High from drugs, versus natural high from happy things

In My Humble Opinion
1

Having never done drugs (but knowing that some Dopers have)…

How does the high from recreational drugs (ecstasy, heroin, etc.) compare to a high that would come to someone naturally from some major good event (i.e., winning the lottery, scoring the game-winning goal in the World Cup final, your children being born, etc.?)

Admittedly, none of us have won the Powerball or Mega Millions, or been an athlete playing in the World Cup. But anyway - how high is each high, and is the artificial one stronger than the natural?

2

I like weed and have experienced other drugs. My problem is, I haven’t experienced a natural “high” in many years, so it’s difficult for me to compare the two. I would give up pot to feel the way I did in 1998 again. I have a feeling that things aren’t going to get much better for me, so… I guess weed will have to do.

3

Well, for one thing it’s a lot easier to engineer. Being hit by dopamine from external circumstances is sometimes a big house of cards and one little thing can bring it all down without any payoff but drugs are basically guaranteed to do what they do. That reliability is a strong selling point. Meth WILL make you bouncy and energetic. Heroin WILL make you dozy and calm and pain free. GHB WILL make you drunk like mad but no hangover. Hallucinogens WILL have a profound effect on your mind and body–sometimes that can be overwhelming but the drug itself isn’t dangerous physically. Cannabis WILL chill your shit out, make food taste better and encourage you to laugh things off.

So yeah, the reliability factor, knowing what you’re gonna get when you take it, that’s a lot of what drives people to use various substances. We’re wired like that–if you’re thirsty, you drink. If you’re hungry, you eat. If you’re tired, you sleep. If your mood is shitty, you take something to fix that. We’re always trying to achieve and maintain homeostasis at the best possible level of function.

4

With street drugs ?

5

Those examples you gave above are what I use to explain what the dopamine surge of cocaine is like. It’s like all those things at once. The first time you do cocaine, it’s like you won the whole fucking world. It’s a very powerful feeling, lasts a short 30 minutes or so. Worst of all the tolerance shoots up like a rocket, so after the first time, it’s never really the same.

Heroin/opiates… all your pain and worries dissolve into a pink cloud of light. Everything is going to be fine. Everything is fine. God loves me. There’s a reason that they describe religion as the opiate of the masses.

Ecstasy… it’s a quirky drug, like most of the psychedelics. It makes it very enjoyable to be around people, chatting with people, hugging with people, all those social/physical things. I don’t know a comparable natural source for that, except maybe that big oxytocin blast when your kids are born. You just want to hold them and rub them on your face. I guess that’s pretty comparable, everybody in the world is a newborn infant and you are too and you just want to hug each other. Those are natural activities, but on E they feel mind-bogglingly good.

6

Yes, with street drugs. Any person with experience can tell the difference between meth, cocaine, heroin, weed, etc., pretty reliably. If you’re looking for heroin and someone gives you meth, you’re gonna call shenanigans. And with the exception of adding fentanyl to heroin, adulterations tend to just make things less of what they’re expected to be, not something completely different. At any rate, the question is what is the reason why someone would take drugs rather than attempt to engineer a “natural high” and within that context my response is accurate. Nitpicking over purity levels of street drugs is, within the parameters of the OP’s question, completely pointless.

7

Forgive me if this is too obvious, but with a natural high, you typically still have your wits about you. Almost all drug-induced highs involve some level of impairment.

For some people, that impairment and loss of control can be frightening. For others, it’s part of the appeal.

8

I smoked quite a bit of weed and dropped a fair amount of acid back in my youth. Always thought “natural highs” were an inferior breed. The difference is you can keep having natural highs as long as you live, but like I did, it’s probably better if you stop doing drugs at some point, otherwise you run the risk of becoming a total wastrel. Everything in its time and place.

9

“Drugs are so fucking good, they’ll ruin your life.” - Louis CK

I’ve tried pretty much every common drug except for a select few. Drugs obviously give a much more potent high than natural highs. I mean think about it that’s why when you’re doing coke or something you don’t even have to eat, you just feel so good. The thing is the high from drugs just isn’t sustainable in the long run, and the crash or withdrawal later just isn’t worth it, at least also in the long run. A natural high has a more slow even, keel and its sustainable in the long run, like say exercise.

10

Well…I had been wondering if that was so, after watching this poker tournament video (winner’s reaction at 00:27) :wink:

11

Thanks, good info.

Follow-up question: For someone who is experiencing natural euphoria - such as having won the lottery - that euphoria is backed up by the knowledge that there is indeed real, tangible solid reason to be happy - one has just come into possession of 100 million dollars, life is forever changed, etc.

But for a drug like cocaine, is there a part of the brain that nags and says, “You know this is just an artificial high and in a few hours you’re just going to go back to your old miserable sad life,” or does the drug actually shut off that logical, rational, dour and unhappy part of the brain?

12

Drugs that feel good overwhelm all our biases. If I think I’m God, I’m more inclined to just enjoy that for a while.

I talk about coke because it’s a simple drug with a crystal-clear mechanism that is easy to explain. Alcohol is a complex drug that affects multiple systems, some of these effects being depressive and really unpleasant. When that happens we just split our brain and say that the bad effects are bad and false, but they are washed out by the good effects, which are good and true.

Basically we think whatever we need to think to feel as safe and happy as we can, and drugs can powerfully bend your thoughts and attitude to that end.

13

I have zero experience with this stuff but back in my mid 30’s a similar aged friend once described it memorably something like this:

A powerful comment that left an impression on me.

14

I’ve never done ecstasy… Hated cocaine the couple times I tried it… Years ago when I was given benzos by a doctor, I noticed how much my life improved being able to sleep 8 hours a majority of the time, but also knowing that at the end of the day, no matter how stressed I was, I could relax – it was like a reward for enduring the day. I also noticed my colon spasms go away. I used to be in tremendous pain especially when I smoked pot, which I used to enjoy because it enhanced whatever I was doing. I love to laugh, and that would help, but that was more of a replacement for alcohol/cigarettes… When I had an injury, I first took an opiate, and it was wonderful, but not as wonderful as shrooms + opiates… I haven’t had a feeling that great, and that was years ago… One of the great activities I did was go chat on AOL and take LSD… I’d only do it if a certain friend or two of mine were there to parody, engage in stream-of-consciousness, free associating with whatever was being said in the room, distorting it in a humorous way to make it palatable to the discussion, add a little inside-humor from years of chatting, it was quite fun, but the person made the place. I did trip a few times without him there, and it wasn’t quite the same, but my brain worked better at what I did. I would write, learn, observe – it was never like getting drunk, which was very short-lived for me, with the exception of international travel… I don’t know why I didn’t like drinking in the US, and my speculation would be way too long.

I’m an uncle, it’s exciting, but also scary, but I also can’t compare that to having my own child, not only because I’m not a father, but I had nothing to do with being an uncle. I have no say how they live, but its nice to watch them grow, learn, and especially when they laugh. I think they are hard to compare, but I also think people who are on drugs love it because it’s the present, as opposed to trying to enjoy a moment that happened in the past.

For me, discovering great music, movies, stand-up comedy (as well as interviews of the aforementioned) gives me my pleasure. I don’t get it from anywhere else… Today, when I saw a Mort Sahl upload on YouTube, I was SO happy (they are rare), and depending on the length and quality, it gives me a ton of pleasure, but its quite different, and probably not as strong as … whatever one likes to take.

I started a topic months ago, about Female Vocalists fronting 70s prog-rock, and someone mentioned Curved Air (I only had one song at the time), and months later after expanding that band (finding what I liked throughout their discography) and checking out her solo stuff, I still have this amazing feeling, and I love to share with others, and did specifically yesterday on a lon car ride… When my cousin got joy after getting into the music, I had a ton of joy… Impossible to compare, although drugs are short-lived, while certain loves of mine can last decades… the great stuff you don’t get sick of.

15

I’d like to add something that’s in between – Cedar Point or any other amusement parks with rollercoasters. You get the exhilaration (albeit sometimes being nervous, some more than others) but its not natural because you needed a machine.
I used to play sports, and I loved the feeling of walking to my car after I showered up, after I was done playing basketball.

16

The Natural High will ruin your life, too. See: Howard Dean

17

Erowid is a veritable bible of drug experiences as reported by actual users of just about every kind of drug that’s ever been manufactured.

18

Speak for yourself. I have never been able to get anything but slightly sleepy from drugs, and that would be times when I’m sleep-deprived anyway.

Believe me, I wish I could get high. I’d love to find out what it feels like; but my brain just doesn’t work that way. I can’t even get really very drunk.

It’s probably genetic. There’s no history of drug abuse or alcoholism in my family, and we have plenty of our own fucked-up-ness, just not that particular one.

19

Yep, that’s about right. I would not say cocaine “sucked” per se. For about 15-30 minutes I felt like a genius philosopher god-king. But there were unpleasant physical sensations at every point (jittery, too wired, queasiness, palpitations) and unpleasant mental experiences in the comedown (aw dang, I’m not God anymore, and everything in life suddenly seems dreary as hell).

It’s a real testament to coke that people can undergo such unpleasantness, yet still they purposely endure all of it to feel like they’re sitting on top of the world for a few minutes. You can see how this drug would be equally compelling to people who are on top of the world, or think they should be on top of the world, or who have never been on top of anything at all. We all want to feel like winners, and watching your team win the Super Bowl isn’t enough for some people.

20

I have only tried marijuana, so that’s the only one I can can comment on. Sex is better. The high from orgasmic sex with someone you love is incomparable.