Double standards in the drug world - WHY?

[Psychlone Jack]

OK, I'm sure everyone has experienced this in some way, shape or form. WHY is it that individuals who indulge in drugs, be it a Tylenol regimen or a heroin habit, will sometimes be condescending towards another drug user, sometimes simply over another person's DOC?

I mean, shit blows my mind, for example a person will blow all kinds of money on pills, and rag on a person who buys $20 of heroin and receives triple the value, mg for mg, over pill consumption. My question is this - WHY do you think individuals judge others based on drug use/variance in drugs or ROA, what kind of flack have you received over your preferences, and just generally speaking, what the fuck?

IMO, a drug is a drug is a drug. Pot, kettle, black, glass house, all that.

 

[spinchick]

Man...I have to agree with you. My ex and I always got into it because he would sit there and snort opana all fucking night, spending a ton of money, or buy tabs....which were way overpriced where we used to live. And I'd bang some h and he would flip out. I would spend $40 (or less)...and he'd spend...at least a hundo. Drove me insane. I hate that. It's such a double standard. Opiates are okay as long as they're NOT heroin and you DONT shoot them. And stimulants are fine, except METH. No NEEDLES!. For fucks sake.....it's all the same goddamn shit anyway.

 

[HCL]

It's partly societal standards, and partly addicts going "I'm not as bad as that guy! At least I don't <insert drug-related behavior here>! One good example of the former is how alcohol is called a drink instead of a drug and is legal for anyone twenty-one and over, while amphetamine is feared and controlled despite not actually being all that much worse. People often forget that the user's behavior is just as important as the drug's chemistry.

Still, certain drugs are more dangerous than others. You can't compare Tylenol to alcohol, xanthines to opioids, etc.

The amphetamine example is actually one of the less illogical ones. Cannabis is far safer than alcohol, but it gets scheduled higher than meth. Heroin is chemically very similar to and only slightly stronger than morphine, but it's illegal and demonized. Benzos are scheduled fairly low despite being specifically intended for the kind of artificial emotional regulation that easily build psychological dependence. I could write a twenty-page essay on these inconsistencies and still have plenty left over.

 

[weekend addiction]

^Benzos are widely needed by many people. Benzos are addictive I know but they fucking work. I think they should be OTC. Then they might loose some mystique at least. They are good for medical use but I've never enjoyed the high. Benzos can slightly potentiate other drugs ex. cannabis, alcohol, and opiates. But I've never enjoyed any benzo by itself. I may have felt relaxed and tranquil at times from higher doses but not "high" or "drugged."

OP:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yky4QtRX_DI skip to 1:40

 

[spinchick]

But I've never enjoyed any benzo by itself. I may have felt relaxed and tranquil at times from higher doses but not "high" or "drugged."

I agree. And you know what's weird? My psych won't give me xanax, but will give me vyvanse. Because I could abuse the xanax more than I could the mf'n vyvanse. FFS.....

 

[onetwonine]

The amphetamine example is actually one of the less illogical ones. Cannabis is far safer than alcohol, but it gets scheduled higher than meth. Heroin is chemically very similar to and only slightly stronger than morphine, but it's illegal and demonized. Benzos are scheduled fairly low despite being specifically intended for the kind of artificial emotional regulation that easily build psychological dependence. I could write a twenty-page essay on these inconsistencies and still have plenty left over.

I cringe everytime i see stuff like that said about cannabis.

I'd say it's done immeasurably more damage to me than alcohol.

Firstly, I only ever drank on weekends, whereas I'd smoke ludicrous amounts of weed. It's important not to understate just how much I smoked, and its not your usual dick measuring because it was a legitimate problem.

In the past I have essentially consistently being trying to get clean off one "worse" drug or another, weed was always there and sometimes even encouraged as the alternative. So you must understand I was often chasing a high that weed just couldn't give me no matter how much I tried.

Anyway that exacerbated mental issues to serious levels. Before you categorize me and say "oh its only bad for people with pre existing mental issues", an ungodly amount of people have pre existing mental issues. If you were to go the majority of you will walk out of a shrinks office with at least one diagnosis (probably more).

The only reason I'm for legalizing marijuana is the amount of people using it. I don't believe in its use as a cure-all (prescribed for anxiety? Seriously?), nor do i believe it to be remotely harmless.

I'd much rather see truly harmless and much more beneficial drugs like hormones unbanned first.

Rather than a recreational drug that causes real issues with dubious medical usage other than as an anti emetic and glaucoma treatment.

 

[HCL]

I cringe everytime i see stuff like that said about cannabis.

I'd say it's done immeasurably more damage to me than alcohol.

Firstly, I only ever drank on weekends, whereas I'd smoke ludicrous amounts of weed. It's important not to understate just how much I smoked, and its not your usual dick measuring because it was a legitimate problem.

In the past I have essentially consistently being trying to get clean off one "worse" drug or another, weed was always there and sometimes even encouraged as the alternative. So you must understand I was often chasing a high that weed just couldn't give me no matter how much I tried.

Anyway that exacerbated mental issues to serious levels. Before you categorize me and say "oh its only bad for people with pre existing mental issues", an ungodly amount of people have pre existing mental issues. If you were to go the majority of you will walk out of a shrinks office with at least one diagnosis (probably more).

The only reason I'm for legalizing marijuana is the amount of people using it. I don't believe in its use as a cure-all (prescribed for anxiety? Seriously?), nor do i believe it to be remotely harmless.

I'd much rather see truly harmless and much more beneficial drugs like hormones unbanned first.

Rather than a recreational drug that causes real issues with dubious medical usage other than as an anti emetic and glaucoma treatment.

Weed can hurt people. Like any psychoactive, it deserves respect and caution. But when I look at its dependence potential, its toxicity, and its withdrawal, I have to elevate alcohol above marijuana.

The moral of your story is that anything can do a lot of damage, not that weed is an uncommonly dangerous drug. In particular, your heavy usage most likely exacerbated its side effects. An addict is not a good model for the dangers of moderate recreational use, which is easier to do with weed than most other things.

 

[PurpleKush1]

ALot of people are like that. THe best example are stoners. I used to smoke lots of weed but i did alot of other drugs too and was always accepting except of SSRI's lol but thats another story. Stoner quote ''everything that isnt natural is bad''...oh yeah ight and smoking a quarter a day and sitting on your ass playing LOL and fighting over who goes to get tha munchies is better? Nah i dont think so. Im accepting of everyone's drug DOC, weel except maybe Krokodil and shit like that

 

[Tryptamino]

Man...I have to agree with you. My ex and I always got into it because he would sit there and snort opana all fucking night, spending a ton of money, or buy tabs....which were way overpriced where we used to live. And I'd bang some h and he would flip out. I would spend $40 (or less)...and he'd spend...at least a hundo. Drove me insane. I hate that. It's such a double standard. Opiates are okay as long as they're NOT heroin and you DONT shoot them. And stimulants are fine, except METH. No NEEDLES!. For fucks sake.....it's all the same goddamn shit anyway.

i mean they have a point, you can't just pass it off as entirely uninformed arbitrary stigmatism, IV drug use, meth and heroin, have very good reason to be stigmatized. crystal meth IV and adderall abuse are not nearly the "same thing". IV meth is about 10x more addictive and harmful than popping speed pills. heroin is more or less the same situation with precsription opiate pills, but on a somewhat smaller scale.

having said that, the societal villainization of these drug users is entirely unfair since ALL IV drug users get lumped in with the "crazy ones".

 

[NerdOnDrugs]

OK, I'm sure everyone has experienced this in some way, shape or form. WHY is it that individuals who indulge in drugs, be it a Tylenol regimen or a heroin habit

If you need someone to watch your car real quick, and u can choose the average person on that Tylenol, or the average person with a heroin habit; which do u choose?

Sometimes social probability (real or fake) creates the double standard for us, which u can argue is more rational than not.

 

[highhooked]

Id think its the people who are in denial about there own addiction and looking down on others makes them feel better in a weird way.

 

[SirTophamHat]

In my opinion I think the problem starts with society, labelling certain substances OK and others as NOT OK. Whether it's true or false, the media begins imprinting these "facts" on us so early on in our lives, that we are too young to tell what is truth and what's bogus. I mean we could even narrow it down to DARE itself, which pretty much operates on the ALL DRUGS ARE SIMILARLY BAD FOR YOU mantra. There is no presentation of the very-real spectrum that mind altering substances lie on.

Since we are lied to our entire youth about what is OK and what is not, many people think that if they take a drug, well that's fine, since there was a personal reason to do so. Yet in the back our their (our) heads, there is still the stigma that--in general--DRUGS ARE NOT OK.

If someone tries a drug and has a positive experience with it, they are apt to disregard the propaganda that has been given to them in the past. Pot is obviously the most prime example.

Before I start to get too convoluted here, I'll wrap it up by saying it's a combination of mistruths fed to us from a young age, and the desire to rationalize our own use. We can boil it down even further and say the main culprit is IGNORANCE.

I can't stand it either.

 

[Help?!?!]

Why? Easy! There are double standards everywhere in life so why not chemical use, especially? Anything that's thought to be "grimy" is set in the cross hairs already so its incredibly easy to lie to yourself and persuade yourself your not a drug addled fuck by being like "OMG I buy one pill per day...", "Look at that junkie running the corner nine times a day", etc etc. In this world were pretty much taught to believe in double standards subconsciously IMO. Many people just use it to make themselves, once again not feel like a piece of shit for the things they do. Double standards are ugly and for the ugly, but it makes it easier for them to live, I mean look at alcohol, pass out in a dingy alleyway with vomit on yourself, people say "Looks like someone had a fun night!", but see someone nodding in a dingy alley and the thought is "Ewww poor guy.....". Probably as sad as it is comical but oh well, what isn't in life?!?

 

[weekend addiction]

Its a defense mechanism called projection. One simply accuses of others of having a problem so they can get past their qualms about their own use.

 

[highhooked]

I mean look at alcohol, pass out in a dingy alleyway with vomit on yourself, people say "Looks like someone had a fun night!", but see someone nodding in a dingy alley and the thought is "Ewww poor guy.....". Probably as sad as it is comical but oh well, what isn't in life?!?

That's a great way to put it and also sooo very true. Crazy huh

 

[bennyZA]

Its a defense mechanism called projection. One simply accuses of others of having a problem so they can get past their qualms about their own use.

Nailed it, for most cases. Someone once told me that bluelight fucked up their life because "no matter how bad you think your drug problem is you can probably find someone on BL that you consider has a much, much worse problem." so after being on bluelight for awhile, his drug addiction got worse and worse, cause hey... "my problem is not as bad as <insert username here>"

Though I will say that there are some comparisons that are certainly (in my mind) not double standards. I guess it can be measured by the amount of self destruction and harm caused to others. So comparing pills to heroin is moot, that is a double standard. Meth compared to heroin, crack compared to coke, those are double standards. Weed to heroin, yea that's not a double standard... heroin is definitely worse. Also, based on statistics, peer-review studies, and anecdotal reports (both first and second hand) having an issue with alcohol is much, much worse for you than having a weed problem, so not really a double standard. BUT alcoholic v. junkie, def double standard there.

 

[Morphling]

Yeah, this crackhead I know said, "Man, I'd never do heroin, that's some sketchy shit!" *head-desk* This from someone who constantly shoplifts to support her crack addiction.

 

[onetwonine]

Yeah, this crackhead I know said, "Man, I'd never do heroin, that's some sketchy shit!" *head-desk* This from someone who constantly shoplifts to support her crack addiction.

She's not wrong. Heroin absolutely is some sketchy shit. That's perfect justification for not using it. What exactly do you want from her?

Sounds like complaining for the sake of complaining.

 

[Morphling]

She's not wrong. Heroin absolutely is some sketchy shit. That's perfect justification for not using it. What exactly do you want from her?

Sounds like complaining for the sake of complaining.

Hmm, I do believe I was demonstrating the point, in response to the topic of the thread!

 

[HCL]

^Benzos are widely needed by many people. Benzos are addictive I know but they fucking work. I think they should be OTC. Then they might loose some mystique at least. They are good for medical use but I've never enjoyed the high. Benzos can slightly potentiate other drugs ex. cannabis, alcohol, and opiates. But I've never enjoyed any benzo by itself. I may have felt relaxed and tranquil at times from higher doses but not "high" or "drugged."

OP:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yky4QtRX_DI skip to 1:40

Their addictive properties and negative effects on cognition make benzos a poor choice for anxiety management, one that should only be given on a long-term basis to people who have already exhausted every other option. They may not be the most euphoric drugs in the world, but the temporary emotional armor can be so reinforcing that it really doesn't make much of a difference.

At one point in my life, I could have gotten a prescription for benzos to deal with my anxiety. And I have no doubt that if I had I would still have the same angry, vulnerable, depressed mindset that I did a few years ago. Relying on a substance makes developing workable coping skills much harder.