Drug use in Ireland

08-12-2021 4:21pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118268395#Comment_118268395

The flips side is when you talk to people who do drugs, and they tell you how few people they've known who have had lasting bad experiences. TBH I suspect most people who gained any kind of psychosis after doing drugs, would probably have developed them anyway. I've known many people who have done drugs (shrooms, weed, speed, LSD, E, etc), and haven't experienced any kind of mental breaks or negative after effects. Most of them have had bad trips.. but it didn't affect them in the long run. I've had my own bad experiences with shrooms and LSD, but beyond the experience itself, nothing else happened.

I've known people who are irrational, unpredictable, violent, etc who did drugs, but the problem is that they combined drugs. That, I think is a key point. Mixing alcohol with other drugs messes most people up. It's why most people I know who go to raves will either drink alcohol or go tripping but not both. But, of course, there are fools who think they're invincible/indestructible, and will combine drugs thinking that they're special somehow and won't be affected, regardless of the advice they get from more experienced people. Just as there's some people who enjoy the experience from mixing, and don't care that they're prone to violence, paranoia, etc... There people are like that anyway.. the combination of drugs simply exaggerates their natural/desired personalities.

08-12-2021 4:33pm

^ I would add context to the issue of drugs on top of mixing them.

How/why/where/when people take drugs can have an impact on the outcomes. For example I have recently been dabbling in psilocybin. Slowly increasing doses towards a goal.

When I take it I do it in a calm atmosphere at home - light music (if any) and easy light (candles usually) - and only when I feel capable and not tired and alert and ready for it. And I do it in the company of someone I trust who can "pull me back" if I go off the rails.

Compare that to taking drugs of any sort after a night out - tired - maybe with alcohol. Often in the context of loud bass heavy music. Surrounded in crazy people. Dancers. Bar fights. Flashing lights. People who do not know you are on drugs and so will maybe not relate to you or your state in the right ways. And much more.

So far 100% of my psilocybin experiences - and my moderate other drug use experiences (hash and similar derivitives like charis and so on) have been positive if very very odd at times. Even some things that felt "negative" at the time - while not exactly "bad trips" - took on a positive slant quickly enough when I parsed them correctly.

I do not think any of that would have been true if I had been taking drugs in the atmosphere people tend to take drugs in. I somewhat suspect I would have been quite deranged - even if only temporarily and no lasting damage - by such experiences.

Another issue is I think a lot of people get no guidance or training on how to take drugs or how to deal with drug experiences. Through long practice of meditation and similar I was somewhat prepared for many of the experiences I have had. I always got the feeling - and I have heard quite a number of drug takers say similar - that many "bad trips" are caused by resisting the experience as it happens rather than letting it happen and flow. With meditation noticing and allowing negative experiences without resistance - and feelings like the dissolution of the self - were already somewhat familiar to me. Many people taking drugs - especially if they are nervous about doing so - would not be so prepared.

riclad · 08-12-2021 8:15pm

What a shock drugs are addictive and bad for your health,

apart from cannabis which can have positive medical effects if taken in moderation if you are over 21 i think cannabis should be legal as in certain American states right now it's available everywhere in Ireland concerned parents marching on dealers only happened in working class areas it seems in middle class areas people use coke E cannabis if they want to use drugs

katherineconlan · 08-12-2021 8:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118292178#Comment_118292178

It depends. Cannabis can have beneficial and harmful effects. The two active compounds, THC and CBD sort of counteract each other. THC in general makes you feel good but some medical studies and anecdotal experience tells me that it's not really good for mental health (the worst is psychosis and the 'best' is being unmotivated).

CBD on the other hand has numerous benefits. It's been proven to relieve anxiety and even psychosis. I take it for my autism. The problem is at the moment it's too damn expensive. I purchase 1000mg from the eCigStore and it costs about €35 to €40. Medical studies show that you need to take a minimum of 500mg a day for it to have any therapeutic benefit.

thefallingman · 08-12-2021 8:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118292209#Comment_118292209

I used cbd in a pipe it helps my anxiety, I got it in the funky skunk in town for 25 I think not sure the weight of the bag but someone might

08-12-2021 8:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118292209#Comment_118292209

It depends. Cannabis can have beneficial and harmful effects. The two active compounds, THC and CBD sort of counteract each other. THC in general makes you feel good but some medical studies and anecdotal experience tells me that it's not really good for mental health (the worst is psychosis and the 'best' is being unmotivated).

Actually, the best i'd consider to be an encouragement to be creative, or to have interesting/wacky thoughts. Cannabis makes it easier to be fascinated by certain things, encouraging creative expression. That's not to say it always happens, but it's certainly there. And I wouldn't consider it to be a case of unmotivated, but rather laziness (which is probably worse).

Cannabis has been probably the best drug/medicine I've taken for my shaking disorder. Every medicine recommended by Doctors has caused serious side-effects or actual physical damage (including internal bleeding, and liver damage). I always find it interesting that people talk about the negative side effects of something like cannabis, but rarely consider the range of side effects that legal drugs given by doctors often cause.