Drug Culture in Second Life

LSD, marijuana, hash, heroin, speed, ecstasy, roofies and all the other mind and body bending substances can be experienced by avatars on Second Life. Whether the avatar just wants to drop a hit of ecstasy at the club, to sit and nod out on a beautiful beach, or stay perpetually stoned on a fattie it is possible as long as you have the Lindens (the Second Life equivalent of dollars).

It is a virtual drug culture that on the surface appears as open as the drug culture of the 60s and 70s, but exhibits the paranoia of the Reagan "Just Say No" years. Psychedelic head shops like Dr. Feelgood's openly sell paraphernalia and drugs. Bongs loaded with virtual pot sit waiting to make an avatar stumble and giggle for a minute. Pixelated marijuana plants can be grown from seeds or purchased full grown.

An avatar can choose to become a drug dealer. Dealer packages containing a variety of drugs can be purchased for resale to other avatars at a profit. It is the 70s equivalent of buying a pound, breaking it down to ounces and selling enough to keep some for your self. Drugs can be sold in the many dance clubs, on the beaches, over the counter in Amsterdam style coffee shops, or right out on the street. No worry about the law because there aren't any cops in Second Life.

It is like the open drug culture of the 60s and 70s where the buying and selling of drugs are concerned. In the social sense it is more like the culture of the Reagan era and the years that have followed.

All you had to do was approach someone smoking a joint in the 70 s and look wistful to be offered a hit. Folks, some called them hippies would welcome one and all, and they were happy to share. It is quite different in Second Life.

My avatar approached many others in the bars, clubs, head shops, paraphernalia malls, and beaches of Second Life and was ignored or rudely brushed off. It didn't matter if he was dressed in tie-dyeD Grateful Dead, Goth black, faded blue jeans and Doors T-shirt, or beachcomber shorts and thongs. His hair could be long, short, done in dreads, or bald; the result was ninety-nine percent rejection. Only in the Amsterdam style coffee shops was he welcomed and offered everything from heroin to coffee.

Second Life is a virtual reality world where gambling was made illegal because people were winning and losing Lindens that were bought with real dollars. Uncle Sam didn't get his cut so the rulers of Second Life were forced to ban all gambling activities. An avatar can still buy and use drugs using the same Lindens. It is an open virtual society rife with the paranoia of the real world.