Do u guys do drugs?

[Farrowlesparrow]

I really don't think any kind of addiction is right. Now what i consider an addiction many people think of as a habit. Bad Hat you say that those people are the most together and loving people you know. But the that is likely going to be in their personality's anyway and the drugs don't have anything to do with it. Its possible that they drugs are a form of stress release for them or that it makes them feel better. But alot of people would find if they lived their lives a different way they wouldn't need such things.

Something else about drugs is that it is generally breaking the law, and even if i don't agree with a law i will still always respect it because to be honest if it were anarchy most of us would be dead.

Something which obviously means i have a different opinion to most of the people here is that I'm a Christian.
Alot of people feel that since they don't have along time to live, they might as well enjoy life (one method is the topic in question). But they really don't enjoy living as a whole. Sure the often enjoy 'the moment' but just today two people at my college were talking about what they were doing yesterday and one of them said he was just sat at home doing nothing because he was depressed about death. The other was just wandering around the park because he was depressed about how much life is messed up, not his life just life in general. But if you were to meat them you would NOT think they were the types to get depressed, but the fact is so many people get depressed i cant remember the statistics but the sheer amount of anti depressants sold each year is un believably huge. Its not even to people that would be classed as depressed people. Its just normal men and women who on the outside seem quite happy. Now I'm not going to have a go at anyone in these forums but i doubt many people here can really think about the reality of death and how short a time you really have.

This all may sound 'preachy' and in a way its supposed to be after all that is what i need to be doing. I don't want to offend anyone but if anyone is apologise but if i could convey what i want you to know you wouldn't get offended.

I'm not the best person at getting my feelings across when I'm typing so this may not come out as expected but don't get annoyed or laugh because I'm being serious but if you do laugh or get angry its not going to make any difference to me.

 

[Mr. Redundant]

I used to smoke cigs (6 years), and drink alcahol (not that much)
I dont do anything now, I havent smoked for almost a year

 

[h00dlum]

harder drugs sucks!!

 

[Guest]

I voted for Cannabis... btw Cannabis is legal in my country

 

[Fat Tony!]

umm im really ignorant about this stuff but wot exactly in full does canabis do to u which is bad.(i voted for no, but my mates do it).

 

[jhero]

Drugs are bad. They kill you. :x

 

[Fat Tony!]

how do they kill u i mean canabis

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Not all drugs automatically kill you. Unless you have to much but too much of anything will kill you.


Cannabis relatively harmless compared to other drugs but it does have some side affects. Most drugs are quite good for you when they are in the natural form. Im not sure which one it is but there is one type of drug that originaly grew high altitude and when you eat the leaves it helps with mountain sickness.

 

[Murray_H]

Smoking anything organic is bad for you - carbon compounds will not combust completely 100% of the time and carbon monoxide (CO) is formed.

Your blood haemoglobin has a higher affinity for CO than oxygen, and it binds with it very quickly and refuses to let it go. This means that the haemoglobin will carry less and less oxygen the heavier you smoke. Granted, you blood is refreshed on a regular basis but you will be carrying depelted levels of haemoglobin in your body the offending cells are removed.

A person that smokes anything regularly will usually be less 'fit' than someone who has never smoked.

 

[righte0us]

I'm just smoking cigs \:

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Poor you.

 

[simmo]

Yup, Drugs are bad, they kill you :x

 

[Fat Tony!]

lol thought so thx guys

 

[[Re4lity]Marc]

imo (as a regular canabis smoker)

the paranoia you get. that is the only downside for me. As it can really get me all wound up, and then i relise... o shit! it was nothing!

and fyi, i NEVER smoke solid/hash. it is horrible shit. Only good green bud for me!


and without trying to sound cocky, i probably know more about drugs that most here.

 

[derby]

Originally posted by mrBadger
Tobacco Alcohol and coffee are legal....

That doesn't really make sense, there are countires where Cannabis is legal and there are countires where Alcahol is illegal. Also caffiene in refined form is illegal in a lot of countries.

 

[derby]

The knee-jerk reaction most people have to drugs is not really helpful. Sure drugs can kill you, if you take too much, but then again so can water. Some drugs are highly addictive, and they should be avoided due to a cycle of increased use that that generates. A lot are mearly habit forming or not addictive at all, so longer as the user is responsible and moderates well they are actually very safe.

Alcohol is far more dangerous than the other drugs on that list in terms of % deaths and illness per user. Also the drug policies used in countries like the US are vastly counter-productive when trying to fight the 'drug war'. Instead of treating addicts as if they have a medical condition (which, though self inflicted, is true) they are treated as criminals, which makes them likely to re-offend as well as wasting public money in incarseratio that could be used to stop drug use by fightnig poverty and enemplyment. These are two factors most influential in hard drug use.

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

I have to say i basically agree with what you are saying. Infact its kind of similar to what i said just before in some ways.

More often than not the problem comes not from the drug itself but from peoples attitudes towards it. (user's and non-user's)
Im not really explaining much here im just waffling but this is because im about 1 minute away from going to bed.

Many many people are gluttons for pleasure, be it from drugs, food, sex etc... Gluttony often leads people to do very stupid things. Since they are always wanting more and more they go to increasingly extreme measures to get what they want.
Although there are drugs which are not physically addictive, they are mentaly. People form habits which arent too bad but a lot of the time habbits can turn into obessions. Im not saying allpeople just a lot of people.

Then there are addictive drugs in the physical sense. To be honest they are just plain wrong. Most of them if not all arent evennatural, human beings have refined normally harmless plants into very harmful addictive substances.

Whether or not drugs should be illegal i dont really know. hard drugs, certainly but the so called softer drugs like cannabis im not sure. If they were to become legal i dont think that they should be adverised in any way, simply because they do have harmful side effects and people may be drawn into using them without knowing what they are doing.


Anyway im not 30 seconds from going to bed so im quite tired. Goodnight, i hope this post made sense. It doesnt make much sense to me and i wrote it.

 

[Dave]

I try not to take any kind of drugs whenever possible. No alcohol, caffene, tobacco, etc.. Only drugs I take are those required to keep my Asthma under control.

 

[[SH_Dev]Unwante]

Woops , do I do drugs ...Offcourse everyday , Today I started with a smoke , then a coupe of coffe and ended the day with a phat SPLIFF .....Goddam I love Fridays ....

 

[[Re4lity]Marc]

Originally posted by derby
Alcohol is far more dangerous than the other drugs on that list in terms of % deaths and illness per user. Also the drug policies used in countries like the US are vastly counter-productive when trying to fight the 'drug war'. Instead of treating addicts as if they have a medical condition (which, though self inflicted, is true) they are treated as criminals, which makes them likely to re-offend as well as wasting public money in incarseratio that could be used to stop drug use by fightnig poverty and enemplyment. These are two factors most influential in hard drug use.

In terms of accessibility, alcohol is definatly the most dangerous drug, however, heroin is FAR more dangerous and if it was as widely and easily available as alcohol, for similar prices...

(for those that dont know... heroin can get you physically addicted after just a few times, so your body become reliant on it, and if you dont take it, you can die. As for the benefits of it, i personally dont do heroin, but have been told it is a high like cannabis, but even better and does not have the paranoia.

 

[Sat]

You forgot to put Computers in the list, so i voted for Heroin (yes its me ) which in think is the only one that can be as strong as computers...

 

[[Re4lity]Marc]

thats not funny

 

[Bilko]

Nope, drugs are bad. Period.

 

[[Re4lity]Marc]

no, it not that they are all bad. just heroin is a serious thing. you dont do joking arround that you do it, when all you really do is sit at a computer with no social skills

 

[Anthraxxx]

We know what this kid is gonna grow up to be....

 

[Fiddle]

I got a new bong recently, it works wonders... I figure if my parents ever find it, I'll say I use to smoke tobacco :bounce:

 

[Anthraxxx]

Oh, that's a good excuse. You're gonna tell them that you use a bong to smoke tobacco......<_<

C'mon, be more creative. Tell them that its a cupholder that has a little thing at the bottom that you can use to heat up ypur drink....

 

[jhero]

DRUGS ARE BAD!

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Originally posted by Fiddle
I got a new bong recently, it works wonders... I figure if my parents ever find it, I'll say I use to smoke tobacco :bounce:

I love pictures. They save so much time.

 

[Fiddle]

At first I was gonna say drink holder and that that thing on the side is a straw... With black flavour crystals in it.

 

[Phisionary]

OK. I'm planning on making this a fairly long (ended up very long, and yet incomplete) post, so bear with me. Or skip it, I don't care.

I, personally, reject simple, blanket statements, purely on principle... Very few things in this life can be explained in a sentance. One of those things is drugs. And simple, blanket statements about drugs are something which has been a continual annoyance to me.

What are drugs? No I'm not going to give you some technical definition. I just want to get you in the right mind-set. Drugs are chemicals, those not directly required to sustain your body (ie. not food, water, air, etc.), that act on your body in a physiological way (Ok, I'm not counting vaccines and other biological agents, I don't think they're technically drugs either). Whether it's cancer-fighters or caffeine, drugs are all around. Just about anyhitng that's not food, water, and air, that we put into out body, is a drug.

So when people say 'Drugs are bad' that just ticks me off. There's probably less than 5 percent of the pupulation of any first-world country that hasn't used a drug at some point.
OK. So that wasn't the way in which the word was intended. It's just that this is innacurate usage. Lots of things are drugs.

So, I meant BAD drugs, you say... Ok. No such thing. There are no BAD drugs. There are drugs with a greater amount of positive benefits thatn negative, and there are those that are the other way around.
Alomost any drug, used improperly, or overdone, can be fatal. I believe there are something like 120,000 pescription and over-the-counter drug overdoses every year ( don't quote me, this isn't really scientific). Thousands upon thousands die, from these overdoses or from interactions with other drugs. This all from so-called 'good' drugs.

Allright then. Illegal drugs. Yes, of course, I have a problem with that as well. Legalities of drugs can be summed up in one word. Politics. The most common illegal drug in use today is Marijuana, or Cannabis. Many people in the US (which is my own country, and the center of my own expiriances) believe that Marijuana prohibition was begun as a way to villify African Americans, who at that time (Perhaps the 1920's and 30's), were just beginning to echieve some limited level of social equality, and were entering the work force at a time of ecomomic difficulty for many. There is significant Historic evidence to support this, though some parts are less reliable than others. But at the beginning, Marijuana was popularily believed to trigger fits of hysterical laughing, often to be accompanied by uncontrollable violence, bloodlust, and murdererous rage. I hope everyone at least knows better than that.

I'm gonna skip some history, I don't know it that well.

I suppose I should discuss my own personal views on drugs. I also suppose you will judge me immediately, for those few who have not already. I've used drugs, including those that would be called illegal under the current laws of my country. Some of you may think I'm now an immature, rebellious, felonous, stupid little villain; just because of that... I don't agree, of course. I've never been arrested, I have no criminal record. I don't even have a parking ticket. But I broke the law, yes?? True, true. But is a law I do not support, or believe benefits myself or my community positively. This law is only one, the class 3 status and full restriction of the use of marijuana. It is this law that I broke, and would do again.

But it's nothing so direct as an act of civil disobediance, as a political protest, or any such altruistic purpose; don't get me wrong. I did it because I wanted to get high (no really ). I did it (at about the age of 16, in case you care) becasue I had considered the options, weighed the risks, judged it for it's merits, and decided that I would be worse off for not having that particular expeiance. It's not somehting I reccommend for everyone, of course. No sooner would I reccomend a Red Bull to someone with a caffeine sensitivity. This is (and legally should be) a decision up to the individual.

So I smoked weed, and I did it again. And again. Am I addicted? Do I have a 'habit?' No. I've used it, upon occasion, in the company of friends, or in some cases on my own. The last time I did was 5 months ago (a ski trip (no pun intended), I did it because a friend related to me that it was something he found enjoyable, and unique. That particular day was generably enjoyable, but for me the Cannabis seemed not to add to the experiance greatly...). I have not found occasion or necessity to do so since.

Am I encouraging anyone to break the law?? No. Of course not. Without a system of laws, in some form generally similar to the one we have today, modern society could not stably exist. Perhaps, were it my choice, it would opperate differently thatn it does today. I personally see no reason any moral, economic, or other failiures in our culture (I mean the US of A, as a whole), nessesitate us having the highest incarceration rate in the world. I see that as a clear sign of failings in the 'system.' It is beyond my talents, knowledge, or aspirations to diagnose the legal system of my country.

So, in my belief, there are positive, and negative values to this one drug, Marijuana. On the downside, it is illegal, and carries with it the not inconsiderable risk of getting caught, imprisoned, and tagged with the personal and professional stigmata of a drug user, limiting one's ability to best serve your country, community, and personal best interests. It also increases a persons risk of respiratory infections, and copious (and therefore most likely habitual, through psycological dependance) use may increase the incidence of cancer. It affects the ability of the brains short term memory, over the period of twelve hours or so. There are also some affects upon motor-control and concentration, though vastly less than alcohol intoxication. It may affect long term memory and/or cognitive ability over long periods of heavy use. And it may affect growth and psycological development when used at a young age, perhaps under 16, on average. This, like many things about marijuana, have been failed to be proved or disproved by a fair and unbiased group in the medical community. Much of the information the US government uses was developed 'in-house', and has failed to be confirmed by an unnafiliated outside medical institution using documentably reliable medical and scientific procedures.

There are benefits. It has been authorized by 9 states as a doctor-pescribable medication for the treatment of certain diseases, including glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, and for use with cancer treatments such as chemotherapy. It was judged superior as a painkiller and relaxant, and to stimulate the appetite for these patients, some of whom were unable to use conventional medicaton. The federal government does not, however, recognize the right of these states, and for this reason these arguments of medical neccessity are not accepted in federal court.

Besides these reasons, conventionally seperated from so-called 'recreational' use, to keep this association with an illegal drug, used for 'fun.' I believe. I dont wish to discuss any other aspects of marijuana that i feel to be positive, because i don't think this is the appropriate forum to do so. But I do wish to address it as an issue of "personal freedom." It's a hard thing to argue at times, but so is the rest of this... So let's set it up like this. "I like orange juice. I drink it quite often. Someone comes by and tells me 'Orange juice is bad for you. You can't use it.' I say orange juice is good for me, I wan't to use it. It tastes good, and therefore makes me feel good, and I have a better day. This person says 'Now orange juice is illegal, you can't use it.' If I stop drinking orange juice, this person wins. Orange juice will be no more. So I say, orange juice is good, and it doesn't hurt me. Maybe it has too many calories (OK, it doesn't, but orange juice doesn't have ANY noticable side-effects to the average person, I wanted something to elaborate on), but that's not hurting other people. But the person says "Orange juice is bad. You could be driving, and throw it the window and kill someone, or you may commit crimes to afford it's now-vastly inflated cost." Uh-huh, yeah. Sure.

Personal freedom. A person should be free do do something that does not physically or mentally harm someone else. Sitting in your house and smoking a joint isn't going to hurt anyone else. You should be able to so it... There is some evidence (not well proved, and generally supported using innapropriately collected statistical information, but generally believeable) that marijuana causes significant imparement to your ability to operate a vehicle or a piece of heavy machinery. Fine. Arrest people that drive stoned, if they're dumb enough and inconsiderate enough to do so (please note that there is no direct corrolation between drug use and intelligence or mental ability). They probably deserve it. But in MY house, I should be able to do what I want, if it does not harm others.

Oops, too long

-Phision

 

[Phisionary]

A vast majority of the harm we connect with Marijauna can be also connected with the incredible overvaluation due to it's illegalization, and hence, the criminal network designed to supply people with it. ..But, you may say: 'People who want to smoke will steal to get what they want!!' This is true to a limited extent, but there is an inverse corrolation between the value of supply on the market and the amount of crime perpitrated by it's potential buyers. Read: costs more, people steal more. If it was widely available to those who need or want it, crime would be lower.

But the criminals who make and distribute this, they're evil! Hmmm. It's very possible that those in the higher eschelon's of the criminal organizations involved with the distribution and manufacture of drugs (Marijuana as well as many 'harder' drugs), are indeed 'evil'. Or, to use a less loaded tem, morally reprehensible and unnaccounted for by the laws and values of the markets they serve. they have been corrupted by the power created by the demand that already existed. The harder law enforcement tries to stop them, the greater the rewards of success. It's a deadly circle we cannot escape. It also has an undesired side-effect of grouping all drugs together, from Marijuana to Heroine.


*sigh* this post started as something altogether simpler... I'm afraid it's getting a bit preachy, I dind't want to be preachy. But I do consider it an unfinished work, anyway... I'm tired of it for now.


I'm sorry if I've offended anyone, but my beliefs are mine alone. I dislike the judgemental and moral superiority that people often hold towards someone, once they learn taht they've used drugs. Most of the time theses people don't know a clue about it.

I'm not saying that Marajuana is good, much less heroine and cocaine and whatever.....

I'm just saying that, much of the time, it's none of they're damn business whether anybody else does drugs. Any many problems with them are created by the legal and social system we live in....

If anybody wants to complain, or insult me, or thank me, or ask me something, or whatever, just PM it, I don't know if I'll come back.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't anything really painful or difficult. It just get's me worked up from time to time. That's not what I'm here for....

so... HALF LIFE 2 YAY!!!!! (something we can all agree on :E)

Edit: WOW that's one big post... Please note it hasn't been edited much for grammer and spelling. And some parts might not makes sense. Hmm. prolly should have pointed that out at the beginning :E

-Phision

 

[TsuNamI]

I agree with Phisionary. I've smoked some weed (perhaps once every 3 months the last year), which is in my opinion practically nothing. Always with friends, and I got a rather nice feeling with it. Like you're drunk, but more reactive to things. You also miss the rather bad after-drink-symptoms in the morning that sometimes occur. *nudge*. I get the feeling that when I compare weed with alcohol, the alcohol does more damage to my body. Of course, the weed has it effects, but when u use this little the effects are neglectable.

blah, incoherent sentences... sue me

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Very good post Phisionary. What you are saying i agree with. However i would like to point out one thing. Yes we should have the freedom to do as please if it in no way harms other people. But (This is me im talking about, i dont know about most other people) when i see someone who is harming themselves, even if it only them. Then i will try to stop them because i dont like seeing people hurt. I wont force them i will mearly try to encourage them out of it or try to show them what they are doing to themselves.

Im always trying to dicourage my friends from smoking etc. Because i know what it can do to people. My cousin died not long ago from lung cancer. They smoked like a chimney, twice as much as anyone else i know. But they were only 19 when they died. I would have loved to have been able to stop them doing that. To make them stop. But i couldnt. They had free will to do as they pleased. While she was at home though (still living with her parents) she wasnt allowed to smoke in the house.

Having freedom to do what we want is great, but people need to learn responsability before they should have freedom.


EDIT: Alcohol doesnt harm your body unless you have to much. In moderation its good for you. Weed can in fact affect your mind. It generally doesnt affect your volcabulary and adstract centres but it can "dumb down" ,for want of a better phrase, other parts of the brain.

 

[[Re4lity]Marc]

Read: costs more, people steal more. If it was widely available to those who need or want it, crime would be lower.

That is BULL.
If weed was made legal, the government would tax it SO much, that it would be WAY more expensive than it is at the moment.
I smoke about a joint a day, sometimes more. Me and my friend dont deal or steal to pay for the habit. We arnt all criminals.

I am against legalising of it, but for the downgrading (in the UK) to it being a class C (so cant be arrested for personal possession)

But, thats just my 2c, as a regular user.

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Possesion. Yeah i suppose i could go with that. But if someone were dealing it then they should get harsh punishment.

 

[[Re4lity]Marc]

also, then you got the two types of dealers, the type which buy for selling to people, making money and also sell other drugs

and the type, which buy in bulk for themselves + friends, as it cheaper that way, and not make a profit.

ie. 9 bar solid is bout £200. if you buy per ounce, it going to be about £40-45/ounce. so it works out about half the price, if a group of friends chip in, but according to the law.. the guy who actually goes to buy it, is the dealer (my friend got caugh a few years back, apart from it was smaller quanties of green)