The High And The Low Of It

Alcohol
The only party drug with legal and social sanction. Available in an astounding variety, from swill to sublime. Wonderful relaxant and enhancer of conversation in moderation. In excess it’s a doorway to nausea, brain and liver damage, domestic discord, violence and death. And the hangovers get worse with age.

Viagra
Really. Social abuse of sexual dysfunction drugs began in the gay clubs, then spread into the straight world. Just why anyone would want to parade Viagra’s effects in public is beyond the comprehension of the uninitiated. As if the lasting discomfort of overdose weren’t enough, studies now link it to heart attacks. And blindness.

Cocaine
White powder extracted from the coca plant. Arguably Latin America’s most well known ‘contribution’ to the rest of the world, after football and literature. High price, instant rush and widespread celebrity use make it the hip drug to have. Makes you feel like a sex-god genius. Everyone else finds you totally insufferable. Sherlock Holmes was a user too, but it was legal then.

Ecstasy
Offers hours of euphoria and energy. You can dance—and love the entire world and your fellow man—all night. Fake ecstasy can be worse than the real thing, since it’s often cut with stimulants like strychnine, a poison. Because it can make you thirsty, people have actually died from drinking too much water in ill-fated attempts to control the impact of the drug.

Ketamine
An animal tranquiliser; makes you wonder at the person who first decided to use it for recreational purposes. Initially you can feel mellow while music and lights get progressively more interesting under the influence. Your nervous system goes haywire, so you might be getting kicked to death outside the bar while you think you’re inside giggling at your silly drunken friends.

Gbh/Rohypnol
A truly evil pair. Better known as ‘date rape’ drugs, they may be the only narcotics where the abuser and the victim are two different people. A sexual predator slips a dose into the victim’s drink. She wakes up with absolutely no idea of what has happened to her in the past several hours. Still, she may not suspect the worst at first. Sheshould.