Drug Knowledge

Does anyone notice that having an extensive drug knowledge is sometimes more of a liability than an asset? Numerous times people just refuse to believe in what you say even though you know you have the scientific research to back it up...

They are all stuck in the stigma that this drug will do this or will do that and will refuse to believe in what you say...

This usually leads me to believe that i should just shut up about drugs and lie and lie. Its depressing.


Sorry, end of rant.

opps, wrong forum, please move to aus drug discussions..

Who to believe, society in general and its lovely anti-drug/drug information campaigns or the people who have plunged into the sea of it all...hmm?

bah, just stick to discussing drugs with other users i think..... non-users, or at least, judgmental non-users will just listen to what u have to say, nod politely, then when u are gone call u a druggy...... i find it IMPOSSIBLE to talk to someone who doesnt smoke weed about weed and not sound like a stoner..... even if u are describing EXACTLY what happens to u, with no bias, u still come off sounding like a stoner imo..... pisses me off

yeh true, unless someone comes to you for your knowledge because they want to try something then its best to keep it to yourself.

I know a few people who are good people but the second they know you're into drugs they don't want to know you. To tell you the truth they're not open minded enough people for me to relate to anyway.

yeh, i know what you mean. i find it really frustrating when my anti-drug friends who have now tried speed constantly come up to me and say 'i had speed 3 weeks ago, and i swear it's drained all my spinal fluid and ever since it been giving me the most INTENSE pain'... i hear lots of other things too... i hate it when people blame drugs for problems man.
but yeh, if i try to explain i feel like they think i'm too good... but also that they don't believe me either. so it's stupid even trying... i know the truth....

my first day back at uni after two tribes earlier this year.. and i get this from all my friends - "man, have you tried any of that GBH* stuff?" and "isnt that that stuff that kills you?"
* incorrect name there on purpose

a few of my non-raver friends are genuinely interested and want to learn about drugs and stuff, but with the rest its honestly not worth it... it just gets uncomfortable due to the problems that come up (as mentioned in earlier posts).

Yeah know how ya feel totally on the GHB thing after 2 Tribes, I got quizzed by all my friends bout it too.
I wrote a research paper basically on drugs, (cant be bothered explaining it all) and then got asked to run a drug education tutorial at a university. i thought this would be a pretty cool thing to do because I thought it would be good for students to get oportunity to get updated info about drugs instead of the old 'drugs are bad' line and out dated info they usually recieve. Anyway I asked the lecturer who asked me to take this tute if he wanted me to be totally honest with the students if i got asked questions about personal use, he said YES. This I thought was very cool and decided that if anyone asked a question like "have u taken drugs" then i would answer honestly. Everything started out well, I gave em handouts and info on speed, E, GHB/1-4b, acid and cocaine. Most of the class centred round speed, E and mostly around G. Everything ran really well til someone asked me if I had taken G before and I answered Yes. The student who asked this clearly had some drug knowledge and I'd say he had done some raving. He then started to really push the G issue and give strong opinions on what a stupid drug it is etc. This fired up the rest of the class who sorta jumped on the band wagon and took his line and that of the media. So in a short period of time i had gone from being a guy with some level of respect and sound knowledge to a G Head with no idea and no respect.
I think it will be last time that i unleash any personal experiences in a teaching situation.
*Note: This was a 1st year tutorial so maybe it was innappropriate to talk so liberally and openly with people not long outta school..



Beech out

*moving to aus. dd*

(might add more later )

Beech, i don't think your problem is just because your class was a first year one... i think it has a lot more to do with how the people you are talking to think.

I am a third year student in a business degree. WHen i talk with my uni friends about life experiences i am often amazed by the amount of things they have no clue about. Not just related to drugs either - topics ranging from politics ("I vote liberal because my parents do"), to sex ("I can't give my boyfriend of 4 years head, i might catch something!")

I think that you will have a lot of problems with people like these if you want to try and educate them about whatever topic you like, because people like this only want to hear what they want to hear. I can remember several occasions whereby i have mentioned an event that i went to on the weekend, and someone will ask me if i took drugs or not. If i answer positively, then come the questions - things like "Aren't you scared that you're gonna overdose??" to which no answer is satisfactory to them...

Thebest thing to do is to keep drug talk to those with open minds and those who partake in the festivities. Leave the rest, because in their eyes you're just another junkie (as one person said to me, even though i have never, and will never ever try heroin)... 8)

Yeah i see your point but people studying the course in which this subject and subsequent class is offered they need to be open to new ideas and realise that they don't know everything. I have studying a similar course one of the first things a tutor said to us in 1st year was "your existing ideas are going to be challenged and you need to open your mind and accept that you dont know it all, your at uni now". This was not to say that uni has all the answers but if your going to study a degree involving health sciences then you gotta be willing to accept material presented to you.


Beech out

yeah i have to really watch what i say atm cos i live at a college. some people get real freaked out when you show that you have even a little bit of drugs knowledge. heres an example. "i heard taking E makes you want to drink heaps and heaps of water and to much water can kill you." so of course im gonna go on a big spiel about how its only dangerous if people dont know what their doing and think they have to drink stacks of water. i prolly should have just said oh really and left it alone. people even get a bit freaked when you say something about weed that shows that you didnt have your first cone at college. haha their prolly thinkin how did that kid get into uni

Cosmic Mist said:

Thebest thing to do is to keep drug talk to those with open minds and those who partake in the festivities. Leave the rest, because in their eyes you're just another junkie (as one person said to me, even though i have never, and will never ever try heroin)... 8)

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Not having a go but it sounds to me your saying that if you do heroin your a junkie.

On the topic I agree sometimes the extra knowledge can make things difficult with friends at times. More to me not comprehending how some people can behave in ways that they do and then when trying to offer advice or share knowledge have it thrown back in your face or more often than not people not believing what you tell them. This I think because some people are so brainwashed by some things they are told about drugs when a drug user comes along saying the absolute opposite it might possibly be a little hard to digest.

knowledge is never a liability, the excersise of knowledge often is.

anything outside the box is bound to be percieved as a threat to the paradigm - and as such must be resisted by the educated and experienced and those otherwise alike, almost subconsciously....until the morphogenic field gets strong enough and everyone just groks, and such things will become the knowledge of the background noise, but i digress again...

a little too hard to digest is an understatement. They think that i am directly attacking their morals and intelligence when i tell them there is evidence to the contray that <insert drug name> does not do <insert drug name's deadly rumour>.

It gets to you, because it only reinforces that they are a) dumbass b) stuborrn c) ignorant, neither of which i like to think my friends as.

I think because some people are so brainwashed by some things they are told about drugs when a drug user comes along saying the absolute opposite it might possibly be a little hard to digest

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problem is most people are told that people who do drugs are messed up so thats what they believe instead of actually thinking about weather or not you actually are messed up. its better to just act dumb i reckon

People don't like being shown up. Male egos in particular get damaged by this sort of thing. You need to be gentle in the way you try to correct them, but there are always some who'll never listen.

There are ignorant people who don't know, and there are stupid people who can't know. The latter are a lost cause and should be left well alone

It definitely is important how you go about trying to correct or educate someone. People don't like to be shown up and if you just come straight out and tell people their wrong they are bound to argue. Persistence helps if you keep coming back with the same information and even better still they hear or read the same information from more than one source. So get one of your mates to come round and you can go in for the 2 sided attack

I am very careful as to whom I share my knowledge with. However I do find it amusing that when I do share knowledge and/ or experiences with "new" friends they are usually surprised because:
1. Although I take drugs for recreation I am not a drug addict
2. I am a hardworking professional
3. I am a parent
4. I've got my shit together
Also I think what is important is that I'm able to dispell the "myths" they previously thought about various drugs.

I just worry about my own health and learn more about the risks for myself, if they don't want to listen the stuff I have researched and studied, its their body and mind, their problem, not mine if there's nothing I can do about it even sounds selfish that I am not caring about other's health but .... what can you do?

I just can't be bothered get into debates with these narrow-minded people....

to each its own.

Just know your mind, body and drugs ...... thats all I can say.

It's funny though how when you show knowledge of drugs its immediately assumed your a junky. Whats with that I thought it had something to do with "research" rather then exerting personal experience. Anyway if someone knows something about football does that make them a professional football player (eg Football Junkie)... LOL
If my friends want to be informed I'll explain to them as much as they want to know. But I won't randomly just express personel knowledge. I have a high interest in Pharmachology, Medicine, Herbs, etc so i'm known as sort of as a drug geek rather then a druggy which i find more appealing. Close minded peopel dont deserve my information
Took a long time to turn peoples perspectives from me being a junkie or whatever

Although I was always considred a stoner/druggy even before i touched anything (kind of unfair) MEH