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I hate drugs. Never taken any. Always found it a way for people to become assholes, and think they were being someone they're not. I just don't understand why anyone takes it. Probably says more about me than them. I'm an utterly boring bastard.
No alcohol, caffine or chocolate?
I'm 44 now and did loads all through my twenties and I guess maybe early thirties. All in a clubbing/party context really as was immersed in the Manchester clubbing scene, so loads of what you might call "party" drugs on nights out.
It was great fun at the time but was doing quite a lot tbf and funnily enough I got into mountain biking and used that as an excuse to kind of retire from that scene as the two don't really mix (at least not in the same weekend). These days I don't MTB but still keen on road cycling and triathlon so guess it was a good decision at the time.
As it happens, lately, I have started getting back into going out and listening to house/tech-house/techno at daytime parties or those with an older or more discerning crowd and still really love it but its just some beers and maybe a shot of vodka to see me through til 3am now.
I don't regret it but as with anything, there's no way to know how different my life would be now if I hadn't done it or whether I'd have concentrated all that energy on something different/more constructive (doubtful). I still have a lot of close friends from that period of my life even though now we're all middle aged with jobs and families and no longer hammering it every weekend.
Yeah I don't do anything illegal any more, but I had a 'future sound of london' CD in my collection, and several from Platupus records, so you can draw your own conclusions from that, hahah 😉
and think they were being someone they're not. I just don't understand why anyone takes it.
You just answered your own question there..
I use to go to the pub, have a few lines, and, whilst I don't think it initially turned me into an asshole, it did make me a far more outgoing version of myself. As a single bloke, having zero inhibition to randomly approach the hottest girl in the pub was not actually a bad thing (and believe it or not was surprisingly successful). The general theme I saw was coke just magnifieed your underlying personality, ie if you were already a bit of an ahole, coke just made it far worse.
Of course that's how it starts...a few lines to make a night out a bit more fun. It ends with you snorting mounds of it on a daily basis with your nose falling apart with no hot girls in sight..
But it's not really you though, is it? You are who you actually are without drugs, IMO. I can say the same about friends I know who drink.
No alcohol, caffine or chocolate?
Yes. Never used to drink much, now not at all. The odd cup of tea, maybe 1-2 a week. Chocolate, that's another matter.....
chocolate is a drug - admittedly a weak one but it has feelgood chemicals in it
Given the demographic of this forum I can't believe this hasn't been posted yet...!
...for me - illegal drugs never even tried any.
Legal drugs - I like a drink, do coffee and chocolate.
Had one ciggie when I was 15 - nearly choked and never had another.
If you didn't take Es in the late 80s or early 90s then you really missed out on one of the greatest bits of our social history.
And then in came coke and it all became a bit dull.
Drank very heavily for a spell in my mid twenties. Gave it up completely for two years when my second child was born. Then took it up again but only ever had few I don't like hangovers.
Smoked weed regularly from my late teens till mid 30s . Stopped it because I realised it was preventing me from ever doing things that I wanted or needed to do.
I started smoking a couple of years after I gave up the weed That might have been due to a residual craving for tobacco form my weed smoking days but it was certainly triggered by a work colleague who told me she thought the workmates who smoked were pathetic lowlifes. I took up smoking there and then ...for six years . Stopped in my mid forties wish I had never started.
I have taken speed and mushrooms and various other things in my early twenties.
I still like a dram or a beer occasionally a glass of wine but it's rarely more than a couple and can go weeks without any at all. Now in my mid sixties.
If you didn't take Es in the late 80s or early 90s then you really missed out on one of the greatest bits of our social history.
I was married in 1990 (at 23) - living out in the sticks, drugs and rave culture really weren't a thing. Just something you saw on the news.
On a Saturday evening I was more than likely in a field helping my wife and her mum set up for some horse show the next day! 🙂
Another boring one here.
No drugs no smoking no hookers. Alcohol occasionally, but never gone beyond a slight lightheaded feeling. Average 1-2 coffees a day. The occasional can of Monster.
Never felt any desire for it.
rarely hit it enough that i couldn't function by 10 the following morning though, had to get the training in.
christ, you must have the constitution of an ox. I used to struggle dealing with my bar job (ok it was a very busy student bar) at starting at 6pm on a Saturday evening if i'd been out raving!
I hate drugs. Never taken any.
How can you hate something you've never experienced?
The general theme I saw was coke just magnifieed your underlying personality
This 100%. It makes arseholes bigger arseholes, and makes nice friendly people even more friendly and nice. MDMA on the other hand makes everyone nicer, even the biggest arseholes. That's why football hooliganism disappeared in the late 80s/early 90s. They should put it in the water like they do with flouride.
Opposite for me, I'm an arsehole (UK version) and when I did E I was lovely, chatted to so many people. Bluergh, without it I hate people!
differnt drugs have differnt effects IIRC E / MDMA releases oxytocin which is the hormone that makes you feel love and loved. Its the thing that is released when you bond with a child. IMO this is why folk who have had a group they have taken MDMA with tend to have a large circle of good friends. they are chemically bonded via oxytocin
Done in both variety and quantity.
Yes. Used them all bar heroin and new synthetics. Hung out in charas factories in North India to taking donkey trains loaded with opium with the Hmong into China. Fun times. When the come downs became hard I stopped. Thoroughly enjoyed that period of my life, mad adventures, great parties and good friends. Now just alcohol on occasion, one of the worst drugs available to us.
I was 17 in 1990, and with the explosion of Acid House spent the next 20+ years heavily stoned, pilled up and/or tripping. Then kids came along and ruined my fun. 😀
Eventually stopped smoking in 2012 because I didn't want my young family to see me blithered on the sofa, and also Random Drug Tests became a thing at my work. Got back into biking around the same time to help recovery from a knee op and realised that exercise and nature was my new drug - and a LOT healthier.
Genuinely can't remember the last time I got really pissed - couldn't deal with hangovers in my youth let alone now I'm 52. Nowadays, I probably drink too much tea, and I'm only mildly addicted to cheese.
Hand on heart I can say I've never smoked a cigarette or done any drugs. During my teen years I saw my nan gradually go downhill from emphysema (I think it's now called COPD) as she'd smoked her entire adult life. At the end she couldn't breathe and it was horrible to witness. I was of the mindset that weed etc was still smoking, so eschewed anything that involved smoking/nicotine etc. To be honest though, nobody in my peer group back then did it either, so I wasn't around it. I worked with plenty of lads who did ecstasy and raved every weekend, but didn't socialise with them.
Never dabbled with hookers either, ftr.
I like a beer or a glass of wine, but I think I'm generally not an interesting life story (no tattoos, with the same woman for 34 years and married for 31 years, etc).
No ones every offered me any!
not one of the cool kids, but also not deep enough in the outcasts/greebos.
a real inbetweener
If you didn't take Es in the late 80s or early 90s then you really missed out on one of the greatest bits of our social history.
And the beauty of it is that in the pre-camera phone era, there is virtually no pictorial record of any of it. Thank Christ! The states we used to get ourselves in! 😂
Yeah I don't do anything illegal any more, but I had a 'future sound of london' CD in my collection, and several from Platupus records, so you can draw your own conclusions from that, hahah 😉
Similar. Music is the best way to describe it, and probably influenced my experience more than anything.
I went from this (anti drugs message)
To this:
Then, the following quotes sum it up "the drugs don't work they make things worse" "fun in the beginning but pain in the end".
Judging from some of the above, I was only a dabbler, but circumstances played a role there. Used to smoke a lot, but gave up 15 years ago or more.
Just coffee, chocolate and one beer or two at weekend.
Various forms of exercise have replaced drugs for me now.
One of the oddest experiences was on Salvia divinorum, didn't take enough for full on other-world experiences, but very very strange, didn't know who or what I was during one very short lived experience.
Alcohol, weed & shrooms were my go to's from mid teens to mid twenties, dabbled in others but preferred natural substances rather than produced, then I had kids and thankfully throttled back from the precipice. Was a social smoker for a few years which was a hang over from smoking joints.
Don't know about alpins experience in cycling whilst stoned but I found i was convinced I had a flat tyre if I ever tried biking in that condition.
work being done with e and mushrooms for mental illness. Very difficult to do in the UK because of our laws
not so- I worked for a pharmaceutical co in the UK. Our development centre was working on this- had a plentiful supply of Psilocybin.
Our Dev Centre manager was trying to get some E to work on treatment of PTSD- a massive dose is believed to “cure” it.
everyone on site had to be DBS checked due to the controlled substances on site
Not impossible but difficult and the laws limit what kind of research can be done.
One thing I am watching for is what comes out of Canada with its totally legal cannabis market
Miles took Acid and jumped off a tower block in Croydon.
Kev smoked loads of dope and eventually killed himself with an OD of something.
Ivor's brother overdosed on his toilet. His mum found him 2 weeks later.
Gary was introduced to dope by kev . The pair of them were large than life pipe fitters on the building sites.
Gary ended up as a bag of bones , visiting a and e every week convinced he had a brain tumour. Not sure what happened to him.
Shame.
Ah yes, Salvia
not sure if it can now, but 20 years ago i ordered some legally for a few of us to try
one mate took a deep lungful, held it, and exhaled...
minute later stood up and while continuously walking in a small circle said in absolute sincerity that it had did nothing at all...and continued to walk in a small circle for 5 minutes longer....
I on the other hand, was convinced a tractor tyre was pushing one side of my face up and up....
Yeah, I've got quite a history with drugs, started in my teens, ended the main blow out in my early 20's. Then trundled along with weed in my early 30's then got fully clean.
Was a massive mushroom head, lots of other hallucinogens as well, coke made me a nasty bugger so stayed away from that, some IV drug use with various concoctions of opiods a brief period of living in squatts, an overdose or two and then waking in up to find my mate dead next to me having od'd whilst I was out of it, made me seek help and get my life together.
The fact I managed to get an education and then a decent profession is a bit of a miracle really as I could have very easily been dead by 20.
It has taught me not to be too much of a judgemental dickhead though and possibly explains why I have a slightly odd outlook on the world
Done everything back in the naughties. Broadly speaking I had a good time, but others did not. I've never seen cocaine do anything good to anyones personality. I've seen people graduate from coke to crack and not come back. I've seen people lose their minds on weed, more from shutting themselves away from everything than the direct effects of it.
It has taught me not to be too much of a judgemental dickhead
Yeah I'm always arguing this point with folks when they make out junkies are scum. Noone wants to be a junkie or drug addict. Being an addict doesn't make you a bad person, but it quite often makes you do bad things.
Plenty of junkies I know were scumbags before they got anywhere near drugs. But I'm sure plenty were perfectly decent folks who at some point in their lives made some pretty bad decisions leading to where they are now
Whilst I have absolute regrets about how things ended up, at the start I had an awful lot of fun. One thing that still amuses me/ bewilders me looking back is how I absolutely refused to share straws with people as I'd read somewhere that it was a transmission route for hepatitis. Whilst at the same time shovelling industrial amounts of columbias finest, mixed with God knows what else, up my nose..
My boringness on this subject is quite extensive - I've never drunk alcohol, smoked or done drugs. Caffeine via Pepsi Max is my limit. I had friends who certainly went through pills and raves phases in the '90s and others who've smoked weed but it never appealed to me.
I've had plenty of medical-style drugs over the years I suppose, I'd definitely not be here today if not for some of them. My '90s drug experience was chemotherapy, which was pretty brutal in its own way.
Sorry @Cougar.... I apologise. Didn't mean to come across as belittling nor to cause offence. I certainly did not want to appear snarky... I know I'm a prick at the best of times, but snarky isn't really my style.
Apology appreciated but not really required. One man's cup of tea is another man's heroin and coming off caffeine is rougher than one might think, was all. Sorry myself for being cross.
Didn't take my offer, though. 😁
It has taught me not to be too much of a judgemental dickhead
Yeah I'm always arguing this point with folks when they make out junkies are scum. Noone wants to be a junkie or drug addict. Being an addict doesn't make you a bad person, but it quite often makes you do bad things.
Plenty of junkies I know were scumbags before they got anywhere near drugs. But I'm sure plenty were perfectly decent folks who at some point in their lives made some pretty bad decisions leading to where they are now
Whilst I have absolute regrets about how things ended up, at the start I had an awful lot of fun. One thing that still amuses me/ bewilders me looking back is how I absolutely refused to share straws with people as I'd read somewhere that it was a transmission route for hepatitis. Whilst at the same time shovelling industrial amounts of columbias finest, mixed with God knows what else, up my nose..
Well indeed, correlation does not equal causation.
All bank robbers drink water, therefore drinking water turns you into an armed robber.
Coke is really nasty stuff though, at best it will turn you into an annoying throbber who doesn't know when to shut up.
Don't ask me how I know that lol!
One thing that still amuses me/ bewilders me looking back is how I absolutely refused to share straws with people as I'd read somewhere that it was a transmission route for hepatitis. Whilst at the same time shovelling industrial amounts of columbias finest, mixed with God knows what else, up my nose..
I know people who now insist they will only eat, local, ethically sourced, fairtrade organic produce, all of whom spent 10 years ramming anything they could get their mucky paws on down their gullets and up their noses, all sourced from a bloke known only as Spider in a squat in Hulme 😂
All bank robbers drink water, therefore drinking water turns you into an armed robber.
Actually, a guy I worked with (who was more throbber than robber) claimed he never drank anything other then beer (Kronenberg) and coffee (Dowe Egbert's). Nobody disbelieved him, and despite our best efforts, refused to drink anything else. Regularly sunk ten cans most nights of the week, starting on the bus home. Then he got a BMW convertible and we heard stories of near misses during risky overtakes, and parking tickets, and reversing into parked cars. What a guy!
I was really into E / MDMA for a few years in my late teens / early 00s. Used to do it once a month for for probably around 5 years. Always in the context of going to clubs and raves with mates. I did a bit of DJing and it was all part and parcel of the scene.
I got into clubbing again in my early 30s and had a fantastic three years living in Leeds with a great group of mates, all around the same age. Used to put on our own parties and actually got to DJ in a couple of big clubs. Met my wife during this that time.
Now 42 with responsibilities, married with kids etc. Decks and vinyl sold long ago. The most I can manage nowadays is a couple of Belgian or German ales in a quiet hipster pub. 🤣 I still absolutely adore the music though. Best time of my life. My only regret is that I didn't party harder.
Never had so much of a puff of a cigarette in my life (the smokers at school and uni even tended to be losers rather than cool kids) and so never got tempted by anything else, although I like the smell of weed. Alcohol is a different matter - after the usual uni excess became a bit of a weekend biased binger but now it’s more of a steady more-nights-than-not pint or two. Never really touched spirts as I have always tended to drink to volume as much as incapacity and recognise that could go very wrong. Caffeine is a low priority and so are fizzy drinks, but that does mean when I have my one can of coke a year as a pep up when tired it absolutely does the trick.
I still absolutely adore the music though. Best time of my life. My only regret is that I didn't party harder.
You get a second go at it when the kids turn into teenagers and start being independent. Just don't go to the same parties as them, it looks a bit weird. I get out more now than I did in my early twenties. Also there's nothing better to discourage your kids from taking stuff than embarrassing parents off their heads on pills, MDMA and coke.
haha this
i went to see Chase and Status, bumped into my own daughter, then later bumped into my ex's daughter in the same place....
but yes, i now go to bigger things than i would have back in the day...
Just caffeine and alcohol. And ketamine served in A&E
christ, you must have the constitution of an ox.Yes, i did well into my 30's. All gone now though. Those occasions i have a beer or two, once every couple of months maybe, i'm useless the following day.
all sourced from a bloke known only as Spider in a squat in HulmeHA!! We had a dealer called spider lived round the corner from me at uni. Had a prime view when he got busted.
Was heavy smoker in my late teens/early 20s. Give up about 20 years ago now (best thing I've done) Used to smoke weed regular in my late teens, still have the odd joint and see no harm in it. Loved the disco biscuits BITD, Dabbled in magic mushrooms and Coke too bit I'm too tight to develop a habit with that stuff!
"I know people who now insist they will only eat, local, ethically sourced, fairtrade organic produce, all of whom spent 10 years ramming anything they could get their mucky paws on down their gullets and up their noses, all sourced from a bloke known only as Spider in a squat in Hulme 😂"
I know people now who're the still the same... Vegan this, organic that, the most ethical of the ethical, and yet will stuff coke up their nose, made from who knows what by cartels destroying forests, shipped by OCGs, sold by street level criminals without a thought in the world haha
TBH the most hypocritical are the ones who refused Covid vaccines because 'you can't trust it to be safe/you don't know what's in it' and yet continued to inhale anything they can find 😂
Best night of my life was on a pill of some description. but I've only dabbled in pills and powders on a couple of occasions and never suffered any after effects. Never smoked weed, never had mushrooms or LSD etc. Drank plenty in my time, but got a killer hangover from 3 shandies last week. Tend to keep it to spirits and wine now. Never have and never will smoke.
"One man's cup of tea is another man's heroin and coming off caffeine is rougher than one might think"
Stopping smoking weed was easy. Leaving the cocaine alone was easy. Alcohol was a bit more challenging but I've managed nearly two years without a drink and can't see going back to it. Giving up tea? Not a chance!
We cannot do proper research on this because its illegal
I don't think that's right There's just been a large study done by Kings College and Bath Uni. I think it was published in the BMJ but you can google it I think.
Oh shit... erm.
Weed, Speed, Coke, MDMA, LSD, Ketamin there are more but I can't think what.
I self-medicated a lot from the age of 14 to about 27/28 with illegal drugs and the nest 15 years trying to fill the hole with food, risk taking behaviours, anger, anxiety and depression.
I've met more than my fair share of NHS psychiatrists, came close to being sectioned once or twice. Did the drugs make me mad, or did the madness drive me to drugs? I'm not sure, but they certainly got along.
Most of my peers smoked just as much weed as I did, more even, but it's the smoking weed at 14 that did the most 'damage' I'm told, not being a coked up dickhead, or 24 hour parties on pills.
I don't drink, smoke or anything now. Well apart from the boxes of medications I take to be a normal member of society, it's a bit boring though.
sourced from a bloke known only as Spider in a squat in Hulme 😂
🤣I once knew a purveyor of various interesting herbs and fungi known only as 'Red'.
So called because she had bright red dreadlocks, tied in pigtails, like the Fraggle, hahah!
Never dabbled.Mates smoked when I was young but a) I didn't like cigs b) they were boring as **** whilst stoned. Still went clubbing though.
Did a longish stint in the "war on drugs", predominantly wholesale heroin trade, 10kgs of class A upwards only, occasional coke (my pbs were 130kgs of coke in the back of a van in Essex, 110kgs of opium ang 86kgs of heroin). Never met anyone there who wouldn't have been / wasn't doing other serious crime - nasty people in a nasty trade, apart from one of the opium jobs: they were just very mellow Iranians. As a career it was good fun, lots of niche skills developed.
It's funny to look back on the socially awkward visits to the dealer. I was from a small village, dealer lived on a council estate. Pot didn't exactly bring me out of my shell (more like it patchily reinforced it). We always joked about how scary she was. Can remember sitting on the sofa trying to bring myself to broach the subject of my visit while sat next to an assortment of various family members and her children, psychotic dogs, cats.
A few years ago I had problems with gallstones, I'd be in absolute agony, paramedics would turn up, administer gas & air, then cart me off to a&e just to be sure. This happened several times, then I figured I might as well cut out the wait for the paramedics and just self administer the nitrous oxide. It really hit the spot, but not tried it since gallstones removed 😉
Did a longish stint in the "war on drugs
Username checks out etc etc
Caffeine is probably the only one I could say "addicted" too. Generally 2 coffees, 1 tea a day, but I definitely don't function properly until I've got my espresso in me at breakfast, despite claiming I only drink it for the taste.
Alcohol, again I drink for the taste. Maybe 5 units a month? A pint is as much as I want of an evening, and I'd rather have 2 different half pints. I got varying degrees of pissed whilst in my first 2 years at uni (30+ years ago) because it seemed expected of me, but never enjoyed being drunk, didn't like wasting the next day and didn't like the expense, so I stopped. Generally only have a beer if I'm going out for a meal and happy enough exploring the low/no alcohol option these days. Quite enjoy a nip of single malt whisky of a winter evening, but a bottle lasts the best part of 5 years, so its not like I'm smashing it...!
Other stuff - well I grew up with a grandfather who had about 30% lung capacity, so smoking was never a thing. Never had the slightest interest in anything illegal, first because, well - illegal (boring bastard alert), and secondly because life is weird enough as it is that it doesn't need "enhancing", plus cost, health blah... Mostly wouldn't have a clue how to go about finding the stuff either.
That said, I've spent 30 years employed in the entertainment industry and working with riggers who are probably second only to scaffolders in their use of oats'n'barley as a mild mid-shift pick-me-up. One of my formative memories of the industry was watching a bunch of colleagues crawling round on the floor to snort lines off the lens of a 500W halogen floodlight, and it was the idea of being beholden enough to a bit of powder to go after it on hands and knees that sealed my dislike of the stuff.
Should probably edit to say - quite enjoy an endorphin hit; despite living what some people would call a "high risk" lifestyle (lots of work at height, bikes, skis, climbing, quick cars) I wouldn't call myself an adrenaline junky - if I'm getting an adrenaline surge I'm not properly in control and too close to ****ing it up. The satisfaction is in doing scary stuff neatly accurately and safely.
I’ve never taken illegal drugs I have probably been worried about the illegality and the risk of addiction. I was addicted to alcohol though, but not anymore.
I would appeal to the (mostly) middle class occasional users on STW. It’s not a victimless crime, and, possession is a crime.
The distribution chain often uses addicts and slavery, extreme violence is used including firearms and then the profits are used to fuel more crime.
Combating the organised crime groups, insurance claims for the thefts that are carried out to feed addiction and the NHS resources that are used are a huge drain on our finances - money that good be used for good causes.
Pack it in and grow up!
It’s not a victimless crime, and, possession is a crime.
The distribution chain often uses addicts and slavery, extreme violence is used including firearms and then the profits are used to fuel more crime.
Combating the organised crime groups, insurance claims for the thefts that are carried out to feed addiction and the NHS resources that are used are a huge drain on our finances - money that good be used for good causes.Pack it in and grow up!
News flash - all that is the result of the illegality, the so called 'war on drugs'.
How do you think Al Capone got rich when alcohol was illegal?
Regulate it, treat addiction as a health issue rather than a criminal issue. Remove the social stigma. Pull the rug out from under the black market, tax it, and pump the profits directly into health and social services.
The alternative is keep doing more of the same, and complaining you don't get the results you want.
News flash - all that is the result of the illegality, the so called 'war on drugs'.
Yes, it probably is, but that doesn't alter the current legal status and the fact that anyone who "dabbles" NOW is directly contributing to the crime and misery. You can't absolve responsibility just by saying the system is wrong and wishing it were different. It is wrong, but we are where we are. You have to consider the implications of your actions under the systems as it is, not how you might wish it to be. Unless you don't care.
If and when drugs are legalised, fill your face with whatever you like with a free conscience. But if you do it under the current system, however wrong that system might be, do so knowing you are supporting violent organised crime and contributing to the abuse of vulnerable people that goes along with it. Pretending otherwise is just cognitive dissonance and mental gymnastics to ease your conscience.
For the record, I agree the law is nuts and has been an abject failure. I would strongly support a significant relaxation and more pragmatic approach.
What Matty said x 100. this is why sensible forward looking countries are looking at their drug laws and decriminalising / treating as a healthcare issue
One example. heroin addiction. Its cost the country hugely in petty crime to fund habits. However if you have a clean supply of what is a fairly cheap to make drug that you can afford it causes few actual issues. Well of heroin addicts live long and fruitful lifes by and large
The problems of heroin addiction can be 90% laid at the feet of those who insist the war on drugs is the only approach.
Do you have the same attitude to alcohol? Its a huge part of acute admissions to hospital, is a source of much violence including in A&E. It costs the country far more than illegal drugs. I bet it causes far more violence as well
News flash - all that is the result of the illegality, the so called 'war on drugs'.
If and when drugs are legalised, fill your face with whatever you like with a free conscience.
That's really not the point I'm making. I don't take any illegal drugs for probably more than 20 years now, and by luck or skill I never had a real addiction issue. The only thing I 'fill my face with' these days, is artisan pork pies.
You can ignore the laws of supply and demand all you want.
Where there is demand, supply will come. You can't stop it, governments can't stop it over many decades and god knows how much wasted pubilc money on enforcement, so what's your biright new idea on how to tackle the problem?
Do you have the same attitude to alcohol? Its a huge part of acute admissions to hospital, is a source of much violence including in A&E. It costs the country far more than illegal drugs. I bet it causes far more violence as well
Alcohol is a huge problem, and there is violence resulting from it. No doubt. But not the supply chain which is what I'm talking about here. Not in the fields where the barley (or whatever) is harvested, or in the distilleries and breweries where it is processed or by the dealers who sell it. The producers and distributors aren't also involved in gang violence, murder, sex and people trafficking etc.
Ah - so one form of violence that tends to be inherent in the drug ( alcohol) is not as bad as the violence associated with some illegal drugs?
so what's your biright new idea on how to tackle the problem?
Legalise it. I've already I said I support that. But until that happens don't prioritise your brief pleasure over the misery all along the supply chain of countless vulnerable people.
so what's your biright new idea on how to tackle the problem?
Legalise it. I've already I said I support that. But until that happens don't prioritise your brief pleasure over the misery all along the supply chain of countless vulnerable people.
I lost my younger brother to heroin addiction.
I do not take any pleasure at all.
But I am pragmatic and a realist about it.
What you are saying is deeply offensive, and frankly, naive. That's the most polite way I can phrase it without being banned from this forum.
Ah - so one form of violence that tends to be inherent in the drug ( alcohol) is not as bad as the violence associated with some illegal drugs?
Come on TJ, you're better than that. You clearly know I did not say that. Alcohol abuse is a huge problem, I totally acknowledge that. Violence by users is probably greater than that caused by drug users. I would support much stricter controls on it and much better support for those who are addicted to it. Hell, I wouldn't personally be upset if it were banned, I barely touch it these days.
But here's the thing. I can buy a beer and drink it knowing this. People in the supply chain, often in poor countries are not being coerced, enslaved, mistreated and the sellers aren't doing a sideline in underage prostitution or people smuggling.
If you buy illegal drugs from some bloke you don't know, you probably are putting money in the pockets of those who do all that stuff. And you know it. And you're clearly OK with it. As long as you get your buzz.
I lost my younger brother to heroin addiction.
My words were not directed at you, but more generally at those who belittle the impact of their recreational purchasing choices. I am very sorry for your loss and meant you no offence. I'm sorry if that was the result. I stand by everything I said but will bow out of this thread now.
All cool blokeuptheroad. Its a valid point but also applies to other areas from cheap far eastern made fashion to the damage done by flying fresh food from the other side of the world.
People in the supply chain, often in poor countries are not being coerced, enslaved, mistreated and the sellers aren't doing a sideline in underage prostitution or people smuggling.
fast fashion does, out of season veg does
Fast fashion and out of season strawberries have not contributed to the increase in huge organised crime gangs, cuckooing, people trafficking, violence, and acquisitive crime as far as I know.
My views on drugs are that some should be legalised but until they are you purchasers are contributing, and, are part of the “market” and the rise in the misery.
Fast fashion and out of season strawberries have not contributed to the increase in huge organised crime gangs, cuckooing, people trafficking, violence, and acquisitive crime as far as I know.
Not much in the UK no - but cause huge issues in source countries from subsistance farmers getting kicked off their land or the water stolen so they can no longer feed their families to enslaved child labour in chinese factories to the damaging effects of the pollution. Be very sure that your cheap fashion, electronics and out of season veg comes at a huge human cost as well
There is some interesting work being done with e and mushrooms for mental illness. Very difficult to do in the UK because of our laws but some of it looks very promising.
I was doing a lot of research into this, on behalf of my late partner, who suffered from depression and drank to try to deal with it, and was also suicidal.
Psilocybin in the U.K. is difficult for researchers, but Ketamine is a legal drug with known risks, but by microdosing and using therapy, it’s showing remarkable promise.
Sadly, she suffered a stroke and died before any opportunity to look into treatment options could be found.
As for myself, I’m a moderate user of alcohol, never actually enjoyed being drunk. I smoked a cigarette once, a friend who lived up the road from me nicked some of his dad’s fags, and we went to the woods nearby and lit up.
Yuk! 😖 It was disgusting, one inhale and it put me off completely.
I worked for a few years with a designer who used to smoke joints in the studio, in fact almost everyone smoked apart from me, herbal inspiration, he called it!
One afternoon I went down to his place in Bath, prior to a gig that evening, and everyone there was smoking joints, but I refused to smoke anything, so Rich broke off a small piece of resin and said chew on this, you might get a hit…
… I was looking through one of his art books on Antoni Gaudi, and was seeing some really extraordinary things in the photos!
I was still pretty much off my head that night at the gig, which was Johnny Thunders, but I can’t remember anything about it, or the train ride home!
Never used anything like it again, for the same reason I don’t like getting drunk, it’s the loss of control, basically.
“Not much in the UK no - but cause huge issues in source countries from subsistance farmers getting kicked off their land or the water stolen so they can no longer feed their families to enslaved child labour in chinese factories to the damaging effects of the pollution. Be very sure that your cheap fashion, electronics and out of season veg comes at a huge human cost as well”
But, we can try and buy ethically sourced clothes and strawberries in season, from Britain to cut out the risk of human harm.
I think that it can be guaranteed that the drugs that you buy from your local drug dealer involve lots of criminal activity, lots of pain and human misery. I don’t think your attempts to divert your guilt really cut it.
By not participating in this crime you can directly help society.
I’m absolutely not going to incriminate myself.
I will say
I have taken a fair amount of Morphine, Codiene and diazepam in my time.
There are others.
Used to love, totally legally buying a bag of some fungi, which we’d sit and munch with the landlord of the local, with a few beers.
I think that it can be guaranteed that the drugs that you buy from your local drug dealer involve lots of criminal activity, lots of pain and human misery. I don’t think your attempts to divert your guilt really cut it.
Really? citation needed. some drug supply routes are very bad indeed. Many are not. Many are highly professional large scale import or manufacturing businesses but they are not the ones that get the publicity.
I am not attempting to divert guilt. Its a reasonable point. What I am trying to show is that this sort of ethical issue does not just involve the illegal drugs trade. It also exists in a lot of legal trade and also in recycling of plastics and electronics - its just in those instances all the abuse is outside of the UK.
he who is without sin cast the first stone
Again - the source of this harm is the prohibition. folk will always take drugs