Originally posted by: yllus
Originally posted by: Atheus
I find that if you ask, and people trust you, you'll find that most people in their 20s and 30s do drugs. Not just weed either but cocaine and E and other party drugs. There are always a few in any group of people who don't use and they tend not to know that everyone else does. Normally they don't even pick up on it if you talk about drugs directly in front of them - they don't get the slang and think you're talking about something else.
Accurate. I find that the vast majority of people I run into have run the gamut just to see what it's like. Few do anything more than pot on a regular basis (if even that), but I think it's natural for most people - especially those with higher than average intelligence and an accompanying inquisitive nature - to have experimented to see what all these awful, illegal drugs will do to their brains.
Same. Drugs don't turn people into these ravaging maniacs or worthless sloths. People do that. The drugs are there for whatever you seek from them.
I've known many that have achieved great grades in school and functioned extremely well, some even going into general management, who still toke up from time to time, if not somewhat often or even on a weekly basis.
I will very much liken weed to alcohol in many ways. It's a chemical that should be ingested only on occasion, not daily. When you get into daily, you start wanting to pursue different things. Using it once or twice a week, or maybe even just a couple hits every day, would be like going out on Friday and Saturday night to the bars/clubs, and maybe drinking a couple beers every night after work while you eat dinner or wind down the night.
I'm having trouble really figuring out if its the drug changing the person, or the person changing to fit a certain perceived lifestyle for the drug.
Although even to that point, I've known successful individuals who would maybe toke up a bowl every night to relax after work, and still maintained the successful lifestyle with no setbacks due to the plant. Everyone has a different use for it, and I guess those different uses, coupled with the lifestyle they make for it, lends itself to what kind of a problem, if any, they could have.
But I'd say, I wouldn't consider those types to be either potheads or alcoholics. Sometimes its merely for the enjoyment of the material and the release of stress in doing so, versus a feeling of need for the material just to return to baseline. Two different approaches. Yes, both are almost inherently the same exact approach, but its the mindset.
Those with addictive personalities can even start out as the former group, but quickly turn into the 'need it' group. With potheads, the most common approach I've seen is this: starts out maybe once a month or so, maybe less, then more opportunities pop up and they are seized. Turns into every week, and these people often do certain things after smoking. For the high school and college crowd (what I've experienced up till this point for the most part), it often was video games, movies, or just going out and doing the most random things, almost always with a group though.
But for those that take it further, it steps from the weekly into the daily or couple times a week. Maybe they play video games or watch a lot of movies, and they really enjoyed doing that while high. Now it turns into getting high every time they do that.
This is most likely strictly a school-age phenomenon for the most part. Once the real world comes, habits will change/adapt to meet the needs, especially if they still managed to be successful in school and getting into the workplace. These people might either just screw up and end up the total pothead, or they might adapt and return it to just being a release at night or try and step it down to being an occasional thing and that's it.
I can imagine I'll have trouble if it's ever legalized. Granted, that's if its made fully legal and my future profession treats it like all the other legal substances. I know I have an addictive personality, and I do my best to control it so I can lead a good life. Mainly because I saw what happened to my mom's brother who was and still is a complete mess, and is where I definitely got some of my 'traits' from.
Then again, if it is legalized, maybe some of the stigma, and the issue of it not being everywhere and having to use it secretly, would make it easier to enjoy but still moderate, even with that personality trait. If it were legal I'd treat it just like alcohol, as not to mention I would have a full time job that would require my full intellect during the off-hours as well. Then again I don't know if I even see this happening in the next 10 years, if it ever becomes legal in my lifetime. Decriminalized is one thing, but that means people still require drug tests then.