A strange battle in my head on how I feel about drugs and drinking.

Student Lounge College Life
41

<p>I’m not the biggest fan of drinking. Being drunk is a pretty good feeling, and partying is fun, but I don’t really like hard liquor much at all, and beer makes you pee like a race horse when you drink enough to get a good buzz and then keep drinking to get drunk. I like sports though, so I like playing beer pong a lot.</p>

<p>I much prefer smoking weed over drinking. I like the effects more, and I like that I am able to still do my homework effectively after smoking, and that I can safely operate a vehicle after smoking, which isn’t the case with drinking. Also when you wake up after smoking the night before, you will have no problem waking up. I’m usually pretty good with drinking water after a night of drinking, but even with taking in a few cups of water before going to bed, it can be rough to get up the next day after a night of drinking. </p>

<p>Can’t say I ever have had a bad time smoking pot. Psychedelics can also be a very fun time as well.</p>

42

<p>

</p>

<p>Other, more logical metaphors could be made (Respect for heroin/lsd/ecstasy users) but the point of the extreme angle was to make it a more obvious flaw in the line of thinking. If you respect everyone regardless of whatever kind of destructive behavior they engage in, what do you base respect on?</p>

43

<p>How exactly is using LSD destructive behavior? There is no real destructiveness from using a drug like LSD. LSD can be destructive to you psychologically, but if you do your research on the drug and take proper precautions to help aid yourself in having a good trip, you can use a psychedelic like LSD to really think of and see things in a new light.</p>

<p>I would list alcohol, marijuana, salvia, DMT, psychedelic mushrooms, mescaline (cactus), and LSD are pretty safe to use.</p>

<p>Alcohol can give you longterm damage if you drink it in excess, can kill you if you drink too much. But I keep it on this list because it’s so commonly used.</p>

<p>Mescaline can also kill you, but if you take a normal dose, you won’t have any longterm damage from taking it, and you’ll probably only come across to the stuff once or twice in your life at most I would assume, unless you live on an Indian reservation in Southwest Texas where the stuff is rampant.</p>

<p>Marijuana, Salvia, DMT, psychedelic mushrooms, and LSD are probably the safest drugs you can use from a physical standpoint, as you cannot kill yourself through normal use of these drugs, as the lethal doses are ridiculously high, which make it pretty much impossible to kill yourself from the active ingredients in these drugs. </p>

<p>With marijuana, salvia, and DMT you have to deal with the normal bad effects of smoking, but that’s not the active ingredients in the drugs that is doing the damage, but rather the act of smoking. </p>

<p>I don’t really care if someone uses drugs or not, but people should really do research on what certain drugs do, what there lethal doses are, etc. before they begin talking about how bad or good they are for someone.</p>

44

<p>Jeff— people do not NEED alcohol for fun. And secondly, you are confusing “being happy” with “having fun.” You took my word fun and turned it into happy.</p>

<p>You are suggesting that drinkers are unhappy when not drinking, which is not true, and thus suggesting that drinkers are somehow psychologically disturbed or damaged. Also not true.</p>

<p>It is simply ONE method of fun, amongst many, such as riding a roller coaster to feel the effects of exhiliration or playing goddamn ball-in-a-cup because you’re bored.</p>

<p>Alcohol also happens to help people take off their social masks and stop the constant ego-games and b.s., quite useful to many people including a person such as yourself. No one NEEDS alcohol just like no one needs ice cream or a tasty steak, but guess what, it’s enjoyable and can easily be enjoyed without hurting yourself or others (unlike your mass murderer hypothesis). You are just a very intolerant person with a warped worldview. Hopefully that worldview will change with more life experience. It obviously won’t through an argument on a messageboard.</p>

45

<p>I don’t consider “Destructive Behavior” solely something which hurts you physically, I also consider behavior that hurts society as a whole. That’s all I’ll say of the matter with LSD as my knowledge of all drugs and their effects is admittedly limited.</p>

<p>I equate “fun” with “happiness” because what the hell is the point of trying to have “fun” if it doesn’t bring you “happiness”? Perhaps I am using a different definition of “fun” than everyone else. If an alcohol user doesn’t need the alcohol to have fun what’s the point of it at all? If there are so many other ways to have “fun”, why bother with fun-in-a-bottle? I know people who casually drink don’t need it to have fun, they can do the other things but why seek fun through that method when the only reason you’re having fun is because a depressant is telling you that you are?</p>

<p>Again, with your point on using alcohol in social settings: if you need alcohol to enjoy your company, you need better company. I have plenty of friends and associates who I interact with on a regular basis without alcohol and enjoy their company. I see no reason to decrease my inhibitions any amongst them and can’t really understand the appeal of doing so. I have a great respect for self-control and discipline, perhaps that is unusual.</p>

<p>I agree on your final point. People very rarely change their view on a subject arguing on a message board, I’m more than willing to drop the argument as it’s not really a point of contention to me if someone I don’t know agrees with me or not. Perhaps you would consider me intolerant because I don’t subscribe to the “open-mind” philosophy that is apparently very popular now, a social “laissez-faire” that teaches we should consider everyone equal regardless of action or belief. I can accept people as who they are, sure I have friends that drink and am OK with that, but I have the deepest respect for my friends who don’t. Accept does NOT mean to hold in the highest of regards.</p>

<p>Addendum: I just noticed in my first post I think the second half was taken wrong, when I said</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I meant that I do not like being around my friends when they’re drinking/smoking pot/etc not that I don’t want to be around these friends. They can be enjoyable to be around but they lose a lot in my eyes when they feel they need to use alcohol as a crutch.</p>

46

<p>Don’t limit your world view with unjustified stigma. If a drug isn’t irrevocably addictive or life-threateningly harmful to your health, like meth or crack, then I say try it before you pass judgment. As with everything in life, moderation is key.</p>

47

<p>Drinking is cool! And driving is cool too! So drink-driving is uber cool! Eh? :eek:</p>

<p>@Atomicbomb: Have you tried meth?</p>

48

<p>

</p>

<p>I’d like to see how alcohol relates to morality. How is drinking alcohol an intrinsically moral or immoral action? Please enlighten me, because I was under the impression that the act of drinking alcohol is amoral.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Behavior that hurts society as a whole? So someone sitting at home tripping for a few hours on their time off is hurting society? Someone drinking casually with a few buddies in their room is hurting society? Are you seeing something I’m not? I’m starting to think you’re a fundamentalist Christian in disguise.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Fun can bring you a higher level of happiness. Someone can be perfectly happy, then fun can make them happier. The people who casually drink and have fun, get this, you won’t believe it, it’s because it’s a legal drug with no side-effects (casual use) that is… FUN! Holy **** who would’ve thought? Are you able to wrap your head around this yet?</p>

<p>Believe it or not, altering your perception can be a fun thing!</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Hate to break this to ya, but those people aren’t kneeling in front of your ivory tower asking for your approval.</p>

49

<p>So you are perfectly fine with drugs. Ok…</p>

<p>I don’t care if drugs are bad for your health. The only thing I know is that it tastes bitter. I drink. I don’t care. At least it doesn’t taste bad.</p>

<p>So carry on with drinking and drugging. I don’t care.</p>

50

<p>

</p>

<p>I did not say I was fine with drugs. I asked how safely doing drugs in one’s own space is immoral and destructive to society.</p>

51

<p>How can doing drugs be safe? How can doing anything be safe? You risk stabbing yourself in your heart when using a knife. You risk mauled to death by your dog when petting him. You risk tripping over yourself and get something pointed stabbed in your skull when walking.</p>

52

<p>Why would I try meth? I clearly stated NOT to do meth or crack because they are extremely harmful to your health and mind. In cases such as this, moderation is 0. I think you misunderstood me. </p>

<p>I did cigarettes for a while, realized it was hurting me physically and socially, so I simply quit, no addiction whatsoever. I smoke pot regularly in college because it helps my grades, but I’ve been at home for a month and no “pot withdrawl.” I’ve also tried e and shrooms and found them to be wonderful, enlightening experiences but I’ve only done them once and in very small amounts. I also did adderall to see what all the fuss was about, but it made me feel sick and I later learned it has effects on your brain similar to cocaine and meth. The only other drug I might consider doing, just once, is acid because it really is intellectually stimulating, or so I’ve read from Nobel Laureates describing their experience (google it). Anyway, point is, moderation is key. </p>

<p>If you’re not self-disciplined or you feel a drug is beyond your limit, then don’t do it. If you trust yourself, maybe give it a try.</p>

<p>@MrPropaganda: Your argument can go both ways so it doesn’t help your case at all.</p>

53

<p>

In what way?</p>

54

<p>Pot helps me in so many ways I could write a book about it. But with respect to grades, there are many reasons and ways it helps.</p>

<p>First, I’m very much a work/reward person. When I come home from class at 4pm, I usually work/eat/study until 10pm and then light up and enjoy the rest evening and manage to sleep at a sane hour. If I don’t smoke, which I didn’t first semester freshman year, I’d come home at 4pm, do nothing useful for 8 hours, then realize it’s midnight and be furious at myself because I need to pull an all-nighter. Consistent all-nighters=bad grades.</p>

<p>Also, if I need to write essays, I light up and talk about the subject with my roommate with a tape recorder on. Pot allows you to use parts of your brain you don’t normally use; you’d be surprised how many creative thoughts come out of your mouth when you’re high. </p>

<p>Smoking also helps me effectively nap. In the rare case when I need to pull a double all-nighter, smoking a couple hits and taking a 2 hour nap can make me feel really refreshed.</p>

<p>Further, if I study when I’m very moderately high (i.e. 1 bong hit) then I actually do better on my exams. I did it studying for an econ exam and got the highest grade in the class. Usually I don’t do this (but slowly I’m doing it more and more) because I’m afraid I’ll get too high and won’t be able to study, but if I feel confident that I won’t overshoot my comfort zone, then it works brilliantly.</p>

<p>Basically, there are different levels/types of high. You need to know yourself, your tolerance, and the what you’re smoking in order to get what you want out of pot. Does that answer your question Thomas?</p>

55

<p>Yes, it answers my question but it wasn’t the answer I was hoping for ;)</p>

<p>You wouldn’t do as well in college if you didn’t smoke. From your post it also seems like you smoke every, or almost every, day. You might say “But I went home and didn’t smoke for a month and have no signs of withdrawal”. Of course, but that may be because you don’t have any stress either. But once school starts you’ll start smoking again. Once you start your work you won’t be able to handle stressful situations without smoking. Well, you might be able to handle them somehow but you certainly won’t handle them as well. I don’t think it’s good to RELY on something to cope with stress. That’s exactly how addiction starts.</p>

<p>You could say: But what about sports? People play sports to deal with stress, that’s the same. No it isn’t, because sports have helpful long-term effects but smoking is a “quick-fix” that you will start to depend on.</p>

<p>Don’t you think it would be better to analyze why you cannot concentrate on your studies from 4-10 if you don’t smoke and why you need to pull all-nighters? I am in major prretty much regarded for its rigor and workload at my university and I yet have to pull an all-nighter. To me, people who pull all-nighters are either very bad at time management or have extremely weak motivation or diligence. That would be an area to work on instead of smoking pot.</p>

<p>In that sense drinking is very different from smoking. It doesn’t give you many immediate positive effects except for “fun” (and a bit of relaxation). Thus, drinking every day or drinking to cope with stress is out of question for me, because then I couldn’t study or do anything useful. I usually drink about once a week with my friends, and that’s the time I have the most fun (hi @ jeff, not the ONLY fun, but the MOST fun, more than when playing sports with my friends which i also do). Also, drinking alone is no fun at all ;). Except I could imagine drinking a beer before going to sleep because i tastes good and is relaxing.</p>

<p>Now, in terms of creative thoughts and smoking. Yes, here I can see your point and that is the reason why I might try it in the future if I get a chance. I am very curious about that feeling.</p>

56

<p>I’m not an everyday smoker. Maybe a once a week smoker at most, but smoking pot is a good way to end your day. It helps you go to bed, so you’re not up too late too.</p>

<p>I would say that when your smoking, that smoking before doing something like a humanities or foreign language will have the most benefits. I’d generally say don’t do it before math, as you will make a lot of silly mistakes.</p>

<p>They actually delved into this in Super High Me, which is a documentary where a comedian goes 30 days without smoking pot, and then goes 30 days smoking it. Mathematical ability was severely diminished when high. But he did take the SAT high, and scored much higher than when he took it not high.</p>

57

<p>Do wine coolers count? ;)</p>

<p>Seriously, the only kind of drinking I enjoy is getting in a nice hot tub, watching t.v. with a wine cooler/glass of wine/champagne by my side. I don’t drink to get wasted, and I think any person who does is stupid (but that’s jmho). </p>

<p>As for drugs? I ain’t touching that *<strong><em>. Marijuana MAYBE but I’m not going on that hard stuff (i.e. cocaine, heroine,etc). Stay away from that *</em></strong>.</p>

58

<p>I drink martinis. I am a boy. That’s pretty effeminate :(</p>

59

<p>^^^</p>

<p>Nah man. That’s pimptastic! ;)</p>

60

<p>What if the martinis I drink happen to have pomegranate in them? Yes, you read correctly, I said freakin’ pomegranate…</p>