I didn't realise we're counting caffeine and tobacco in the list of drugs..... Just see those as not much different from a can of coke.
I like coffee, but not the shitty stuff that passes for coffee in the majority of UK establishments. Currently back in the UK (need to shower my face every year or so) and can honestly say that 100% of the coffee that I've had so far in the last week I've regretted ordering because it has been shite. Prefer to order a pot of tea so that I'm at least able to decide on the strength of my brew. Very few places seemingly know how to make anything other than a flat white with cinnamon or vanilla or some other such bullshit flavouring.
Do one. Barista my arse.
Tobacco really is the devil's lettuce. It's shite. A short hit that does nothing other than making you smell of fags and leaves you wanting more..... I'll smoke it in combo with grass or hash, but that's simply as a means to an end. Would happily smoke weed without any tobacco, but most of the seed grown today (under intense conditions) simply can't be smoked on its own because it's too strong and the THC content too high. Much rather a mellow, outdoor/balcony grown grass that can be smoked on its own.
Just see those as not much different from a can of coke.
coke the drink is a drug - it contains caffine ( and used to contain cocaine) As is Irn Bru, red bull and loads of other drinks
Our society its mainly alcohol
Our... Extrapolate that to just about every Western influenced society across the globe.
Some places, despite alcohol's dominance, other drugs are more accepted than in the UK.
I'm still shocked when I return to Germany that I'm allowed to openly smoke weed.... Although not in a Biergarten or at the Oktoberfest because there is considered a drug.... I know. Ironic, right. But still, even Germany with it's bet swilling culture has managed to accept that the original devil's lettuce ain't all that detrimental to society and its way of life.
I could look at a recent article I read about the non-effects of the new German drug laws, but as a live long stoner and more importantly three land lady wants me out the pub I'm not going to.
I think you tend to end up either in a circle where its commonplace or a circle where it is not
Weed smokers tend to find each other.
I was at a trade show. mainly furniture makers where we show our stuff and nobody buys anything. and of all there I happen through chit chat with another maker find out he's weed smoker.
No one takes coke and doesn't drink
Maybe true to say usually folks start taking coke for first time when they are drinking,
however Plenty of addicts end up taking coke with no alcohol involved. I'd wager if you blood tested everyone that works in the city of London, a surprisingly high number would have had a pre work line, much in the same way you'd have an expresso.
Cocaine is an evil drug...I won't lie, Initially it makes you feel invincible, a much better, more confident version of yourself. But it'll very quickly erode your soul. If you can take it recreationally once or twice a year good for you, but it's very easy to become addicted to it and it'll fxxxing ruin you if it takes hold.
Find it genuinely quaint that people look at caffeine as a drug.
Still on the PG Tips, though?
"I'm on three bags a day"...... 😵💫
What the Italians think I've no idea..... Five or more espresso a day ain't unusual......
furniture makers.......
......he's weed smoker.
I resemble this comment.
Nice and quiet, closed off environment, where doing something with a passion requires time, patience and concentration. That's not going to happen when you're up against the "clock“.
coke the drink is a drug - it contains caffine ( and used to contain cocaine)
A century ago. They used to call it "Negro's Cocaine."
Tried weed a handful of times. I don't really get it. I had a mate who was massively into it, "have you got a coke bottle and a toilet roll and some Pink Floyd?" Dude this sounds like effort. A lass I know likes edibles, that scares me,
Toilet roll boy read not a proper stoner.
No self respecting stoner is going to go through that much effort. 😉
Edibles are the most efficient way of consuming. Start small. Yeah it'll be a bit of a learning curve, but if you know you know.
Just re-read some of my posts and realised that there's many a Schreibfehler.....
Im going to vacate this park bench and walk home.
Bon nuit
Same reasoning why cannabis was made illegal - J Edgar Hoover was a total racist and cannabis was mainly used by black Americans.
Queen Victoria used Cannabis and Morphine, In WW1 you could buy comfort kits to send to the front - they included injectable morphine.
Sherlock Holmes enjoyed his cocaine
Drugs were not illegal in the UK until the 60s
At the very least as a start to full legalisation, out of all the drugs weed should be the first so you could buy it with full knowledge of the strain, THC/CBD content , Terpenes etc and be guaranteed of its provenance.
My aunt send these over from Canada along with some of the bud she grows in her garden, nice stuff but not a patch on my own particular strain I bred and grew for 14 years.
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My NHS supplied legal THC/CBD spray for my SPMS muscle spasms, 2.7mg of THC/2.7mg CBD in each spray so generally take 4 sprays under my tongue 4 times daily, sometimes I take 10+ at night if I can’t get my legs to work/need to silence my leg muscles.
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Here’s one of my buds from one of my old gardens (hydroponic), you can see my fingertips holding it at the bottom for scale
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Couple of gardens
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And finally a Kg of rum/raisin with coconut dressing cannabis truffles I made 7 years ago for a mate who was dying horribly from cancer, some may remember I used to work as a chocolatier up here in Galloway so I rather often made full use of my combination of skills.
Made with 100 g of ground top quality bud, THC/CBD and other cannabinoids extracted under heat and pressure using an oil based extraction method for 3hrs then cooled and mixed with emulsifying agent, then added to my rum/raisin ganache and pipped into 76% dark chocolate shells, rolled in Madagascan milk chocolate and coated with toasted coconut.
My mate loved them, he did say something along the words of , “You made me wait till I had cancer before you made these., you bastard” 😂
Each truffle put him in the sort of place everyone in that condition deserves
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Coke is the worst, it turns everyone into a game-show host.
I would contend that Meth amphetamine is worse.
Find it genuinely quaint that people look at caffeine as a drug.
Still on the PG Tips, though?
It is. You'll feel it when you come off it. Waking up and "gasping for a brew" is fending off last night's caffeine hangover. Caffeine doesn't give you energy, it just steals it from the future.
Perhaps have a crack (no pun intended) at quitting a few things yourself, then see how quaint you still think it is before you sneer at others? Reckon you can bin the weed until Christmas? Given your posting history I'd bet good money that you can't / won't, and weed is 'quaint' as far as drugs go. Pick a charity, prove me wrong and I'll throw in a handful. Could you quit coffee? I did, it was ****ing brutal.
So off you go, go pick a poison of choice, bin it off and report back to us in early 2026. Or alternatively, stop being a shit towards folk for being slightly less of an addict than you are. Nobody is a lifelong anything, that's a lame excuse to eat pies.
Do what you want of course, but please knock it off with the snarky attacks. You brag about taking horse tranquilisers "only" occasionally and maybe doing the odd line or two here and there like this is medal-worthy, yet see fit to pass comment on people having a cup of tea? Come on, this is out of order.
Sorry @Cougar.... I apologise. Didn't mean to come across as belittling nor to cause offence. I certainly did not want to appear snarky... I know I'm a prick at the best of times, but snarky isn't really my style.
Obviously caffeine is a drug just like any other and it hits different people in different ways. Personally I've never had a problem nodding off after a late night espresso. Friends of mine are wired for hours after a cappuccino. Everyone is different.
As it stands I've currently zero intention of going cold turkey for the next days and weeks, let alone till Christmas/2026..... Visiting family in the UK and I need all the help (distraction ?) I can get...!
Have dropped everything , both out of necessity (lack of sources or enforced) or voluntarily, and been "clean" with regards to non-prescribed drugs many times in the last 10-15 years... Would often drop everything for a month or so around February just to prove to myself that I'm not an addict and give myself a reset. In 2017/8 I had to prove to the German authorities that I was an upright, model citizen and even have the test results over a period of 18 month period to confirm I was such. Can't say that I felt any better for it, mind. I drank more to compensate for it and gained a few kg that took some effort to lose.
Pies..... Had one on Saturday. First one in years. One of the few British delicacies that I miss.... That and a proper beer.
Define drugs. Alcohol is a drug. Caffeine is a drug. Prescription painkillers are drugs. Endorphins are drugs (that's what your body secretes when you exercise and gives you "runner's high") so athletes are basically drug addicts.
So, yeah, I've taken lots of drugs.
Reckon you can bin the weed until Christmas?
I'm sure he could if he wanted to. Weed is not addictive. there is no withdrawal
Coke is the worst, it turns everyone into a game-show host.
I would contend that Meth amphetamine is worse.
This thread has provided more (if any were needed) evidence of the middle aged demographic of STW. No nitrous oxide, spice zombies, fentanyl, meth freaks at all, very disappointed - must try harder party people.
Love the idea that mundanely smoking weed every day is an escape from mundanity.
This is very interesting so far – far less drug taking than I thought there would be.
Most of us have jobs wed like to not be impacted by our reckless youth. Speaking on behalf of a friend.
must try harder party people
I can barely be bothered with a naff night's sleep from a single can of beer. Dafuq do I want to "party" for? I'd rather be out fell running on a Sunday morning, not lying in a dark room questioning my life choices yet again.
I have a natural resistance to morphine that means it has zero affect on me so opiodes would be a waste of cash.
I was just bored with my experiences of canabis.
Coke and speed i have no interest in as i'm a bit of a duracell bunny at the best of times. I need calming down not fuelled
MDMA i have enjoyed every time (not that often) but my god i do not enjoy a come down.
Alcohol i don't enjoy the loss of control and again... Hangovers terrify me. I am pretty capable of just having a nnice drink and chopping back to alcohol free.
Caffeine probably over do if i don't have a coffeee in the morning i am pretty grumpy but after that i can drink loads or none with no real thought.
Alcohol for me is an age thing, I love a few beers but if I over do it, I literaly feel like death the entire next day coupled with really bad anxiety. It's horrendous.
I drink very much in moderation these days because of that.
Alcohol in my teens, but didn't enjoy the hangovers. Never smoked, tried a cig when I was 10 (they still had vending machines then). Vile!
Never taken/smoked anything; even prescription medication is a last resort
Still do a beer, coffee, chocolate, etc.
I drink very little now - which means I am a cheap date with no tolerance. I made a resolution not to have alcohol in the house nor drink alone. the one I will never stop tho is the " well deserved beer" - you know the one after a long hot cycle ride etc
This is very interesting so far – far less drug taking than I thought there would be.
Going off my own friends, I just take it as a given that everyone over 50 spent the entire of the 90’s absolutely ripped to the tits on industrial quantities of weapons grade MDMA
But then the old adage does apply…. if you can remember the 90’s then you weren’t there (man) 😃
At the very least as a start to full legalisation, out of all the drugs weed should be the first
I think I would have agreed with this, but someone who works in mental health was telling me the other day that the vast majority of people presenting with drug-related psychosis have been smoking weed.
Now I know it's also the most-commonly used illegal drug, but it still gave me pause for thought.
Not a big fan of it myself, but I was an enthusiastic enjoyer of clubbing and the things that went with it throughout the 90s, 00s and some of the 10s.
Had a long break and just once or twice a year now.
Started smoking cigarettes in school, by m yearly twenties wanted to stop badly but never could, took until vaping was a thing before i could give up. Stopped smoking something like 13 years now, still over 20 years of smoking 🙁
And school time led to stupid drinks, smoking solid before weed became more common place, bit of speed and lsd.
never had a problem with speed or LSD, haven't touched LSD in 25 years probably, and speed probably in 15.
When Weed became more of a thing than solid, i would have been around 23, it started to make a serious mess of me, Paranoia, argumentative and aggressive, i also couldn't say no to it, it took me some months after stopping before i felt normal again. i fear i could've been one of negative story's behind weed.. I also have a few people in my circles that i know weed has done some really bad things too, a school mate who still smokes, but isn't quite right and i don't think he knows it, and my mates little brother who it definitely led him to his death, mental health issues are other dependencies. So i still stand by the fact that its not for everyone.
It still scares me now, i am interested to know how i would be if i was just sat with the gf having a smoke to see if i was past the paranoia bit, but honestly not worth the risk to me.
Anyway..the speed led to some proper ecstasy pills in the 90's, when they were as advertised. out raving having the best time. I was always ok on the other side of it, id come home, eat and force myself to sleep, always felt vague the first few days after, but no different to having a heavy night out on alcohol, that still plays with my emotions in the same way...
AS time went on the pills became more vague as to what they were so i lost interest
in my late 20's coke became a lot more commonplace, and was part of a social weekend with beery, usually indoors in a group of mates.., now it's only for special occasions, weddings etc...It's kind of boring and i certainly wouldn't do it on a night out, the up then down of it would make a really inconsistent experience out clubbing etc.. nowadays when i go out out, ill drink spirits with full sugar coke and that's enough to keep me awake and enjoying everything, without stumbling around like a clown.
Early to mid 30's was a different social period when we would have coke and ket for giggles, usually indoors in a group..
back to the coke, i see the danger in it, a close friend nearly lost his marriage, almost took his life, had a really bad 6 months fuelled by the stuff, and was only helped by counselling. Wasn't a financial issue but an escape from some trauma, and being as he didn't really drink that was his escape...He seems ok now, but still does it in moderation...and argues it's no different to his wife having a glass of wine...
I think I would have agreed with this, but someone who works in mental health was telling me the other day that the vast majority of people presenting with drug-related psychosis have been smoking weed.
A few points about this
There is no medical consensus on what the link between psychosis and weed is - it could be one of 3 things - a trigger ie the individual is susceptible and the weed is a trigger. direct cause ie the weed makes you go psychotic or self medication ie the folk would have had that psychotic break anyway - the increased incidence is that folk who are on the brink of an episode are self medicating or that folk likely to have a psychotic episode are more likely to smoke weed
We cannot do proper research on this because its illegal - you are relying on self reporting so the millions who smoke weed with no ill effects are not seen in the stats
If weed were legalised we could do proper research and people could seek help earlier and we would know better if different strains of weed are more or less likely to have this link.
The link is there for sure but a causal relationship is not proven
Much of the social issues with drugs are not as a result of the drug, its as a result of prohibition. Taking drug use out of the judicial system and into the health system would save lives. Because of the illegal nature folk in trouble tend not to seek help until things fall apart.
leah Betts died because she and her friends did not seek professional help but half remembered stuff and tried to self treat. She would be alive today if she had felt able to seek help
From what I know coke is actually the most dangerous one IMO. Its cost two friends a stroke and another his life from a heart attack ( all had awful lifestyles in general - no exercise and heavy drinkers)
coke is fuelling an epidemic of violent behaviour - young men coked up and full of alcohol leads to aggressive behaviour
As over 110,000 of them demonstrated in central London a few weeks ago
Going off my own friends, I just take it as a given that everyone over 50 spent the entire of the 90’s absolutely ripped to the tits on industrial quantities of weapons grade MDMAPretty much this, started at 14/15 years old, during the off season, continued through to the end of my degree. Wine, women and song most weekends from October to March, rarely hit it enough that i couldn't function by 10 the following morning though, had to get the training in.
But then the old adage does apply…. if you can remember the 90’s then you weren’t there (man)I lost about 3-4 months while at uni when i got injured one year... No training, no racing, no riding at all. Just clubs and catching the 5:35 transpennine home from Manchester...
Anything i could snort, eat or drink... And afford. Knocked all of it on the head when i graduated as most places i applied to for work needed a clean test. And then the racing stepped up a couple of levels as well.
Never smoked anything since, pretty much knocked the booze on the head about 6-7 years ago, never felt the urge to pay for sex either, though some of the places i've ended up, i might have been better off...
Never even had a fag.
Friend did something synthetic / fake when vapes became a thing, and needed medical assistance to get off them. Couldn't have anything with blueberries or blueberry flavour for about 3 years, due to association, as that was the flavour that triggered the anxiety etc.
Seems all OK now back on the real herbal stuff. And I think he can safely have a blueberry muffin again.
I hate drugs. Never taken any. Always found it a way for people to become assholes, and think they were being someone they're not. I just don't understand why anyone takes it. Probably says more about me than them. I'm an utterly boring bastard.
No alcohol, caffine or chocolate?
I'm 44 now and did loads all through my twenties and I guess maybe early thirties. All in a clubbing/party context really as was immersed in the Manchester clubbing scene, so loads of what you might call "party" drugs on nights out.
It was great fun at the time but was doing quite a lot tbf and funnily enough I got into mountain biking and used that as an excuse to kind of retire from that scene as the two don't really mix (at least not in the same weekend). These days I don't MTB but still keen on road cycling and triathlon so guess it was a good decision at the time.
As it happens, lately, I have started getting back into going out and listening to house/tech-house/techno at daytime parties or those with an older or more discerning crowd and still really love it but its just some beers and maybe a shot of vodka to see me through til 3am now.
I don't regret it but as with anything, there's no way to know how different my life would be now if I hadn't done it or whether I'd have concentrated all that energy on something different/more constructive (doubtful). I still have a lot of close friends from that period of my life even though now we're all middle aged with jobs and families and no longer hammering it every weekend.
Yeah I don't do anything illegal any more, but I had a 'future sound of london' CD in my collection, and several from Platupus records, so you can draw your own conclusions from that, hahah 😉
and think they were being someone they're not. I just don't understand why anyone takes it.
You just answered your own question there..
I use to go to the pub, have a few lines, and, whilst I don't think it initially turned me into an asshole, it did make me a far more outgoing version of myself. As a single bloke, having zero inhibition to randomly approach the hottest girl in the pub was not actually a bad thing (and believe it or not was surprisingly successful). The general theme I saw was coke just magnifieed your underlying personality, ie if you were already a bit of an ahole, coke just made it far worse.
Of course that's how it starts...a few lines to make a night out a bit more fun. It ends with you snorting mounds of it on a daily basis with your nose falling apart with no hot girls in sight..
But it's not really you though, is it? You are who you actually are without drugs, IMO. I can say the same about friends I know who drink.
No alcohol, caffine or chocolate?
Yes. Never used to drink much, now not at all. The odd cup of tea, maybe 1-2 a week. Chocolate, that's another matter.....
chocolate is a drug - admittedly a weak one but it has feelgood chemicals in it
Given the demographic of this forum I can't believe this hasn't been posted yet...!
...for me - illegal drugs never even tried any.
Legal drugs - I like a drink, do coffee and chocolate.
Had one ciggie when I was 15 - nearly choked and never had another.
If you didn't take Es in the late 80s or early 90s then you really missed out on one of the greatest bits of our social history.
And then in came coke and it all became a bit dull.
