[Shadowdancer]

Last week I was browsing through a photography site, when I saw a pretty shocking picture. It depicted a crystal meth victim. I had no idea what crystal meth is, so i googled it and I found out it's one of the "nicknames" for Metamphetamines. This is what Wikipedia says:

"Methamphetamine (also known as Crystal Meth) is a synthetic stimulant drug used for both medicinal and recreational purposes (the latter use is illegal in most countries — see Legal issues). Like most stimulants, methamphetamine can cause a strong feeling of euphoria, thus creating the potential for addiction."

Why people take (to be read 'abuse') it? Because it is a powerful and relatively cheap drug, inducing alertness, increased brain activity (short-term), euphoria (in high doses), weight loss, heightened sexual stimulation.

What they pay: compulsive fascination with useless repetitive tasks; psychological addiction; acne; depression; formication (not fornication) - the sensation of having bugs crawling over your skin, inducing itches and the need to scratch; psychosis; erectile disfunction; neurotoxicity; severe tooth decay; damage to the immune system; anhedonia (with prolonged use: the inability to experience either pleasure or pain); death.
Side-effects include diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, hypertension, skin rash, insomnia (up to 15 days in a row without sleep), paranoia, dilated eye pupils, kidney and liver damage and severe depression.

I also found a site with 'before and after' pictures of crystal meth victims (and the term is much more fitting than addicts). You can see it here.

I wonder just how much one can hate him/herself to take that stuff. It does nothing but slowly and surely destroying both the body and the mind. Are they aware of the consequences and take them in stride? Do they believe that "that won't happen to me"? Do they overappreciate their ability to give the drug up at some point?

What do you think about this issue? Do you happen to know someone on drugs? I don't mean to point the finger at anyone, but I was in a state of shock a couple of days after my mini research. I honestly wonder what motivates those people.

[seraphimovic]

drugs....nasty issue. my personal experience with drugs is almost none. in highschool some of my collegues smoked marijuana and hashish. i don't even smoke..let alone try marijuana. in my opinion marijuana doesn't seem to be such a dangerous drug. about meth i don't know much. i didn't visit those links. let's just say that some things are better left alone . i saw once in a movie some opium users...they were druged out of their minds and just stood there for weeks just puffing from their pipe...it's horrible the way drugs take over your mind and destroy you as a person. people say they want to experinece awesome sensations, but is it really worth it to suffer that much for a few moments of ecstasy??. i say no. it is better to get high on life. there are ways of feeling good without using drugs. enough for now. thank you shur'tugal for this topic. if no one else posts than this can be a discusion of two. i enjoy the oportunity to practice my english...who knows...maybe i'll get my english teacher to join the forum...if she isn't allready here

[seraphimovic]

me again people....what else can you think of when listening to helloween-the game is on but music....so the lesson for today is to see how music referes/relates to drugs in general. well probably not many people know that even the name deep purple has something to do with drugs.yep..but i don't know much about that and i'll stick to what i know
the first thing that came to mind when i read the lyrics to this song was that it's about drugs..and there's no better name than master of puppets(see lyrics here http://www.songmeani...c.php?lid=36816 )
i'm waiting to see what other people are saying...i will do a little research and i'll be back...until then...don't do drugs!

[Shadowdancer]

how music relates to drugs... oh, boy, i can already see the prophets of the apocalypse waving their hands and preaching in the streets that modern music and drugs go hand in hand and are both devil's spawn . i think certain kinds of music have come to be associated with certain kinds of music (i mean such connections as techno-ecstasy, for instance) because those music venues are in many cases the place where the drugs are consumed. while i am sure that the frequency of drug intake is higher in some places than others... i still believe that doing drugs is a personal choice. it has to do with the individuals, not the places they frecquent, the music they listen to, etc. it's as stupid as saying that kids go round shooting classmates because they listen to marylin manson. it may be one of the factors, but it's neither the only one, nor the determing one, i think.

how music refers to drugs... i'll have to do some research on that... the only thind that comes to mind right now is the the scandal around the beatles' "lucy in the sky with diamonds" interpreted as a reference to LSD.
but how drugs impact music... they have taken away some of the most influential artists. again, personal choice. but it is their cases that are most visible to the public, not the others, thousands of anonymous, faceless victims.

[Shadowdancer]

i've done some homework

musical reference to drugs under magnifying glass: placebo - special k (came up in the word game thread).

Coming up beyond belief
On this coronary thief
More than just a leitmotif
More chaotic, no relief
I'll describe the way I feel
Weeping wounds that never heal
Can the savior be for real
Or are you just my seventh seal?

Special K is one of the names given to ketamine. Information following are according to wikipedia.org:

Citeaza

Ketamine was first synthesized in 1962 in an attempt to find a safer anaesthetic alternative to PCP (angel dust), which was more likely to cause hallucinations and seizures. The drug was first used on American soldiers during the Vietnam War, but is often avoided now because it can cause unpleasant out-of-body experiences.
....
Its hallucinogenic effects are only seen against a background lacking sensory stimulation, such as darkness. Users tout its trip is as good or better than that of PCP or LSD because its overt hallucinatory effects are short-acting, lasting an hour or less in most cases. Effects on the senses, judgment, and coordination, however, can last for 18 to 24 hours. Standing up and moving may be more dangerous than lying still in one place.
...
At low doses a user must be in a dark room or have one's eyes closed in order to see any hallucinations, while at medium to high doses the effects are far more intense and obvious, including changes in the perception of distances and durations as well as the visual system being slow to update what the user is seeing. There are reports of high-dosage users being able to see their surroundings in two sharp images, as if the brain is unable to merge the images each eye is sending.
...
Ketamine puts the user in a dissociated state, meaning that they are less connected to both a sense of self and the reality around them. If a large enough amount is taken the user may go into or through a "K-hole", a state of wildly dissociated experience in which other worlds or dimensions that are difficult to describe with language are said to be perceived, all the while being completely unaware of one's individual identity or the outside world. A user may feel as though his or her perception is located so deep inside the mind that the real world seems distant (hence the use of a "hole" to describe the experience). Some users may not remember this part of the experience after regaining consciousness, in the same way that a person may forget a dream. The "re-integration" process is slow, and the user gradually becomes aware of things around them. At first they may not remember their own name, or even know that they are human, or what that means.
...
Side effects: Severe: Impairs all senses, especially: Sight, Balance, Sense of time Cardiovascular: Partial depressant

Gastrointestinal: Nausea

Musculoskeletal: Relaxant

Neurological: Analgesia

Respiratory: Partial depressant

seraphimovic, back to you.



ps: this topic is by no means intended to be stimulating (ab)use of drugs. the author of this post hereby takes the chance to voice a vehement opinion against such actions dangerous to self and others.

[J0']

is funny here teenegers take a lot od drogs , they say is cool and fun

is not bad to try some of them , but yes when u see a 15 years old kid smoking weed is kinda weard

[seraphimovic]

i didn't take the time to read but apparently this site tries to give some drugs a better name http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/

[J0']

seraphimovic, la May 14 2006, 08:33 PM, a spus:

i didn't take the time to read but apparently this site tries to give some drugs a better name http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/

`wich one did u try ?

[Shadowdancer]

here's an interesting read: the doors of perception. the aldous huxley writing. it's only 23 pages and it's not the kind of reading that would cause an indigestion.

it details huxley's experiment with mescaline, with excursions into philosophical, theological, psychological, sociological, philological and other -logical (perfectly conscious and intended word play here) backgrounds to help (himself and the reader) understand the nature and the impact of the altered states of consciousness that mescaline triggered. however those logicals remain perfectly understandable even if you are not the proud owner of three oxford degrees, which i find is a merit of an essay of this nature. it offers really interesting insight.

[arien]

wow...nice view ... I would have needed that for an english essay back in school; it was about drugs...ugly stuff that i've read...
how can people get that low??? (

Aceasta postare a fost editata de arien: 11 July 2006 - 12:08 AM