I found the question come up on both communist and anarchist subs, and the difference in responses was quite striking.
As a longtime PTSD sufferer who self-medicates to the hilt just to do simple things like fall asleep or leave the house, the idea that I would either lose access to, be forced underground, or prosecuted for my recreational habits terrifies me.
I understand the rationale is in a functioning communist state, I would no longer feel the need for those drugs. Does it follow the science of recreational marijuana, psychedelics, ADHD, anxiety, depression, etc.? Or is the ambition to ween everyone off? And does that apply for all manner of distraction and entertainment as well?
Unsatisfyingly, the answer is probably 'it depends.'
I think ideally there would be room for society to decide for itself whether or not to get off those drugs and distractions. Yes there would be better health services and people wouldn't be so alienated. But then they might still choose recreational drugs and play video games all day. So the state would have to be open to that possibility and governing around that. But if people eventually lose interest in those things and ween themselves off, then the state should be accepting of that too. It could also be that those drugs are used to make medications that aren't stigmatized and are deemed medically safe. So doing psilocybin may be as easy as picking up a bottle of mushroom pills from the pharmacy and then having follow up psychiatry/MD appointments. So recreational wouldn't mean anything anymore.
I seriously think that most people if liberated from capitalism will occupy their time in a fulfilling way and we'd see a huge reduction in pathologies. There would be a few, probably more in the transition who haven't known any better, who will sit around all day and do nothing. That's fine, and shouldn't be illegal. But it's also important to tell those people that it's ultimately bad for you. You're not supposed to lay in bed all day and post online or play video games. It's objectively bad for your body. Blood pressure goes up, resting heart rate increases, fluid pools in the limbs, risk of blood clot increases, weight gain, reduced muscle mass, circulation problems. So it would be prudent to help those people come down off bad habits. Not outlaw those activities.
I think society has to ween itself off using law as a bludgeon for every problem. As law enforcement is one of the last remaining functional aspects of society we tend to look at everything in terms of banning and then enforcement. People drink too many sodas? Ban them. People vape too much? Ban. We just don't have a mindset of solving the real problems, banning is much easier. Plastic straws aren't a problem because they're allowed. They're a problem because for the past 40 years we've let fast food places run amok and do whatever they want. Children vaping cotton candy clouds is only an issue because of our kid glove treatment of tobacco companies. It's easier to put the burden of responsibility on the consumer rather than the businesses. So once we move to communism we're going to have to get out of that mindset, that in order to accomplish a deterrence you have to initiate a ban. We wouldn't have to do that in a communist society. There would be enough direct action by the people and enough state help to attack the real source of the problem. In the case of sitting around all day that could be mental illness. Rather than banning video games.