I’d just like to say I’m saddened by the number of people on this forum who not only have used, but still use illegal drugs.
Most people here are incredibly intelligent and knowledgable, so it really doesn’t add up how come these people also seem to think it’s acceptable to use these things. Ever.
It sickens me.
-PIGEONMAN-
Hero For A New Millennium!
The Legend Of PigeonMan - Back in the new year! Honest. I promise. No, really.
Maybe it’s because, using our intelligence and common sense, we have been able to overcome the hysterical prejudices surrounding several of the more friendly varieties of illegal drugs.
I bet if we took a survey of illegal drug use among Dopers, it would turn up mostly marijuana and assorted natural hallucinogens.
I’d say decide for yourself. Get all the information you can, and don’t permit other people to make up your mind for you - on either side. All drugs aren’t magical, but neither are all drugs satanic.
There is no such thing as an easy answer. Yes, I regret to inform you that you will have to use your mental faculties - intelligence, questioning, and doubt - occasionally.
You come across as intelligent and knowledgeable too – and in your profile, you list pornography as one of your interests.
As much as pornography “sickens” me, it’s just a facet of your personality – a reasoned choice you’ve made, as an adult in a free society. I certainly don’t hold it against you.
If your interest ever starts to cause you any personal or legal difficulties, I trust you’ll seek help. Same goes for any posters who’ve discussed illegal drug use.
What’s your point? We all do dumb stuff.
I don’t have a particularly amazing point. I was just expressing an opinion. I don’t like the way people talk about drugs like they aren’t horribly bad for you.
Because I believe they ARE horribly bad for you.
Pornography isn’t horribly bad for you, though of course there are illegal extremes.
I don’t personally think of using drugs as an intelligent choice, that’s all.
-PIGEONMAN-
Hero For A New Millennium!
The Legend Of PigeonMan - Back in the new year! Honest. I promise. No, really.
Rant alert:
I don’t do illegal drugs, but I dont hold against those who do (my friend’s roomate would light up a bong everytime He was at home, and offer me it. I politely declined every time). Anyway, my problem is, those who get mad that they got caught. You play with fire you’re going to get burned. I really don’t like it when people say “it’s not fair” yeah, well you ARE doing an illegal substance. Know that if you do something illegal (and obviously with drugs it’s a free choice here), and you get caught, you better suck it up and take the consequences.
There are also a whole lot of righteous lonely teen-agers who spend far too much time in their rooms typing with one hand.
It humors me.
Hell is Other People.
I’m not a drug user, but I’d like to know the difference between street drugs and the pills many doctors perscribe. Stuff like Qualude, Prozac, Valium and I don’t know what else.
By the way, alcohol is a drug, as is nicotine and caffeine.
I gotta get in here…
only those who never take a pill for a headache, cramps, sleeplessness,
those who never crack open a beer,
those who never smoke a cigarette,
Those who dont drink cola, coffee, or tea…
Those are the drug free.
Are you saying that because north america is more backward than parts of europe…that all drugs are really that bad?
Prohibition ring any bells?
I wouldnt endorse needles, or crack pipes, but honestly, how different is a doobie from a martini?
And yes, there are a great vast number of dopers who are Dopers. Maybe that says something about the choices we make. Maybe, just maybe, we have thought it out, done a bit of reasearch etc, and decided it wasnt so bad.
They are going to legalize marijuana for medicinal usage everywhere soon. Tell me, if it is ok for someone with glaucoma to smaok a joint, why would it be so morally repugnant for me to?
This being said, I do not approve of toking and driving (every bit as dangerous as DUI) I dont like to see kids get into it either. And I dont ever smoke anything if my kids are awake, maybe twice a year, I will sneak out on the step for a puff,( I dont get wasted either, just a wee buzz) I am hardly a heavy user)*
I respect people who do partake, and those who dont…but dont put your disapointment on me for my choices. Pot=beer.Its just illegal.
Sake Samurai - what the heck has that got to do with anything?
WallyM7 - I don’t drink alcohol, coffee, tea, or smoke.
Anyway, I’m talking about illegal drugs. People who use drugs that are dangerous or illegal. This is just wrong, in my eyes. That’s all. I see you’re all jumping to weird-ass conclusions about me, and what you think I’m saying. Well, you’re totally missing the point.
-PIGEONMAN-
Hero For A New Millennium!
The Legend Of PigeonMan - Back in the new year! Honest. I promise. No, really.
Thalidimide was legal. It was also eceedingly dangerous.
Marijuana is illegal, but I would hardly call it dangerous.
I don’t think we’re missing the point at all, Guano. You are making a moral judgement that you are unqualified to make.
I wouldn’t consider drug use “sickening”, but I just never have been able to comprehend why so many people bother taking illegal recreational drugs. My gut feeling is, if you have no other way to have a good time, you must lead a pretty pitiful life. (Yeah, that statement sounds insulting and condescending. But as much as I’ve talked to people about it, no one has ever given me an explanation why it’s incorrect.)
In the interest of full disclosure, I must say that I drink a lot of caffeine at night. So much, in fact, that I get withdrawal headaches when I go a few days without a dose. But I don’t consume the drug for its own sake; I use it to stay awake. (I consider sleep to be a waste of time, and I spend as much time awake and alert as is physically possible.)
Laugh hard; it’s a long way to the bank.
Maybe if you were more specific about the drugs you’re concerned about.
It’s hard to fathom anyone getting their knickers in a twist over an occasional joint.
I haven’t noticed any Dopers 'fessing up to ongoing use of coke, heroin, crank, meth, crack (am I being redundant yet?) so I don’t understand your concern.
Although it’s appreciated. Never hurts to let people know you care.
My concern is that they are illegal, that they do have dangers, even if those dangers amount to the same as alcohol or nicotine use (which I also find repugnant), and that every user seems to have such a cavalier attitude about it.
And this isn’t a rant - as I write these things, I’m in a kind of saddened disappointed mood about it. I’m not angry at these people, merely sad.
-PIGEONMAN-
Hero For A New Millennium!
The Legend Of PigeonMan - Back in the new year! Honest. I promise. No, really.
Judging by the statistics, according to you, the vast majority of humanity leads pitiful lives. I won’t dispute that, but doesn’t it make you feel a little guilty, being one of the very few who are truly happy?
TT
“Believe those who seek the truth.
Doubt those who find it.” --Andre Gide
What about Dopers like me, people who got into drugs full tilt, including meth and needles, and found our way out ?
I’m drug free today, execpt for what my doctor gives me to treat several conditions , including a drug related to Prozak (Wally).
No , drugs aren’t good for you, neither is breathing in some places, I wouldn’t encourage people to use, but if they decide to and are adults, well you can’t stop them.
Ayesha - Lioness
There are two solutions to every problem : the wrong one, and mine
(Thomas A. Edison)
Exactly! See what I’m getting at now?
-PIGEONMAN-
Hero For A New Millennium!
The Legend Of PigeonMan - Back in the new year! Honest. I promise. No, really.
Well, I was bound to hop on this train sooner or later.
On Guano’s side, I agree that I also lose some respect for people who do things I think are silly (like smoking or taking drugs).
But one of the things I’ve learned as I got older is that EVERYONE does things I disapprove of, just as I do things they disapprove of. Ukelele Ike, for instance, smokes like a steam engine, and he and I snipe good-naturedly at each other about that. But I like him heaps as a pal, so I overlook that—just as he overlooks my many annoying habits (which he’ll be happy to elaborate on, no doubt).
If someone has a habit or personality trait you simply can’t deal with, cut them off. I can now be friends with smokers, druggies, even religious fanatics—I just realize that there will always be things about even the best people that I don’t particularly like. I’ll keep mum about that if they keep mum about my own shortcomings.
–Mary Poppins (Practically Perfect in Every Way)
Guano seems to stress the issue of legality the most. I’m way too lazy to research the specifics as to why government deemed pot, for example, illegal and not alcohol. I know they tried with booze in the 30’s and it didn’t stick. I would assume that most substances are made illegal because they are thought to be a threat to the health and safety of both users and non-users alike, alcohol being the major exception in the United States. It’s unfortunate that most, if not all, drug induced pleasures (both legal and illegal) are unhealthy for us in one way or another. That the government deems one substance illegal and not another does not carry much weight with me on deciding whether or not to indulge in said substance. If the benefits of a drug outweigh the harms, I’ll do it. Highly addictive drugs such as heroin and cocaine, although highly pleasurable, eventually overtake you and are therefore, in my opinion, more harmful than beneficial. I apply this same principal to everything in my life. For example, if I feel that the thrill of skiing outweighs the possibility of falling off my skis and breaking my leg (and I do), then I will ski. Everyone has their own level of indulgence and laws vary around the world. Anyone remember the insane pot laws of the 70’s?
I don’t need to say here that I “only” use pot, or that I only drink “on special occasions” or that I never missuse these or other substances. My usage, or my choice not to use, need not be justified. If I choose to take drugs, be it a caffeine laiden aspirin for a headache or a joint or two with a beer after dinner, then that’s the way it’s gonna be. In my opinion, these substances exist in our world, not as a tool to escape responsibilty or reality, but rather to enhance the experience that is life. I’ll take the legal risk for a little enhancement every time.
You know what? I do have other ways to have a good time, and I use them, too. And I supplement them with the occasional toke. This doesn’t make my life pathetic; it makes it diverse. You could make your statement about anything.
Guano, I think you’re making a depressing parallel between “illegal” and “immoral”. Much as people would like to think that the laws are an exact mirror of ethics, laws are only an abstract system. There are a great many things that are illegal that are ethical (or at least ethically neutral), just as there are many things that are unethical that are legal. I personally feel that smoking marijuana and using such natural items as peyote and mushrooms fall into the former category.
<irony>I’d just like to say I’m saddened by the number of people on this forum who not only enjoy fantasy games (and all the lurid, exaggerated female-as-bitch-goddess-sex-warrior "art"work that goes along with it), but who incorporate aspects of this fantasy world into their daily working lives and actually MAKE MONEY AT IT.
Most people here are incredibly intelligent and knowledgable, so it really doesn’t add up how come these people also seem to think it’s acceptable to believe in or contribute to these vile and demeaning portrayals of women. Ever.
It sickens me.</irony>