# I use drugs moderately. What's wrong with this? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 16, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-use-drugs-moderately-whats-wrong-with-this/666445 "2013-08-16T20:04:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-use-drugs-moderately-whats-wrong-with-this/666445/41 "2013-08-17T16:31:47Z")
I’d like to know how long **Seanrc** has been keeping his “moderate” use of amphetamines. Because one can maintain a moderate use for years before the find themselves knee deep in addiction. Then you’re fucked. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-use-drugs-moderately-whats-wrong-with-this/666445/42 "2013-08-17T16:37:30Z")
Ditto all the posts about the addiction threat. What happens to addicts’ lives is horrible, and it bleeds into the lives of so many other people around them, too. Using substances that relax our inhibitions and change our judgement, if they also feel nice, is really dangerous. Many addicts live in hell. If you think this sounds silly, get to know some of them, and ask for yourself. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-use-drugs-moderately-whats-wrong-with-this/666445/43 "2013-08-17T16:45:58Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > People manage coffee addictions, without impacting those around them, all the damn time. Know anybody stealing from their relatives for coffee money? Or anyone in jail for buying/possessing coffee? Didn’t think so. A pretty weak tea point, I think. What if methamphetamine was sold cheaply OTC at pharmacies to anyone over 18? What if caffeine/coffee was illegal? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-use-drugs-moderately-whats-wrong-with-this/666445/44 "2013-08-17T16:47:59Z")
> [@Seanrc](#): > > I take amphetamine to study, but I never increase the dose over time. I realize that I need breaks to reduce tolerance. What is wrong with this? Nothing until you need them to get by day to day which is what happens in a number of cases with people who use amphetamines regularly. Some people actually can use them and them turn away, others become addicted and it destroys their lives. You’re playing with a strong animal that you think YOU you are smart and strong enough to control. You are being naive and somewhat foolish. You are in control until you are not and by then it’s way too late. You may dodge the addiction bullet but what you are doing is by no means safe even with your precautions. There are people smarter and stronger than you who thought the same thing and had their lives imploded. Good luck with your dice roll. ---
**Author:** ![Girlundone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Girlundone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girlundone)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-use-drugs-moderately-whats-wrong-with-this/666445/45 "2013-08-17T16:58:07Z")
[QUOTE=Napier] Many addicts live in hell. If you think this sounds silly, get to know some of them, and ask for yourself. [/QUOTE] Truth. I can only speak for myself, but living addicted to a substance is exhausting. If you can even call it living. It’s a horrible existence. That said, it’s a free fucking country in the US and one can choose to use substances if they wish. They can live under a bridge with a paper bag, if that’s what they want to do. I say do what ever you want, but honestly I do feel pity for those who think they “need” something to get by on a daily basis. To be clear, I’m not talking about managing chronic pain, or serious medical conditions here. That’s different. I’m talking about the culture of using. Seanrc, if you are fine with your drug use, why do you ask what is wrong with it? Do you need validation? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-use-drugs-moderately-whats-wrong-with-this/666445/46 "2013-08-17T17:05:33Z")
Adderall is methamphetamine. It’s prescribed for this very purpose all the time for people who can’t focus very well otherwise - people with ADD/ADHD. There’s nothing wrong with it, so long as you don’t have to keep upping the dose, the same as for people who are prescribed it. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-use-drugs-moderately-whats-wrong-with-this/666445/47 "2013-08-17T18:26:33Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Adderall is methamphetamine. It’s prescribed for this very purpose all the time for people who can’t focus very well otherwise - people with ADD/ADHD. There’s nothing wrong with it, so long as you don’t have to keep upping the dose, the same as for people who are prescribed it. [This says](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_adderall_considered_methamphetamine) that while Adderall is a combination of different types of amphetamine it is not the same as methamphetamine in terms of effect, meth is far more potent. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-use-drugs-moderately-whats-wrong-with-this/666445/48 "2013-08-17T18:45:22Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [This says](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_adderall_considered_methamphetamine) that while Adderall is a combination of different types of amphetamine it is not the same as methamphetamine in terms of effect, meth is far more potent. Yep, there is a brand of methamphetamine RX’d for ADHD called Desoxyn though. ---
**Author:** ![Whitney\_Harper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@Whitney\_Harper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whitney_Harper)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-use-drugs-moderately-whats-wrong-with-this/666445/49 "2013-08-17T20:20:36Z")
It would be best not to, but since you seem intelligent and are concerned about the dangers, just make sure you use it only when necessary. I had smoked cigarettes a lot when I was younger, and generally don’t smoke now, but I look forward to having a few cigarettes on Thanksgiving day, as I have some very obnoxious relatives that I have to be around that day, and having a few cigarettes when I get back to my apartment and am alone suits me fine. In addition, I think I had one cigarette about six months ago, but, I guess in very limited amounts it can be OK to indulge once in a while. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-use-drugs-moderately-whats-wrong-with-this/666445/50 "2013-08-17T20:24:43Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Adderall is methamphetamine. It’s prescribed for this very purpose all the time for people who can’t focus very well otherwise - people with ADD/ADHD. There’s nothing wrong with it, so long as you don’t have to keep upping the dose, the same as for people who are prescribed it. > [@astro](#): > > [This says](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_adderall_considered_methamphetamine) that while Adderall is a combination of different types of amphetamine it is not the same as methamphetamine in terms of effect, meth is far more potent. :smack: I meant to type amphetamine - don’t know why I wrote methamphetamine; I must have Breaking Bad on my mind! My college-aged kid with severe ADD has taken Adderall (amphetamine) for several years. She now prefers to take it only when truly needed for studying, rather than every day. Her effective dose has not gone up since she began. Hopefully the OP is being extremely careful. ---
**Author:** ![Weirofhermiston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e274bd/32.png) [@Weirofhermiston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirofhermiston)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-use-drugs-moderately-whats-wrong-with-this/666445/51 "2013-08-17T20:56:20Z")
I appreciate that this will be because the drug is criminalised but you may want to consider the supply chain. You are buying a product that has been manufactured and supplied by people who don’t care about the consequences of your using the substance and don’t care about the lives of the people making and distributing the stuff. Contracts in this kind of business are not enforced by the courts. Legs get broken, lives are lost (perhaps I’m being overly melodramatic). Off topic a bit but I always wonder about the idea of completely legalising drugs. I’m suspecting that it’ll be like many of the old Iron Curtain countries, when the dust settles we’ll find the same people in charge. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-use-drugs-moderately-whats-wrong-with-this/666445/52 "2013-08-17T21:42:41Z")
All this talk about how almost everyone becomes an addict is silly, IMHO. When I was in my early to mid twenties, most of the people I knew used drugs fairly often. I don’t mean a little weed, I mean using various kinds of speed, cocaine, opiates, that stuff. I know one person (friend of a friend) who actually developed an addiction that needed treatment. Everyone else, and I’m talking about probably 70 different people, just quit using as they got older and it wasn’t cool to do anymore. Now most of the people I know like to smoke a little pot occasionally, but again, these are adult professionals, not a bunch of stoners. Alcohol is a different story. I’ve known a number of people who developed alcohol problems. Yes, addiction sucks. Yes, it can sneak up on you. Ideally, you shouldn’t use drugs. But this? > [@drewtwo99](#): > > Am I willing to accept that somewhere out there someone said, “I’m not going to get addicted to X,” and then went on to use it in small quantities infrequently, and never got addicted? Yes, surely it has happened at some point in human history. > > Am I willing to accept that the VERY VAST majority of people who say this are full of shit and will end up getting addicted and possibly ruining their lives? Yes! That’s some Just Say No bullshit. I think the overwhelmingly vast majority of people who use drugs do so in small quantities, infrequently, and never get addicted or ruin their lives. I’m going to look for a cite… eta: also, if the OP is like most college kids, he’s probably using Ritalin or Adderall (not meth) which isn’t made by murderers at all, obviously. Well, I mean, Big Pharma isn’t innocent, but you know… Even if it is meth, that’s mostly produced domestically as well. Let’s not muddle this up with garbage, guys. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-use-drugs-moderately-whats-wrong-with-this/666445/53 "2013-08-17T21:49:01Z")
[Here’s a cite](http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2008/apr/18/addiction_small_percentage_drug): > [@](#): > > Contrary to popular drug policy discourses that portray drug users as descending from first use into a hell of dependence and addiction, a new analysis of data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) suggests that most first-time users of most drugs were not using them a year later and that for nearly all illicit drugs, more than 90% of first-time users did not become dependent. I don’t know how unbiased that site is and I’m still looking for more, but that’s in line with what I’ve read previously, and my personal experience. I AM NOT SAYING PEOPLE SHOULD USE DRUGS. I just think we should stick to facts, not nonsense. eta: looks like that cite is legit. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-use-drugs-moderately-whats-wrong-with-this/666445/54 "2013-08-17T22:17:31Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > [Here’s a cite](http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2008/apr/18/addiction_small_percentage_drug): > > I don’t know how unbiased that site is and I’m still looking for more, but that’s in line with what I’ve read previously, and my personal experience. > > I AM NOT SAYING PEOPLE SHOULD USE DRUGS. I just think we should stick to facts, not nonsense. > > eta: looks like that cite is legit. From what you quoted, part of that stems from the “Just say no.” Era. As stupid as that whole campaign was, one of their DUMBEST moves was trying to tell people that you can become an addict after just one time of use. Which is just comically wrong. I have no problem believing the majority first time users go on to live go on to live perfectly normal lives. These people are mostly keeping it contained to the weekends while hanging out with friends. And, like you said, they grow out of it. However, I bet that statistic changes dramatically with people who are using it to self medicate. Like the OP, who says he uses it to study. Well, fuck, how many days a week is that? When I was in college, that was damn near every night. Show me the statistics of people who took the drug on a daily or almost daily basis, then quit with out issue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-use-drugs-moderately-whats-wrong-with-this/666445.md?page=2)