if we think of consciousness as a kind of state-machine, alcoholism and drug use are typically understood as changing states, while sobriety is understood as maintaining a fixed state. We tend to talk about drugs as giving us an ‘altered state of consciousness’ - altered from the fixed sober consciousness. But we know, really, that there isn’t a single sober conscious state, but that our conscious states change, depending on the situations we’re in. As a non-drinker and non-drug user, I enter many different mental states throughout the day; I may be more or less alert, I may be intensely focused or have difficulty concentrating, etc.
In this way, while we often think of alcoholism and drug dependence as a loss of control, surrendering ones state to the effects of this or that intoxicant, it could be analysed as a way of taking control. The teetotaller is the one who surrenders control of their states to their enviornment, while the addict consciously influences their state. Many alcoholics do consider their habitual drinking a kind of stability, and it is. I might know that tonight I will be delerious, tomorrow I will be hungover, and I will gradually recover during the day until I get drunk again, etc. Many touring musicians would alternate taking downers during the day and stimulants before shows, and many students take stimulants to combat their natural exhaustion. The addict induces certain states to gain coherence, to control their conscious relationship to their enviornment. When we think about homeless alcoholics who are drunk all day, we might think of it as a way of making a claim to some kind of property - their consciousness, or their body - when all other property has been taken from them. In many situations of instability, few people remain sober, while in situations of stability, many do.
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