People who've never taken alcohol or drugs

[captainballsack]

MDMA and cider, that's it for me these days.

I used to smoke weed, but I stopped. Considering stopping alcohol. The occasional (safe) roll I find gives me a memorable night and allows me to open up a bit. I don't really like to drink, but I do like safe ecstasy use, is what I'm saying.

I'm interested to find out what someone who has never been drunk/consumed psychoactives thinks the effects feel like.

 

[trollnystan]

I've never taken recreational drugs and I don't drink any more beyond maybe a sip of Bailey's (last one was... 2? 3 years ago?) or the odd cider (last one was on my birthday in April).

I've never taken drugs because:
1) My life and finances are fucked up as it is, I don't need a drug habit to make them worse.
2) I don't like the way alcohol makes me feel fuzzy/out of control, so why take
drugs that could make me feel potentially worse than that?
3) There is no 3; 1 & 2 are enough reasons. Although I guess the fact that they're illegal could count.

I don't drink any more because of aforementioned feeling of out of control and hating it and because my father was an alcoholic. Also drunk people make me incredibly uncomfortable - I never know if they're going to try to hug me or scream in my face - so why'd I want to join them?

 

[Senare]

6. I view consumption of it as a weakness.

Better watch out, you might hurt yourself falling down that mighty high horse of yours.
Drinking alcohol in moderation is by no means a sign of weakness in any way and looking down on others who enjoy a drink from time to time and calling them 'weak' is hands down idiotic. I mostly drink one or two beers after a rough day at work to take the edge off and because I absolutely love the taste of a good beer (living in Belgium helps in that regard). I go a bit further at parties sometimes because it helps me jump over my shadow and actually talk to people from time to time. Nothing wrong with that.
Weed is different. I consider it a much milder drug than alcohol definitely but I don't have much of a taste for it. Nothing wrong with it either though.

I imagine that you are using a different context when applying "I view consumption of it as a weakness." than I do. I use it as a kind of last-resort argument that appeals to emotion (and we both know that such argument have little meaning in rational discourse) in order to avoid starting to drink/try narcotics for myself. From my perspective it is simply not a good choice for me to start since there are a lot of downsides and I have resolved to get the upsides through other means. I imagine it being especially useful for when you are "caught up in the moment" and might consider trying alcohol/narcotics due to social pressure (e.g. "I would be weak to give in and try alcohol").
I generally don't use it against others unless I feel like riding smugly on a particularly lofty horse (and even then, I just think it). Though I could hypothetically go around and call everyone "weak" to their faces, it would be counter-productive and a bit in-congruent with my belief that you are pretty much free to do what you want with yourself.

In your situation you seem to have your consumption under control so well that your body can probably handle the strain, and you even get to enjoy the positive effects without wandering off too far into the negative. So it is not useful for you to accept "I view consumption of it as a weakness." because that would decrease your quality of life and simply not be helpful. Since my belief does not serve you you are correct in not accepting it.
I also imagine that when you hear me holding that belief you will think that I will constantly go around and mentally label all alcohol-drinkers as "weak" and that I should discriminate against them. The truth is that I have often forgotten to mention reason #6 when I have tried to list my reasons against alcohol in the past, so I don't think I pay it much heed.
The term "weakness" also has a different connotation to me than what I feel is standard. I view humans in general and myself to be full of weaknesses, and those weaknesses often have little or no bearing to human value. For a more interesting set of human weaknesses, see <a href=http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases>cognitive biases. Alcohol consumption is just a drop in the ocean compared to those.

And lastly, as a philosophical side note, none of us have any universal right to define whether any level of alcohol/narcotics consumption is a weakness or not. I just view it as such sometimes because it is useful to me.

 

[nodeadendinsight]

I have used drugs and alcohol in the past and let me first say that just because alcohol is legal doesn't make it a better drug than any other, not to say that either are strictly bad, but let me compare, alcohol compared to weed there's no contest that weed is a better drug for society than alcohol, alcohol can make people violent, do and say things they regret and alcohol can make you physically addicted to it whereas weed cannot, when you smoke weed you just giggle like an idiot and have relaxed time the only negative is obtaining it which would be eliminated by legalisation.

I've experimented with other narcotics too, ecstasy, LSD, various pills, etc, I've had some amazing times doing drugs, and some horrific times, equally I've had some amazing times and some horrific times not on drugs and in fact the horrific times not on drugs were infinitely worse than drug-related bad times. All I'm saying is that it is perfectly possible to do drugs and explore inner space now and then and remain unaddicted and a perfectly functional human being as long as you feel like you can control yourself.
Drugs aren't illegal because they're bad for you. Remember that. They're illegal because they challenge your current way of thinking, there are a lot of mushrooms that will kill you if you eat them yet "Magic mushrooms" (that won't kill you) are illegal, think about that for a moment, why is THR "Magic mushroom" illegal but the ones that will kill you perfectly okay for you to eat?

Here's a useful link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9tw5Vn1cdU

 

[captainballsack]

I like to be in full control of myself. Drugs take that away from you.

A lot of people say that, but I feel more in control of myself on a standard, safe dose of ecstasy than I do sober. My thoughts are a hell of a lot clearer and my negative emotions don't influence my actions as strongly (I will definitely say though, my positive emotions influence my actions quite heavily while rolling, but why wouldn't I want that?).

A lot of drugs obviously do take some "control" from you, although all psychoactives vary immensely. Sure, you may lose your control on LSD, but you may gain more on MDMA.

Obviously I'm not criticising you for not taking drugs, because that would be silly, but it is worth knowing more about them so you can have a more informed point of view when discussing the matter - if that is in your best interest, of course. It does come with a lot of safety benefits, if nothing else.

 

[terrible cheeb]

I don't drink but I enjoy other chemicals. I have smoked weed since I was about 11 and tried new things pretty much every year since. Alcohol really is the worst drug as far as I am concerned, It doesnt feel good being drunk and is very disorientating. I guess i still like having the ability to control myself when intoxicated, something I struggle with when drunk. Funnily enough my girlfriend has never even drank, funny how these things happen.

 

[Ashadowpie]

i dont drink, nor do drugs happily.

firstly every alcohol drink i've ever tasted, including this chocolate stuff and coolers, are vile. just simply disgusting i'd rather have cough syrup thats equally as awful. people say " you get used to it " to me and i answer, why the fuck would i want to get used to it? why dont you drink piss? you'll get used to it eventually right? my point exactly. also i dont like being out of control of myself and alcohol definitely does that. im already a care free chilled out person so i have no need for drinkable reliever.

drugs. they are illegal, and terrifyingly bad for you. no thanks. also i have allergies to smoke of all kind even camp fire ( which makes me sad, i love roasted marshmallows) so even Weed would be out of the question. smoking anything also just reeks as well so huzzah im a clean person and happily and gratefully so.

i dont need to harm my body to escape my problems, i listen to music, read, garden, see friends and family and play video games to cope with life's problems. like a healthy human being should do.

 

[kasperbbs]

I drink very rarely, i still have some beer left over from new years and i have no desire to touch it. As for drugs, i tried smoking cannabis once with my friends, just a little bit, one of my friends on the other hand got completely wasted and had to crawl to the 5th floor on all fours. I kinda lost interest in it after seeing that.

 

[Darth Sea Bass]

I drink somewhat regularly I'm planning on cutting down for new year though. I have smoked weed/cigarettes but i quit about 5/6 years ago and I've taken most drugs apart from class A's.

 

[Someone Depressing]

I once had a vow never to drink.

Guess what happened.

captcha: lunch tuesday

Capthcha, you make me feel so good about myself.

 

[Miyenne]

I drink occasionally, but not much at all. Around holidays, a drink or two once or twice a week, and the rest of the year maybe one glass of wine every few months. Never done drugs, even with plenty of opportunity. I don't see the appeal. I like being in complete control of myself.

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

The only drugs I take are medicine and caffeine.

Call me crazy but I prefer psychoactive compounds which make me more intelligent, not less.

 

[waj9876]

I have never in my life knowingly taken an alcoholic drink, or a recreational drug of any kind. And I do not plan to.

Unless marijuana becomes legal in the place I live. I honestly wouldn't mind trying it.

 

[scorptatious]

Well I've never drank alcohol in my life.

Mainly because my family and alcoholism have a pretty big history together. Both my parents had to seek help before my brother and I were born, and my grandmother's husband's liver is pretty much destroyed due to his excessive drinking.

So, I don't drink nor do I intend to anytime soon.

I haven't taken drugs either. A part of me kinda wants to experience the sensation of "getting high", but I doubt I will ever go through with it.

 

[Aris Khandr]

My best friend was put into a coma for four days before dying because some jackass decided to drive after drinking. I swore to myself at 13 years old that I would never touch the stuff. 18 years later, I'm still good on that promise. It doesn't even sound appealing to me. I am less opposed to the idea of drugs, but I don't see why I would want to do them. Especially because I am deathly afraid of needles, and the one time I tried smoking a normal cigarette I spend the next six hours coughing, so inhaling burning leaves sounds like an awful idea to me. That leaves, what? Pills? Pretty sure I don't trust anyone enough to just give me random pills.

 

[gnihton]

I don't do any of that as I see the mind as what defines us as a person and 'us' as human. If you actively seek to escape having a functioning human mind (drinking/drugs), then you would rather exist as an animal than a human, and rather exist as an amorphous blob in a bland pack than as an individual (in cases of group use).

So, to put it simply, I don't because doing so, or (more relevantly) desiring to do so basically makes you subhuman. I find it quite disgusting that we're equipped with brains capable of so much, and such great things, yet people would rather drown it out, shirk the 'responsibility' of being human, and drain the world's resources while disrupting the lives of others for cheap thrills.

 

[jhoroz]

Alcohol tastes like AIDS and drugs r bad. Not a fan and don't understand the obsession.

 

[Blow_Pop]

I regularly drink. Oh boy do I (if the past weekend and this week are any to go by...)

But I refuse to do drugs.(and yes I know alcohol is a drug I'm talking other drugs) Unless it's prescribed by a doctor. I smoked cigarettes at one point in my life and never again. Drugs just don't seem like a fun time to me.

To me, as long as you aren't hurting anyone else with your decisions, I don't see why it's a big deal. And don't understand the people who think they're better because they aren't poisoning their bodies or whatever over the people who do.

 

[Queen Michael]

I drink alcohol about twice a year, unless you count non-alcoholic beer (which actually contains about .5% alcohol). I've never done drugs, and I don't plan to start.

 

[Techno Squidgy]

Drugs, though, I've never tried, and I can't really see myself trying them in the future. The whole idea of recreational drug use doesn't sit well with me. I don't want to consume them, and I don't want my money going to drug dealers.

When you say "the whole idea of recreation drug use doesn't sit well with me", do you mean the idea of using them yourself, or anyone at all? Also, funnily enough, there are plenty of drug users that hate drug dealers. They're not nice people (for the most part) because they can't be, there's too much money and no rules involved, so the violent tend to excel. Drugs would probably bring in a lot of money through tax. Though I'd have to insist that all the money earned from drug tax went to NASA/ESA.

Narcotics / Illegal Drugs, never, they're illegal = you shouldn't take them.

Yeah, you need to be careful with that though. The law isn't always right. If the law was changed so that you were compelled to smoke at least a gram of weed a day, would you? What if alcohol were prohibited again? What if bacon was outlawed?

Hell, not all that long ago, by law in the US, black people couldn't use the same facilities as white people. I think that's a pretty good indicator that just because it's law, doesn't mean it's right.