PWH - Playing while high

It has been quite a while since I posted anything, as I have been quite busy lately with work and my personal life. Here is one of my current observations of the BDSM scene.

It seems that lately there has been an increase not only in on-line "relationships" but also with people who engage in BDSM while "high." I've mostly noticed this from the "players" under 30. They mostly seem to be looking for a thrill ride, and what could be more thrilling than to get high, smoke weed, do some coke or mushrooms, and engage in some BDSM?

My stance on this is "old fashioned" and I've been taken to task over and over again by these younglings who have soooooo much to learn. Engaging in any form of BDSM while high is irresponsible. Yet that seems to be the current "trend." (And you thought piercings and cuttings were edgeplay!) I know that I am not alone in my opinions that this sort of thing is terribly irresponsible. What I worry about most is the fallout that such irresponsible behavior will cause for all of us who are living this lifestyle.

Many of us are trying to change the way that the vanilla society views BDSM. We are trying to spread the word that BDSM is a lifestyle, not just some crazy club kink. Our lifestyle is as important to us as the gay lifestyle is to the gay community. We don't choose to be different, we ARE different!

The younger generation threatens to undermine our efforts to mainstream the lifestyle by playing while high. Instead of promoting the lifestyle as healthy, they reduce it to its basest form. Which will sell more newspapers or get more hits online? Headlines about how healthy BDSM is for the psyche, or how some kid who was engaging in kinky play ended up ODing on drugs while being flogged by his Domme?

The media loves to sensationalize everything. They do it every day. While there haven't been any stories in the media yet about kids engaging in BDSM activities while high, I'm sure its only a matter of time.

While I'm admittedly new to the lifestyle I want what is best for all of us. For me, that means trying to mainstream our lifestyle and promote it in responsible ways. I want to show the world that we are not criminals who kidnap people from outside the lifestyle against their will and tie them up to a St. Andrews cross and flog them to within an inch of their lives! We maintain the standars of safe, sane, and consensual at all times. To do otherwise is to threaten to drive the lifestyle back underground, and to lose what we have gained.