How many of us understand where people were coming from with "drugs are bad mkay"?

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Bluelighter
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How many of us understand where people were coming from with "drugs are bad mkay"?

How many of you guys now understand after years of using drugs where people were coming from with 'don't try drugs, drugs are bad, don't ever touch them" speeches you got as a kid?

We all had them, none of us really took them seriously, even after a few years of recreationally trying drugs, but have many of you now understood where they were coming from and would almost say it to your kids now?

I personally do, that trying something once, then trying something else, then getting hooked on something, quitting, getting everything back on track and coming to the realisation you wasted a lot of time.

I was lucky, I still finished uni, still got a great job as an electronic engineer but I went through opiate addiction and wasted a lot of time with other drugs, drank too much alcohol etc, and it certainly could have ended up far far worse if I dropped out of uni and didn't get off the opiates. I used them for fun initially, then as a crutch for depression, then finally as I was just addicted.

Not much of a point to this thread, just curious how many people have come to a similar realisation as myself. The harm minimisation crap we spout (it isn't completely crap, but it is a method of justification for using) and 'anything in moderation is fine' etc, if I never tried anything, I would probably have saved a lot of time wasted at uni (failing topics), depressed etc. However if I had never tried them, I would never have understood this lesson, and probably would have missed quite a few magical times.

I guess we all learn the hard way hey?

Discuss

Fake edit: If this is the wrong forum feel free to move it mods.
 
yeah sorry guys wasn't really sure where to put it, I'll report it to be moved.
 
At least you had fun.

Isn't that what life is supposed to be?

Drugs are good, drugs are bad, it doesn't even matter now after all the drugs that i've had.
 
At least you had fun.

Isn't that what life is supposed to be?

Drugs are good, drugs are bad, it doesn't even matter now after all the drugs that i've had.

The fun I had was great, the year I spent depressed addicted to opiates whilst doing 3rd year engineering and stressing myself out as I was failing, would use as I was stressed, this would make me do worse, hence I'd stress more, vicious cycle, I would love to have skipped that love hate affair if I could do it again.

I can see how it could have ended totally opposite though, with me never getting out of the mess, I don't know how close I got, but knowing that makes me almost regret it. If I could stop others before it got to that point I think I'd would't want to risk it and would rather they missed out on the fun just so they have a guarantee of making it through life unscaved from drugs.
 
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The fun I had was great, the year I spent depressed addicted to opiates whilst doing 3rd year engineering and stressing myself out as I was failing, would use as I was stressed, this would make me do worse, hence I'd stress more, vicious cycle, I would love to have skipped that love hate affair if I could do it again.

I can see how it could have ended totally opposite though, with me never getting out of the mess, I don't know how close I got, but knowing that makes me almost regret it. If I could stop others before it got to that point I think I'd would't want to risk it and would rather they missed out on the fun just so they have a guarantee of making it through life unscaved from drugs.
I know that feel, bro.
 
Its a touchy issue this one. I feel as though there are a lot of potential negatives there are also many positives to drug abuse. You can learn things about yourself and have a lot of great experiences. I do believe the negatives of drug use are exaccerbated by their legal status and if drugs were clean and legal I wouldn't have a problem with my future children trying any particular drug but I would certainly hope it never got to excess.

The thing about 'Just Say No' is it creates an area of mystique and also potential to rebellion which is all too attractive to adolescent minds, I know that it was for me. I feel like this black and white approach is flawed in so many ways, not the least of which because when people find out soft drugs aren't that bad it makes them question the facts on harder stuff. Also, the legal status of all drugs basically forces a drug user to be in a scene where they are likely exposed to a wide variety of drugs.

I would have an honest talk with my kids when they hit the right age, about the positives and negatives of drug use, both scientific and from my own experiences and leave them to make up their own mind. My teen years not being a distant memory I know that categorizing drugs as all the same and categorizing any drug as inherently bad did nothing to deter me from using drugs. I would hope they don't ever push the realms of drug use too far but at the end of the day, we are who we are due to the choices we make and the experiences we have. We all want the best for our kids but it isn't your job as a parent to tell them how to live their life, its a parents job to instill some strong morals into them and try give them the benefit of their experience. What we all have to remember is while your children might be children to you, there comes a point where they are adults and its no longer a loved ones place to intervene in their decisions unless we see it making a drastic impact on their life.

Perhaps as the day I am nearing fatherhood comes I will change my mind, but it is hard to imagine. I am the eldest child in my family and while I don't like my little brother using certain drugs I realise he is going to regardless, in this case I feel a lot better giving him moderate doses of drugs I know are clean and where I control how far he can push it. There would be no point adopting a hypocritical just say no mantra to him, he would just get drugs elsewhere, and probably dirtier ones.
 
Great post.

End of the day everyone has to learn from their own mistakes, you just have to hope they are smart enough to realise and pick up on them before it is too late, and as a parent that is your job to do that.

However what about the kids who don't have parents or role models, what can be done then?
 
There are some life lessons that you do not truly learn without some degree of first hand experience. It's difficult to gain a real appreciation of the problems that you face from serious drug abuse. Sure, you can listen to war stories from others and understand that addiction is no fun. But that's not the same as experiencing withdrawals or loathing yourself for being unable to resist the temptation to overindulge our DOC.

Since there is so much disinformation from the anti-druggers, any possibility of kids acting on the faith of what they are taught goes right out the window! So the kids will reason that they have to find out the good and the bad themselves. It's a tough lesson to learn.
 
My dad use to tell me & my sister every day as he would drive us to school how bad drugs were & to watch out for anyone trying to get me to take a pill of any sort & so on. My sister was 1.5 years younger than me & we were in middle school. He would give us the same speech through out high school & we never touched any drugs.

I was on the volleyball team& baseball team & there were guys that smoked weed all the time but I never wanted to try it. I tried my first drug (weed) when I got to college. Away from home, drinking alot of alcohol, which brings down your inhibitions, hence me trying weed.

I would come home with my gf on weekends & would get drunk with friends & I had a younger brother that is 8 years younger. I was 18, he was 10 & he would always get on my case for drinking or smoking weed but when he turned 16, I was the first person he came to, to try weed & drink alcohol. Me & his best friend got him high for the 1st time & I do regret it but he loves the weed now a days while I dont smoke anymore.

Even tho my best friend in middle school was a heavy pot smoker, it never bothered me & I never tried it until he went to the marines & I went to college. I was never pressured to try any drugs, I had cool ass friends. Bottom line is my parents always told us how bad drugs are & to not associate with people that do drugs but I didnt care, it never bothered me.

I give credit to my parents keeping me away from drugs in my first 18 years of my life & I will do the same to my kids. I will try & keep them away from drugs until they are at least 18, let them develop their brain some what & have them decide whether they want to go on to college or whatever they want to do.
 
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It's hard to label it as good or bad because drug use doesn't exist in itself it comes along with all sorts of experiences. Maybe one person tried a drug once in their life and has an overdose. Bad? Maybe if they didn't they would have raised a kid and been horribly abusive. Good? Maybe the kid would have grown up and worked through his issues and make a huge change in the world. Bad again? Who knows what happens. I've had relationships that I never would have had without using drugs, and I've also lost other relationships. It's a mixed bag.
 
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