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<li>One of my favorite descriptions is by Danny Sugarman in his book Wonderland Avenue. Danny was a kid who hated his step-father and who by chance fell in with The Doors and particularly with Jim Morrison. He describes his first use of heroin: whatever it did, it made the pain go away. Lots of people are in pain.</li>
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<p>Want more of that: check out Matt Dillon’s character in Drugstore Cowboy. As he sinks into the sofa and the lousy world he’s in fades away … as he fights to get the monkey off his back.</p>
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<li>Creativity. The world that surrounds you often prevents focus and freedom of thought. I’ve known a number of scientists, visual artists, composers, etc. Pot is common. Why? Bottom line is it lets you think. Drink has done the same thing for countless generations. A famous author and poet once told a handful of us students the secret to writing was to have a big lunch, drink a few beers and then go for a walk, preferably uphill. Another extremely famous writer once told me he had a few glasses of wine at dinner and would then walk around in the garden until he could write down that day’s work.</li>
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<p>I think the idea that pot or drinking helps you think is a myth. As others have said, the causes of drug use are too complicated to be discussed in a post. However, I do find it necessary to state that authors, artists, and scientists who are seeking new ideas, new approaches, etc. are often the same people who have a general dissatisfaction in life. They desperately want to make things better, to create something better, to be something better. These desires and the awareness that they fail may lead to a desire to dull the strong feelings, if only for awhile. This seems much more likely than that drinking or pot “allows one to think or be creative.” I will agree that limited drinking (I’ve never tried pot) might relax the brain enough to allow it to stop fixating on minutia enough to let ideas percolate. I say “might” because I’m not wholly convinced, and because so many people have trouble limiting the amount of alcohol to what is “relaxing” as opposed to “intoxicating.” My experience is that ideas I come up with after a drink or two never measure up in the sober light of day.</p>
<p>Pot actually does help you think, whats more, you cant OD on it.
It can be tremendously helpful to people with ADHD or other problems.
I have been able to make huge jumps ahead in my self awareness, which has direct correlation to my (& everyone elses) quality of life.
However, I try and get marijuana with lower tHC and higher cBDs because I dont like to be so inside my head.</p>
<p>I had a heroin addict describe the heroin high as being better than an orgasm or winning an Olympic gold medal. Then he looked at me and said, now imagine being asked to abstain from that for the rest of your life.</p>
<p>I’ve detox several heroin addicts in my career. Detoxification is a very long and painful experience that can last for 3 days. But then behavior modification is next. Humans are terrible at trying to modify their behaviors. These addicts are caught in the middle: euphoria on one hand and and breakbone pain on the other hand. Really, the goal should be to keep people from ever starting drugs, cigarettes and alcohol. </p>
<p>For kids who suffer from undiagnosed depression or anxiety, weed and alcohol may feel like a serious relief. It turns into a trap, of course, but what kid looks that far ahead?</p>
Very true. Never truly know it until you’ve experienced it. Sure, those who help are aware of the side effects or what the sufferer may be experiencing, but they do not know what the sufferer is actually going through. </p>
<p>I understand experimenting with some drugs, but not heroin. An explanation I heard on NPR today, is that a lot of current heroin addicts started with opiate painkillers, often originally for real pain, though not always. As it’s gotten harder to get prescription meds, it’s gotten easier and cheaper to get heroin.</p>
<p><em>slaps forehead</em> I don’t know what I was thinking! Heroin is NOT a gateway drug! </p>
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I can see it now. The next DARE comeback commercial. A young mother has a temper tantrum throwing toddler on the floor. She gives in and hands the kid a ho-ho. The screen goes black and white. The mother has a glimpse of the future. Her toddler is a heroin addict on outskirts of New Jersey. Background fades. Statement in white lettering appears: One day a ho-ho. Next year a heroin induced blackout. </p>
Opiates are absolutely a gateway drug since there is a proven relationship to heroin use. Used incorrectly, a prescription opiod like Opana (something a high school friend of mine died from last year) is actually more dangerous than heroin since it’s much stronger.</p>
<p>Opiates (Rx pain meds) can be gateway drugs to heroin, since they bind to the same neurotransmitter receptor sites. But heroin is a gateway— to death.</p>