in the UK investigated the relationship between intelligence and drug use at a higher age.
The outcome was the opposite of what the Trimbos Institution noted. The higher the IQ level at the age of ten years old the more drugs these highly intelligent people use after their 30's. What exactly their reason is, why intelligent people start using drugs, is not investigated. It might be partly explained by the fact they are more curious and came to a point they are looking for new adventures. Another reason might be their jobs. Certain jobs make it easier to discover and step into the world of drugs. The high(er) social class which many of them are raised by might have prevented an earlier drug use as well.
To higher educated people it's easier not to get addicted because the decision to use drugs is made measured and under completely different circumstances.
If Freud was right is something so far no one could prove. His drug use might have been nothing more than a way to forget about his own issues, a possibility to think in a different direction.
The Austrian Sigmund Freud wasn't the only one using drugs. He even promoted it. Steve Jobs (Apple) used LSD. Next to those two men, more smart guys could not do without a sniff or joint.
People that are again drug user tend to forget that medication is also a drug. When used in the correct way, it can help a lot of people. Some people need drugs to survive but some just use it as a getaway from their problems, which I do not think works well because of most drug abuse end ups in a hospital bed with brain damage. Being alive without being able to function as a normal human being.
I always meet a patient that needs 10 to 14 types of medication per day. Sometimes it causes drowsiness and sleepiness. They become dependant to their medication.
Drugs are actually good things if it is used properly.
There are reasons why each people takes the drug either abusing or as medication. I would find out about that reason first before jumping into conclusions. If I can get the information.