What are your thoughts on recreational drug use?

I don’t care, although I would prefer if people didn’t do the really bad, man-made drugs, for obvious reasons.

Wow, this is a big topic.
I believe that all drugs should be legalized.

The only drugs I use are caffeine and alcohol, although I don’t think I abuse either of them. There was a time I smoked pot, but panic attacks put a stop to that.

I completely support people trying drugs and believing they are having meaningful and important experiences with them. However, I don’t think these experiences mean much. From what I gather from my friends who have enjoyed acid and mushrooms, there isn’t much enlightment there.

Also, I used to work with adult schizophrenics. Many of them had heavy LSD use. I’m not sure if there is evidence that this may have contributed to the illness, or if the LSD was merely an attempt at self-medication.

I smoked weed for close to 12 years.

Do what you want with your life, I wont judge, but let me tell you from experience that you are screwing up your life if you have anything to do with drugs of any kind. Tonight I went training with my friend Bernardo, the champion of Spain at Judo (martial art). Thanks to my years of weed use, I ended up spending 30 minutes on the floor vomiting and out of breath, with a snot-like poison trying to work it’s way in to my lungs.

Legalize it all, let everyone and anyone do what they like, but know this, you are on a bad path if you use them, and it’s never too late to stop. (unless you coughed up blood because you have given your self terminal cancer)

EDIT: Drugs can open your mind and change you as a person, they can better you mentally. However usually they just fuck you up.

I don’t have a problem with:

Alcohol
Pot
LSD
Salvia
Shrooms
X
Other less common hallucinogenics

I do have a problem with:

Cocaine
Meth
Heroin
Other highly dangerous/addictive and synthetic drugs

I don’t think I want all drugs to be available without a prescription. I’m not sure I would want there to be a class of “recreational” drugs that is available without a prescription. I would want every drug to come along with one of those sheets explaining the uses of the drug and the risks associated with those uses and the potential side effects, and a note about when to call a doctor.

I’m not in favor of keeping drugs illegal, but I’m also not in favor of legalization. I would like illegal drugs to be legally accessible, but I would like people to be encouraged to learn about what they want to take and what it might do to them—particularly the recreational effects.

Personally, I don’t use recreational drugs now. I tried marijuana a little over a year ago after having not used it for more than a decade, and it was awful. It just put me to sleep. I ate some mushrooms over thirty years ago, and I had a good time, but it really didn’t do anything to enlighten me. Any enlightenment I may have achieved has been achieved on my own.

In fact, I believe that it is difficult to gain enlightenment through drugs. I think you can have enlightening experiences, but I don’t think you can really understand what is happening if you do it with drugs. If you work for your experiences, you have a much better idea of where they come from, and that makes the experiences much more useful. It also makes the experiences more reliable—both in creating them and in understanding them.

I don’t believe recreational drugs should be illegal. I think they should be legalized but with strong educational efforts to help people cope with them. I don’t think it is very helpful to reach mind-bending experiences using drugs, but I understand that people like shortcuts. I think that is unwise, but I don’t expect anyone to change just because I think it unwise.

How does a person in a new area that doesn’t know anyone get drugs, anyway?

I have never taken a drug to get hi, except that I have been drunk about three times in my life and I would include that as a drug personally. My feeling is anyone who regularly uses drugs or alcohol is not someone I can be around all of the time. A glass of wine or one beer with a meal, which basically has almost no impact, would not bother me, although it would bother me if my husband drank every night.

Of course every night is different than every weekend. If a person must be altered to have a good time, I find that annoying also. But, I see nothing wrong with getting buzzed or drunk every so often.

I think pot should be legal, because I don’t see how it is much different than alcohol.

Any drug that is extremely addictive like crack, meth, or heroin I think someone has to be nuts to try even once. I feel bad for young people who do not understand the consequence of just trying one of these drugs, who wind up addicts before they know what hit them.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard X is synthetic and addictive. It can permanently destroy your brain’s natural ability to create serotonin and the other mood balancing hormones and doom someone to a lifetime of struggling with depression, rage, hatred because of overuse of X. I’m not sure how much “overuse” leads to destruction of hormones, but I know people who have had that happen to them and they are good people but struggling with mood problems.

I would agree with your list, except I’d move X to the bottom list. It is, after all, very closely related to meth.

@linguaphile But that is one of the most amazing drugs I’ve ever taken. Even better than marijuana :(

I always think…if you never try it, you never miss it.

@linguaphile really? I remember reading somewhere that it didn’t have a particularly high potential for dependency or danger… here. Maybe I’m wrong?

@linguaphile, I know this is terrible reasoning, but having watched way too many episodes of Intervention, I’ve never seen an MDMA addict and was actually just wondering why. For whatever reason, at least anecdotally, it does seem to have less potential for addiction than other drugs.

I haven’t done any drug besides alcohol. As someone who enjoys drinking to get drunk, I admit that alcohol is a drug and I use it recreationally. Generally I don’t use that phrasing as many people don’t seem to consider alcohol a “drug” but its effects are similar to those of other drugs, so I consider it one. I have friends who smoke marijuana and a few who have done shrooms and salvia.

I don’t have a problem with these drugs in that I don’t mind people doing them recreationally, though I recognize the potential problems these drugs cause. I believe they can be used responsibly and if done so, it isn’t a “problem” in my mind. If the drug itself isn’t creating additional problems in your life (whatever those may be), then I am not going to condemn the usage of this drug.

As for legalization, I believe marijuana should be legalized and that’s about it. That said, I do not support the “war on drugs” and I think there are a lot of people in prison for drug charges who shouldn’t be there.

I tried Salvia before. I didn’t trip because it was only 5x (You need at least 20 to trip), but it was still a fun experience. I was all giddy and time slowed down. Like seriously, 15 minutes would feel like an hour. Honestly, I haven’t felt that happy in a long time, but I’m not addicted to it.
Here’s my thoughts: as long as you don’t hurt anyone else, you’re welcome to do whatever the hell you want with your body.

@linguaphile, @nikipedia, and @Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard It’s being introduced as part of a treatment for PTSD and depression, although those particular articles don’t mention on its rate of dependency, the initial article I read on it, which I can’t find currently, went more in depth about why it was chosen, that being one of the reasons.

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard X

Read the second paragraph under “Effect of X-TC on the Brain.” It does say several hundred uses. WIth my family history of depression, I’m staying away from that shit. With my luck my dopamine will go poof on first try! :D

Hmmm… I am enjoying a beer as I type this. I fail to see how my consuming said beverage is any different from a moral perspective than responsible use of any other recreational drug.

No, I am not suggesting that shooting heroin is a good idea. However, I think it rather hypocritical to sit here and consume alcohol, a recreational intoxicant, while condemning the use of other recreational intoxicants.

Bottom line is I think it beyond the scope of government to tell us what we can and can’t ingest, especially when said intoxicant is natural and unrefined such as cannabis. And yes, I fully support our existing laws that restrict driving while impaired or causing a general public nuisance while intoxicated.

If you’re not effecting me or those around you in any way with your actions under the influence then its none of my damn business what you choose to put in your body.

@Blackberry easy, make friends in the new area and feel out your sources.

@wundayatta About the enlightenment thing, i think its actually quite easy if exposed to the right drug. DMT to be precise.

I’m all for it, so long as it doesn’t become problematic. That being said, I still don’t think designer drugs would be beneficial to anybody for recreational purposes.

Steve Jobs took LSD once or twice and said it was one of the most life-changing and important experiences he’s ever had. Thank you for making APple what it is today, LSD

Pretty much on the most part that it’s your life, not mine, you do with it what you want, but don’t expect my approval or support for them.

@Joker94 what do you clarify as designer drugs?

@uberbatman Fake drugs. I was mostly thinking about synthetic cannabis.

@Joker94 ah I def agree with synthetic cannabinoids. wasnt sure if you were talking about substances liek MDMA MDA and the 2c family.

@uberbatman I’ve heard some pretty freaked up things about synthetic stuff. I dunno who would touch any of that stuff, really.

eh i used some synthetic cannabinoids while on probabtion. From my experience with them though I can say I will never use them again and can easily say the negatives far farrrrrrrrrrr out way any positives.

I believe it. I heard some of the side affects were pretty unpleasant.

oh yea. slight overdose you feel like you’re brain is on fire and then if you go a bit more than that its time to queue the vomiting and feeling like you’re going to die. Granted you have some amazing visuals and what not but you really do come to grips with these being the final moments of your life. its a very strange thing to come to peace with.

That sounds terrifying. Exhilarating, but terrifying. I’d rather not mess with those, I think..

Recreational is a subjective word. If drugs are used sparingly on occasion it should qualify as recreational use. When they are used with regularity then it’s no longer recreational. People in this category usually are a pain in the ass to everyone else.

@Joker94 honestly,while I learned a lot from the experience its something id rather not of ever forgone.

I’ve tried many types of drugs, but they have never been a problem for me. I’m ok with others doing whatever types of drugs. But I’ve seen addiction and it is not glamorous, it’s sad, pathetic and the waste of a life.

@uberbatman About the enlightenment thing, i think its actually quite easy if exposed to the right drug. DMT to be precise.

Me
I believe that it is difficult to gain enlightenment through drugs. I think you can have enlightening experiences, but I don’t think you can really understand what is happening if you do it with drugs. If you work for your experiences, you have a much better idea of where they come from, and that makes the experiences much more useful. It also makes the experiences more reliable—both in creating them and in understanding them.

I think you are talking about enlightenment experiences, not something that is independent of the drug. If you understand where the experience comes from, you can access it any time you want. You are not dependent on a drug to make it happen. There’s a difference between being a tourist and living somewhere. Drugs allow you to be a tourist, but you always have to go home. When you live some place, you are home.

Of course, since I’ve never taken the drugs, I’ll never know for sure how it compares to the methods I use. However, I doubt if they are very similar. For one thing, I don’t get sick coming back from a trip.

Another thing that is a problem for me is that I am, and always have been pretty close to the edge, mentally speaking. I’ve been reluctant to use drugs like that because I don’t know if I would come back any time soon. A cousin of mine took years to come back after she did LSD a few times. We share a mental illness. I’m not willing to risk a psychosis, especially since I don’t have to.

One more metaphor. It’s easy to fly across country to get to LA or NYC. But once you are there, you don’t really know where you are, because you don’t know how you got there. If you drive, you know more about how you got there. Bicycling and walking tell you even more. It makes a difference.

@wundayatta thats where I disagree. I once had a DMT experience that I went to heaven. I dont believe in heaven yet there I was in the flesh (spirit). Yes it was just 1 experience like your tourist example but it did forever change me and the way I view a lot of things. DMT is like no other hallucinogen and without you ever having done it, it is extremely hard to explain it. I would say you are spot on in your thinking about other hallucinogens as far as enlightenment goes.

I would agree with you however that with your mental history it is probably a horrible idea to go that route of experimenting.

I think that people should be able to do whatever they want with their bodies, including use “illegal” drugs. Personally, I’ve smoked marijuana pretty much every day for almost two years, and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. I use it both for recreation and medication. It helps my anxiety so that I can do schoolwork, calms my brain whenever I begin to think obsessively, and also eases my psychosomatic nausea. Marijuana is great, and I look forward to trying other psychedelics in the very near future.