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Discussion » Questions » Human Behavior » Besides escaping a reality they dislike why else do folks take drugs (excluding prescription meds and marijuana)? Is it easy to get hooked?
RosieG

Besides escaping a reality they dislike why else do folks take drugs (excluding prescription meds and marijuana)? Is it easy to get hooked?

Posted - March 5, 2017
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  • To be honest Rosie? I really don't see why people take drugs. I've tried just about anything you can think of in my youthful years and can't understand the addictions. Especially to heroin! Cocaine and LSD ? I never saw much use for them. I guess some people just have to keep trying to get the extreme ultimate high.....till it kills them. I'll just stick with my beer and weed.
      March 5, 2017 6:48 AM MST
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  • 113301
    Oh my gosh m'dear and you're still here in one piece and coherent? I think you were very lucky. 'll tell you the truth. It isn't that I'm such a goody goody so that was why I didn't try any of that stuff. It's that I was scared to death about what could happen to me. This is how scared I was. Once upon a time long ago a friend was smoking a marijuana cigarette and offered to let me try it to see how it felt. I was a nervous wreck but I took two quick puffs. I did not inhale. I handed it back and said "it didn't do anything for me". He laughed of course and that was that. I KNOW what alcohol does to me. I KNOW my limit. Never more than 2 drinks. In my youth I went  past my limit a couple of times and once I got the dry heaves for THREE DAYS! I wanted to die. I never again had more than two. But drugs? That's a whole different thing. Then there are the psychedelic drugs. What do they do to your brain? I'm sure some folks are more sensitive to them than others. I've read that it's possible for ONE EXPERIENCE to permanently harm you. So because I'm basically chicken I never tried. What did they do for you? Did you get "spaced out"?  Did you think you could fly?  Descriptions of what people experience on drugs scare the bejesus outta me. That's enough to turn me off so I don't want to get turned on! Thank you for your reply and Happy Sunday Rooster!  :)
      March 5, 2017 6:58 AM MST
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  • Actually Rosie? I didn't think they did much for me other than make me sick! I'm fine because I never did any of that crap again! The LSD was OK but nothing like all the stories you hear and I had heard at the time. Such a waste, especially heroin. I can't for the life of me see the draw to it. Yuk!
      March 5, 2017 7:04 AM MST
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  • 113301
    I think maybe you're less physically sensitive to it Rooster which is a really good thing. Some folks get hooked the first time they "do drugs" or so I've read and they're the ones who are more likely to die from it. I'm glad your body reacted as it did although I'm pretty sure your wise brain got involved somehow too coaxing you to stop the silly and get back to reality. Making you sick was lucky too. You have a smart body and a smart brain and they just did what they had to do to shake you out of it. I don't know why fear of dying and knowledge of how so many folks DID DIE by overdosing doesn't deter them. It's Russian Roulette I guess and I don't find anything remotely appealing about gambling with my life! Thank you for your reply m'dear!  :)
      March 5, 2017 7:13 AM MST
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  • 3907
    Hello Rosie:

    You DIDN'T buy right wing politics, so why did you buy right wing drug warrior LIES??? 

    Consider this; more people have died from alcohol and tobacco than ALL the illegal drugs put together..

    excon
      March 5, 2017 7:12 AM MST
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  • 113301
    I'm chicken excon. I'm aware of all the folks who died of drug overdoses. What right-wing drug warrior lies are you alluding to? I don't smoke. I drink alcohol and know my limit. When I was very young and stupid I exceeded that limit a few times. Once I had the dry heaves for 3 DAYS and wanted to just die. If you've been there you KNOW what that's like. I don't know how I would react to drugs.  My need to turn on is not that great. Once turned on how do I know I won't get addicted quickly? Years ago I took amphetamines. Diet pills. That was before they knew how addictive amphetamines were. I took them for about 6 months.  Got down to a good weight and my doctor wanted me to stop taking them. I told him that they gave me a lot of energy. I could work all day, come home and clean house for hours. I liked that. Well of course that was not the purpose of the drugs do he did not renew the prescriptiion.  I didnt know I was addicted to SPEED. I had to go cold turkey. It was MISERABLE!  I don't know if you've ever had to kick an addiction to anything excon but you don't forget it . So whatever those right-wing lies are I KNOW I don't want to take the chance of ever again getting addicted to anything. I may have an addictive personality. I don't even take codeine when prescripted for pain. I get by on Tylenol and I tough it out because I know codeine can be addictive. I'm not curious enough to find out if I do get addicted easily. After all these years you really think I'm gonna be influenced by anything that comes from the right-wing? Seriously dude? Thank you for your reply. This post was edited by RosieG at March 5, 2017 7:24 AM MST
      March 5, 2017 7:22 AM MST
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  • 3907
    Hello again, Rosie:

    The only reason you're "chicken", is because you believe the LIES..  If you didn't, WHY are you chicken??  You mention drug deaths, but FAIL to mention death from alcohol consumption far outweighs them.  Is that because you drink?

    Look..  I can tell by your attitude that you're STILL an active drug warrior.  You're NOT interested in learning..  You're interested in being a drug warrior..

    excon
      March 5, 2017 7:56 AM MST
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  • 314

    In the middle of an opiod epidemic, I can see why you might be alarmed.  However, cannabis is being understood and revealed as being a valuable and incredibly safe readdition to our pharmacopeia.  The history of the how and why of the Marijuana Tax Stamp Act of 1937 - and all that has devolved from all of that, may give you some very valuable insights. ( http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/taxact/mjtaxact.htm ) It's claims were refuted as early as 1939 by investigatory panels. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Guardia_Committee )  Hemp was a major crop in the US and our government even encouraged and subsidized it's growth during WWII ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp_for_Victory ) As you can see, the US Govt has a real schizoid approach to this simple, unprocessed plant that is not physically addictive and cannot be used to the point of overdose.

    It begins to make sense if you look at the economics.

    The dangers of other, far more dangerous drugs, have been underestimated and underexposed.  Too many people felt/feel that if their doctor prescribed it it has to be safe.  Too many doctors over-prescribe opiods in both frequency and dosage.  The war on cannabis has jacked the black market price of cannabis up leaving opiods being the more accessible drug.  And people will self medicate...fact of life. 

    Alcoholism played a prominent role in my childhood.  There is no more dangerous or insidious social ill due to it's legality and social acceptance. After seeing first hand what alcohol could bring me I avoid it's use.

    I prefer that humble weed.

     

    This post was edited by Sugar Skull at March 5, 2017 5:50 PM MST
      March 5, 2017 8:41 AM MST
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  • 314

    Addiction is a disease, not a behaviour disorder.  Watch someone detox and you'll understand that right quick - withdrawal from alcohol or heroin can kill.  Both cocaine and heroin are strong physical addictors, LSD a non-physical addictor.  As has been said before, no one wakes up and says,'hey, I wanna be a junkie today.'

    If you drink beer and smoke weed you're going down the same road as those addicted.  Beer is a physical addictor, weed non-physical - each having a different effect on your state of consciousness.  For most/many people, those two substances 'do it for you', and you don't feel any need for more.  That is me as well.  Other people, not so much and they 'chase the dragon' till they touch it's tail and fried in it's breath. 

    And, yeah...some people are subconsciously trying for the ultimate high....meeting their Maker.

      March 5, 2017 7:49 AM MST
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  • Beyond the "recreational" and the temporary relief of pain or anxiety, is a factor of physical or psychological dependence on them. People can become unshakably convinced that they are unable to make it through their day without the aid of artificial stimulants, sedatives or painkillers. Think Elvis Presley. 
    Then there is physical addiction, as with heroin or meth, where the user becomes so uncomfortable, sick or racked with pain without the drugs, they are overtaken by their need for continuous access to them. 
    Cigarettes (tobacco) go unmentioned in many drug conversations, but actually can be mentioned in both types of addiction. This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at March 5, 2017 5:51 PM MST
      March 5, 2017 7:32 AM MST
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  • Zee, interesting that you mention tobacco. I have heard many alcoholics say that quitting drink was easier than cigarettes.
      March 5, 2017 10:41 AM MST
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  • Dear RosieG,

    As to your Q of "why else," I am going to bring up the idea of trauma.
    When research was done among women in Iowa prisons, incarcerated for drug crimes, somewhere between 80% and 98% had history of childhood trauma; physical and sexual abuse.

    And with the drugs, it turns out they were self-medicating for the physical and emotional pain.
    Something like 12% of people in the USA are diagnosed with PTSD...trauma might turn out a larger factor in drug usage than we realize.
      March 5, 2017 10:46 AM MST
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  • Your first premise might be mistaken.  Perhaps people take intoxication for the same reason one engages in any pleasurable activity... pleasure. This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at March 5, 2017 6:02 PM MST
      March 5, 2017 3:54 PM MST
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  • 22891
    probably cause everyone else is doing it and they want to fit in
      March 9, 2017 3:29 PM MST
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