1. Provide a variety of alternative models of acceptable social-recreational behaviors within a group.
All individuals within a group setting deserve the right to choose alternatives and still be part of
the group. This might involve making available a variety of recreational activities to your peer or
social group. Among these activities might be the option for recreational drug use as an acceptable
group activity.
2. Respect an individual’s decision concerning drug use. Providing options means that we should
also abide by an individual’s choices. Several deci-sions can be offered in this light: the choice
to use or not to use a recre-ational drug, and the choice of which recreational drug to use in a
particular setting. Unfortunately, we occasionally attempt to coerce group mem-bers with subtle
pressures to get individuals to do something the other group members are doing. For example,
we might suggest that someone have an alcoholic beverage and then not take “no” for an answer.
If an individual chooses not to use a psychoactive drug in a recreational setting, that is a choice
we should support. On the other hand, if an individual chooses to use a psychoactive drug
recreationally and within the acceptable limits of the social group, that decision should also be
supported by the abstainer, as long as he or she remains a part of the group.
3. Recognize that recreational drug use may be a social lubricant, but it should not be the
only motivation or focus of the social situation. It is quite acceptable to use a socially
approved recreational drug within the context of most social settings; however, when
the use of the drugs themselves dictates the context of the setting, we have moved from
the realm of recreational to intensified or compulsive drug use. Drug users, you will
remember, focus only a small percentage of their time on actual drug use, and that drug
use does not play a central role in the drug user’s life. When the user’s life or lifestyle is
determined by the necessity to use a drug or not, this person is no longer a user, but has
lost control of drug taking.
4. Recognize a responsibility for the health, safety, and pleasure of both the drug user and the
abstainer by avoiding severe drug—induced intoxication and by helping others do the same.
Whenever psychoactive drugs are available for use, the possibility exists for overstepping
one’s own limits as well as the limits of the group in that setting. In a recreational setting
all members share in the responsibility for the behaviors of the group and should be supportive
of each of the members. Group norms should be clearly understood, and the group should exert
pressure to maintain them, including norms related to drug use and its limits. We should recognize
that drug misuse and abuse is neither healthy nor safe and will not be excused or accepted
among peers.
5. Have contingency plans for severe intoxication if it occurs in spite of efforts to prevent it
by assuming responsibility for the health and safety of others. Once again, if we provide
psychoactive drugs as an acceptible recreational alternative, we should be prepared for all
possibilities, ranging from being prepared to escort a person home to being prepared to provide
emergency first-aid measures and/or consult with professional medical personnel in extreme
situations.
6. Be aware of the influences of set and setting on psychoactive drug experi-ences. This is a
very involved and sometimes complicated responsibility. Remember that set refers to the total
internal environment of the individual at the time a drug is ingested and that setting refers to
the total external environment of the user at the time the drug is ingested. Regarding set we
are generally concerned with an individual’s state of physical and emotional health at the time
the drug is used, what their previous experiences are with a particular drug, and what their
expectations for that drug are. For setting we are most concerned with whether the physical
environment an individual is in, and the people the individual is with at the time, are conducive
to a pleasurable experience. Given this, you should make decisions regarding recreational drug
use with the following thoughts in mind.
(a) Only use recreational drugs when you want to use them. Do not be coerced into using a
drug you do not want to use or when you do not want to use it.
(b) Understand your own rationale for using any recreational drug. Make sure that your
motivations and rationale are appropriate to the drug, yourself, and your situation.
(c) Use psychoactive drugs recreationally only in the company of others. Do not take
sole responsibility for your actions and do not leave drug-induced outcomes to chance.
Being in the company of others is com-forting, sociable, and responsible if anything should
go wrong.
(d) Provide or use recreational drugs only in environments conducive to pleasant and
rewarding experiences. Hazardous or threatening environments can, of course, influence
the outcomes of a drug experience and make them less pleasurable.
7. Encourage your peer group to set reasonable rules and rituals surrounding the use of
recreational drugs. These rules help an individual to learn when and how to use a drug and
when not to use a drug and how not to use it. Rituals involve stylized interchanges between
people. These rules and rituals set constraints on the drug experiences and tend to reduce the
hazard potential.
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