The world is brimming with possibilities, many more than it ever has been.
Ordinary people, not millionaires, can travel; watch movies in their own homes, on demand; read kindles storing whole libraries of books; play electronic games; learn another language knowing there's a good chance they'll go to countries that speak it; buy lurid Lycra outfits and racing bikes, and aim to be super fit; learn pole dancing; save whales and gorillas - and in quieter moments have sex without fear of either pregnancy or police.
As a result, this could be the most self-centred generation in history, and probably is: it expects instant and easy gratification.
It's unlikely that either sex will ever be drafted to fight wars in foreign countries, or beat back armed invaders at our far-flung beaches.
The cars they drive don't break down every few hundred miles, and the tyres they run on don't suffer constant punctures.
Credit to buy the toys they hanker for is easily arranged, and any antisocial feelings are expressed in many styles of music that curse in sympathy.
They can buy whatever they crave online, explicit sexual movies are a few clicks of a mouse away, should they require solo acts of fascination, and perfectly legal prostitutes are no further away than a mobile phone call.
And yet they want to get stoned/high/out of it?
Just over 75 per cent of the 5646 New Zealand participants in the survey have taken at least one illegal drug in their lifetime, while 30 per cent have used at least one in the past month, the survey says.
One 23-year-old interviewed locally said marijuana helped him to relax, and had helped him with anger issues.
He used ecstasy in nightclubs, he said, and basically drugs were just there if he was bored, especially marijuana.
Of course I'm one of the 75 per cent. People my age all tried it at least once, and they're lying if they say otherwise.
But I didn't take to it: it smells sickening and hurts your throat when you inhale. The effect is numbing, as if you're wrapped in invisible cotton wool, and though people swore it made sex marvellous, it didn't.
If anything, it made you feel disengaged. Dope didn't justify the hype or the hassle, I thought. Besides, there are better ways of avoiding being bored.
I don't expect my lame admission will mean border guards stop me entering America.
I'm much less important than Nigella Lawson, who was turned away recently. During her nasty divorce hearing she admitted occasionally using marijuana, in the relatively recent past, and also having used cocaine in tough times.
It gets down to this, doesn't it? We punish people for being honest, though honesty is a value we're supposed to admire. Far better for Lawson if she'd lied, because she's being punished for having ethics too sound for her own good.
To add to her pain, Vogue put her on its cover wearing very little makeup, and looking 10 years older as a result. She was reportedly "terrified" at the prospect, saying, "Makeup is a mask - it's armour." As indeed it is. It is a kindly and painless form of deceit, and all women of a certain age, but especially beautiful ones, should be allowed to hide behind it, especially in traumatic times.
Betrayed by her husband and her housekeepers, devoid of her usual heavy black eye stuff, English Vogue's April cover was the unkindest cut of all.
Rosemary McLeod is a journalist and author.
