Stoner Societies vs Alcoholic Societies
Perhaps you’ve seen the meme pictured above. The image depicts two opposing societies. One is technologically advanced, and the other is technologically primitive. The technologically advanced society is marked “Alcoholic Societies” and the other “Stoner Societies.” Overall, the image wants to encourage you to believe that alcoholic societies are better than stoner societies.
There is no doubt that alcohol is most strongly associated with the West, and the West is the most technologically advanced. Together with the idea that a society’s choice of drugs plays a role in determining how civilizations evolve, you will probably conclude that alcohol may be linked to technological advancement. If you’re a technophile, you might think alcohol is the superior drug.
The problem with the technophile outlook is that it generally comes from a Western perspective. Of course, the society which values technological advancement, or materialism, would look at the picture and say that alcohol is superior. It is because the West values materialism that it ranks nations by Gross Domestic Product, not Gross Domestic Happiness. Therein lies a rebuttal.
Perhaps the Stoner Societies are content, or happier, and see no reason to endlessly strive. Their needs, for the most part, seem to be met. This holisitic view suggests the reverse of the technophile’s view — Stoner Societies are better.
Today we finally see the marriage between the two societies. The West is adopting Stoner Society, dropping some of its Alcoholic Society (by 15% in US states that legalized marijuana), and is gently shifting toward a holistic outlook. Europe is further ahead than the United States in this shift. What will happen with the shift? I believe the shift will bring balance and is strongly needed.
“the illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world.” — Carl Sagan
Balance? You might ask yourself. What is balancing? In short, the West is a masculine culture that has subdued its feminine, or anima. One hundred years ago women got the right to vote in the US. The shift toward balance is the integration of the female half, which we are only recently seeing. The integration of the female implies a greater societal respect for all minorities and beings.
Try not to focus too much on masculine and feminine. What I am suggesting is metaphorical. Masculine and feminine can be conceptualized as destructive and creative archetypes. They are modes of being that transcend the physical forms of male and female, which is why people can be transgender, but that is another matter.
The way I think about the difference between the two is like so. The masculine (animus) is dominant, aggressive, and controlling. Like an authoritarian state, the structure of masculine culture is hierarchical and tyrannical (sometimes just “representative” of your needs, so to say). In opposition, the feminine (anima) is submissive, loving, and open. Feminine culture is essentially democratic and socialist (if you read feminist thinkers, you’ll notice this).
Here is some actual data about marijuana and alcohol to back up what I am asserting in metaphorical terms. Alcohol is associated with many cancers (alcohol is destructive), but marijuana is only associated with testicular cancer (See how feminine it is? Haha!). Further, alcohol is strongly associated with violence in general, and the aggression associated with alcohol has been observed in both humans and nonhuman animals.
“When a nigga get high, he’s okay chillin. I don’t see no fighting. You can put a thousand motherfuckers in one room that don’t like each other. Put some weed in the air, them niggas gonna be taking selfies and doing all kinds of cool shit. You can put four people in a room that don’t like each other and one glass of fucking alcohol. Somebody gonna be fucking dead. You know what I’m saying? I’m saying some real shit.” — Snoop Dogg
The association of marijuana and violence is more complicated and up for debate, which is good news. When various studies show conflicting information, it means the association may be dependent upon confounding variables, or that the association isn’t as meaningful. That marijuana is associated with a decrease or mixed affect on violence in some studies is, again, good news — and it is something we do not see with alcohol.
“The researchers found that recreational marijuana legalization was associated with about a 20% increase in self-harm injuries among males under the age of 40. The increase was greater when cannabis products were available for commercial purchase through dispensaries. Marijuana legalization did not appear to affect violent injuries more broadly — for other age or gender groups, for assault injuries, or where only medical use was legalized.” — UCSF
Common sense would tell us that marijuana is associated with the stoner who has the munchies and watches movies all day. While it is a stereotype, a group that gives off those vibes seems content to me. In today’s West, when hierarchy, power, and money are the driving forces behind a masculine culture that seeks to drain us of our lives and throw away the overused husks (if you’re not rich), marijuana is exactly what we need. It reminds us that life is also about happiness, which is the equivalent of throwing a monkey wrench into the System. The more people smoke, the more wrenches stall the System. With enough people, the System will either break or be forced to change.
“Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction.’’ — Bob Marley
