30 Day Blogs Challenge: Day 3

Day 3:
Your views on drugs and alcohol.

Drugs and Alcohol...well that question that seems so simple, for some reason, is also very complicated.  I am currently a social drinker. In high school and college I drank WAY too much and partied like college kids typically do.  The older I get, I look back on the choices I made, and I regret them. I drank to blur my constant depression. I drank to fit in.  I drank because it felt like it was expected of me.

Now as a social drinker, I'll have some wine at dinner or a beer at a cookout, but very rarely do I over-indulge. Not only do I not like to be intoxicated to the point where I cannot control my actions, I also can't quite recover like my 19 year old self could.

I also have plenty of family members who are alcoholics, and I've seen the damage that can be done.  I don't want be like that.  I can have fun without alcohol.

As for drugs, I get it.  You feel invincible, the fog covers the pain.  But once the drugs wear off, you are right back where you started.  I think it's better to get help and live clean.  That being said, I really don't think natural drugs like marijuana should be criminalized.  We are already paying for thousands of drug dealers kept in our jails. We spend millions on drug trafficking investigations.  I'm not saying drug dealers should not be punished, but there are SO many other things we could focus on.  If someone has a minor amount of weed on them, should their lives really be ruined, especially if they are an adult?

I definitely think our country should prosecute drug dealers, smugglers and those who manufacture synthetic drugs like meth.  But if we could regulate or decriminalize marijuana, maybe the money our country saves can help starving families or creating jobs. I know the idea is controversial and complicated, but even though I'm not a drug user, I don't see the harm in an adult smoking a little weed in the privacy of their own home.