WHy do we even need pot or booze

[HEyHEY]

Okay, I'm not really the one to be bringing this up.

But seriously, what is the appeal? Getting dizzy and sleepy, or goofy and foggy?

Why do you drink/boge?

[Fixated]

1. ...

It's fun. It feels cool.

[twilight]

2. in the words of Jerry Garcia ...

We need drugs to escape reality. If reality wasn't so shitty, we wouldn't need to escape it!!!

:nuke:

[HEyHEY]

4. Is reality that shitty?

I'm not jumping for joy all the time, but I'm not totally disgusted with it.

I do get rather severe mood swings though. I've been thinking about seeing help.

[Terwilliger]

8. if that's true and you seek professional help...

they will give you drugs

I'm working on pre-emptive medicational measures

[HEyHEY]

12. it just that it comes in waves

For months I'll be fine, then for a few weeks it'll be all the time. So, when I'm doing well, I don't worry about it. Then it hits and before I get around to deeing help, I'm fine again. :shrug:

[laura888]

41. HEyHEY, I can totally relate

I was on prozac for a while, but the sexual side effects were a bummer. Lately, I'm discovering that 2-3 glasses of red wine make me feel "normal."

Perhaps its part of being human? Evolution got carried away? Our over-active brains get us into trouble...with ourselves (read: guilt, regret, anger, etc). Drugs and booze help us not think so hard - quickly!

[salmonhorse]

3. Beer is quite often required with...

Mexican Food ~

[kanrok]

9. Wine with...

just about any food.

[salmonhorse]

20. Red Wine; agreed, with ~

Chateau Briand

[kanrok]

21. Pinot Noir

with Salmon! (I don't know what goes with salmonhorse).

[salmonhorse]

23. Bushmills ~

Straight-up no chaser...

[HEyHEY]

25. that a boy!

Had a shot of that after I quit my job on firday...wlaked into one of my favourite bars that is a few blocks away. Had a shot of it and then a guniess..then went home

though Jameson is my fav

[Terwilliger]

5. ummm

what isn't the appeal?

Yesterday, I smoked a joint while playing tennis.

[HEyHEY]

6. how'd you do?

[Terwilliger]

11. fine

sweating and running hitting the ball, and doing fairly well

[Ivory_Tower]

7. Back when Dennis Miller was funny

He made a comment along the lines of: If the government somehow managed to get rid of every recreational drug in the country, adults would be in their front yards spinning around in circles like children to get dizzy.

Sometimes it can enhance/alter a moment, I suppose.

Personally, beer and wine are my drugs of choice mainly because I like the taste with certain meals. Sometimes I enjoy having some drinks when I'm with friends, but it's not a requirement. As for getting completely wasted in college-style binge drinking...no thanks -- tried it in college (when the bars were stumbling distance to my bed), don't need to do it now.

Don't do pot, so I can't really say. While the aroma is okay with me (preferable to cigarettes), I just don't like smoking.

[Fight_n_back]

10. If you can get through life without

chemically altering your consciesness then you aren't looking around enough.

[deceased]

22. hmm

might as well give up caffeine, sugar, carbohydrates, water, air.....cause they all will chemically alter your consciesness.


no needs to wear clothes when its warm out; no one needs to be polite; no one needs to do much of anything but to find water, food, and shelter...so dude might as well live in a cave like a savage.

diabetics need insulin, crazy people need haldol, hippies need weed, yuppies need wine, and you need to mind your own...

[HEyHEY]

24. ummm...re-read his post

pay close attention

[newyawker99]

53. Hi deceased!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Fixated]

13. ....

Am I the only one that does not do it to escape reality? I just like it...

[Ivory_Tower]

14. I also remember a story

Not sure if it's true:

When the ancient Greeks would consider new legislation, they would debate and vote on it twice -- once when sober, once when drunk. If it passed both times, THEN it would become law.

I think the point of the story was that new laws need to be looked at from a both an intellectual and an emotional standpoint. The alcohol lowered the lawmakers' inhibitions about speaking from the heart.

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing Congress try this approach once in a while, just to learn what they're REALLY thinking.

[HEyHEY]

16. That's similar to how that girl in Jefferson Airplane wrote song

Only she used LSD

[arcos]

37. wow... interesting! n/t

[patdem]

15. Even the animal kingdom gets high at times...check out the tree in Africa

where the lamb does indeed lay down with the lion...or the plants deer seek out during hunting season that gives them a certain high which they do not seek out during times of no stress. It is not a human phenom..it is a 'life' phenom.

[glarius]

34. The koala from Australia lives on the eucalyptus tree which has a drug of

some kind which the animal is addicted to....It is said this is why the koala is so sleepy most of the time...

[Nikia]

17. I usually don't get sleepy

For me, smoking a little pot is a safe, agreeable way to relax, socialize, and perhaps get creative. I don't need it in the way that some of my borderline addicted friends need it (They get a little cranky when they are out.). I am fine without it. I just like it, just like I like sex. I feel better when I smoke. I think of pot as working with my mind rather than taking it over. The truth is that there have been times that I have been able to be that high in life sober when experiencing totally great moments. When I smoke, I can be that high sitting in front of my computer. Much of the time, my mind is enslaved in a web of worry that I have trouble seeing past. When I am high, I usually can see past it. The cool thing is that I have been able to undertangle it too because it can be a learning experience that carries over when the high has subsided. The social thing is great too. I feel a stronger emotional connection with others when I am high and have been able to become close friends with someone who I get high with much faster than if I only know them on a sober basis. That said, I don't know if pot is for everyone and perhaps I do smoke it more often than I should.

[HEyHEY]

19. Drugs and alcohol are a social lubricant

good poitns

[newsjunkie]

28. I agree with you..

although I do get a 'little' cranky when I run out if it's very long.I start missing the feeling pretty soon.It's just crazy that you can grow it anywhere but its illegal. To me its as stupid as making 'owning water' illegal.

[HEyHEY]

29. There was a group of dairy farmers trying to make

horsetail illegal to grow here...fucking assbags

[lumpy]

50. What's with horsetail ?

I've used it as a diaretic tea. Does it affect cows milk or something?

[arcos]

38. great post!

and perhaps get creative.

I'm a webdesigner, and I certainly work better (at least I have more ideas) when I'm high.

I don't need it in the way that some of my borderline addicted friends need it (They get a little cranky when they are out.)

When I run out of pot, I get very cranky for about 3 days... then it is gone and I'm back to normal.

I feel better when I smoke

agreed!

Much of the time, my mind is enslaved in a web of worry that I have trouble seeing past. When I am high, I usually can see past it. The cool thing is that I have been able to undertangle it too because it can be a learning experience that carries over when the high has subsided

I'm not usually in a web of worry, but in a way I relate to the rest of this paragraph. When I'm high I'm able to see things in a different perspective, and it helps me to solve things.


I feel a stronger emotional connection with others when I am high and have been able to become close friends with someone who I get high with much faster than if I only know them on a sober basis

Yes! Smoking with others certainly makes me feel an emotional connection.

[Booberdawg]

18. We don't.

We don't "need" pot or booze. Some people "want" pot or booze. Some people "choose" pot or booze. Big difference.

The appeal? Contrary to popular belief, it's not to "feel good" but to cause an "absence of feeling".

[Nikia]

26. I usually feel good with pot

I don't think it is just getting through the web and anxiety and feeling close to my friends either. Like I said, it feels like the good moments of life like graduation, winning a big race, and having a good time at an amusement park even though I'm just walking the dog. It's like that. That feeling isn't guarenteed with pot but likely in a comfortable setting. It seems to work with my mind and it won't make me magically happy if I am depressed.

[notadmblnd]

30. I lost my husband Wednesday

and I was amazed at the number of people offering me drugs, my mother and my sister offering me Xanax, my neighbor offering me vicodin, another aquantance offering me some other kind of pain pills. They were just trying to help lessen my pain, I didn't accept their offers. But I did smoke a joint late in the evening to settle my mind enough to go to sleep.

Life is very painful sometimes, and suffering is something I think man has been trying to aleviate for centuries. I chose a drug that God gave us not one a pharmacutical company produced.

Could you imagine having surgery and not being provided anasthesia or not taking Ibuprofin, Asprin or Tylenol for minor injuries? These things block sensors in our brain that relieves our pain.

So from my point of view, yes we do need these things. Emotional pain is not so much different in a sense from physical pain.

[Nikia]

32. I'm sorry about your husband

Pot does help emotional pain in many people and is a safe alternative to many of the other drugs that you were offered. It is much less addicting than some of them. My father's close friend's mother lost her husband and became severely addicted to Xanax within a few months and had to be hospitalized. That won't happen to anyone with pot.

[laura888]

42. yes, emotional pain is as painful as physical

my prayers are with you - Laura

[populistmom]

44. I am so sorry for your loss

I think you have to do what ever it is you have to do in order to deal with reality sometimes. Take care of yourself.

Sarah

[Journeyman]

27. Seek out Aldous Huxley's "The Doors of Perception". . .

for an insightful essay on humanity's desire for escape and enlightenment through chemical portals. You need only read the first few pages for Huxley's historical analysis. The balance of the book is a fascinating account of his experience with mescalline -- a remarkable journey, though only marginally related to your question.

By the way, this short book is the source of Jim Morrison's name for his band.

[laura888]

45. very intereresting!

I will check the book out!

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

31. My favorite subject

As an alcoholic, I've made my position on booze clear here more than once. It's a destructive poision-- it kills brain cells, it ruins the liver, it slows down reaction times, it distorts emotions (either grossly distorting the happy-happy feelings or the total-destruction urges), and IT KILLS. Perhaps not the drinker, but often those he/she T-bones in the intersection or hits head-on at high speed out on the four-lane highway.

How do I justify other drugs now? I don't think I can, as far as "casual use" goes-- crack, heroin, speed, etc.-- they all carry the same seeds of destruction within them. (Not having tried any of them, I speak from what I've read, seen and heard.)

As for pot, I suppose it would be hypocritical to say it's different in any way. It changes perception-- it distorts the time sense, it distorts depth perception, it distorts (some say "enhances") the hearing and other senses, and that in itself makes it dangerous.

HOWEVER, having said that, it also has many medicinal uses, chief among them the reduction of pressure within the eyeball, thus easing the symptoms of glaucoma. Cancer patients can use it as a substitute for nausea-producing painkillers, easing agonizing pain. Arthritics (such as myself) use it to ease the bone-deep ache when too much asprin and other drugs begin to compromise the bodily systems (too much asprin can cause bleeding stomach ulcers, and it thins the blood, making it hard to stop a wound from bleeding). The same can also be said for a glass of wine-- it can reduce blood pressure, ease migraine headaches, and so on. And pharmecutical cocaine has uses in dentistry and other medical fields.

So where to draw the line? I do not know. I guess it all boils down to how strong the individual is when using such drugs-- will they succeed in controlling its use, or will the drug end up controlling them, most often to their eventual destruction?

As free-thinking individuals, I believe that in the end it's very much an individual choice, as long as it's done responsibly. On the other hand, how many really responsible people do you know?

[sasquatch]

33. Why do we need pot or booze...

when we have CRACK:silly:;)

[arcos]

35. stuttering!

I've being a heavy smoker for a couple of years now, and I've wondered sometimes why do I do it.

I've stuttered since I was 5 or 6, but suddenly, about 2 years ago I nearly stopped stuttering at all. Just a few days ago I realized that I stopped stuttering at about the same time that I started smoking pot regularly.

I googled a little, and found out that there are reported cases of this. Very interesting, since until a few weeks ago I hadn't made the connection... and I'm not sure if it is related, but it certainly can be.

[izzie]

36. I think it is just nature all societies have done this.

Like in Saudi, they get something from Yeman and chew it. It is just people I think.

[qwertyMike]

39. To get Wasted

[NashVegas]

40. If I'd Never Done Recreational Drugs

And learned how much fun voluntary mind/physiological altering substance abuse could be, I might have found myself to too-well enjoying those times when I had no choice - the excuse of taking such substances via doctors' orders, and be where Rush Limbaugh is today.

Getting goofy for short periods of time with the right bunch of people is just fine, on occasion, as long as you grow out of it.

I rarely ever drink to the point of drunkeness, and don't imbibe in MJ or illegal drugs at all anymore; too old for it now and the body alwsys has something to say about it later.

[earthman dave]

43. You forgot happy, bashful and doc

I think "need" is the wrong word. Why do some people "need" to stay straight? I choose to smoke hash because i like it. Given that everyone's gonna die anyway, i say why deny yourself? If by "goofy" you mean chuckling at everything, then yeah, that's nice. Hash makes things more interesting, and being stoned is really pleasant. Sorry if i sound a bit peeved, but the assumption that there must be something wrong with anyone who uses drugs, or they must be trying to escape from reality or compensate for something kind of ticks me off. Any state of mind is as valid as any other, IMO. Why do people "need" to feel happy? </rant> :)

[CanuckAmok]

46. "I have tried Marajuana, I get nervous everytime...

they will come a-knockin' at my door..."

I'm in with David Byrne on this one--can't stand the stuff. One of Canadian Citizrenship's many perks, completely wasted on me.

I love a good vodka martini, though.

Why? I dunno.

But if you're offering, I'm accepting.

[youngred]

47. Well

It relieves some stress and relaxes me. It puts me to sleep when I normally cannot. It's a reason to hang out and makes it more...interesting.

I don't know. I'm 20 and want to try it for awhile before I can't anymore

[TrogL]

48. I drink because I like the buzz

and the relaxed feeling it gives me.

I wish I was able to do it myself, and occasionally I can using meditation or yoga.

Also, I like the taste of wine and beer and like sampling various vintages and brews.

[SiobhanClancy]

49. Why do we have to "need" it?

It's just fun!
:beer:

:smoke:

[HEyHEY]

51. Sure if you aren't takin it seriously

I didn't mean "Need" just a poor choice of words. What I meant was, why do people even use them?

[leftofthedial]

52. because prescription painkillers are too expensive for most of us

"Reality is a crutch." --Tom Waits

[bif]

54. I just enjoy the feeling

of having a few glasses of wine in me. Or a bunch of beers, or some scotch or vodka or...

Who was it that made a comment to someone who didn't drink, "You mean when you get up in the morning, that's as good as you're gonna feel all day?"

[felonious thunk]

55. To suffer the sanctimonious

You know, not everyone that drinks is an alcoholic. I enjoy booze.
I like the taste. I like wine. I like beer. I don't usually get
"drunk" and it doesn't affect my life or work or family, except
in positive ways, as wine appreciation is an activity that brings
my family closer together on fun Saturday afternoons.