Teatime: Natural vs. Synthetic

When I hear people say that they only take "natural" drugs, I always wonder what they mean. It's usually said with a sort of holier-than-thou attitude; and at least when it's said to me, it's often loaded with subtle undertones of disapproval masked as concern for my well-being. The complexity of the topic may be obscured by prejudice, but nevertheless the natural versus synthetic discussion brings up a number of interesting issues surrounding drugs and drug culture, biology, technology, and the evolution of the species.

There's nothing wrong with choosing to take only natural drugs, obviously. There's nothing wrong with choosing not to take any drugs at all. I think that many people haven't thoroughly thought their own reasoning through, though, relying instead on knee-jerk biases to guide their decision-making and to rationalize their actions.