A lot of key individuals in philosophy and the contemporary thought have discussed drugs. One of them was the famous French philosopher Michel Foucault who spoke about drugs without hesitation in several interviews.
In an interview for a Canadian magazine Foucault discussed the culture of pleasure and, among other issues, argued how drugs can contribute to this culture. “We have to try drugs, they are a part of our culture. Just as there is good and bad music, there are also good and bad drugs. So, just as we can’t say we have something against music, we can’t say that we have something against drugs as well.” Probably Foucault’s experience with good drugs was not limited to the few cannabis plants he cultivated on his balcony in Paris. Claude Mauriac talks about a conversation he had with him in 1975, noting: “LSD, cocaine, opium, he has tried everything, except for heroin, still, won’t he succumb to heroin as well in his present situation?” His friend, the historian Paul Veyne recalls a situation Foucault himself spoke of. Namely, Foucault was under the influence of opium when in July 1978 he crashed into a car in front of his apartment in Paris. When he was taken to the hospital he asked that the actress Simone Signoret be informed of his accident since he was supposed to hand her over a petition (Foucault was an activist and was constantly compiling documents, petitions, organizing street protests etc.) She was surprised when a policeman telephoned her and, apologizing for bothering her, said “A Mr. Foucault asked me to inform you that he has had a car accident.” “You do not know who he is?” – she yelled. “Well he is only the greatest French philosopher.”
In a conversation with Thierry Voeltzel, Foucault and his young friend talked broadly about drugs that “deanatomize the localization of pleasure.” “For me the apology of orgasm is yet another way of localization in the sexual possibilities of pleasure of some substances, just like the `yellow pill` or cocaine allows these pleasures to disperse and spread throughout the entire body and then the body becomes a global location for global pleasure.” Hence drugs become an operator of the “multiplication and strengthening” of the pleasure Foucault plans to practice and develop and that, of course, directs us to the ars erotica that he in “The Will to Knowledge” contrasts to scientia sexualis.
Vlatko Dekov
The author is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in social politics. He has been working on addiction related issues for fourteen years and has developed most of the harm reduction programs in Macedonia. Currently he is working as a manager of CEDR – the Center for Education, Documentation and Research within HOPS. He is the author of numerous papers, publications and research. He is also an activist for human rights of marginalized communities and a member of several national and international committees, bodies and forums, such as the European Commission’s Forum on Drugs in Brussels. Since 2014 he has been a member of the Board of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network.