Here’s a little thing about me.
I’m bound to look at the world with eyes wide open.
As much as I’d like to, I’m not able to take even a sip of alcohol. Or to take a little pill with any kind of assistance, like a Tylenol PM, or anything like a sleep aid. And with that, of course, means that I cannot do drugs of any kind.
But. Apparently, for many others, experiencing the world without chemically altering your brain is going out of style.
I recently learned that the use of cannabis and psychedelic drugs among US adults hit an all-time high last year. No pun intended. This was according to the annual Monitoring the Future study from the University of Michigan.
The report says that this milestone could be fueled by several factors, which include:
— loosened laws around these substances
— changing public perception of hallucinogens
— and more Americans self-medicating for mental health issues.
Here in Ohio, we just passed Issue Two, which allows for the legalization of marijuana. It is being hit with quite a bit of resistance from the conservatives.
But, the trend is sweeping the nation where dope is concerned. Here are the cannabis stats you should write down before you forget them. (Har, har)
— 44% of young adults 19–30 and 28% of adults 35–50 reported using marijuana in the prior 12 months, a record high for each age group.
— And more than 11% of young adults said they used cannabis on at least 20 of the prior 30 days, double the share from a decade ago.
Psychedelic use is also up dramatically. About 8% of young adults said they used mind-altering drugs like MDMA (a synthetic drug that acts as a stimulant and hallucinogen, also known as “Molly”) and psilocybin (shrooms) in the prior 12 months, more than double the rate from 2012.
We liked to watch The Good Fight on CBS Paramount. One of the characters, Diane Lockhart played by Christine Baranski, would microdose to move her days along in a hum.
Well, as it turns out in real life, micro-dosing is a thing. In fact, it has become Silicon Valley’s drug of choice.
The same article I read stated that “Nowhere is the rise of psychedelics more pronounced than in Silicon Valley, where microdosing has become a cornerstone of corporate culture.” This was according to the WSJ.
Where people used to reach for a scotch on the rocks, they are now reaching for ketamine, LSD, and magic mushrooms to alleviate anxiety or help them think of a revolutionary business idea.
Here are some interesting notes about some biggies. Elon Musk has taken ketamine. Google co-founder Sergey Brin sometimes does shrooms. And. The major VC firm Founders Fund has thrown psychedelics-infused parties. All of this comes again from the WSJ.
And, of course, there was Matthew Perry’s death.
But getting high on the job isn’t limited to the tech industry. Nope. It seems that overall, the number of American workers testing positive for marijuana hit a 25-year record last year, according to an annual survey from Quest Diagnostics.
Time flies. It seems like just yesterday when California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis in 1996. And then, a bit of a break. In 2012, Washington and Colorado were the first states to approve legal recreational use.
Amazingly, today, more than two-thirds of states allow medical or recreational use of cannabis.
Above and beyond that, a flurry of medical studies into psychedelics has shown that, in controlled settings, they can be beneficial for mental illnesses.
However, some experts warn that they might be risky and need to be studied more.
At any rate. The rose-colored glasses are going on.
I wonder if this is happening because our world is growing dimmer. We’ve been sliding on a downward slope since 2016. And it seems that things might be getting more slippery.
So there it goes from many to few.
Are party hats the thing to do?
We might not know or have a clue.
Here in the old red, white, and blue.
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The only journey is the one within.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
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“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” – Max Planck
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“We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.” – Anaïs Nin
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Smoke ’em if you got ’em? Apparently so.
