Young Wild and Free

This past week as I was driving home from school an extremely vulgar song was playing on the radio. Usually, I don't pay much attention to lyrics of songs but because of our discussion on psychoactive drugs in class, the song Young, Wild, and Free definitely got me thinking.

Here is the chorus: So what we get drunk
So what we smoke weed
We're just having fun
We don't care who sees
So what we go out
That's how its supposed to be
Living young and wild and free

Yes, I know its pretty awful. But through our new knowledge of stimulants, depressants, and hallucinogens, we can confidently argue that living young and wild and free is not as fun as Wiz Khalifa seems to think it is. For example, cocaine (a stimulant) is a fifteen minute dump of all neurotransmitters. It results in an intense high, BUT after just thirty minutes a crash of agitated depression occurs as the drug's effect wears off. This, in no way, seems 'fun' to me. Who would want to feel this quick depressive crash? Interesting fact: In national surveys, 5 percent of high school seniors reported having tried cocaine during the past year. This is pretty scary. Alcohol (a depressant) is a major issue, especially for teenagers, because it is considered 'harmless' because it is so easy to get. Alcohol causes a lack of inhibition/awareness. It not only depresses one's pre-frontal cortex but also one's reflexes. One cannot react as quickly and can't judge properly, the reason for many car accidents under the influence of alcohol. The problem is that drunk people think they're okay because they have no inhibition. It's almost like they have no control over themselves which is pretty scary when you think about it. LCD (a hallucinogen) is probably one of the most frightening things that I learned in psychology thus far. The effects of an LCD trip can include seeing weird images and distorted people and feeling the sensation that they're not in in their own body. One also becomes very panicked. They think they can fly and end up either dying or badly injured.
I would like to conclude with the following: As seen in all of these examples, these psychoactive drugs are in no way, shape, or form 'fun' or give you a sense of 'freedom.' When I think of freedom, I do not think of seeing weird images or acting in a crazy way. Freedom is not not being yourself. It should be that you act yourself and feel comfortable with who you are and you are IN CONTROL of yourself. Acting like an idiot does not make me feel free, it makes me feel stupid. Under the influence of these drugs, people THINK they are free (as seen through someone who believes he can fly), but in reality they are overly restrained.