# What is your favorite legal drug? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 13, 2001, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178 "2001-11-13T20:18:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Vinnie\_Virginslayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/53a042/32.png) [@Vinnie\_Virginslayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vinnie_Virginslayer)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/1 "2001-11-13T20:18:36Z")
What’s your favorite LEGAL drug of choice??? It has to meet these criteria, AS CLOSELY AS POSSIBLE: NON-ADDICTIVE NO SIDE EFFECTS YOU CAN STILL BE PRODUCTIVE WHILE TAKING IT PREFERABLY AVAILABLE WITHOUT PRESCRIPTION My top 4 are: 1. EXCEDRIN PROS: Great painkiller, caffeine counteracts drowsiness CONS: Gives me the shits 2. GINSENG PROS: Provides nice burst of energy without the use of caffeine CONS: Sometimes makes me feel like I’m having a stroke 3. KAVA PROS: Very relaxing herb, great anxiety reliever CONS: Taken at the wrong time of the day, can act as a depressant 4. NO-DOZ PROS: Great energy booster first thing in the morning CONS: The shits, anxiety, makes you feel like you will have a heart attack, can lead to fits of anger. This is dangerous stuff if misused. Extremely addictive. Also gives me reflux on occassion . . . ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/2 "2001-11-13T20:37:20Z")
Caffeine. Preferably in the form of a _Venti Caramel Machiatto_. 🙂 BTW, aren’t No-Doz essentially Caffeine? Ohhh… and _Zantac_, now available without prescription in NZ, and just the bees-kness for reflux. Yippee! ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/3 "2001-11-13T20:40:09Z")
NyQuil… Oh yeah… ---
**Author:** ![BuddhaDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@BuddhaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuddhaDog)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/4 "2001-11-13T20:44:02Z")
Aleve. I was in a bad car accident in 1988 and all I could take was Tylenol. God forsaken Tylenol, you know, any real doctor would never give out this shit let alone recommend it to their patients. Anywho, thankfully Bayer came out with Aleve and (knocks on wood) I havent had much back pain since. ---
**Author:** ![Sylkyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@Sylkyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylkyn)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/5 "2001-11-13T20:54:13Z")
Alka-Seltzer: Plop, plop, fizz, fizz…wonder where my hangover is? Downside: None that I know of. Day-Quil: When having a horrendous cold (as I am having now) this stuff is marvelous. Downside: Gives me cottonmouth from hell occasionally. Ny-Quil: Just kill your cold with ALCOHOL! That’s the ticket. Downside: Sometimes still drunk the following morning. Ginkgo Biloba: Helps me think more clearly and gives a great energy boost. Downside: I don’t like thinking clearly and being boosted at three in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![BuddhaDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@BuddhaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuddhaDog)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/6 "2001-11-13T20:54:45Z")
I got a few quick queston about Kava. Do you drink it or take it in pill form? If you drink it whats it taste like? Also I read online that it can be used as a stimulant (to help you loose weight) or as a stress/anxiety release. I hate stimulants like caffeine and guarana seed, so I wanna ask how can it be both? I dont need to loose weight (just the opposite) but I am intrigued by its other properties. And what do you mean when you say > [@](#): > > Taken at the wrong time of the day, can act as a depressant what time of day? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/7 "2001-11-13T21:07:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Vinnie Virginslayer \* > \*\*NO SIDE EFFECTS > CONS: Gives me the shits > CONS: Sometimes makes me feel like I’m having a stroke > CONS: Taken at the wrong time of the day, can act as a depressant > CONS: The shits, anxiety, makes you feel like you will have a heart attack, can lead to fits of anger. This is dangerous stuff if misused. Extremely addictive. Also gives me reflux on occassion . . . \*\* Whokay, I’m confused. If those are just “cons”, what are “side effects”? Spontaneous human combustion? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/8 "2001-11-13T21:12:27Z")
Caffeine, preferably in the form of Coca-Cola. Though I’m not sure if it qualifies under the “non-addictive” clause… ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/9 "2001-11-13T22:30:02Z")
1990 Pommery “Louise” PROS: Yumm-nuummminy. Nice lil’ buzz. leeeeetle tiny bubbles CONS: Too bloody expensive, unless you get the deal I got last year. Unfortunately, not even I can get that deal anymore. \ ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/10 "2001-11-13T22:54:31Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by BuddhaDog_ > > Do you drink it or take it in pill form? If you drink it whats it taste like? i drink it. can you get it in pill form? it tastes like shit and you have to drink the entire glass all at once, otherwise it won’t work and your tongue will go numb. it normally requires a chaser or 3 because the taste is so bad - it’s pretty much a novelty for me. the effects are fun though - kinda like being high… but less so. damn. it probably helps you lose weight by suppresing your appetite, but apart from that it seems pretty much a depressant/relaxant to me. then again the dichotomy is not so odd - nicotine is a well known stimulant that serves to relax. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/11 "2001-11-13T23:03:24Z")
Caffeine. Caffeine caffeine caffeine. Those who know me, however, would assert that I’m capable of being more than hyper enough without any caffeine at all. ---
**Author:** ![Kbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Kbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kbean)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/12 "2001-11-14T01:24:54Z")
Advil…best for headaches and no side effects. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racinchikki \* > \*\* > Those who know me, however, would assert that I’m capable of being more than hyper enough without any caffeine at all. \*\* Caffiene is a close second, but my friends refuse to let me have any at all. They say it makes me more hyper than “a spastic poodle with severe ADHD”. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/13 "2001-11-14T03:47:11Z")
nitrous oxide used to be at least “quasi” legal… headshops sold these “whippet” cartridges just like CO2 cartridges. Maybe this has changed in recent years, but you could get them in the 80’s. The perfect 30 second buzz… unvelieveable exhiliration, then gone in a breath. No side effect I’ve heard of, except your occasional allergic reaction, or suffocation if you stick a mask on and lose your oxygen supply. I wouldn’t want to be driving WHILE inhaling nitrous, but a minute later would be ok. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/14 "2001-11-14T05:35:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yojimboguy \* > \*\*nitrous oxide > > used to be at least “quasi” legal… headshops sold these “whippet” cartridges just like CO2 cartridges. Maybe this has changed in recent years, but you could get them in the 80’s. > > The perfect 30 second buzz… unvelieveable exhiliration, then gone in a breath. > > No side effect I’ve heard of, except your occasional allergic reaction, or suffocation if you stick a mask on and lose your oxygen supply. > > I wouldn’t want to be driving WHILE inhaling nitrous, but a minute later would be ok. \*\* It’s used as the propellant in many varieties of aerosol whipped cream. You could probably find out how to extract it somewhere on the 'net. I want to try DXM sometime, sounds like a lot of fun, but since I haven’t tried it yet…hmm, I can’t think of anything legal I really like. I guess caffeine, in the right doses. Those OTC inhalers you can buy give you a bit of a rush too, but I generally don’t like it. When I was 19 me and my friends used to do butane - my friend picked up the habit in the Navy, and got me to try it a few times. You’d take one of those little refill bottels, and press the nozzel against your teeth in a certain way and inhale. The stuff was under such pressure that it was very cold when it sprayed out, it would freeze a flake of spit-ice on the roof of your mouth, and then you would get an intense headrush, followed by the sensation of having stuff crawling around under your skin. I had no idea why my friend enjoyed it so much. Oh yeah, back around the same time frame me and some friends used to do Scotch Guard - you didn’t spray it into your mouth, you sprayed it on a rag and breathed through it. You would feel very high and sometimes hallucinate on it. One of my friend’s boyfriends got seriously into it and started spraying it into a bag and huffing it. It waterproofed the inside of his lungs, which were then unable to reabsorb fluids like they should and he drowned in his own bed. We all left it alone after that. I tried it again about 5 years later and they had apparently changed the formula as it had no effect on me whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/15 "2001-11-14T05:51:44Z")
Caffeine! Caffeine! Caffeine! When taken as a shot of espresso, caffeine makes me euphoric. Not just caffeine buzzed, not jittery, but actual singing what-a-wonderful-world while grinning like an idiot euphoric. I swear, the stuff ought to be illegal it makes me so happy. No side effects for me and there is nothing in the world like it. Sometimes I will pop a no-doze when I have an all-nighter to pull. Doesn’t give me the same joy that espresso does, but it does help me focus and avoid that “I can’t possibly write any more tonight” stage. I only do this for school, though, and certainly not for recreational purposes. If I am sick, I will not hesitate to use Ny-Quil. Puts me right to sleep with no more worrys. When I am not sick, a mug of Celestial Seasonings Stress Tamer tea puts me right to sleep all warm and happy inside. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/16 "2001-11-14T06:35:50Z")
Well, overlooking the fact that caffeine is _horribly_ addictive, I’ll say it’s up there on the list. Chocolate takes the cake, though. Caffeine, phenylethylamine, N-oleoylethanolamine and N-linoleoylethanolamine. And it’s _still legal._ I’m off to make a cup of hot chocolate. Now. (I like to add a bit of _capisum_ and a teaspoon of sacred ghee to it, which adds a fifth element that may not be _entirely_ legal in some of the more backwards parts of the world.) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/17 "2001-11-14T06:44:27Z")
**yojimboguy** , I’ve had some fun with NO[sup]2[/sup] as well, but you shouldn’t have any illusions about it:[ul][_]It is illegal to use it recreationally.[_]As for side-effects, nitrous prevents your body from making use of B vitamins. Not a big deal if it’s a one-shot deal, but if you get into a daily habit, you _will_ experience loss of motor control, and lose the ability to walk. It can take a while to recover from.[/ul]Careful, dude. ---
**Author:** ![TN\_hippie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@TN\_hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TN_hippie)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/18 "2001-11-14T07:14:07Z")
Anybody who thinks caffeine is non-addictive isn’t abusing it properly. They’ll take away my coffee cup when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers. * * * Peace, TN"3potsaday"hippie ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/19 "2001-11-14T08:08:40Z")
When I was in my my early 20`[sup]s[/sup], I was in the habit of drinking two beer-steins full of espresso every day.[ul][_]My skin turned Simpsons yellow.[_]I developed some _extreme_ twitches. (Sitting on couch, leg kicks up waist-high, etc.)My urine smelled _exactly_ like fresh coffee. Strangers would comment on it in the men’s room. :eek:[/ul]I feel much better now, thank-you. ---
**Author:** ![acconav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f4b2a3/32.png) [@acconav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/acconav)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178/20 "2001-11-14T08:19:31Z")
advil cold & sinus, no contest, i dunno what it is about it, but i take it for everything. headache? reg advil will do, but NO!! i must take advil cold and sinus!! upset stomach? same deal. regular advil just don’t do it for me advil cold & sinus is GOD. bow before it, puny mortals. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-favorite-legal-drug/93178.md?page=2)