(05-01-2013, 04:33 PM)Tree Wrote: This topic has come to my attention because of disputes with my family about drug use. My question to all of you is can you use hard drugs such as opiates or stimulants in moderation without being hooked on them? Also, should those drugs be prescribed for mental/physical illnesses?

My answer would be yes, but I believe that there are few that can and it all depends on your situation. I have used stimulants and deliriants many times and can say with confidence that I am not addicted to them at all whatsoever. It all depends though, like I said it all depends on your situation. Some people who are prescribed drugs like ritalin and xanex are psychologically addicted to them. For example, someone who is prescribed adivan for anxiety attacks may start off taking them whenever they have one. But what could happen is they can be at a store and can't find the soup they are looking for and start to panic a bit, not enough for an attack but still are a bit anxious and want an adivan. Eventually every time they experience anything that could potentially trigger anxiety they take an adivan and eventually they're tolerance grows and it all snowballs from there.

(05-01-2013, 05:00 PM)Ruskin Wrote: Here's my view on this. If you are not prescribed those drugs, do not take them. Unless you need them for any ailments, they serve no purpose. I will not lie to you tree, I have seen people take Ritalin and Xanex, for various purposes from performing better academically to having fun at a rave. Since it was a one time use, it did not hurt them at all and to my knowledge are not addicted. I have been offered Ritalin and Xanex, but I won't take them. Before I took the SAT test an acquaintance of mine offered me some Adderall before I took the test. I did not take it, and I convinced her not to as well. She scored a 1900 on the test, I scored a 1750. She was always smarter than me anyway, and I was happy with my score. However, I am not sure how the Adderall would have affected the total score. I am sure there is some study that has found a strong positive correlation between the two, that is stimulant drugs and test performance. Anyway, I was off topic.

They are called Hard Drugs for a reason. because they are serious. You get addicted to them. The addicting you are speaking of in your example is psychological addiction, the same way someone gets addicted to gambling or eating. It is because they want it because of the affects it has on them, not because they physically need it. I am sure you already know, Smokers physically need nicotine, and alcoholics physically need alcohol. if a severe alcoholic stops drinking, they can die simply from the lack of alcohol.

I know that Ritalin is generally considered safe, but that is for people that are prescribed it and need it. If you don't need them, don't take them, there isn't really a point. I have never experienced the euphoric affects of taking prescription medication in high doses, so I cannot connect with the reasons you want to take them. I don't think that I ever will, either.

So to answer your questions, I do think drugs such as Ritalin should be used in prescriptions, however I think they should not be as loosely distributed as they are today. If you take your child to the doctor and say he is having trouble paying attention in school, some will just write you a prescription just like that. That means more kids who don't need it are getting it, and more drugs are getting on the street that could be prevented. But they do serve a purpose.

I suppose you could use hard drugs without getting hooked on them, however not frequently, not even infrequently, by use I mean a few times. If you take an Xanex everyday for thirty days and don't on the 31st day, I would imagine you would feel that something is missing and take another Xanex whether you wanted to or not. I suppose you could say the same with marijuana as well, even though it is not a hard drug. So in the end if you want to use them, you're going to. It is that persons call in their life to decide whether or not this is the right choice for them.

(05-01-2013, 05:10 PM)Tree Wrote: I agree with most of what you said. The only problem I have with people being prescribed drugs for mental illnesses is because of like I said the potential addiction. To me it seems like there is just so much other coping skills you can teach yourself other than drugs that could work to suppress/cure your illness. The only time that I can see that a drug should be prescribed to someone for a mental illness is if they are in serious danger of hurting themselves or someone else.