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As far as alcohol goes. . .
It will always be around, if for no other reason it is cheap and easy to make. Plus, the way it is used, means it is more than just mind altering, there is a sensual experience to it. You can smell it, you can taste it, you can feel the burn in your throat, and the warmth in your belly. (And, let's face it, the hangover is a part of that experience.)
If there IS a future where cheap, safe, and effective recreational drugs are available, I see alcohol taking on a special, almost ceremonial status for the future equivalent of the terminally hip. Maybe even mythic or enhanced religious significance. The poor will just get shitfaced.
We need ceremony and tradition in our live, even in the little stuff. If other drugs ARE available recreationally, they will be proprietary in nature and strictly controlled not by government but by the patent attorneys. They won't have any perceived cultural significance (though of course, they WILL have enormous actual cultural significance).
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