Beethoven's Fix

It was nine in the morning and I was going out to get my copy of The Freeman from the corner newsstand. Already a bit late to know the latest news, yes; but it was a Sunday. It’s okay to start the day late on a Sunday.

As I was coming out, there was a faint murmur from among the line of ornamental shrubs in front of the house. It was distinctly a human voice. Out of curiosity, I peered through the leaves to see who it was.

It was Beethoven, a known neighbourhood bum, nestled securely in the foliage. He grinned upon seeing me. He was just saying his prayers, he said; his way of observing the Lord’s Day. I smiled, and proceeded on my way.

The whole neighbourhood doesn’t take Beethoven seriously. Even his own family seems to have given up on him. The fellow has lost his marbles, after a long time of drug abuse.

Beethoven started with marijuana when he was only ten years old. Then he went on to try it all—from cough syrups to morphine, to shabu. He is 26 now, but his mental state is way inferior to that of a small kid.

At night, poor Beethoven would wail out sad songs until the next morning breaks. Deep inside, he probably regrets his chosen path. For, certainly, he has brought his gloom upon himself.

The use of substances for altering the human condition is an age-old practice. Ancient tribal healers used concoctions to cure maladies or to bring on some kind of religious experience. Alcoholic drinks, for example, have become a socially accepted recourse for those who need to “loosen up” a bit. 

Traditional potions and brews are the forerunners of many modern drugs. Modern medicine relies heavily on drugs to provide relief for discomforts and pain. Often the relief is instantaneous, prompting many to take a pill or two at the slightest sign of an ailment.

The very dependability and efficacy of a drug to bring forth a desired condition make it open for abuse. Coupled with the ease of availing them, many drugs that are supposed to combat human ailments are now causing them, instead. Criminality and other ills, both physical and mental, related to illegal drug use has become a global problem.

Some drugs that alter one’s sense of perception, like morphine, have a legitimate therapeutic purpose: to ease the discomfort of those who are in great physical pain. Many patients prescribed with morphine report of some kind of metaphysical experience from the drug. They say it brings them closer to God, and gives them profoundly important insights into themselves.

True, there some drugs give an extraordinary sense of keenness or buoyancy of feeling that makes personal sufferings and problems seem minor or immaterial. So people seek these drugs in order to have some feeling of comfort and relief over their burdens. But this benefit is illusory and very temporary.

While the feeling may seem ecstatic, a drug-induced experience is in no way metaphysical or divine. Drugs that bring a sense of elation can make trivial ideas seem like profound new realizations. The great insights that drug addicts report while in a synthetic high are mere illusions. Genuine insights bring permanent beneficial change, while the drug experience does not.

Monks are reportedly able to get into exalted states of awareness at will. But this skill they acquire only after a long period of regular meditation. Their experience brings them life-changing spiritual enlightenment, as well as radiant physical health, the exact opposite of what is commonly seen of drug addicts.

The personality change that eventually manifest in the drug addict cannot be said to be a result of inner enlightenment. Often the change in outward behavior is simply due to a shift in his value system—of what is important or not, of what is right or wrong, to him. And the change in perspective is often caused by a deficiency in or deterioration of body condition, especially in the brain.

People often begin a drug habit out of curiosity, to test the claims of emotional high that a certain drug brings. The touted blissful state is deeply personal and experiential and, therefore, cannot be communicated effectively, except by personal experience alone. In other words, one has to personally use the drug in order to fully understand what the resulting feeling is like.

The trial experience often affords a new sense of excitement or personal perspectives for the first-timer. Then, the vicious cycle is started. The initial experience prompts the new user to seek more of the drug, for more of that special feeling. And, the more he uses the drug, the higher his craving for it becomes.

The heightened state of consciousness induced by drugs is its own dark side. It can heighten cravings – for food, sex or more drugs – together with a false sense of power and fearlessness, making a perfect condition for deviant or criminal conduct. A hankering for gratification of drug-induced urges can turn the drug addict into a ferocious animal whose highest priority in life, or whose very center of existence, is his own self-gratification.

As I have seen in Beethoven, drug addiction puts the addict on a downward spiral that eventually leads to his own damnation. And, as he plunges deeper into the dark pit, he increasingly feels powerless to redeem himself. It’s like jumping into his own grave.

The gravest danger of drugs, including the easily available, common medications, is that they dull discontent. Discontent is the gasoline that fuels our drive for actualizing our own potentials. There is now a pill available for almost any kind of physical – even emotional – discomfort, giving our bodies no chance to tap into its own faculties for self-healing.

For many, drugs have become a convenient instrument for escapism, for going the easy route. Drug addiction, of any form, makes one settle for instantaneous – but temporary and false – sense of wellbeing, way short of what he or she might be able to achieve by earnest, diligent efforts.

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