Other than the dangers associated with being intoxicated (and yes I know intoxicated means poisoned) are there any substances you can take that will give you a reliable and pleasurable state of intoxication, and yet are also completely safe physically, aside from the possible behavioral consequences of being in a state of intoxication.
I can’t think of one. They all seem to have some bio-chemical or physical “gotcha” attached. Is there one?
Anything that messes with your pleasure/reward center via futzing with your neurophysiology is gonna have risks associated with it.
Nitrous Oxide is fairly safe… the only permanent damage to the brain comes from lack of oxygen, which you could obtain just by holding your breath.
Oh yeah… Eating cannabis is completely safe too. Smoking it can cause lung cancer, but eating it will not physically hurt you, unless you eat too much and choke on it.
I disagree. If you hold your breath, you pass out and inhale oxygen before damage is done. If you go under with a mask delivering nitrous strapped on, you continue breathing oxygenless gas until you suffer brain damage.
THC does cause neural changes, diminishing memory capacity and coordination in the short run. It’s effects can linger for weeks. The jury is still out as to whether it causes permanent damage, but PET scans of the brains of chronic THC consumers (smoked or otherwise) do show perisistant changes.
QtM, MD
LSD might be a candidate.
Physically, it is one of the safest psychoactive substances known.
Morphine/herion are extremely safe physically with the stipulation that the it is a clean medical grade source. With a clean high quality source, the main physical risks of OD or infectious disease are pretty much gone. Dependence with continued use is very likely, but that is not dangerous per say.
Sex
hard physical exertion (when over)
I’d put psilocybin mushrooms up there with LSD. There’s a risk of picking the wrong mushrooms, a remote risk of overdose, and the same psychological risks associated with any hallucinogen, but a normal dose is physically safe.
Hoo-boy does this thread skirt the edge of board rules. If it is allowed, and if Quadgop is up for answering, and if he thinks his answer will pass board muster, I’d like to ask a follow-up about Nitrous.
Does the nitrous given to you by a dentist (presumably mixed with oxygen so your brain doesn’t choke) do any long-term or short term damage? That is, do folks working around the stuff, exposed to small quantities over time, have anything to worry about? Does nitrous pose any long-term harmful effects, save accidental overdosing?
Let the master answer.
fatdave, I’ve always wondered about that. Is there any danger at all as far as its passing through the system on a fairly regular basis?