Questions: Any idea about how widespread is the use of recreation drugs?

[MrScorpio]

I was reading this article about X, and I started to wonder about a bigger picture: Why take drugs (Or drink a lot)? http://discussions.latimes.com/20/lanews/la-he-closer-ecstacy-20100712/10

(Whether or not the article is part of an anti-drug campaign is beside the point. I don't need to question the writer's motives, because I know that there is a mindset out there that seeks to control people by attempting to control their consumption of recreational substances for whatever reason. OTOH, it's just that I'm not fully up to snuff in understanding why some people are impelled to recreationally alter their consciousnesses)

Not withstanding doctor prescribed medical marijuana, is recreational drug usage and frequent alcohol consumption the norm for most adults in America, or not?

Is it common with you or with most of your friends and family?

Is sobriety really that bad that it has to be medicated away at every opportunity?

I can't really relate to any kind of drug or alcohol culture, as I rarely, if ever, drink. When in those rare times that I do, it's never to excess and I've never tried any kind of recreational drugs at all.

I really don't know why people get drunk and/or high, seriously. Notwithstanding people who self-medicate in order to cope with emotional or physical trauma, I'm merely referring to people who do it for fun.

I don't judge it at all, it's just not my bag. Most people should do what they want when they want, as far as I'm concerned. It's just that I've never understood it, that's all.

(BTW, I feel that prohibition is just as puzzling. Except for that pesky part about it being used as tool to control certain "persons" by the powers that be.)

Does anyone care to explain?

[babylonsister]

1. I think everyone is too drunk or stoned to respond. Or,

they could be sleeping because they have to work in the a.m.:P

You were in the military and you don't understand it? I'm surprised you are as pure as you are, and that's not an insult. You escaped!

[MrScorpio]

5. I've never felt a need of desire to alter my mind

I've been this way long before I joined the service.

The very first time that I ever got drunk was on New Years Eve of 1987, I was 26... When it happened, I immediately felt like lying down and didn't drink any more.

Now, it's true that I like the occasional taste of liquor, but after an initial light buzz sets in, I don't drink any more as well.

It's just that I find the idea of getting out and out plastered a little to weird to understand.

[babylonsister]

8. Wow. You DID escape. I find it strange that peer pressure

didn't get you, in high school or the military or anywhere. I wish I had been as strong, or single-minded, independent, or whatever did or didn't motivate you.

Trust me, lots of people do what they do to escape.

[MrScorpio]

9. You're right, I've never succumbed to peer pressure

In my youth, quite a few people have offered me weed and booze and I turned them all down without any problem.

That day I got drunk in 1987 was totally my idea, I wanted to mix my own Screwdriver. If someone had offered me a drink, I would have said that I didn't want it.

BTW, I have a INTP personality type. It's pretty much the reason why I can resist peer pressure.

[babylonsister]

10. What's an INTP personality type?

And did you, while in the military, go out with pals but not indulge, or just not go out? I was married to a Coastie for years, have lots of Coasties in my family, and they all drink like fish, or fishes. How did you avoid that?

[MrScorpio]

11. Here's the definition of an INTP

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INTP

It's the rarest of all Jungian personality types. Basically, we're iconoclasts.

BTW, I went out with my buddies all the time. Every one of them knew that I didn't drink, which was fine, because I was the driver in most cases.

When we went out, it was mostly to clubs to meet girls or to concerts, so it wasn't just to go out to drink. The drinkers mostly either drank at the dorm or at the NCO. Not me and my friends, we had other ideas about having a good time.

[MrSlayer]

2. I don't know a single person who is straightedge.

Why do we do it? Because it's fun!

To paraphrase Frank Sinatra: "I feel sorry for people who don't drink (party), the way they feel when they wake up in the morning is the best they are going to feel all day."

[eyeofdelphi]

6. i love that quote!

i'd heard it somewhere before but i couldn't remember who said it.
as for why people do drugs (that aren't self medicating), i don't know. maybe cuz life is depressing and they just want to have fun. lots of drugs bring out the endorphins. after watching the news or driving around town seeing the foreclosures or worrying about the economy or whatnot, people just want to do something that will make them feel good. some people exercise, some people take drugs. for the record, i don't know a single person that hasn't tried some drug, well, excluding my grandparents.

[RainDog]

3. the use of substances to alter consciousness is as old as civilization

beer came soon after domesticated grains.

why the fuck does it matter is someone chooses to have a drink from time to time? there is nothing about this activity that says anything about the person other than, at that moment, they choose to have a beer or a glass of wine.

so what?

some people have a problem with one substance or another and, thus, should not drink because their bodies do not respond well.

the majority of people in the world, however, can and do drink or ingest cannabis or whatever else might be out there without lasting effects.

why go to the movies? why read a book? why talk to friends? because it's entertaining.

nothing wrong with those activities either - in the right time and place.

did you ever spin yourself around and around in circles when you were a kid? same thing. did you ever go to a haunted house? same thing.

[Fumesucker]

4. Alcohol *is* a recreational drug..

It fits all the criteria for a recreational drug, it's a chemical that's mind altering in a pleasant way to many (but certainly not all).

Alcohol is particularly good at loosening inhibitions and that's the reason a lot of people drink, they prefer being more uninhibited than they naturally are.

[MrScorpio]

7. I'm pretty good at being uninhibited while being sober

Besides, my friends who drank knew that they could always depend on me to get them home safe.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

12. If you lump legal and illegal together...vast majority of the population

[MrScorpio]

13. That's what I thought

I pretty much knew that I don't have a lot in common with most people.

This has pretty much confirmed it.

[handmade34]

14. MrScorpio

this is the formal study that our gov't does annually... I worked on the study for a number of years and believe it to be somewhat reliable: http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/2k8nsduh/2k8Results.cfm#2.2

My personal studies tell me that it is human nature to desire an altered state of consciousness and there are many ways to obtain it. drugs, sex, exercise, engaging in risky behavior, etc... and we all have different levels of tolerance and need. I think the mature person recognizes this and keeps it relatively safe and healthy.

...love designatd drivers.

[hobbit709]

15. This country was founded by a bunch of drunk stoners

[csziggy]

16. I understand it, but I no longer use recreational drugs

I come from a family that has an addictive tendency. I've used alcohol and a lot of illegal recreational drugs. But I gave them up, partly because I now have to use too many prescription medications and partly because I have learned to enjoy my senses without artificial enhancement. Because I now have so few times when I am completely drug free, I appreciate those times more than I ever did getting high.

Sometimes I think getting high can be a self medicating situation but in our cultural it is usually framed as a social situation. In different social groups there can be different pressures to indulge. Or people find that being under the influence can make difficult lives more bearable.

In my family a strain of manic depressive made using drugs one way of dealing with reality. Now that there are prescription drugs to help handle that trait, the next generation is learning to do without alcohol and illegal drugs. I am not sure how much improvement that really is, considering some of the side effects I see them suffer with.

[Oregone]

17. If you don't pay attention when making your lines, the coke gets pretty widespread everywhere

[uncle ray]

18. look into Dr Bob Melamede's work.

particularly on endocannabinoid deficiencies. your endocannabinoid receptors are probably already on overdrive, ie. you are high on life, some of us need a boost. some don't know how to control that boost.

[silverojo]

19. I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs

I don't need artificial stimulants or depressives. And I've found that the people who do are either self-medicating, or people who are so boring that they can't enjoy the world and all it has to offer, or people with no self-respect who are looking to "fit in" with the above.

Those who claim recreational drug use hurts simply refuse to admit how harmful their activities are. You can't drive or do other work at your full potential when you're high, and by obtaining drugs illegally, you're contributing to the gang violence that results from the drug trade.

Alcohol may be legalized, but it's no better. Individuals' and families' lives are ruined by alcohol abuse and drunk driving.

Sorry, but I have no tolerance for anything that is so harmful to so many people.

[eShirl]

20. consider this: it's found in most human cultures, throughout history (and prehistory)

as are music, religion, art, language, myth

It goes with being human, as far as I'm concerned. (Sure, not everyone takes drugs, but not everyone is a musician, artist, or religious.)