Psic. Armando Loizaga Pazzi

Adolescents begin using drugs out of curiosity, out of a desire to experience the forbidden taboo behind the establishments warning of "say no to drugs".

Underlying this experimentation there seems to be a heroic sense of protest against a paternalistic attitude of society which is perceived to be repressing their individuality. In this sense, drug experimentation becomes a distorted quest for individuation. In Jungian terms, we all must find our sense of self through the constant friction between our ego and the collective. This journey of self discovery is what CG Jung termed individuation.
For today's youth, drug use and the rituals surrounding it satisfy a natural need for initiation and quest for meaning inherent to all human beings. The desire to go beyond the ordinary and shallow existence by altering their consciousness could be understood as a search for something deeper within the self that will transform their outer world and infuse it with meaning. There is however a hedonistic principle behind this ephemeral quest for mystery without the sacrifice and aesthetic demands proper to any true spiritual transformation.

It is through embarking in this dark and dangerous journey that adolescents find a reactionary tool against the adult society which is perceived to impose excessively rational and materialistic values that only reinforce a consumerist attitude towards life, distancing them ever more from the spiritual values that they seek. Ironically, it is this excessive consumerism which indirectly reinforces addictive values.

Desperation and protest are two key elements in understanding the psychosocial cornerstone of addictions. Paradoxically, there is a positive undertone to this misdirected approach: those who dive into the world of drug use reject to conform to the current narcissistic society seeking a "promised land" by disapproving a reality which is perceived as chaotic and ill.

There is however a deft response by the dominator society which scapegoats the individuals in such a position by labeling them as rebellious or even worst, as diseased. A more mature and responsible societal attitude would necessarily require an honest reappraisal of the observations and constructive criticism that an increasing portion of the public, as well as numerous intellectuals and scientists are making: there is an overemphasis on an obsolete morality which can be easily interpreted as hypocritical, where happiness is correlated to a life of senseless competitiveness to acquire and accumulate material wealth at any cost. Along with this shallow view of existence there is also an abandonment of the individual by society at large that only deepens the collective narcissistic wound.

From this psychosocial perspective, drugs and counter-initiation through drug rituals could be understood as a reaction to the collective spiritual void of our times. It is not merely coincidental that that drug subcultures are invested with ritualistic behaviors and inundated with spiritual symbolism and images. Eastern deities imprinted on T-shirts on one end, and Satanic or demonic images on the opposite end of the same continuum, express the underlying aspiration of today's youth to reach the transcendent energy behind such symbols. Within the idea of "flying high" or "taking a trip" is a distorted and perverse sense of journeying into the mystical dimension of the Self. However, this misguided search for the Transpersonal without first building the necessary foundation of the ego results in further psychic wounding (Wilber, Grof).

This darting and heroic transgression into the spirit world in search for ambrosia, the magical substance which made the Gods immortal with out any sacrifice, can only bring wrath to an unconscious individual. Today's youth engage in a Promethean quest for the spiritual fire of Olympus. Inevitably the wrath of the Gods awaits the mortal who pretends to enter the spirit world without proper initiation and permission. This permission is only granted to those who have successfully completed an initiation and have humbly performed the necessary ritual that gently taps on the door to the netherworld.

There is a lack of solid and reliable social institutions which could efficiently cater to this collective need for renewal . In Luigi Zojas words, "What today's (drug) users lack is the interior space which together with external rituals, serves to contain the experience of renewal" (Zoja ??). This internal space can not be denied nor it can be left to the individual to foster it with out any guidance. Modern society should be able to provide institutional initiation. However, this calls for masters and structures formed over a long period of time and in a context of a whole participating culture (Zoja??). Furthermore, it requires that society as a whole come to terms with its own shadow. Primarily a paralyzing fear of change: death and old age. Until then it will not be able to reawaken the social-spiritual institutions that for millennia have eased its members through the necessary rites of passage and proper initiation into the inner world. The perennial institution responsible for this most important survival mechanism is shamanism.