It's a fallacy to think that anything you do is done in isolation, especially when it comes to vices. You can't ever say that you're not harming anyone when you smoke, drink, or, God forbid, do drugs. When you smoke, you spew out noxious fumes that other people may inhale or even if you say that you don't smoke in crowded areas, the stench remains in your body and your clothes and anyone who comes into your proximity will be exposed to third-hand smoke. You can't even be sure if there are people who have pre-existing conditions you have exposed to danger because you smoke. Of course, the person most affected, the person you've harmed the most when you smoke is yourself. And you deserve better than that, your body deserves better than that. Smoking isn't cool or helps with the stress. It's just killing you and the people around you slowly, painfully. If you don't care about you, then at least please care about the ones around you.
Drinking is another insidious thing that's often promoted as a way to bond. More often than we realize, this morphs into a real problem, individually and socially. You don't have to be drinking every day or drinking until your black-out drunk to have a problem, to be an alcoholic. Just the very fact that you drink even when you know it's bad for you is enough. Drinking has been the cause of many brutal things to happen to people. And when we drink, when we normalize drinking, we contribute to this social problem. Young people who look at you would think oh it's all right to drink. What's the harm, everybody's doing it. And before you know it, you have unwittingly encouraged other people, younger people, to turn to drinking. First socially, then as a way to cope with problems.
What's even worse are sororities who make it a point during induction to force young women to drink even when they don't want to. Women in our society are prone to getting harassed and assaulted when they are intoxicated and by promoting this culture of drinking, these sororities essentially put the young women they invite and induct in danger. It's even more insidious because it's women who normalize and encourage this problematic behavior on other women. To really, truly care about women is to not expose them, much less encourage, being intoxicated. This is a dangerous thing not only because of the dangerous situations that they may find themselves in, but alcohol, like any other substances, do affect our brains and do damage our health in the long run.
I would just like to add that alcohol encourages risky behavior and this is especially dangerous for women, particularly queer women. Yes, rape is the squarely the fault of the rapists, but let's not heighten the risks with alcohol.
It should be a given actually that doing drugs is definitely, definitely not okay. But then media and some people still make it seem that it's all right, if you just do it one or twice, if it's just weed, it's all right. No. It's not all right. Trying drugs even just once, even if it's "just" weed is not all right, especially, especially not for young There is no "safe" number or "safe" drug. It's an addictive substance, people's lives have been destroyed by it. Not to mention the whole bloody trade where people are killed and women are raped. There is no innocuous behavior that doesn't have far-reaching ramifications, individually and socially.
If you're thinking of entering the new year by cutting off these vices, take this as an encouraging sign that you're on the right path. And if you're going through something and you had thought that smoking, drinking, or doing drugs is going to help numb the pain, please, please stop. These are not helping. They're making things worse. Try to cope healthily, please try to take care of your body. And if you know someone who's been smoking, drinking, or doing drugs to cope with pain, please try to intervene. Thinking it's not your problem doesn't absolve you of the responsibility. Because ultimately, we are responsible for each other. There is no action done in isolation: it affects you and the people around you, and ripples on after the fact.
The good news is that it's never too late to try to do better. And by quitting, being sober, these things also have a ripple effect. Be good to yourselves. Let's welcome the new year by being kinder to ourselves because when we are kind to ourselves, we are kind to the people around us, to the people we love. A blessed New Year to everyone.
ellievsbear
vaporwave
kianamaiart
germansingergirl
romaincrisis
