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What do you consider responsible drug use?

HCL

HCL

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Sep 9, 2013
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What do you consider healthy/beneficial drug use?

What kinds of drug use do you think are healthy and beneficial?

I would personally define it as using something in a way that is enjoyable and does not lead to physical dependence, significant bodily harm, or damage to the user's personal life.

As far as dysfuctional use goes, taking addictive psychoactives to deal with physical or mental issues is generally a bad idea, unless they absolutely cannot be resolved without them or they are not the primary method used.

EDIT: Clarified meaning
 
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I'd say u can be a responsible user and still be physically addicted to your DOC. Just takes extra work to have your cake and eat it too, and people are typically lazy... so it doesn't usually work out.
 
Think as long as you can hold down a job, not steal for your habbit if physically addicted to something, not over doing it(having people worried you are going to OD any day) I would consider that a responsibe drug user. Same goes with drinking as some people don't consider that a drug, but people who drink and drive,binge drink and start fights,missing work for still being drunk/too hungover every weekend..not responsibe.
 
NerdOnDrugs said:
I'd say u can be a responsible user and still be physically addicted to your DOC. Just takes extra work to have your cake and eat it too, and people are typically lazy... so it doesn't usually work out.
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Yeah, but at that point your usage has already brought on a significant adverse effect (inability to function normally without it) and become far harder to control.

Though some people manage to become physically dependent on stuff without ever abusing or getting high from it it.
 
HCL said:
Yeah, but at that point your usage has already brought on a significant adverse effect (inability to function normally without it) and become far harder to control.

Though some people manage to become physically dependent on stuff without ever abusing it.
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I'm addicted to tramadol and GABAergics, and quite functional. And I use harder drugs and psychs sporadically.

Sure I've WD'd a few times and had a few times where access was a problem. But if you're not out hustling daily for your fix, have a steady legit income and some self-control... it's not easy but it's not hard. I get my buzz on everyday.
 
HCL said:
Though some people manage to become physically dependent on stuff without ever abusing or getting high from it it.
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You mean like the majority of the people taking medications?



I've never ONCE been physically addicted to a substance, but have struggled with poly-substance addiction since I first started using drugs. Am I functional? Yeah... for the most part. Although I can get pretty out there at times, usually I stop myself before I get too bad.
 
And when you have no choice being addicted due to disabilities you just live with it. Today despite 150mg roxi and 120 morphine I am in pain. This is a bad day usually I get by, but I have to watch what I do.
 
NerdOnDrugs said:
I'm addicted to tramadol and GABAergics, and quite functional. And I use harder drugs and psychs sporadically.

Sure I've WD'd a few times and had a few times where access was a problem. But if you're not out hustling daily for your fix, have a steady legit income and some self-control... it's not easy but it's not hard. I get my buzz on everyday.
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Some addicts manage themselves well and are fairly stable, some deteriorate badly over time. However, their behavior is still dysfunctional unless it its medically neccesary. This includes everything from severe alcoholism to the mild but counterproductive caffeine habits of most Americans.

I probably should have said "beneficial use" rather than "responsible use". I'm mainly thinking about whether or not someone's drug use helps them more than it hurts them.
 
HCL said:
Some addicts manage themselves well and are fairly stable, some deteriorate badly over time. However, their behavior is still dysfunctional unless it its medically neccesary. This includes everything from severe alcoholism to the mild but counterproductive caffeine habits of most Americans.
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Is self-medication, for whatever reason, always dysfunctional? Of course not. You could even argue to be considered "functional" in America, many need that cup of coffee or cigarette just to get through their work day. Or in South America where they chew coca leaves to deal with high altitudes and to get them through their day; they've been doing it for thousands of years. Obviously self-medicating can prove a beneficial utility. All our faith can't just be in the legal pharma racket.

HCL said:
I probably should have said "beneficial use" rather than "responsible use". I'm mainly thinking about whether or not someone's drug use helps them more than it hurts them.
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Yeah you should have said "beneficial use", changes the argument. You have to look at it case-by-case; of course illicit drug use on average does more damage. But would you tell an old trucker with back pain and no health insurance that illegally using pain meds isn't beneficial to his quality-of-life? Nah.

You really can't make a blanket statement either way and I'm afraid that's what you're looking for.
 
To be completely honest, and as someone who is physically addicted, i don't believe any non user would consider any recreational drug use, addicted or not, "responsible". All drugs have the possibility of addiction and sometimes that can have devastating effects on yourself and others. Of course, its much more likely for you to attempt regular opiate use and become addicted than to enjoy a pint with your friends and become an alcoholic. I know plenty of people that have smoked marijuana since they were 15 and now well into their 50's are completely fine and lead happy lives. However, even regular use of marijuana can have plenty of negative effects to your lifestyle other than the fact that it's illegal and theres always a risk of getting caught. For example, smoking marijuana can potentially damage your lungs and those of people around you. No drug, is really completely safe. I wish you luck in your decision and i hope my opinion aids in that decision.
 
to me, is to have control knowledgeably, mentally, financially, and physically. Even though I only get high 2-4 days out of the week and have to stay clean to pass a drug test(which was 2 days ago) I still get into really bad habits. I am definitely not responsible.
 
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NerdOnDrugs said:
Is self-medication, for whatever reason, always dysfunctional? Of course not. You could even argue to be considered "functional" in America, many need that cup of coffee or cigarette just to get through their work day. Or in South America where they chew coca leaves to deal with high altitudes and to get them through their day; they've been doing it for thousands of years. Obviously self-medicating can prove a beneficial utility. All our faith can't just be in the legal pharma racket.
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Caffeine can be useful, both as an alertness aid and for enhancing productivity on boring, repetitive tasks. On the other hand, many people become physically dependent on it, go through withdrawal overnight, and mistake its reversal for an energy boost when their tolerance is too high for one to occur without a massive dose.

Tobacco can help people in the short-term, but regular use almost inevitably hurts people in some way. That's pretty dysfuctional.

There's a real difference between taking something to enhance your experience and relying on it as a crutch for physical or emotional problems that could be dealt with in other ways.

Yeah you should have said "beneficial use", changes the argument. You have to look at it case-by-case; of course illicit drug use on average does more damage. But would you tell an old trucker with back pain and no health insurance that illegally using pain meds isn't beneficial to his quality-of-life? Nah.

You really can't make a blanket statement either way and I'm afraid that's what you're looking for.
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I apologize for that. They are often used to mean the same thing, but I should have used a less ambiguous wording.

In that particular case it would depend on whether or not the back pain caused him more problems than dependence.
 
not affecting family or social spheres in measurably negative way, not affecting work or financial obligations in an unsustainable/measurably negative way, not causing undue mental stress leading to breakdown later down the road.

that's about it i think
 
What I consider to be "responsible drug use" is pretty straight-forward, really: I'd expect a user to do their homework, their research, learn all that they can about a given substance, its chemistry, its mechanism of action (MOA), its common adulterants and, in turn, the chemistry and MOA and possible side-effects of those adulterants as well; I'd expect a user to read up on the route of administration (ROA), relevant safety precautions, whatever laws may be on the books concerning or pertaining to that particular substance, and, in short, I'd expect a user to fully digest as much information as they can about the substance they're about to do or, perhaps regretfully, have already done.

And then I'd expect that user to act accordingly, to make educated decisions, to err on the side of caution, and so on and so forth. I consider this responsible drug use, and it doesn't mean that, having done these things, a user will avoid each and every pitfall, every risk and every danger, but I think that it does put a user at much better odds, and that's certainly not a bad thing. I would liken all of this to driving and learning to drive; one can never and will never eliminate every risk, and learning to drive does not guarantee that one will never have an accident, but it does seem to reduce the likelihood.
 
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