You can pick more than one answer, i didn't know we could do this and what better way than with the drugs we have all done and i know a lot of you have done drugs. I think this one will piss some people off but that is what i am here for.

You left out

"sex"

"Life"

"banging yer head on a brick wall til it bleeds"

and

"None of the Above"

Indeed. I didn't want people to able to choose that along with pot and crack or something. It crossed my mind, don't you worry.

Well then, as long as you don't have

"cruising the back roads on the Goldwing on a warm sunny afternoon"

as a choice, I can't vote.

So you have done Ecstasy. Nice.

Since I am absolutely, totally morally opposed to everything above i refuse to vote.

I dont find drug use even mildly entertaining.

Occasional social use of SOME on the list is not abnormal or morally wrong.
No more than jumping off a bridge with a rubber band around your ankle, or hang gliding, or mountain climbing in that all of these recreate the mind and dislodge us from our daily routine or rut.

Anything can be taken to excess, and anything can become addictive.


Needless to say I'm not against occasional drinking or pot smoking, as long as neither one is actually a part of your lifestyle and as long as neither one even partly defines your personality. Unfortunately many people seek escape, and don't know when enough is too much. Hence, the tool isn't the problem.


All that said, I don't have any issues with tea totalers either.As long as they aren't too judgmental or righteous.

I have used several of the above substances in my life before, but I currently abstain from all of them and will probably continue to do so, though I have no moral opposition to their use. Well, maybe Meth... but at least no one here has been stupid enough to try that one, at least not at the time I'm posting this.

I totally agree. I do drink every now and then and on rare occasions smoke pot or tobacco but for the most part, my drug use is way down. If someone tells me they have tried cocaine or heroine, i don't feel shocked or look down on them. I know a lot of normal, successful people who have done many of the drugs on that list.

I have actually only used the top three on the poll (probably why they are the first choices) but i feel like that is enough. By this age i just don't think people are experimenting with new drugs any more. The last time i tried a new drug was 17 years old. I have no temptation to try anything new on that list.

I have to disagree with greenguy, i do think that some of the drugs on that list may actually be beneficial to take at some points, especially pot and alcohol. They aren't good for you but sometimes, you just need a break from stress (which can kill you too). I also think there is a lot of misconceptions about almost all of the drugs in this poll. Does anyone really think that LSD is worse for you than a pack of cigarettes?

I am surprised by the number of people who have voted. At least four people, plus two who would have but the "none of the above" option was there (although i could have swore that sky told me he used to smoke pot). I did start this one off as a joke, just trying to test the multiple choice option on the polls, i didn't think anyone would vote besides me, but it has actually has turned out to be quite interesting. It really reminds me of the bullshit policies our country has about drugs.

Medical reasons? Sure. Recreational? Never. Except for maybe alcohol. But only in obvious limited quantities.

Problem is, most drugs dont eliminate stress. Most actually can cause more when you come down. Drugs like these are not natural stress relievers.

If you wanna relieve stress, masturbate.



Or exercise, drink some milk, listen to relaxing music, read a good book, etc....

Drugs as a stress reliever is a cop out excuse for taking the cheap way out of life's problems.

don't knock iit 'til you've tried it!

Drink some milk? where did that come from?
warm milk has activated tryptophan, but unless you talking about human breast milk, most milk ain't all that good for you.


edit to add:
The fact that none have you have ever tripped, or at least aren't even willing to admit to it anonymously, has changed my opinion of this forum.

Well, I disagree it isnt good for you, but thats a different thread alltogether. But yes the tryptophan converts to melatonin and seratonin and can make you tired. But for me, its more of a mental comfort thing.


Ive had 1 puff of a cigarette and sips of alcohol. Nothing else, ever.

My parents were heavy into some really bad stuff and did some minor dealing. I have seen things no child should have ever had to see.

Really? Never? Not once in the history of human existence? They absolutely can be stress relievers. Pot has calming affects and i have never got more stressed out when "coming down." Some of these drugs can also help you sleep. That is definitely a way to relieve stress. What about just giving you a break from the things you are worried about?



Also known as "displacement". That is hardly healthy behavior.

Drugs create only an illusion of relieving stress. The effects of pot vary from person to person. Some get hyper, some get down and every place in between.

However, it doest actually help the stress, it only covers it up.





This is incorrect. Displacement is when you take your specific emotions (usually anger) out on something that "didnt do anything to you"

So it doesnt fit with your usage.

Physical activity causes the body to come back into balance and releases chemicals which naturally relax and calm yourself. illegal drugs just cant do it.

Anything that does not directly address the problem, or is an escape from the problem, does not fix the problem.
Then the problem persists and remains a reason or justification for escape.

Sometimes though, the problems can't be immediately solved. Such as having to go to a suck ass job just because you've grown accustomed to having lights and heat and a phone. Temporary escape is a very healthy thing, as long as the temporary escape doesn't become the prefered option. (see addiction)

Again, I don't have any issue with the occasional escape. Be it a movie, a beer, a hike in the woods, or a bowl. The issue is when this escape becomes the prefered option instead of facing the everyday difficulties and emotional ups and downs.

Teaching yourself (and by your actions those around you) how to deal with your issues will get you through life much more successfully and happily than learning how to self medicate ever can. Besides, some of the drugs on that list are just plain dangerous and stupid!

You don't take your anger out on your peni....never mind.

Actually when you said exercise i was thinking about what i used to do, which was take my anger out on a punching bag. You are right, it isn't displacement. It is sublimation.


By the way, we seem to have quite a few coke users here. Must of been those golden reagan years when cocaine was all the rage.

No, punching a bag when your angry IS displacement. But there really is no physical manifestation for stress like there is for anger so i dont think there could be displacement for stress.

That is what i said. When you brought up exercising, i thought of the punching bag, and said all exercising is displacement. Some exercising is, some isn't.



There absolutely is. Most people either get anxious, depressed, or angry when stressed. You could displace stress, especially if stress leads to anger. I know, i've done it.

Still dealing with stress through exercising isn't all that healthy either, since you aren't actually dealing with your problems. It may release the pent up energy but isn't going to solve anything. If you have a problem with drugs as a form of stress relief, you should have a problem with exercising too.

Im just stating what the psychological field says how to deal with it. Im quite sure they know.

And everybody knows Psychologists have it all figured out.
"Here, take this. You'll feel better."
Better living through pharmacology?

Actually your thinking more along the lines of psychiatry. They do the medicine.

And whats wrong with medicine? Millions of people cant function without their medicine. Its insulting to imply people dont need some of these medicines.

But as usual, sky thinks he knows more than the experts....

You are correct, I did mean psychiatrists,
and no, not all experts.

However, just because they are experts does not mean that they know more than me!
And ANYONE that makes decisions for me and mine had better be able to fully explain them selves.

Drugs are for extreme cases, and are extensively over prescribed by the psychiatric field.





It's interesting how the insecure mind always deems it necessary to make the issue into something personal.

weren't you just touting the dangers of drugs? iits insulting to imply people don't need some of these medicines.

A drug prescribed by an "expert" is "safer" than a drug that is self prescribed,
because personal responsibility has been removed.

I don't agree with that. So many drugs that are legal are way more dangerous than those that are illegal. Just because a doctor gives it to you doesn't mean that it is any safer. Compare ambeian to pot and tell me that is safer. With so many legal drugs, we have no idea what they long term affects are. Man kind knows the dangers of alcohol or the affects that THC can have on you, since they have been used for thousands of years.

Some people here are holding back

http://oldamericancentury.org/bb/index.php?showtopic=3843

That was a sarcastic statement about what is the reality of what most people think.
If the Dr said it's OK, then it must be OK!

The effects of pot and booze are pretty minor compared to some of these psychotropics being prescribed to kids.
Pot and alcohol won't hurt you as long as you use in moderation. The greater risk, IMO, is the addiction to escapism.

Well said.

While we're on that tangent I'd like to add that not only is the medication dangerous that we give our kids because we don't seem to have the needed parenting skills, or the time to be good parents, but in giving our kids these medications we do two interrelated and potentially devastating things over and above the chemical aspects.


1. We teach our children to medicate their problems instead of dealing with them, and
2. We don't teach them how to deal with life's problems, and someday when they are young adults and life throws them a curve ball, they don't have the skills to deal with it and causes serious problems ranging from suicide to severe addiction.


The simple fact of growing up is hard. It's SUPPOSED to be hard. That's how we learn.
Our children are supposed to fall down sometimes. That's how they learn to NOT fall down.
Also, many times we as parents, who are supposed to be their first and most fundamental teachers, fail in our responsibilities. We tend to require our children to be perfect. Falling down is not an acceptable option. This is a huge stress for a child to deal with, a child that is in fact, supposed to fall down. We as parents can't deal with the issue, so we medicate our kids.

In other words, all to often the problem is not that of the kid, but instead that responsibility belongs with the parent.



Any body ever see "The Dog Whisperer"? The guy rarely actually has to do much of anything with the dog.
More often than not the one that needs training, is the owner!

Same sort of deal with kids.
A dog is a dog, not a little person. And a kid is a kid, not a young adult!

Ridiculous, Jack. Stress results from situations that trigger our evolutionary "fight or flight" response. A surge of adrenalin, etc. to provide us with the energy to exercise either option. Because fighting or fleeing are seldom practical reactions to the ordinary events that cause this physiological condition, stress accumulates. Exercise is an excellent way to relieve it. So is beer.

Sure, while both drugs and exercising take care of some of the physical effects of stress, they don't actually solve any problems. If you are having problems, they won't be solved by exercising. Your boss will still be a dick or you still will have money problems. As far as saying that drugs will do nothing and exercising is the only way to go, is ridiculous. Both help but neither is the answer.

Jack? Do you really believe you can remove ALL reason for stress from your life?
(I'll assume you said no.)
Then how do you deal with the reasons for stress that you can't remove (or that continue to pop up) from your life?


In my life I have known a few moments of bliss completely absent of stress.
But those were almost always escapist moments, (sex, drugs, etc) and I always had to come back to reality.

Indeed i did say no and having a stress free life is not only impossible, it would be unhealthy if possible. I think my original point got lost in the debate. We can all agree that if you can, dealing with the source of stress is the best route to take. Then again,too often you can't. Greenguy said that smoking pot or drinking alcohol or doing any of the other drugs (i can only speak from what i have been told about all the others) have no benefit. However, it is obvious to those of us who have done these drugs that one of the major benefits of them is that they can relieve stress or help with insomnia, and many of them are not all that harmful. He argued that doing drugs will only relieve your stress for a short amount of time and that exercising is a much better way to go for dealing with stress. However, besides facing your stress head on, none of the methods, be it drugs, exercise, music, sleep, vacations will cause any permanent change. I agree exercise is good, listening to music is good, but if some of these drugs in this poll (maybe not all of them) can have similar stress relieving affects with little to no harm to your health, then they do indeed have benefits.

Agreed, it's best to deal with the problem rather than to use escapist methods to not deal with it.
But sometimes we have to understand that we do have stress in our lives, and we have to find ways to deal with it.

It should be noted that there are any number of ways to deal with stress that don't require the use of drugs or alcohol. In fact, the risk if continued escapism is sufficiently high, that this generally may not be a good option for most.
AA is populated by people who thought they could quit at any time.

Salvia should be on there. Haven't tried it, but would like to.

I'm a huge advocate of anything that assists people in expanding the consciousness. Be it chemical or otherwise. Every drug has it's purpose, benefits, and dangers. It's the user's responsibility to use... responsibly.

Meth isn't a drug as far as I'm concerned. It's industrial waste.

You know when i was putting the options on the poll, i was about to put salvia but i guess i forgot at the last second. Weird.

Also i agree about meth. That is one drug i don't think should be legal (i think every other one on that list should be) because of how dangerous it is to produce. Although there are some medical uses for it, we really don't need it to be available to the general public. However, if cocaine was legal, no one would care if meth was illegal any way.

There needs to be a "none" option, for the little mormon boy in the back row.

Don't be silly, mormons aren't allowed to vote.

Dang.

Continued...

While we are on the topic of drugs, here is something that will make most of us shake our heads.

U.S. To Send $1 Billion To Mexico To Aid Deadly Drug War

Yep. They're turning us all into children. Even Rush Limbaugh, who had to go from adult to adult to feed his addiction.


I am. I've tried about 2/3 of your list, but I'm not going to specify which until there are no legal consequences. I do believe "they" are watching me. Some day I'll file a FOIA request and re-read what I wrote just now.

I don't believe in drugs, partly because it is against my religion, and partly because you lose some freedom to choose when you become an addict, but mostly because they change who you are and affect how you think.

But what if yer not an addict? (most recreational users aren't)
The changes are deliberate, and temporary.

You need to stop watching the government's anti-drug commercials.

It's not the commercials that have shaped my opinion, it's seeing what drugs did to a friend of mine.

My ex used to work for the VA. She spent several years on the detox ward. I've heard just about every horror story possible. (Before we divorced she worked in the infirmary at the Montana State Prison)

This doesn't change my opinion, that though these things can be dangerous, the drug isn't the problem, the drug is only the instrument.

To each his own, I guess.

That is a rare exception. When my brother was younger, he tried all sorts of drugs and right now he makes $50,000 a year and is working on getting his master's degree. Same with my dad (although he makes more money).

I drink every week and have smoke tobacco and pot many times in my life and i have no problem keeping a job, maintaining healthy relationships, keeping up in school, so i think the fear that anyone who touches any illegal drugs will end up as a hopelessly addicted mess is, for the most part, off base.

There's a difference between gettin wasted for fun, which you can still do too much, and gettin wasted to escape something you would rather not face up too, or a reality you might rather not have to accept.

With the first, when yer done having fun, and you've managed to detoxify yourself, you're pretty much able to get serious.
But with the second, the issue remains and it will continue to distract and undermine. You don't have to be wasted for the effects to longer on and on.