Everyone I know, including me, who has ever used drugs is ruined by them, this includes alcohol and cigarettes but excludes prescriptions for genuine medical purposes (though some are worse of because of that, too).
I know many famous artists and entertainers are fueled by their drug abuse, but I think that speaks more to the American population than the quality of the art. Ever since my introduction to alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana in college (peer pressure and all) my mind has turned to complete mush, my math sucks, my chinese sucks, my writing sucks (and I'm still working on a novel), and I can barely form what used to be cogent thoughts. I don't even know what's real or that I exist within a hit. I'm pretty sure my psychological meltdown was being I was high (since I had no issues with that until it happened). I have zero self control and am now rude, crude, and violent when I am told in the past I was a quiet, nice, smart kid. It is also impairing my ability to learn new things and remember old ones. If anyone knows of any studies that indicate a positive cognitive impact of drugs on the human brain, I would be happy to here it.
And now society views drugs as the cool thing to do. and not doing drugs means your lame and a loser
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Moderate use of alcohol probably does little harm. Drinkers actually live longer than tea-totallers. Other than that I've never used any drug, not even tobacco, and I'm glad of that.
I see the ravages of drug use every day in my practice. For whatever reason, humans seem determined to try to change the reality in which they live. In my experience, many substance abusers are self-medicating underlying mental illness with the substances they abuse. Others simply seem to have a pre-disposition to using drugs, as it sounds with you.
At its purest form, I guess altering reality is not inherently wrong. Many people (Sam Harris included) speak of profound, almost life changing experiences when using MDMA. Drugs that alter our perception of pain have very much improved many individuals quality of life. The problem comes with unintended consequences and side effects. Tolerance and dependence are probably the two most problematic issues. Most people who use alcohol regularly develop both. They require more and more to achieve the desired effects and when they don’t use it, they develop life threatening withdrawal symptoms. Therefore, they are obliged to work harder and harder to acquire and use it and eventually their entire life revolves around that. Same is true with opioids. Physical consequences also are an issue. Whether it is cirrhosis with alcohol, COPD with tobacco (nicotine) or hepatitis C (any injectable drug) these issues are a drain on the individual and society. Every day I see people choose cigarettes over medication and vaccination. (Yes Travis, I’m talking to you).
So, to end my likely incoherent and somewhat hypocritical (given that I write multiple prescriptions for mid altering drugs every day) rant. I really have no real problem with people using substances to alter their reality…(I do it every day with my 2 cans of Pepsi Max). My issue is that drug use has consequences both to the individual and to society which are not inconsequential. I’m all for needle exchanges, which have lowered the rates of hepatitis C and HIV in some communities. I don’t think legalizing drugs is the real answer. Alcohol and tobacco are legal. People still die from the use of these drugs at great cost to them and society. The same would be true of heroin. It is yet to be seen what the legalization of marijuana will bring in unintended and unforeseen consequences. Until we figure out how to mitigate all the issues surrounding drug use, I will be firmly against their use for recreational purposes.
I've never used any drug, or smoked anything. I drink occassionally, only on weekends, socially, maybe 2 drinks a week. Anyone I've ever known who had to be stoned all the time( I've worked with people who smoked shit 3-5 times a day during one 8-9 hr shift...plus cigarettes..I have some friends, and members of family that also smoke shit daily...about every half hour, plus cigarettes...they have smoke comming from their mouths 24/7) their behavior, ways of thinking, and overall personality not only change, but become completely irrational. People get addicted because they ALLOW themselves to be addicted. ( to ANYTHING) Most peoples human nature is to overdo things, thinking more is better. The bottom line is...people have no self control. And don't fool yourself into thinking that it is an "addictive personality." There is one word for that ...LAZINESS!! It is much easier to just keep right on doing what you are doing, than to get off your ass, own what is going on, and do the work, get the help you need. The excuse of "addictive personality" makes it sound like the person is not to blame, it must be some kind of genetic disorder. If someone can go to a hospital, doctor, rehab center and "kick" what the problem is, then it is NOT anything genetic. I can tell you first hand that genetic disorders DO NOT go away. You can't "kick" them. People dont want to sweat, don't want to feel ANY discomfort, don't want to exert themselves in the least, don't want to feel any soreness, or pain. People should be brought up to learn that they have the inner strength to get through life's difficuties. That is one of the problems about being taught to believe in "HIGHER POWER." tHEY BELIEVE THAT IF YOU PRAY, GO TO CHURCH, believe, or whatever, that God will take care of you. I've got news for you...TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!!! There is no divine being that is going to help you do anything.
The fact that someone has "disagreed" with the previous post is a perfect example of why the world, and people are basically F$%&*D up!!! This person dosen't want to admit to reality... and will not be able to seek help unless they take FULL RESPONSIBILITY, admit they have a problem, and the problem is THEIRS!!
I view drugs as more of a health and safety issue than a criminal one, sure drugs destroy some peoples lives, but that is also due to those peoples decisions; so blaming the drugs just ignores the problem.
not everyone can overcome drug addiction
Not everyone can overcome a bad diet either, and considering heart disease kills a quarter of people, would you outlaw fast food?
BULLSHIT!! Anyone can overcome anything, if they put their minds to it, and show some self discipline, and self control, they CAN do it. It is NOT EASY, BY ANY MEANS...but if people can go to rehab centers, doctors, pyschlogists, or even by themselves, can kick their problem, then it IS humanly possible. People just have weak minds, and no self control...the problem wasn't there to begin with...it was the PERSON that let it get out of control. As I posted the other day, it is alot easier to just keep right on doing what you are doing, rather than to put your head down, take responsibility, and plow through the help you need, which will involve some suffering, which no one wants to go through. But you know what, you played, now its time to pay! And to call these self inflicted "addiction" diseases further infuriates me. I first hand have seen what disease can do to a persons body, mind, family..you can't go to a rehab center and "kick" Cancer, ALS, MS,MD and a host of thousands of incurable, terminal illnesses. The patients must suffer through their treatments, and hope that they will stick around for a while. The bottom line is...people are responsible for their own actions, and behaviors...the problem with some of these rehab centers, is that they try to convince the person that their self inflicted problem is somehow not their fault, or responsibility, which means they will never own it, and have high risk of relapse.
So, reality, you are asserting, in your opening sentence, that anyone can overcome anything if they put their minds to it. Care to back that up with some actual fucking data?
OOOH getting a bit touchy, aren't we?? Did I hit a nerve?? There is no way to put on a sheet of paper what is going on inside a persons mind. Through personal experience, I have seen many people who have beaten their self inflicted habits/ addictions, and are doing extremely well now. But those individuals OWNED their problem, realized they were to blame, destroying their lives, and the lives of their loved ones, got up OFF THEIR ASSES, put their heads down, and went through what they HAD to go through...no excuses, no alibi's. It's because of bleeding hearts like you that our insurance rates, and taxes go so damn high because we have to keep comming up with remedies to keep saving people from THEMSELVES!! YOUcan pay for it, i'M TIRED OF IT!!!
Yep, touchy...I dislike it intensely when someone makes assertions without any data to back them up...particularly if that person identifies as atheist.
You base your assertion on personal experience? Okay, then you need to say THAT instead of making a blanket statements similar to "all people do X". And by the way, the plural of anecdote is NOT data.
I'm a bleeding heart? Upon what have you based that? Because I asked for fucking data? Wow!
Just useless...and by the way, you advocate "data" so much...as I remember it, YOU were one of the ones on this website that accused me of being "Kenny," and really NOT an atheist... WHERE WAS YOUR DATA to support that??!! I can't, and won't argue with ignorance...have a nice day
Well, yes, I posted my suspicion that you were a Kenny iteration. Yes, I had data upon which that suspicion was built. I'm happy to provide those items if you would like. I don't remember ever suggesting you were not atheist.
How ridiculous... My posts were nothing close to the person, or persons you were referring to, which was pointed out by Pragmatic... just an additional point I must make before I close this nonsensical conversation. There IS NO WAY to provide data in measuring the level of a persons determination, and will to live.What possible data can anyone provide for that...other than SEEING it for yourself.
On the contrary... the very posts you are writing now are very similar to Kenny's posts. And you have constantly been very similar to him. What I said, when I looked closer, was that you differ from him on a few specific details in your writing style.
CyberLN was the one who pointed out to me that Kenny had a very specific style, so when I tried to spot them, if found that:
- He very never used the Return key, i.e. no paragraphs. (One of the biggest tells)
- He very often used all caps to emphasize words or hole sentences, ex:
"It is NOT EASY, BY ANY MEANS...but if people"
"There IS NO WAY to provide"
- He very often used extra punctuation, ex:
"...", "!!!", "??!!"
- He would excessively quote words, ex:
'you advocate "data" so much.'
'The fact that someone has "disagreed" with the previous post'
- He rarely used capitalized letters in his name and often used a single word, examples: "myself", "alleycat", "richardd", "marken", "punkin", "amber", "blasphemy". He broke that patten a few times, but rarely.
Your name, "reality", fit very well with his names.
- He never set his user account picture and instead always used the default lion image.
The content of his posts was a lot like the cliché of an Angry Atheist: Very upset and irritated all the time, especially pointing out that to hold religious beliefs is stupid. The content of your posts have been very similar. Sorry reality, but it's true.
When you kept saying you weren't Kenny, I looked closer:
- You didn't duplicate words like he would.
- You didn't use dashes like he would.
- You didn't use his catch phrases, like for ex "God bless" or "Have a nice day"
- Your posts was a lot more coherent.
I, for one, am still not convinced he/she/it is not kenny. For whatever that's worth.
You gentlemen can believe whatever it is you want to believe. One of the things I have learned in my life is that if someone wants to believe something, you can't do, or say anything that will change their mind. Without mentioning any names, I believe that some of the individuals on this forum are a little too full of themselves...trying to sound like scientists, physicists, and philosophers, having these detailed, intricate conversations that went on, and on, about ridiculous subjects that had drifted miles away from the original post. In fact, I remember some forum members a while back complaining about the same thing. What I find funny, is that you can take any post from any member of this forum, and compare it to a post from that idiot that called himself Blasphemy,or any one of a dozen other names, and know IMMEDIATELY, after ONE sentence, that the writings were MILES apart, and couldn't possibly be the same person. But, I guess all these "brains" we have around here couldn't figure it out for themselves, even though it was clear as day... you knew immediately who it was. That guys posts were so outlandish, that after reading half of it, if you could get that far, you wouldn't even know what the hell he was talking about!! There are words that other members use in their posts, that that guy could NEVER know the meanings of !! Addditionally, he cursed out, ridiculed, argued with, and made fun of just about everyone in this forum that got involved in his conversation. I never did anything like that...if I was provoked in some way, I defended myself. But it was never my intention to argue with any atheist in this forum, after all, I always thought we were supposed to be on the same side. As far as the angry posts, yes, there are things that do make me insanely angry, especially when theists try and explain away this worlds atrocoties by saying that we are all sinners, and deserve to be punished, including children. Things like that make me very angry, and I do not apologize for it. But I thought this forum was a place where I could express those feelings, without being ridiculed...I was wrong. As far as the things that were pointed out about my " writing style," to me, that is the equivalent of saying
" well he uses periods after his sentences, so therefore, he MUST be this person." No, I do not indent my paragraphs, I choose not to, that is simply the way I type...I just find it easier to keep typing, without losing my train of thought. I'll admit, I'm not very good at it. However, there are other members of this forum who ALSO do not always indent their paragraphs, I just spotted a few before typing this post...does that mean they are that asshole?? Yes, I use capitals and exclamation points to accent certain ideas, and sometimes as I type, I forget to hit the key where it turns it off, or I hit it by accident...that is simply the way I type...again, I'm not very good at it. As far as not changing the Lion picture...I never even knew that you could change it, nor do I know how. Once again, does that mean that someone is that idiot?? In closing, I am going to do what Pitar did a while back for similar reasons ( other than the "Kenny" nonsense)...leave the forum for a while, at least. I didn't always agree with Pitar, but appreciated some of his insights into certain things. I would just like to send a special shout out to Nordic Fox, who's posts I always seemed to agree with, and which I always found entertaining. He seemed like a down to earth, genuine nice guy. Hope your good, pal... good luck to you. Well, have fun guys...it's been real, or maybe I should say...unreal.
Travis, I would if I could. but markets always find a way
Pretty lame answer, and an excuse to just make drugs legal. Not sure what you meant to get across, but this isn't the best way to do it...
Drugs are basically legal anyway. If you live in the right place, you can get the right connections to get any type of drug. And if you aren't black, or hispanic, and ESPECIALLY if you are a celebrity, you won't even suffer consequences if you are caught buying or using.
My view is still make drugs illegal, but don't stipulate prison. Instead, force them into a rehab program and give them a substantial fine
So, you recommend we treat as "more of a health and safety issue than a criminal one" and that we focus more on counseling and recovery than the war on drugs...damn but if that doesn't sound familiar.
?
That was literally the position I was advocating earlier.
ummm sure?
I've known people that get high on paint, gasoline and glue fumes. Whether or not it is legal to purchase something and breathe the fumes coming from it makes no matter. I smoked my first joint at age twelve (given to me by an adult) and my first cigarette at thirteen (they were much easier to obtain because they weren't kept behind the counters like they are today) because my cousin smoked cigarettes. By the time I was sixteen I had a cigarette habit. Cannabis was easy to get, I knew at least three people that grew it in their basement, but cigarettes were another matter altogether.
I have no children, for several reasons. This topic is one of them. If the laws actually had people's health in mind then they would condone cannabis and ban tobacco. It's that simple. The government has been lying about the effects of cannabis since the drug war began. They are only now being called out on their lies. They try to convince people that by labeling cannabis "illegal" they are protecting our children from it. They try to convince people that cannabis is worse than tobacco, while putting big warnings on tobacco products that it will kill you.
It's hard to say that removing the illegality of heroin is a good thing. Not many people consider the idea any good. There is no logical view though when the current free-market economy condones tobacco use (while telling you it's deadly) and bans cannabis (while still looking for reasons to do so).
Our free-market economy is deadlier to your children than any drug out there.
"Our free-market economy is deadlier to your children than any drug out there."
Yea have to agree there.
Though we must agree that the worse kind of drug has these effects:
Makes you feel guilty
Makes you feel at peace(high)
Makes you feel superior
Makes you talk to invisible people
Makes you talk to statues or relics
Makes you give money to fraudulent people
Makes you edict-ed to a dose per week or more.
Makes you hate people or discriminate against them
Could make you a criminal if overdosed.
Oddly enough Religion forms part of this group.
I'll admit to taking both legal drugs (for my depression and to prevent pregnancy) and to drinking very occasionally but other than that, what other people do in their private lives regarding drugs or alcohol is not my business. I've never tried illegal drugs or smoked but again, if others want to, that is their choice and I'm not going to condemn them just for that.
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