NationStates Jolt Archive

bored/|\

I've been offered a load of MDMA for new years. I'd initially rejected it, but after today I feel like a few hours of complete euphoria would be fucking great tbh, even with that monster comedown. I've been offered acid too recently, but I'm way too paranoid to use psychotropics.

*is stoned*

http://forum.erkenntnis.org/images/smilies/icon_joint.gif

Having re-acquainted myself with some of the more modern research it looks like there are carcinogens in pot. Fair enough.

That shouldn't have been a shock. Any time you burn organic material and take it into you lungs, carcinogens are released into your bloodstream. Even if it's dried spinach.

...And as we all know, dried spinach doesn't pack anywhere near the kind of buzz as some choice dank - so choose wisely when you go to fill that bowl, kids.

I have done drugs before, but I don't do them regularly.

I've done weed.. Didn't really like it so haven't done it again. That's about it.

...And as we all know, dried spinach doesn't pack anywhere near the kind of buzz as some choice dank - so choose wisely when you go to fill that bowl, kids.

i agree, be sure your carcinogens are worthy of introducing to your body

all together now... "choose bad smack!"

Yes. I take 'em all the time. Zoloft, Caffine, Sugar. Just some of the many, many drugs I pump into my body every day!

The term "drugs" lacks definition in the post. Personally, I think the OP referred to "illicit" or "recreational" drugs rather than a biological substance, taken for non-dietary needs, introduced into an the body to produce an effect.

well going into detail i think pot isnt even a drug. its just like alcohol. borderline.

It's not about expanding the definition... Bah.

Obviously the definition needs to be reviewed, considering Minskia's view.

alcohol is highly addictive.

From an emotional point of view, yes. Otherwise, from a chemical viewpoint, alcohol is not addictive.

stupid drug information site.

Yes... Blame the site.:rolleyes:

btw, sugar is also addictive and causes withdrawals. Try to stay away from sugar in all of it's forms for two weeks and tell me how that headache is coming along. Not to mention the mood swings. Oh damn I think I just did.

Sugar is not a drug, by any definition, except perhaps Chinese medicine, because they believe that food, as a "drug" can be used to alter bodily functions. Sugar is regarded as a simple carbohydrate.

The death of reason is that you get 10 years without parole for large amounts of pot, whereas the average amount of time spent in prision for murder (all degrees combined) is 6.3 years with parole. And that substances that have been proven to be non-harmful, such as pot and payote, are illegal while a roll of tobacco and nicatine is perfectly legal.

Pot has been proven not to be harmful? By whom? Your mum, perhaps?

though I like Caffeine, and Coffee is the only way I take it, besides plenty of Soda, I figure I myself should probably be classified as an Illegal Drug, because plenty of people have told me that talking to me when I ramble on about things I imagine is like being high, without all the negative side effects of drugs.

You imagine incorrectly.


the word "drug" has become so polluted with scaremongering and misinformation it practically lacks any real meaning at all...
oh, what i wouldn't give to see one newspaper article that didn't immediately draw hideous links between casual drug use and rapacious carnage...

Agreed.

Maybe you're smoking parsley and you don't know it.

Snap!



This thread bored me to tears. It's not the first time I've encountered people who know nothing about science or chemistry talking about, what they percieve to be, "drugs". If you do drugs, that's fine. If you don't, that's fine too. It's all good as long as you don't give advice/facts/etc when you don't know anything at all.

To the original poster: for this thread to have been succesful, pehaps you should've defined "drugs". You also should have researched. The fact that you believe marijuana is "borderline like alcohol" is, for lack of a better word, stupid.

man i find it hard to type somtimes. i shouldnt have taken that much Coricidin. should have stayed with the weed.

Oh god, please tell me you're kidding?

I suppose, when stupid people get into stupid situations, we should just let nature take it's course for the sake of mankind.

From an emotional point of view, yes. Otherwise, from a chemical viewpoint, alcohol is not addictive.


do you have a source for that? or can you explain what you mean?

I've been offered a load of MDMA for new years. I'd initially rejected it, but after today I feel like a few hours of complete euphoria would be fucking great tbh, even with that monster comedown. I've been offered acid too recently, but I'm way too paranoid to use psychotropics.

The comedown from pure MDMA is always overstated, usually by people who've never tried it. The pure stuff just tends to make me feel lethargic for a couple of days afterwards and I need to do some work getting my sleeping pattern back to normal. If it's been cut with anything on the other hand then the comedowns become a whole lot more severe, especially if some mad chemist somewhere along the line has decided to use speed to bulk out their supply.

Anyway, I think the moral of this post, such as it is, is to know your suppliers. A good relationship with the guys selling you mind altering substances is always a good thing. Or learn some chemistry and do it yourself, there is nothing as satisfying as the first batch that wouldn't be toxic.

Pot has been proven not to be harmful? By whom? Your mum, perhaps?

Ya of course anything can be argued to be harmful. Milk can be harmful. But the argument was that if alcohol and cigs can be legal why cant weed, when weed is not nearly as harmful as the two.
Also, there have been studies done on lab mice that show pot can have a positive effect on the growth of cancer. 9/10 mice with cancer showed signs of the cancer either slowing its growth or completely stopping all together. Further more there are law in place so that weed can not be studied, because the Government is afraid if they make it legal they wont be able to tax it.
From an emotional point of view, yes. Otherwise, from a chemical viewpoint, alcohol is not addictive.

Are you telling me that pot is chemically addictive? Cause if your not then there is no reason to disagree with Pure metal. He was saying it is more addictive then pot which it is. (of course that may just be due to the fact that it is socially and lawfully acceptable.)

I also would like to add that we only use a small percentage of our brain. Has anyone in here ever seen a brain scan of someone who is tripping?
I believe that our minds hold the key to everything around us in this world and the ones right in front of us we can't see. If we were raised our entire life with a certain way of thinking; this way is up, people can't fly, gravity exists, it would very hard for our minds to bend or brake these rules cause its all we know, with drugs our minds are able to see things differently and bend the rules of the world that we know.

www.erowid.org is an excellent database for drug information, imho. No scaremongering propaganda bullshit here.

...If my choice was between being "addicted" to pot while being subjected to isolation, or being "drug-free" while being subjected to this ongoing, whingeing anti-drug claptrap, which d'you suppose I'd elect to endure?

Hmm?

*puffs*

...If my choice was between being "addicted" to pot while being subjected to isolation, or being "drug-free" while being subjected to this ongoing, whingeing anti-drug claptrap, which d'you suppose I'd elect to endure?

Hmm?

*puffs*

Being Drug free?

From an emotional point of view, yes. Otherwise, from a chemical viewpoint, alcohol is not addictive.


no, that's weed. alcohol is chemically addictive. fact. one can become chemically dependent on the drug. dependency = a little more than addictive...

I used to do drugs because-surprise- they were fun.
I don't anymore because they don't seem as fun as they used to. Besides, I'm poorer than I used to be.

Not to mention my doctor prescribes as much fun as I can handle.

I used to do drugs because-surprise- they were fun.
I don't anymore because they don't seem as fun as they used to. Besides, I'm poorer than I used to be.

Did you hear a while back that Mick Jagger was quiting drugs because they "just didn't have the quality they used to" or something like that.



Not to mention my doctor prescribes as much fun as I can handle.

That's awesome.

I have never done any of the illegal drugs and shall never do them for as long as I shall live.

Drugs have been a plague where I live, in London.

The amount of people consuming drugs is now at a record high, assisted no less by the soft on crime and ultra liberal PC government we have under Tony Blair. The Metropolitan Police have been denied the funding, resources, data and the powers of the law to deal with the vermin and degenerates who both take drugs and sell them. Add to that England has a weak and ultra liberal judiciary which has time and time again failed to uphold the security of the nation and the stability and purity of our society, instead passing down sentences which are too soft and ineffective as many a judge has expressed views which show their sympathy for the criminal class.

Drugs fuel and fund terrorism and it is no coincidence that a large number of drug dealers in London are Muslims, we can only know where their drug profits are going, we only have to remember the 7th of July 2005 bombings for that!

Drug users and dealers are one of the biggest causes of crime, violence, social decay, perversion and other evils in England. They spread terror and fear into hard working and law abiding people and it is time to stand up and for the government to show the drug users and dealers what terror really means.

There should be life imprisonment with forced labour for drug users.

Drug dealers should get the death penalty and if they are caught in the act by police, then they should simply be shoot on sight without trial.

These sub-human vermin degenerates deserve no mercy or compassion what so ever!

i do dugs although not that often. Maybe some DXM and/or Ecstasy once a week or every two weeks. i have found that stuff like DXM is not harmful as people think. Hell, if u can get cancer from styrofoam and a million other things, im more worried about what is legal than what is illegal. As for putting to death drug dealers cuz u say that they cuz crime, that is just being stupid. I used to slang for a while and i never committed no crime other than dealing. as for the people who committed a crime just to get drugs, thats there own fault cuz they would have done the crime anyway and gotten their grugs from somewhere else.

i also have a link here for those of u who get their information mixed up on drugs. this site will tell u all or at least most of the facts about different types of drugs.

www.erowid.org

As for putting to death drug dealers cuz u say that they cuz crime, that is just being stupid.

How is it stupid? The death penalty is the ultimate deterence and the ultimate means by which the law can prevent a criminal from reoffending.

I object that my hard earned tax money is wasted on degenerate fitlh such as drug dealers as they enjoy the utter luxury of their so-called prisons, with their TVs, playstations, education and therapy sessions etc... and this is all free for them, the state does not provide the same oppotunities to law abiding people as it does to criminals who get chance after chance. Talk about crime pays!

Forget about wasting money on drug dealers and forget about 'human rights', wipe them out, wipe them all out!

I used to slang for a while and i never committed no crime other than dealing.

Drug dealing is ILLEGAL thus you ARE a CRIMINAL, regardless of whether you have broken others laws or not!

Terrorists are generally law abiding to avoid police detection, they only break the law with their terrorism, but otherwise they pay their taxes and don't even get a speeding ticket. Drug dealers do the same, for they make good money out of their criminal trade and so have no need to shoplift or mug people, thats the crime of choice for the drug user.

I have never done any of the illegal drugs and shall never do them for as long as I shall live.

Drugs have been a plague where I live, in London.

The amount of people consuming drugs is now at a record high, assisted no less by the soft on crime and ultra liberal PC government we have under Tony Blair. The Metropolitan Police have been denied the funding, resources, data and the powers of the law to deal with the vermin and degenerates who both take drugs and sell them. Add to that England has a weak and ultra liberal judiciary which has time and time again failed to uphold the security of the nation and the stability and purity of our society, instead passing down sentences which are too soft and ineffective as many a judge has expressed views which show their sympathy for the criminal class.

Drugs fuel and fund terrorism and it is no coincidence that a large number of drug dealers in London are Muslims, we can only know where their drug profits are going, we only have to remember the 7th of July 2005 bombings for that!

Drug users and dealers are one of the biggest causes of crime, violence, social decay, perversion and other evils in England. They spread terror and fear into hard working and law abiding people and it is time to stand up and for the government to show the drug users and dealers what terror really means.

There should be life imprisonment with forced labour for drug users.

Drug dealers should get the death penalty and if they are caught in the act by police, then they should simply be shoot on sight without trial.

These sub-human vermin degenerates deserve no mercy or compassion what so ever!

my god..... do you read the daily mail by any chance?


Drugs fuel and fund terrorism and it is no coincidence that a large number of drug dealers in London are Muslims, we can only know where their drug profits are going, we only have to remember the 7th of July 2005 bombings for that!

yes, because all muslims support terrorists.

:rolleyes:



though i do like how starkly our views differ... here's you denouncing drug dealers and users alike as vermin who are good for little more than forced labour, and here's me earlier in this thread saying that drugs should be supplied and sold by the government and possession should be totally decriminalised. heh.

do you have a source for that? or can you explain what you mean?

I took most of my information from Wiki, but basically:

Alcohol "addiction" is purely psychological. There is no evidence that the chemical make-up of alcoholic beverages leads to addiction in the way that niccotine or herione does. Alcoholism, the psychological dependency on ethanol, is a mental longing. It is not chemically addictive, as far as i can tell.

"While alcohol use is required to trigger alcoholism, the biological mechanism of alcoholism is uncertain. For most people, moderate alcohol consumption poses little danger of addiction. Other factors must exist for alcohol use to develop into alcoholism. These factors may include a person's social environment, emotional health and genetic predisposition." - Wiki.

Ya of course anything can be argued to be harmful. Milk can be harmful. But the argument was that if alcohol and cigs can be legal why cant weed, when weed is not nearly as harmful as the two.
Also, there have been studies done on lab mice that show pot can have a positive effect on the growth of cancer. 9/10 mice with cancer showed signs of the cancer either slowing its growth or completely stopping all together. Further more there are law in place so that weed can not be studied, because the Government is afraid if they make it legal they wont be able to tax it.

Weed is socially, mentally and phsyically harmful. This may be, however, due to other components, particularly the fact that because it is illegal users have to hide the fact that they smoke it. Also, a lot of pot smokers are "stoners". This, to me, is the same as being an alcoholic. Anyway, this argument hasn't got anything to do with legalising marijuana, but I'm not against it.

And the goverment is afraid they won't be able to tax it? Oh, god, COME ON!

Are you telling me that pot is chemically addictive? Cause if your not then there is no reason to disagree with Pure metal. He was saying it is more addictive then pot which it is. (of course that may just be due to the fact that it is socially and lawfully acceptable.)

Marijuana, itself, is only psychologically addictive, but some weed is laced with addictive substances or spun with tabacco, which can cause a chemical addiction.

no, that's weed. alcohol is chemically addictive. fact. one can become chemically dependent on the drug. dependency = a little more than addictive...

No, it's not chemically addictive. It's psychologically addictive, just like weed.

No, it's not chemically addictive. It's psychologically addictive, just like weed.

everything i've ever seen and heard about alcohol says the contrary. excessive use of the drug leads to withdrawal symptoms - this in itself is an easy way to classify something as chemically addictive or not.

weed has no withdrawal symptoms when going from heavy use to none. it is therefore only psychologically addictive.
alcohol has these symptoms.
it is therefore chemically addictive (maybe i'm painting a very black&white picture here, but still...)

I have never done any of the illegal drugs and shall never do them for as long as I shall live.

Drugs have been a plague where I live, in London.

The amount of people consuming drugs is now at a record high, assisted no less by the soft on crime and ultra liberal PC government we have under Tony Blair. The Metropolitan Police have been denied the funding, resources, data and the powers of the law to deal with the vermin and degenerates who both take drugs and sell them. Add to that England has a weak and ultra liberal judiciary which has time and time again failed to uphold the security of the nation and the stability and purity of our society, instead passing down sentences which are too soft and ineffective as many a judge has expressed views which show their sympathy for the criminal class.

Drugs fuel and fund terrorism and it is no coincidence that a large number of drug dealers in London are Muslims, we can only know where their drug profits are going, we only have to remember the 7th of July 2005 bombings for that!

Drug users and dealers are one of the biggest causes of crime, violence, social decay, perversion and other evils in England. They spread terror and fear into hard working and law abiding people and it is time to stand up and for the government to show the drug users and dealers what terror really means.

There should be life imprisonment with forced labour for drug users.

Drug dealers should get the death penalty and if they are caught in the act by police, then they should simply be shoot on sight without trial.

These sub-human vermin degenerates deserve no mercy or compassion what so ever!

ah, sad little troll

criminalising drugs is what makes drug users criminals

as i've said in a previous post, i've used many different recreational drugs for many years and the only crimes i've ever committed, either on or for these drugs, are drug-related crimes (eg possession of a psychoactive mushroom that grew naturally in a nearby field)

its like criminalising homosexuality, then claiming that "only criminals are homosexuals"
no, only homosexuals have been criminalised - it's not the same thing at all

i say we should make nuts illegal - how many people do they harm every year?
then you can rant about "sub-human vermin degenerates" who wantonly eat peanuts, and force them into "life imprisonment with forced labour"

How is it stupid? The death penalty is the ultimate deterence and the ultimate means by which the law can prevent a criminal from reoffending.

How could u possibly justify using the death penalty for those who deal drugs. A lot of the people i have sold to while i was dealing, were older people in their 50's and 60's. If u look at this then u will realize that i was doing them a service. i was helping them to put their aching minds and bodies at peace. I didn't force it down their throats, i didn't make them buy the weed.

I object that my hard earned tax money is wasted on degenerate fitlh such as drug dealers as they enjoy the utter luxury of their so-called prisons, with their TVs, playstations, education and therapy sessions etc... and this is all free for them, the state does not provide the same oppotunities to law abiding people as it does to criminals who get chance after chance. Talk about crime pays!

Alright, i don't know where u live but considering my father was a police officer and my uncle worked in a maximum security prison, i know for a fact that people don't get special priviliges. Having also a friend who was caught, i know they don't f*ck around with drug charges. he got 20 years on probation and NO special treatment and that was for just possession. If i was u, id be more worried about those people like Martha Stewart and the ENRON Executives getting special treatment. They harmed more people then drugs ever have, and they have taken away all of their futures.

Drug dealing is ILLEGAL thus you ARE a CRIMINAL, regardless of whether you have broken others laws or not!

Terrorists are generally law abiding to avoid police detection, they only break the law with their terrorism, but otherwise they pay their taxes and don't even get a speeding ticket. Drug dealers do the same, for they make good money out of their criminal trade and so have no need to shoplift or mug people, thats the crime of choice for the drug user.

Lastly, j-walking is illegal (at least here it is) and i don't know how many times ive done it nor how many times ive seen other people do it. The fact of the matter here is that just about everybody here would be a "criminal" by ur standards. so does that mean that we should all be put into "forced labour." And how can u possibly compare drug dealers to terrorist. One somply distributes items deemed "illegal" by our government and the others are people who set out to purposely harm other individuals. their whole life is devoted to destrution and mayhem. Dealers are simply trying to survive and make a few extra bucks in their pockets. Trust me, they don't make that much, not unless ur Tony Montana or Pablo Escobar

How is it stupid? The death penalty is the ultimate deterence and the ultimate means by which the law can prevent a criminal from reoffending.

How could u possibly justify using the death penalty for those who deal drugs. A lot of the people i have sold to while i was dealing, were older people in their 50's and 60's. If u look at this then u will realize that i was doing them a service. i was helping them to put their aching minds and bodies at peace. I didn't force it down their throats, i didn't make them buy the weed.

I object that my hard earned tax money is wasted on degenerate fitlh such as drug dealers as they enjoy the utter luxury of their so-called prisons, with their TVs, playstations, education and therapy sessions etc... and this is all free for them, the state does not provide the same oppotunities to law abiding people as it does to criminals who get chance after chance. Talk about crime pays!

Alright, i don't know where u live but considering my father was a police officer and my uncle worked in a maximum security prison, i know for a fact that people don't get special priviliges. Having also a friend who was caught, i know they don't f*ck around with drug charges. he got 20 years on probation and NO special treatment and that was for just possession. If i was u, id be more worried about those people like Martha Stewart and the ENRON Executives getting special treatment. They harmed more people then drugs ever have, and they have taken away all of their futures.

Drug dealing is ILLEGAL thus you ARE a CRIMINAL, regardless of whether you have broken others laws or not!

Terrorists are generally law abiding to avoid police detection, they only break the law with their terrorism, but otherwise they pay their taxes and don't even get a speeding ticket. Drug dealers do the same, for they make good money out of their criminal trade and so have no need to shoplift or mug people, thats the crime of choice for the drug user.

Lastly, j-walking is illegal (at least here it is) and i don't know how many times ive done it nor how many times ive seen other people do it. The fact of the matter here is that just about everybody here would be a "criminal" by ur standards. so does that mean that we should all be put into "forced labour." And how can u possibly compare drug dealers to terrorist. One somply distributes items deemed "illegal" by our government and the others are people who set out to purposely harm other individuals. their whole life is devoted to destrution and mayhem. Dealers are simply trying to survive and make a few extra bucks in their pockets. Trust me, they don't make that much, not unless ur Tony Montana or Pablo Escobar

everything i've ever seen and heard about alcohol says the contrary. excessive use of the drug leads to withdrawal symptoms - this in itself is an easy way to classify something as chemically addictive or not.

weed has no withdrawal symptoms when going from heavy use to none. it is therefore only psychologically addictive.
alcohol has these symptoms.
it is therefore chemically addictive (maybe i'm painting a very black&white picture here, but still...)

the term "addiction" does not directly correlate with "withdrawal". You can have withdrawal from carbohydrates, or even withdrawal from sex.
Also, have you ever gone from smoking pot to smoking none? Particularly because a lot of weed is laced or spun with tabacco, there are infact withdrawal symptoms. I, myself, have felt pretty bad after smoking an entire 25 in a few days, then not having it at all!

[EDIT: This, however, doesn't mean that pot is chemically addictive. I honestly think that if you have proof of alcohol being physiologically addictive, please show me.

i also have a link here for those of u who get their information mixed up on drugs. this site will tell u all or at least most of the facts about different types of drugs.

www.erowid.org

That is a very good site.

As for drugs, if it's not addictive, it should be legal.

EDIT:

Cept caffein, and alcohol.

[QUOTE]Quote:
Originally Posted by Byzantium2006
i also have a link here for those of u who get their information mixed up on drugs. this site will tell u all or at least most of the facts about different types of drugs.

www.erowid.org

That is a very good site.

As for drugs, if it's not addictive, it should be legal.

EDIT:

Cept caffein, and alcohol.[/QUOTE

The only problem would be that too many drugs out there are addictive in some sense, either physically or psychologically. It would be difficult to find one that isnt either of these two.

No, alcohol is tradition. In a bottle!

Anyways, must we expand the definition of "drug" to include everything enjoyable? Must we? I mean, come on, caffeine and sugar sure as hell shouldn't be considered drugs, and alcohol is borderline. I know that it was always taught as something separate from other drugs when I was in school.

No, drugs are chemicals that affect the functioning of your body. Asprin is a drug because it thins your blood. Alcohol is a drug because it dialates your blood vessels and impairs mental functioning. Caffine is a drug because it increases your heart rate. 5-FU (a chemotherapy drug) is a drug because it helps you fight certain cancers, but is most definaitly not fun since it causes:

* Diarrhea.
* Nausea and vomiting.
* Mouth sores.
* Poor appetite.
* Watery eyes, sensitivity to light (photophobia) (see eye problems).
* Taste changes, metallic taste in mouth during infusion.
* Discoloration along vein through which the medication is given.
* Low blood counts. Your white and red blood cells and platelets may temporarily decrease. This can put you at increased risk for infection, anemia and/or bleeding.

Enjoyment has nothing to do with the term drug, however enjoyment has a lot to do with which drugs get banned. Baisicly, if people like it, it's illegal. Sometimes only because what people really like is not feeling sick or suffering from the chronic pain that their medical conditions cause.

How is it stupid? The death penalty is the ultimate deterence and the ultimate means by which the law can prevent a criminal from reoffending.

The death penalty is usually applied to murder. If it is the ultimate deterrent why are there still murders?

How is it stupid? The death penalty is the ultimate deterence and the ultimate means by which the law can prevent a criminal from reoffending.

I object that my hard earned tax money is wasted on degenerate fitlh such as drug dealers as they enjoy the utter luxury of their so-called prisons, with their TVs, playstations, education and therapy sessions etc... and this is all free for them, the state does not provide the same oppotunities to law abiding people as it does to criminals who get chance after chance. Talk about crime pays!

Forget about wasting money on drug dealers and forget about 'human rights', wipe them out, wipe them all out!



Drug dealing is ILLEGAL thus you ARE a CRIMINAL, regardless of whether you have broken others laws or not!

Wow! By the same logic we should enact the death penalty for speeding in traffic. I'm not sure where you are, but you paint an unrealistic picture of prison life. I refer you to Chris Rock's "Tossed-Salad Man" routine.

I can say that's horseshit. Whoever says that has apparently never heard of heroin or morphine, that's all I can say.



Meh. Caffeine is addictive. It has withdrawal symptoms. (In fact, in my experience it's more addictive than nicotine or tobacco.) It provides a pleasurable, chemically-enhanced boost to the psychomotor functions. It's a stimulant.

Though I wouldn't say it's intoxicating in the sense that alcohol literally poisons the brain, but then few drugs are.The (British) Royal College of Physicians seems to think that nicotine is the most addictive drug known.
We can further conclude that tobacco dependence is a serious form of drug addiction which, on the whole, is second to no other.The RCP also add that tobacco companies have succesfully researched how to make cigarettes more addictive
The extreme lengths to which tobacco manufacturers went to employ physical and chemical engineering in cigarette design to maximise the addictive effects of nicotine have only recently been appreciated through the discovery by the FDA of documents and collections of expert accounts from former tobacco industry employees.35,36 The discovery process continues almost daily with reviews of tobacco industry documents now available because of litigation in the US. Taken together, this extraordinary engineering optimises the pH, the ratio of free base to bound nicotine in the smoke, the size of the inspired particles, the sensory effects of the inspired particles, and many other features of modern cigarettes. Cigarette smoke also contains chemicals which can act synergistically to produce effects that might be even more reinforcing than those of nicotine alone. For example, levels of acetaldehyde (a chemical involved in alcohol dependence) in smoke can be manipulated so as to produce a mixture that studies by Philip Morris35,36 indicated would be more reinforcing than either acetaldehyde or nicotine alone.They also list a table that compares nictotine to other drugs in terms of addictions. Four of which areDependence among users -
nicotine>heroin>cocaine>alcohol>caffeine

Difficulty achieving abstinence -
(alcohol=cocaine=heroin=nicotine)>caffeine

Tolerance -
(alcohol=heroin=nicotine)>cocaine>caffeine

Physical withdrawal severity -
alcohol>heroin>nicotine>cocaine>caffeineYou'll note that nicotine is at the of all those rankings apart from Physical withdrawal severity. So I think that perhaps you mistakenly class physical withdrawal symptoms as the be-all and end-all of addiction.

My from my own experience I find nicotine to be very addictive. I am not a smoker, but I've had the odd cigarette once or twice. The day after each time I have found myself desiring a cigarette: despite the cigarette not being the most enjoyable thing that happened the day before; despite the fact that I only had one and despite the fact that I am not regularly around tobacco smoke.

http://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/pubs/books/nicotine/4-addiction.htm

The (British) Royal College of Physicians seems to think that nicotine is the most addictive drug known.

I'm sure they say that. It's a fairly common meme. However, I don't agree with their conclusion.


They also list a table that compares nictotine to other drugs in terms of addictions. Four of which areYou'll note that nicotine is at the of all those rankings apart from Physical withdrawal severity. So I think that perhaps you mistakenly class physical withdrawal symptoms as the be-all and end-all of addiction.


It certainly is when the main obstacle to 'quitting' is (as I'm told) withdrawal and physical dependency.

I tend to define addiction as Merriam Webster does:

compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal;

But most people, particularly those who expound on The Most Addictive Substance Known To Mankind (tm), tend to follow this one:

broadly : persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful

Which I don't. However, your RCP defines addiction as:

a situation in which a drug or stimulus has unreasonably come to control behaviour

And, frankly, that's a load of horseshit. People control their own behaviour. Telling them otherwise is probably what contributes to addictiveness more than anything else. "Help, I can't control my behaviour, I can't be held responsible! Help, a drug is forcing me to buy, open, light, and smoke cigarettes! It's not me, it's the drug!"

I'm sure they say that. It's a fairly common meme. However, I don't agree with their conclusion.



It certainly is when the main obstacle to 'quitting' is (as I'm told) withdrawal and physical dependency.

I tend to define addiction as Merriam Webster does:



But most people, particularly those who expound on The Most Addictive Substance Known To Mankind (tm), tend to follow this one:



Which I don't. However, your RCP defines addiction as:



And, frankly, that's a load of horseshit. People control their own behaviour. Telling them otherwise is probably what contributes to addictiveness more than anything else. "Help, I can't control my behaviour, I can't be held responsible! Help, a drug is forcing me to buy, open, light, and smoke cigarettes! It's not me, it's the drug!"I do not believe humans are completely rational. Nor do I believe that they are fully in control of their mind and body on a subconcious level. If you are fully in control of your mind then you should be fully in control of your body as well.

For example. Try holding your breath. Are you able to hold your breath until you die? No. As such your are not fully in control of your behaviour. In fact you have so little control over your mind and body that you cannot even hold your breath for long enough to cause any problems to your body other than breathlessness. Another example: Can you control who you fall in love with?

Have you ever snapped at someone when you didn't mean to? Either through stress or tiredness or some other factor? Probably yes. If you say no then I'm not sure I believe you

True addiction is a deeper manifestation of one's inability to control your own mind and body.