Drug Addiction: A Growing Problem in the Modern World.

In the contemporary world, a majority of people have been diagnosed as clinically depressed. As a result, people have often prescribed drugs, that is, anti-depressants, which usually yield a euphoric feeling that releases the stress a person is undergoing (Hendricks, 2019). Besides depression, loneliness, anger, and anxiety result in alcohol, opioids, and marijuana usage in the globe today. Moreover, the continued usage of the prescriptions and drugs leads to addiction, which inhibits the efficiency of the drug taken to cure a specific condition such as depression. In Brave New World, a book written by Aldous Huxley that is primarily established on a futuristic globe, drugs are as much universal as in the world today (Miller, 2014). In the dystopian society of Huxley's book, Soma is a drug whose usage was normalized as it was taken when people were sad, angry, or even happy. The book acts as a warning to future generations on how scientific revolution and drugs would take the contemporary world by a storm. As a result, this essay aims at comparing the dystopian society discussed in New Brave World to modern society, regarding drug usage.

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Soma Use in Brave New World

Soma is a drug that was utilized by all citizens in the dystopian society discussed by Huxley. The drug is given freely to all World States citizens. From the author of the book, when the drug is taken in small doses, it makes them feel good. At average dose usage, pleasant hallucinations are created, and in extreme dosage, a sense of timelessness is encountered by the users. 'Hypnopaedic' quotes like "A gram is better than a damn" (Huxley, 2012) are used to convince citizens of the World State when they are suffering from negative emotions. In light of this, Soma can be described as a tool that is utilized by the leaders of the World State to exercise social control. As previously mentioned, in every situation, whether bad or good, in Brave New World, Soma is involved. The drug is given by the government to ensure that their subjects, the citizens, are always hallucinating and do not question the dictatorial form of leadership exercised in the World State. One-character, John, views the drug as a form of slavery to the citizens discussed in Brave New World since it turns them into mindless drones who are easy to control and exploit (Hendricks, 2019). John preferred to suffer and have control over what he thinks and does, unlike other members of the dystopian society. The latter only got high on Soma to forget about their current problems.

The use of medicine is critical since it can calm down a person from stress or pain felt by a person. However, addiction should be abolished as no one should be dependent on a drug for happiness or living freely. For example, Lininas, a character from the book, is addicted to Soma. She describes the drug as a combination of both Christianity and alcohol, only that it does not contain the harmful effects they both have (Miller, 2014). Dr. Shaw, another character, gives Lininas significant quantities of the drug even though he knows it would end her life sooner. The latter predicts how the future society would be dependent on drugs up to the point that it would pose a severe threat to the health of the consumers of the drugs.

Modern Society and Drugs Usage

As mentioned earlier, Brave New World acted as a warning to the future society about drug dependency. In light of this, the present society varies significantly from the World State. Several similarities besides are viewed between the two, which will be addressed in this section. Whether legal or illegal, anybody can fall victim to drug usage. The author of the book, Huxley, is no way different as he was a drug-dependent person as a result of his outspoken interest in LSD and mescaline, which are mind-expanding drugs (Ruck & Rein, 2016). Back to the book, only two legal drugs are prevalent, alcohol (found in the reservation) and Soma. However, in the contemporary world, numerous types of legal drugs are present, which are also high in quality rendering them extremely dangerous. Some of these drugs might include nicotine, medicine, alcohol, caffeine, among others. Plenty of illegal drugs are prevalent, too, and which have been a serious issue affecting the youth especially. Some of these drugs might include cocaine, heroin, cannabis, crack, crystal meth, among others (Hendricks, 2019). The drugs are consumed to get rid of the negative emotions a person experiences, and might even lead to death when used in high concentrations. Brave New World society has no access to illegal drugs since the only drugs present in the country are distributed by the government themselves.

The use of Soma in the World State is similar to the use of Prozac in modern-day. The dystopian society that Huxley writes about is rather controlled by happiness docile rather than fear. "Everybody's happy now" remained to be the mantra of the World State, which tends to be an authoritarian dystopia and attracts little resistance (Miller, 2014). However, Huxley's conditioning, emotionally, is most crucial as it resonates the contemporary dystopian neurocultures. To subdue non-conformities and guide intentions, the author of the book preferred emotional suggestibility rather than intellectual engagement. In the bid to acquire control, the government discussed in Brave New World uses joy-inducing pharmaceutical as well as a hypnotic propaganda media machine that can work less on logic and more on "feely" encounters. In light of the latter, today's neurocultures can correspond inconspicuous ways to the technologies which are being adopted at higher rates worldwide (Ruck & Rein, 2016). For instance, the rise of Prozac has made people in the modern society review the importance of self-medicated happiness. However, the increasing need for Prozac in the society is alarming as it is similar to the increased dependency to Soma that people of the dystopian World State society were subjected to. Prozac use ensures that society is calm with a reduced number of suicide cases, as people become "naturally" happy.

Drug usage in today's society has a significant financial effect on its users. Drugs in the modern-day society are bought and some can be very expensive depending on the feeling the drug induces on the user. Legal drugs, for example cigarettes, are not that much expensive as compared to illegal drugs such as cocaine (Dacre, 2015). As such, they usually cause the addicted people to do activities that are against the morals stipulated by modernised societies. For instance, ladies can exercise prostitution in order to get enough cash to buy the expensive drugs that they require to survive. Using legal drugs is not considered a crime by societal members, unlike the use of illegal drugs, which makes a person a 'junkie' to fellow society members (Miller, 2014). However, unlike the modernised society, the World State society from Brave New World does not incur any cost. The latter is so because the drugs are offered by the government free of charge, as the controlling body benefits any instances of retaliation due to their dictatorial form of leadership. The financial impact that drugs usage has on the modern society is paramount and leads to a lot of illegal activities aimed at generating the funds required to fuel the addiction a person possess.

It is indeed true that both worlds could not work without the influence of drugs. In recent times, the number of suicides especially among young adults has been on a fervent rise. The latter is so because the living condition in modern-day is harsh and people losing hope is on a dramatic rise. As a result of this, panic, societal pressure and depression are all common within young people (Dacre, 2015). Drugs usage has been on the rise since young adults revert to medications to help them overcome the stress and depression accompanied by lack of employment, piling bills, among other factors (Ruck & Rein, 2016). As such, this is similar to citizens of the World State discussed by Huxley, who overcome the fears of life by taking Soma every day. The difference is that Soma was administered by the government to take away the free will of people, which is illegal in modern-day. People should always have an opinion on what the government decides on doing and therefore, inducing them with Soma is wrong as it eliminates the possibility of varied opinions which could be very helpful in ensuring successful governance of a country.

Anti-depressant drugs have been on the rise in America in terms of usage. People in the modern society use anti-depressants to desensitize them from their genuine feelings of melancholy. Researchers have found out that people can get addicted to anti-depressants when used on a regular basis. The latter is so because the drugs change the brain's chemical balance, which is usually taken care of by serotonin (Califano, 2017). As such, after the drug's usage, people feel positive regarding their lives and boost their interacting mood. As such, these descriptions are similar to Soma, as they both bring out a euphoric feeling meant to make the user feel positive about themselves. In light of this, its evident that the prediction which Huxley gave out of the new world being dependent on drugs is coming to light.

Self-Reflection on Drugs Usage

Drugs have become a global problem in today's society. Drugs can be connected to cases of thefts, illnesses, suicide, and deaths. Their usage has become more prevalent in modern-day than how it was a couple years back. As such, it can be said that the warning of Huxley has come to pass, and that present young generation is dependent on drugs. However, several reasons advocate the using of drugs amongst young people. For instance, peer pressure. Many young people are always curious of experimenting new things and as a result, peer pressure succumbs them making them prone to drugs usage. Depression is the second factor that has lured a majority of young people into doing drugs. Most young people want established lives at tender ages, which makes them feel not good enough, especially when they compare themselves to people on the social media. The latter leads to depression, which sends the young adults straight to drugs use. Besides, drugs have become the fundamental image for both behavioural and social control among the users.

Soma from Huxley's book has no lousy sensation or side effects. This is because the characters are always too high from the drug that they cannot comprehend the side effects of withdrawing from its use. The characters are always subjected to the drug causing euphoria by the government so that they do not even fathom on retaliating. However, modern-day drugs have a significant number of side effects, which make them more dangerous. The side effects can be attributed to the fact that the drugs are purer and of high quality making their effects instant. The same applies to side effects of the drugs. In the longest time possible, the pushers of the drugs have been blamed and the law punishes the young people found distributing the drug. The government in Huxley's dystopian society is to blame for pushing the drugs, that is why it seems so right to the citizens of the World State. However, rather than punishing and arresting the pushers, the reasons and motives that cause drug usage should be addressed and eliminated, which will enable people to reconstruct their personalities. In doing this, dependence on drugs for self-induced happiness, courage, self-esteem, or any other reason will be abolished altogether.

Conclusion

It is indeed right there are some similarities and differences in drug use between the Huxley dystopian society, and modern-day society. The consumption of drugs in modern-day has been on the rise, which affects...