Things change. Yes, it is weird, but I see your case as somewhat different. People distance from you because they don't want to be judged as weird themselves for doing drugs. They fear that they be misunderstood. Some may also be afraid you may disclose it to others outside the group. Some may indeed judge you for maybe being close minded or not open to new experiences.

Do you get the "Have you ever tried {insert recreational drug here}?? You're missing out, etc."

>Have you ever tried {insert recreational drug here}?? You're missing out, etc.

Yeah I get that a lot.

I get what you're saying and, incidentally, you made a pretty good point,

"People distance from you because they don't want to be judged as weird themselves ..."

Isn't this, more or less, always the case?

The way I see it is some sort of 'tribal' instinct, us vs. them, kind of thing. The norms that define inclusion/exclusion from the group could change everyday.

I find it frustrating and honestly quite sad how many people cannot get past this issue, and how many good relationships and opportunities never take off because of this barrier.

Yes, I find it rather sad too, but not as an immutable thing. I think that we have the capacity to move towards a better direction.

I am thinking that education has a lot of potential. We could experiment with and introduce some form of early psychology of self discovery to children in schools, something basic to help them learn to reflect. That would guide more people towards self fulfillment and a lot of these problems would simply disappear.