Do you think the 24th century earth has junkies and addicts?

any episodes that touch on recreational chemical addictions? people dont "have" to work, right? i doubt their sensibility has evolved to the point that a nifty portion of the population isnt spending all day in the holodecks high on spacecoke and space-morphine. wasn't tpols addiction whisked away in a syringe?

 

and on a side-note, marijuana has been around so long, i doubt it would disappear in 400 years. trek writers loved predicting social trends, legalization seems a no-brainer

 

I would imagine Trek's 24th century being rife with problems. There's no money, we have replicators and holodecks for every want and desire, so what's stopping people from contributing nothing to society whatsoever? It would make the "benefit thieves" of today look like nothing in comparison.

Why does Joseph Sisko operate a restaurant when nobody pays? Why do people work for him for nothing?

How would people of the future know if they're in reality or have spent their entire lives on a holodeck?

Trek's "utopian" 24th century has always had a fake-happy Disneyland feel to it. I can't imagine it ever working on any level, at least not without a large and very dark underbelly of lazy, depraved, gluttonous wastes which they hide from the galaxy at large.

 

I would think so. We have Barclay. Now, Barclay is no junkie, but he shows signs of fleeing into 'addictive' behavior. What he does with holodecks, someone else could do with drugs. So there probably still would be a 'market' for it.

 

Wesley asks "What are drugs?" in season one TNG.



City on the Edge of Forever was supposed to be about a Drug addict sticking McCoy, but Gene said the in the Future people are too smart to take drugs, so the script was rewritten.

 

I don't get the idea that people would be lazy and depraved if they weren't threatened with death or destitution as we are in 2017. I think most people work -- even today -- because they want to be useful and productive. Think of modern millionaires. Like 24th century citizens, they have no need to work. But how many are just sitting around rotting at home? They get up every day even though they don't have to and run companies, manage charitable foundations, or serve in our government. I'm sure the 24th century has its share of moochers, but I can't believe there would be any more of them than there are today (all political hyperbole aside), and probably less as people are freed from the financial circumstances that force them into positions contrary to their actual desires, talents, abilities.

 

I imagine they have drugs but like sythenthol they can take them without any of the negative side effects. Of course with something like a holodeck around maybe drugs would seem kind of pointless because they can just go have holodeck sex anytime they want to feel good which has to be a upgrade over drugs. I tell you half of the worlds problems would go away if everyone had sex 3 times a day.

Jason

 

Nobody would have time for problems.

 

There's no secret reality beneath what we are told in this fictional universe just because it's not realistic. There is little addiction on Earth and those who are addicted can probably get a hypospray to fix their body's endocrine system and cure the addiction.

A lot of the criticism I see on the moneyless system assumes that money is the only currency. Power, influence and social favors are currency. Money or not, nobody wants to be socially perceived as useless.

 

The script was extensively rewritten by staff writers (Fontana?) because the original was a unshootable mess. Why would Roddenberry of all people have a negative opinion of drugs?

I would imagine that a planet filled with rapists and ho's who had sex multiple times a day would still have lots of problems.

 

I would like to think that the mentality that a rapist has would never be created in this society or would be so rare that you could solve the problem by keeping a few prisons around for those few criminals that might show up once in awhile.
I should note I also would like the world to have everyone see a shrink once a week as well so people could talk about what is bothering them and maybe potential issues could be spotted before they become major problems.

Jason

 

There's been a ridiculous idea floating around for years that the majority of people have physiological problems and need to see a physiologist on a regular basic.

Yes, some few people in any population would benefit from such treatment for specific problems, but this would be a waste of time for the general population.

Point was, simply having sex multiple time a day wouldn't (by it's self) solve world problems. I've had sex three (or more) times a day and that didn't make any problems I was having disappear.

 

I don't know. I think it helps to be able to talk about things and basically explore yourself.
As for sex I don't think it would erase all the problems but at least I think it would help with stress and give people a little confidence who lack it. Maybe even help some of the more uptight realigous types enjoy life a little better and stop worrying about what they think God wants people to be like. If all else fails then it would simply be a fun way to pass the time. Got to be better than staring at phones all day.

Jason

 

Becoming dependent on something is part of human nature. Wether or not we become dependent on something, depends on the potency of what we are using and our own level of resisting. That seems very black and white, and it really is a lot more complex than that, but for convience sake, let's keep it that simple.

Now, unless thanks to some genetic tampering humans have been able to remove the genetic parts of us that are susceptible to becoming addicted, I think it's quite possible that there are addicts on Earth. Even if the UFP outlawed all forms of drugs and alcohol (unlikely, since we know for a fact real wine is still being made), aliens throughout the galaxy are still creating forms of subtances that can be abused and could be smuggle onto Earth.

And, Sisko was talking to Odo about the dangers of drinking to much during 'Apocolypse Rising'. He was certainly alluding the possibility of becoming addicted to something, meaning it was something people of the 24th century are aware of.

 

Janeway certainly seemed addicted to coffee.

(Says the guy having his second cup this morning.)

 

This. People raised with the actual choice between self-actualization and wasting away don't waste away.

I imagine their version of "hard" drugs are still illegal because they change your chemistry, making you no longer you. Imagine some 23rd century Orion super-drug that rewrites your genes to feel as close to heavenly bliss as your synapses can physically handle. You'd stop at nothing to have more, eliminating any notion of Free Will. The slightest exposure and only focused medical/psychological treatment would save you, which you'd also stop at nothing to avoid. ...tech is only going to get more dangerous in the future, on multiple fronts.

Edit: Also, more sex would definitely solve more problems than cause. I suspect a heavy chunk of the world's ills are the results of sexual frustration. How eliminating that would make us a planet of rapists and ho's you'll have to explain to me, Tenacity, but, I say that if you want peace in the Middle-East, forget war and theology. Get those people jobs and the freedom to have the occasional drink and romantic encounter.

 

But would sex with a fake hologram scratch that itch? Barclay wasn't cured of his issues by his weird holodeck versions of his co-workers (and implied sex with holo-Troi)

 

Some of my Trek fiction centers on the Federation Police and their fight against illicit drugs.

 

I don't think he had sex with her because I think that would be in his mine crossing the line into bad behavior. Also though he is a fictional character so I think real humans would operate differently.

If people were having sex all the time you would I think have less cheating and since if you did it 3 times a day that means at least 1 of those times would be at work which would help make the boredom of work less of a issue if you don't like your job.
It would be good exercise though people might tend to sleep more which I think would also be a good thing because I think alot of people have issues dealing with the inability to sleep, well.
Jason

 

if we're talking about TNG-era 24th century, then I guess it depends on whether or not Gene Roddenberry was still alive/still had influence on the show (i.e. if we're talking about S1-ish or later seasons of TNG and the following Berman/Braga era Trek)

his Vision (tm) - I'll try not to derail this too much - included the eradication of basically all our contemporary human struggles (greed/inequality, sickness, pollution, finite resources), so it seems to me there wouldn't have been much room for large spread problems regarding addiction and addiction-like behavior

later Trek at least superficially got into issues of addiction (including Holodeck addiction!)