It was a lovely spring day back in 2007. Of course, when it’s summer in New Zealand, it’s winter in America.
One of my favorite handouts when I first arrived in New Zealand was a lovely coffee shop, the Hardware Cafe, which is located on the West Side of Auckland.
Most weeks, I would end up having two or three meetings at the Hardware Cafe.
This particular morning, I met with an established filmmaker who was excited to pitch me his newest documentary.
There was something very unique about our meeting. What was it? Did he order an Expresso Coffee, which is typical for the morning? Yes, he did.
Then he ordered an ice-cold Heineken lager beer.
He drank his expresso while I drank my Flate White, and then he proceeded to drink his Heineken. I asked him, “Hey John, what’s the deal with the beer?” His answer: “Mitch, we all self-medicate, and I love a beer after my coffee.”
It didn’t hit me how much we self-medicate until I came back to America.
Without mentioning any names to protect the guilty, I have one friend who gets up in the morning, has a coffee, then takes a hit of Cannabis, next a bottle of beer by mid-day. In the afternoon? Hmm, maybe some Opediate like Zanex in the afternoon or early evening.
Next, I started to look at the statistics for the drug epidemic in America.
It is not my place to judge what others do. Since I was 19 years of age, I’ve enjoyed coffee and didn’t discover Cannabis until I was 35.
Cannabis is a lot different than the prescription drug crisis. Cannabis, by nature, is a culture that is socially based. There is a much bigger issue with Cannabis around banking that continues Cannabis as a cash business.
Yes, we all self-medicate. Me? It’s time for a coffee.
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