The War on Drugs

'those who use meth can lose everything,' my computer screen tells me. another bullet fired in the war on drugs. but those who use colgate can lose everything too. or those who take cream in their coffee. or children just barely learning to walk. it is the blaring uncertainty of modern life.

and so tight-lipped middle-aged men frown at the gas pumps with pink-slips in their trouser pockets. their wives withdraw from reality one prozac at a time while the tv screams out WAR, RAPE, MURDER, and GREED in 30 second sound-bites. flash to commercial.

i have a good job, i don't dread lay-offs or job cuts. but i can no longer sleep at night. too much caffeine. a grande vanilla breve latte + an extra shot = 300mg caffeine. acute overdose of caffeine may result in restlessness, nervousness, excitement, insomnia, flushing of the face, increased urination, gastrointestinal disturbance, muscle twitching, a rambling flow of thought and speech, irritability, irregular or rapid heart beat, and psychomotor agitation. In cases of much larger overdoses mania, depression, lapses in judgment, disorientation, loss of social inhibition, delusions, hallucinations, psychosis, rhabdomyolysis, and death may occur. 'those who use caffeine can lose everything.'

my wife sleeps in the room next door as i flip between informercials and b-grade movies. modonna and willem dafoe are making love on my tv. she drips hot candle wax on his chest. he flinches. she switches to wine, pours a drop, licks it off. repeat. i wait for dafoe to disapear in a flash fire of paraphin and pinot grigio but it never happens. instead they move to the shower. i am disapointed. flash to commercial.