My facetious response: “Why don’t you shoot heroin?”
I hope you see what I’m getting at here. Alcohol is the one drug people are socially expected to imbibe or contend with at one point or another in almost every society.
I’m not a prohibitionist, a prude, a naysayer, or a busybody. As an atheist, I exercise no ethical proscription against taking drugs as long as it’s done in a way that respects everyone else’s autonomy, safety, and boundaries. Personally, I think the “War on Drugs” is a war on poor people, especially minority people. The one time Americans tried to ban alcohol resulted in more crime, violence, and drinking to excess to prove a point than what preceded it. Prohibition doesn’t work. Never has; never will. I say decriminalize all drugs, offer treatment to people with addiction issues, and put reasonable taxes and age controls on the hard stuff, just like with alcohol.
But I still don’t drink or do drugs. Altering my brain chemistry has never appealed to me in any way, shape, or form. It’s not a taste or flavor thing. Frankly, drugs could taste like cotton candy and I still wouldn’t take them, unless they were to treat pain or a chronic medical condition. I just find the idea of being altered in that fashion unappealing. Plenty of people disagree with me and that’s certainly their prerogative.
I’m pointing out the finger-wagging disapproval that inevitably comes your way when you tell people you don’t drink.
Ever hear that song “Goody Two Shoes” by Adam Ant? This is the chorus:
Don’t drink, don’t smoke.
What do you do?
You don’t drink, don’t smoke.
What do you do?
The subtle innuendos follow.
There must be something inside, inside.
Even though we don’t want children to indulge in drug taking, it is still considered a marker of adulthood to take drugs, especially drinking alcohol, as a means of establishing that very adulthood. It’s a not-so-subtle form of hypocritical cultural coercion meant to break down the boundaries of people perceived to be tight-assed, straitlaced, inhibited, humorless, and self-righteous. And there are certainly people who don’t take drugs that fit that description. But that doesn’t make it any less a fucked-up violation of people’s boundaries.
Basically when you tell people you don’t drink alcohol (or take drugs), it almost inevitably turns into a negative assessment of your character instead of being considered an admirable personal choice. (“You’re no fun.” “What’s the matter with you?” “Do you think you’re better than the rest of us?” “What a buzzkill.”)
I like fun and good times. Taking drugs, drinking alcohol, and smoking never enters the “good times” equation for me, however. Maybe that makes me a freak in others’ estimation. But I like my non-drinking freakiness. Sue me.
This has been a roundabout way of answering your question with “I don’t know why I don’t drink.” Does it matter? To a great many people it does matter and it’s the primary reason many of us non-drinkers don’t want to answer your question.
AAAtheist 