What is the use of getting high? This is a question with no simple answer due the individual consciousness of every person. While there are defiantly common reasons for getting high, that is only half the answer. However, before the question can be explored further, it must first be defined.

For the purpose of this article, "getting high" will refer to the willing act of an individual to alter their consciousness. What should be taken particular note of in this definition is that the act is willing. This will eliminate any discussion on the potential for criminal acts to be initiated as a result of getting someone else high, drunk, what have you. Also, the purpose is to alter consciousness. While altering consciousness is the intended goal this does not stipulate that there may be a single reason for seeking an altered state, only that the goal is to alter the current state of consciousness.

As for the particular "use" of getting high, this article will contend that the desire to get high is inherent in nature. While the complexity of the human mind has developed several other uses for altered states of consciousness, the desire to alter consciousness is not unique to humans. Some of the "typical" human uses for getting high are uses that many of us are not unfamiliar with: excitement, social stimulant, escapism (both positive and negative), rituals, etc.

In addressing one of the first postulates that getting high is not unique to humans, this should not be earth shattering. In Africa there are multiple reports of elephants eating rotted (fermented) fruit and getting drunk or chimpanzees entering breweries to drink beer. Occasionally, these instances are met with the same onset of violence that we see in human behavior. We also don't have to go farther than a local pet store to find cat nip to give to a usually very willing feline. While there are numerous other examples, I don't feel that the initial question was intended to refer to animals. However, mentioning this is relevant to the topic of discussion.

Moreover, one should remember that getting high does not have to refer to substance abuse. Children on a playground will spin themselves around on playground equipment or by themselves to elicit a state of dizziness, typically accompanied by fits of laughter for the excitement they have found. Young teenagers often learn how to cut off their air supply till they enter an unconscious state. Unfortunately, there are also

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