From what I know, it's quite a lot about the individual how certain drugs work etc... And dealers, there's some good guys and then there's the fukwits. Just like in everything there is. I think lagalizing drugs or at least some, might help out the situation.

And weed needs to be legalized, there's million uses for it and all of those are quite useful.

I used to smoke weed quite a lot some years ago, I've quit though. It works for me very well as painkiller and helps me sleep... i'm quite an insomniac and weed works wonders on this.

I don't do any drugs much these days, caffeine is the only one actually, ocationally I drink, but that's rare... I get addicted rather easily, so I stay clear from any stuff I'm not sure I can control. I've took some benzo's and those things are damn dangerous shit, after the first time I've gone crazy If somebody's got these, I just need to get some if I know I can. This is the reason I stay clear of all stuff... I've tried speed once, that was THE most disgusting stuff I've ever tried, I will never touch it again.

nirvana wrote:
Ok I obviously have to spell this out AGAIN. No cold turkey because I had not become addicted

dubmeup wrote:

Come on dubby Kenco is not in the same league as heroin Im sure your a troll or else having a laugh

Please dont tell me your being serious

Infact maybe your right maybe theres alot of coffee addicts all on a few jars a day. I was a heroin addict from the age of 16 to 23 and i know first hand the damage it does. The methodone was even worse thoe.

May I ask why you first took smack Nirv?
Feel free to tell me to fuck off, I'm just curious.
(And no it's not a trap question).

nirvana wrote:
I was talking a bit tongue in cheek yeah but it's still valid comment that caffeine is not without danger and not without cost to society. I'd be interested in some figures
Difference between you and me there being YOU became addicted I'm inclined to agree that methodone is going from the frying pan to the fire.

dubmeup wrote:

Yes when i came off heroin and went on methodone it was the worst two years off my life. But luckily i had a mate in aa buddhist place in scotland samye-ling so lived there for a year and got my head sorted out. Methodone is alot worse to come off than heroin by a long shot.

dubmeup wrote:

Yes and I value you opinion I dont have to agree with it and the rest is abit of banter

nirvana wrote: Aye and twas taken in the spirit of banter

I think we need to concentrate on the underlying causes of drugs/addiction/dealing etc tbh. And to be honest I don't think those causes have very much to do with drugs at all.

I made a comment in the london riots thread that gangz are a zit on the face of society. The issues with drugs are a similar zit from where I'm looking

feather wrote:

Yes I worked in drug/alcohol and im also a recovering heroin addict and i told people i could pack it in all the time and i defended it. I was lying of course. Ive known hundreds of people who claim they can handle their addiction and function normally but they are lying.Ive seen the same people in a manic mood trying to get money for their next fix.

In all my years as a addict and a drug counsellor ive never met anyone who is a functional user who controls their use. Met hundreds who claim to be thoe.

nirvana wrote: I take your point. The friend I referred to certainly does have smack related issues. How could he not? He does however go to work, pay his bills, be a good father etc. As long as he gets his skag......When he doesn't, things degenerate rather quickly Luckily for him and his family he has a good supply

feather wrote:

Yes lost my parents at a young age ended up in a childrens home,run away lived on the streets of london for next few years. I was full of anger and did not mind taking anything at all. Use to beg down on the strand and sometimes get a bed for couple nights in the lord clyde night shelter in vauxhall.

nirvana wrote:
I worked as a community worker in one of the worst effected areas of Edinburgh for 20+yrs. I met, worked with and knew loads of people who controlled their drug use without it becoming an addiction.

My Dad was an alcoholic, he HAD to have a set amount of drink each day. He was a functioning 'addict.'
Most people I knew would have a drink if and when it suited them then leave it for ages.
They were functioning users who controlled their use.

Shitloads of people were the same with a smoke.
They were functioning users who controlled their use.

Plenty took coke, speed, amphetimes, acid, eckies etc only when going out to clubs.
They were functioning users who controlled their use.

I knew some guys who took smack only on rare occasions when their head was in the right place.
They were functioning users who controlled their use.

I went through a period of intense bing drinking when I was younger, noticed the signs that I was developing the addiction my Dad had, then went cold-turkey on it.
I was an addict then, I'm big enough to acknowledge that I was not big enough to manage that. So I had to sack it.

I still smoke tobacco, I can't beat that fucker! I'm a nicotine addict still. I controls me.

I have an ex brother-in-law who would stop smoking to save for buying something, a trailer for the car, a new kitchen, etc then start smoking again the day it was delivered. (bastard!)
He's a functioning user who controls his use.

See all the variations?
One size does not fit all.

nirvana wrote:
Sorry to hear. Life's not an easy ride.

nirvana wrote: Genuinely sorry to read all that Nirv, sucks man.
And thank you for being so frank, that takes balls.

It's easy to see why you were looking for some escape from your world collapsing around you.
You'll know now though that no drug, prescribed or otherwise, supplies what you seek.
That comes from your head and heart and the support of the people around you.

As I said before, most people who become addicts in my experience are attempting to address some deeper ill.

Good luck to you geezer. Stay strong and walk straight!

I think we should also take account of curiosity. Drugs can seem like a doorway to forbidden knowledge/experience. In many ways, they are. Our "culture" in the West is to deprive people of access to wider states of mind. To keep them locked in to a "normal" state of mind. As long as this continues, there will always be that curiosity that can lead one to drugs.

feather wrote:

I always stay strong even thoe life as made me abit of a cynic at times.

dubmeup wrote: Absolutely.
But that use is akin to some sort of spiritual pilgrimage and carries a different mindset with it.

nirvana wrote:
You need to think about these rumors: Why would you ruin something you're trying to sell? This was a statement produced by the anti drug crowd, most likely the DARE crew. Liquid glass would be detectable, lethal to the imbiber, and most likely lethal to the dealer. If a dealer wanted to add weight, they would sell weed that is still moist, or moisten it by putting a wadded up piece of cloth in a jar with the weed and let osmosis do the trick, except that would lead to mold.

Where I'm from, people get weed from dispensaries.

nirvana wrote: Amen to THAT!

Can't let the bastards beat you though.
I'll do anything but die on my knees.
Fuck that!

To pick up on something Nirvana touched on in the OP....

Why the fuck do we jail addicts?
Surely if we seriously wanted to make a dent in the problem we would be throwing up detox centres all over the shop.
I've never met a junkie yet who didn't hate their dependent existence and what it forced them into doing to feed it.
Isn't it time we fought the ailment instead of punishing the sufferers?