Hi everyone, my first post although I lurked this fantastic forum for a while %)
My apologies for its length. I thought I might as well make my first entry a bit memorable. To me anyway...
So without further ado, here are my 2 proverbial cents...
I would not go as far as saying alcohol is worst possible drug in terms of socialability, neuro-toxidity, body damage and long term effects, that arguable honour probably goes to substances like crack and heroin, but IMHO it ranks quite near the top.
Probably BECAUSE of its status of socially acceptable.
Having seen the ravaging results from alcohol abuse from closer by than is comfortable, I really had no trouble staying away from it when growing up... Where classmates got shitfaced on schoolparties, I drank a few bottles of coke (yes, the iron-dissolving liquid :D), got tired and bored and left early. Maybe not the biggest party animal, but to me it was certainly to be preferred over the obnoxious, aggressive, drooling, scream-shout-singing, puking and / or paralytic displays that some of the others turned into.
And even though my parents weren't drinkers, several people in my nearby family were, with predictable results.
Until it turned out that my mum was a closet-drinker herself.
I won't go into the details of the effects on my life, but rest assured that they were quite harsh. And that can be taken as a euphemism.
It is therefore much more a surprise that in my late teens, early twenties, I DID start on it. Oh, it is ever so sneaky. Again, probably because of its social acceptance. A few beers after work, a good glass of wine at dinnertime, business meetings over an expensive brandy or a connoisseur whiskey etc. It certainly slowly makes its way into your social life, doesn't it?
Someone mentioned being thrown out the backdoor by a couple of bouncers while smashed off their faces on alcohol.
This never happened to me, because I seem to be one of those (un?)lucky people that always knew what I was doing, no matter how much alcohol there was in my system.
Granted, I have done a few silly things due to the lowering of inhibitions to the point of non-existence, but never have I woken up not knowing what I'd done the night before.
Having actually been on the other side of the fence, meaning I've worked security extensively (and that includes nightclubs and pubs), I have seen the results from alcohol and "other recreational drugs" side-by-side.
I will deal with "other recreational drug" users over alcohol users any day.
In fact, I would much rather be up against 100 people on ecstacy than 10 on alcohol.
The E-people all love each other and if anything, they only want to hug you.
The A-people sometimes also want to hug you and then dribble all over you, sometimes nearly puke on you and
oftentimes become aggressive if they THINK you are non-responsive to the problems that they so incoherently poor out.
If you so much as look at a pretty girl, her drunk boyfriend will want to start a fight. Even if he's not really her boyfriend!
No matter how big or well-trained you are and no matter how massive your team looks, they will STILL want to fight...
If you look at a pretty girl in an E-environment, her friends -and that includes her REAL boyfriend!- will introduce you to her.
The end result?
I stopped drinking alcohol altogether; instead I have become an occasional user of ILLEGAL substances. Needless to say, I feel so much better, mentally AND physically, by doing so.
As to why the other "recreational drugs" are illegal, well, that warrants an entire discussion in itself.
However, this is not the time, nor the place to kindle that fire.
Of course, these are my own opinions, based upon my own experiences. Thanks for reading and congratulations if you actually made it through the whole text :D
\/~~\/ Michael \/~~\/
