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I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

m.nautil.us

421–430 of 692 posts

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#421

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a teen I made opium from poppies around the neighbourhood. After smoking it once I threw the rest out. The intensity of how perfect it felt was alarming. I remember within minutes thinking I'll become addicted to it if I don't get rid of it. Despite that being a scary prospect, I kept feeling great the entire time. It really beats any bad feeling out of you. Incredibly creepy. I was a dumb teenager (I'm still not…

You grew up in a neighborhood full of opium poppies?

Perhaps Tasmania? Tasmania has legalized opium production and you'll see fields of opium poppies everywhere since it's the source of the majority of medical opiates. The reasons for Tasmania being the center of the western worlds poppy production are obvious. It's easy to ensure the exports to the rest of the world are done via controlled channels.

This does lead to the weird situation where an entire population has easy access to opium should they want to raid nearby fields; the fields are lightly fenced with warning signs stating that it's bad for your health. Perhaps surprisingly to many Tasmania doesn't really have any issues from this. This may lend some credence to the above article - it takes more than just access to lead to issues for people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasmanian_opium_poppy_farming_...

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#422

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, how many people will see this headline and rush off to a back alley to buy a shot of heroin from some junkie?

Several years ago, I read about the significant nootropic effects of nicotine and spent time on forums that downplayed the potential negative impacts. I ended up trying it and became addicted for years. Social contagion can have significant effects on social issues like this.

I tried the gum and the patch for nootropic purposes. I even had to cut up the patch into smaller pieces to get the proper dosage. It was hard to get the dosage down enough, and I just mostly ended up feeling really twitchy. It didn't seem worth it and I didn't notice any real boost in the mental realm that a good nap wouldn't give me.

Did you get addicted to the gum or the patch?

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#423
post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In many places there are safety issues to deal with. You have to be proactive to avoid an incident. Here's a non-drug related one. In many places road construction companies will disallow workers from wearing headphones. This is because of the heavy machinery and you need to hear the beeps of a machine backing up. Drivers of those do not have good sight around the machinery and large trailers. Headphones on can mean…

In this case, the grounds for dismissal are for wearing headphones during working hours. Drug test results can be positive for things done outside of working hours.

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Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#424
post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In many places there are safety issues to deal with. You have to be proactive to avoid an incident. Here's a non-drug related one. In many places road construction companies will disallow workers from wearing headphones. This is because of the heavy machinery and you need to hear the beeps of a machine backing up. Drivers of those do not have good sight around the machinery and large trailers. Headphones on can mean…

In this case, the grounds for dismissal are for wearing headphones during working hours. Drug test results can be positive for things done outside of working hours.

Drugs, in many cases, outside of working hours can have effects during working hours.

Many software developers working for companies have agreements that they can't compete with their current employer on what they do while employed there. It's something employees give up while employed somewhere.

In the name of safety, many jobs with safety issues have to give up certain things (i.e. drugs) while employed there.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#425

This is legitimately dangerous reporting. Heroin is ranked in the top 3 of addictive chemicals and all this article reports about is this anecdotal nonsense. I've too many friends to Heroin to know the reality of the drug.

May I recommend the rat park experiment and possibly the work of Gabor Mate as a way of establishing context for addiction.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fully agree. Carl is a white collar professor. The worst thing that can happen if his drug indulgence becomes a problem is he knocks over the water cooler or loses his job. I work a blue collar job servicing heavy diesel engines. Casual hard drug users are aggravatingly cavalier to work alongside. They forget important things constantly. They show up late and lose things often. You'll spend all day repeating things t…

Well, how many people will see this headline and rush off to a back alley to buy a shot of heroin from some junkie?

Well, how many people will see this headline and rush off to a back alley to buy a shot of heroin from some junkie?

How many people are going to storm a national capitol because of what they see online?

It all sounds farcical and easy to dismiss until you actually put some thought into it.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#428

The fascinating thing about this stuff is that you can have outlier people. For instance, tobacco is supposed to be highly addictive. Well, I picked up smoking from a girlfriend in college and we used to smoke all the time. Like ten cigs a day for a year and a half. Real bad, right? Well, one day, I decided "Meh. I'll just stop" and I did. Not because of any reason. I just chose not to. Now cigarettes are way addicti…

Yeah, I mean some people smoke all of their lives and live to be 90 and die of natural causes. Doesn't mean that smoking isn't incredibly dangerous and bad for you.

edit: this is agreement with the original comment, not sure why I'm being down voted. Just highlighting how outliers can exist, but it doesn't reflect on the danger of the underlying activity in general

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#429
post #422

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Several years ago, I read about the significant nootropic effects of nicotine and spent time on forums that downplayed the potential negative impacts. I ended up trying it and became addicted for years. Social contagion can have significant effects on social issues like this.

I tried the gum and the patch for nootropic purposes. I even had to cut up the patch into smaller pieces to get the proper dosage. It was hard to get the dosage down enough, and I just mostly ended up feeling really twitchy. It didn't seem worth it and I didn't notice any real boost in the mental realm that a good nap wouldn't give me. Did you get addicted to the gum or the patch?

I vaped. I've also taken adderall and enjoyed it, so our neurochemistries are probably different.

That's something important to consider when reading about experiences on the internet. There are people who are relatively resistant to addiction. When they talk about their experiences, they make it sound like it's no big deal, and it's not to them. But that's not how it is for everyone.

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