Will new information on the dangers of drug use stop you from using drugs?

Recently I was reading the Cannabis forum and in one of the threads somebody was warning against people using cannabis regularly due to current research claiming that heavy cannabis use is a casual link to the development of schizophrenia. Most of the response were along the lines of dismissing the arguement and research as overexaggerated or bullshit entirely or anti-drug propaganda. Many of my friends have similiar responses to the cannais and schizophrenia research and I must admit that my use of cannabis hasn't decreased despite this new evidence into its links to mental illness.

There seems to be a trend on bluelight that if there are media articles on the dangers of a particular drug (especially in the case of drugs like marijuana and MDMA) that people will automatically say "pfft. just more anti-drug propaganda funded by the federal govt." or something similiar. Are we just burying our head in the sand.

So I ask all of you, if new research showed that a drug that you enjoyed was in fact dangerous, associated with mental illness, casued neurotoxity or whatever, what would your response be? Would you decrease your use, stop altogether or would it not make the slightest difference?

Also I would like to point out that I am talking about actual scientific research and not so much current affairs programs that are based on playing to the viewer's emotions rather than their sense of logic.

Taco out:D

If it were proven that there was indeed serious health issues with using MDMA then I'd certainly stop.

BUT it'd have to be fairly serious - as an example I'm sure I drink over the recommended levels, and I'm aware of the health complications but choose to continue to drink. (I'm not that bad, I just drink more than the average 2 glasses a day, but then I'm a big bloke).

So I suppose it'd depend on what problems it was proven to cause. As it is I've certainly markedly decreased my usage anyway, so to stop probably wouldn't be that hard. Its strictly 'special occasions' these days.

when i see some facts. many 20+ years cannabis smokers i have met along my travels (i am against it myself) are not schitzo. how long until these side effects become present?

If any drug was shown to have a high risk of significant long term physical or mental damage, or even debilitating short term damage with ordinary usage patterns i would stop altogether and never go back ever.

Dumb question if you ask me, its all a matter of degree

Yes. Most definitely. The only drugs I use now are Benzos, Opiates and the occasional sip of alcohol. Although, my decision to only use these drugs is mainly based on the fact that these drugs (if not abused of course) supress anxiety and cause great euphoria (I suffered from pretty bad anxiety in the past). I most certainly wouldn't be using these drugs, say... if new research had proven that they were extremely neurotoxic.

As for the ecstasy debate, I read on wikipedia that there has been new evidence, that shows ecstasy is in fact neurotoxic if used regularly in high dosages. Plus, there has been ample anecdotal evidence that the abuse of mdma can lead to some mental illnesses, such as anxiety, depression and HPPD.
Of course... there are ways to miminimise such long term effects such as using anti-oxidants in conjunction with mdma.
Unfortunately, not many people do this.

i'm still undecided. I Don't use pills anymore. But I know a guy whos drink got spiked at a work function and has suffered schizophrenia. I'm not a pot smoker, but I personally think if your more subseptable to that sort of thing, your going to get it anyway.

hazzard002 said:

However, on the whole I think we (bluelight) as a whole is partly dismissive towards such evidence, more so than we would be to evidence that supports the safety of a drug.

Click to expand...

This sums up the reason why I made this thread. Many people on bluelight are automatically dismissive of new evidence that points to the danger of Drug X. I seem to think it is a bit of worry. I do realise that alot of the problem is that throughout school and even in the media we are feed over exaggerated risks, half-truths and some cases lies as to how damaging drugs can be. I believe that this does seem to lead to people being wary of scientific research findings that point to the dangers of a particualr drug. Deep down though, I think that if people enjoy taking a drug, little in the way of scientific research is going to have much of an impact on their drug usage. I think that if I found out that MDMA was neurotoxic and may lead to increased likely hood of developing depression I would probably continue to use it (I don't do it often though). I think that when you are young (as many people on bluelight are) it is hard to get over that you are not invincible and bad things can happen to you.

i think if there was conclusive evidence that mdma could/does cause a specific harm then people would be inclined to use less or not at all. An example of this is smoking cigarettes. We know that it is bad for us and there are very strong links between smoking and a myriad of illnesses. For this reason many people don't smoke and many people try and are trying to give up.
I'm in the process of giving up alcohol due to health issues. I'm giving up alcohol because its become apparant that for me alcohol is very bad and i can either stop drinking or risk dramatically shortening my life. Its pretty much the same with drugs for me too so I would imagine I won't be taking drugs again even though my use has been only for special occaisions after having been a heavy user for a number of years.
I would think that people would make some effort to reduce use if it became fact that mdma caused negative health outcomes similar to smoking.

I think your right about the bluelighters dismissing any scientific evidence that suggests drug usage is bad for you. Myself having been involved in research in various fields am more likely to actually read the study and decide for myself if its legit, not compromised or tainted by uncontrolled variables enough that its believable.


Beech

for me, i think i do drugs partly cos i dont feel 100% like i do want 2 live a long life
life is pain 4 me, it alwas has bn, and yes i am mentally ill, although ive noticed ive bn a lot more rational sinnce i took up pot
meth seems 2 fuck wiv my head instead, and no matter how many skinny tweakers i meet wiv no teeth and scarred faces i still smoke it as much as i can wivout killing myself
i guess uve gotta respect urself if u dont want 2 abuse drugs
the cannabis-schizophrenia link just annoys me - the symptoms of schizophrenia tend 2 b things that wud naturally attract a person 2 cannabis, like anxiety and under-confidence, feeling alienated
of course if ur schizophrenic ud b silly 2 take any drug but i can understand wen lifes that bad sumtimes u dont care about messing urself up any worse

I have yet to hear/read of empirical evidence showing waves and waves of cannabis induced schizophrenia.

^^A family friend of ours developed schizophrenia after having become a cannabis user. Doctors attributed it to his pot smoking but said he had a predisposition to it as well.
I don't know we will ever have evidence that states without a doubt that mdma or marijuana use WILL lead to "condition X". We don't even have that with smoking cigarettes. Smoking CAN cause cancer and a number of health problems but if you smoke it doesn't mean you will get any of these problems. There is simply a strong correllation between smoking and a number of health issues. I would imagine a similar correllation will one day be drawn between certain illicit substances and various health problems. There are already some weak correllations when it comes to mental health and mdma and marijuana but nothing significant enough to say "if you take mdma you will develop depression"

Beech

^^^^that is true
and if u r going 2 develop schizophrenia im sure getting high cud give it a good push, hey we all know wat pot paranoia feels like - imagine how that wud b if ur brains wired 2 become paranoid anyway.....
wed b kidding ourselves 2 say any illegal drug is actually good for u, but things like pot and MDMA tend 2 hav therapeutic effects that cancel out those negatives 4 sum ppl

Research at the moment would say that for the average person with no family history or disposition to schizophrenia that smoking marajuana is relatively safe if used properly and in moderation.

What bugs me is people that ignore family history/disposition. I know a guy that uses marajuana very regularly whos father has both schizophrenia and manic depression. Now that is foolish.

As noted by Taco, the reason that us drug users are so reluctant to accept any new "evidence" of the damage that drug use can cause is because we are fed bullshit and propaganda throughout our lives, particularly when growing up. If an adolescent has been told that "ecstasy will kill you" and then has an unbelievably positive experience with ecstasy, then all evidence no matter how compelling will be viewed with a very large grain of salt from that point on.

This is why sensible drug education is so important. I strongly believe that if you are completely honest with a child or adolescent in drug education they will be less likely to become a drug user than if all they ever hear are "drugs are bad, mmmkay". The known FACTS empower the maturing individual to make up their own mind and not result in them discovering a fairyland of illicit substance heaven once they pull the wool back from their own eyes and realise everything they have ever been told is total bullshit.

If I ever have children, bluelight (well parts of it at least) will become required reading so that they learn the truth and use their own good judgement to decide what is best.

More infor on MDMA has certainly led to a lessening of my use to once or twice a month at the maximum and preloading as well so i would think it would not stop me but maybe reduce. aha punctuation!

I started a break from MDMA and it has been three years so far. It has now been so long that I feel any potential neurotoxic effect that may occur will far outweigh the meagre 6 hour benefit I will receive. If any neurological repair has occurred I'll try to keep it. Stick to psychedelics

My father went through a minor psychotic episode after using marijuana for over 25 years, every day, when he was going through withdrawal symptoms when he was giving it up. It was frightening to see because I had known that it had been stated that consistant marijuana use could be linked to mental health issues, particularly schizophrenia. His doctor said that his mood swings, aggression and violence would most significantly have something to do with his sudden decision to give up something he had done for the last 25-30 years of his life. So, in a way, it did play with his mind, but we are still not certain. I felt the doctor was a little too quick to jump to conclusions.

Now, me, as an MDMA user, I most probably would give it up if something solid, scientific and frightening was suddenly linked to its use. Say cancer, solid evidence of mental health issues, etc. I try to obey all the pre and post loading rules and look after myself, so right now I cant see too many major health issues, which would encourage me to cease its use, which is only every 2-3 months.

I watched a mate develop a psychosis from heavy canabis use... It happens, and in most cases. it's weed that triggers it. It's not a pretty sight for ur mate to start telling you that your a part of an elaborate government scheme to do his head in... Then when you tell him, alright man, i cant deal with this shit, im goin out side, he replies "why? so you can look thru the window at me"

Theres too many people out there who look at un-biased scientific evidence and biased current affairs programs with the same attitude that is these people are trying to stop them having fun because they are boring old farts

Your average current affairs program is there to blame everything bad in society on something other than television and to make money for their networks shareholders through advertising so they obviously will have no scruples at all about taking legit scientific claims and turning them into sensationalist bullshit

As a man of science i find it hard to believe that EVERY scientific report ever made about the negative effects of drug ABUSE is the same sensationalist crap the current affairs programs (and schools for that matter) are pumping out of their asses

From personal experience i can say without doubt that the long term abuse of mdma and marijuana will fuck you up now im not talking about the chaps who use responsibly im talking about the ignorant fools who will use without abandon whenever they can get their hands on the shit

These people dont like being reminded that they are destroying their bodies they want to be told that what their doing is perfectly safe (something which many believe strongly) i have never told anyone that drugs are "safe" i tell them that they are "fun" and should be respected

Knowledge is power opinion is not fact and it is ultimately YOU who is responsible for what you do to your body you only get one so treat it with respect

If my dealer was in danger of getting busted, I would stop taking drugs.