How do you deal with conflicting information about recreational drugs?

Question

There's no right or wrong answer; this is about what you personally think. An example is the idea of death from LSD overdose. Suppose someone says, "You can definitely overdose!!" and another, "You can't overdose!!" This is a factual contradiction, not a value judgment or opinion, ie. there is a right answer, and it may not be a simple one. What I want to know is how YOU decide what to believe when confronted with conflicting facts. Another example is whether or not MDMA causes brain damage. Or, for that matter, whether or not LSD causes brain damage. Don't talk to me about what the answer is unless you're explaining *why* you believe it. That's what I'm looking for. You do not have to use these examples.

A lot of you didn't quite get at the meat of my question. It's not what you think about drugs, but *why* you think that. I'm not asking why or why not you would do drugs. A simple "they will mess you up" does NOT answer this question. :)

So far the answers seem to be (in no particular order):
1. Personal experience from doing drugs
2. Personal experience from friends who did drugs
3. Examining various sources of information, particularly medical research
4. "best judgement" or "common sense" based on what you've seen and read

Note that personal experience can tell you some facts (eg. effects), but not others (eg. LD50). So those of you who said that, how do you determine the latter?

Answer 1

Often times in life "right or wrong" comes down to what you believe.
When something isn't researched enough, you use your best judgement to decide whether or not you choose to believe in it or not.

Answer 2

The proof would be in the pudding, right?
If people exist (and they do) who have overdosed on drugs and taken damage or lost their lives, it follows that overdose is possible.
My best childhood friend died from a Heroin overdose at age 39, about 8 years ago.
All drugs, recreational or not, are chemicals not created by the body itself, in other words foreign substances that upset the chemical balance in the body. Some of this upset balance results in desirable feelings of euphoria, relaxation, or interesting, perhaps even enlightening hallucinatory experiences.
Similar effects can be had by fasting, overexerting the body or such activites for which the body is not normally used.
Any unbalance in the chemical system can and will cause cell damage, and that includes brain cells.
All cells of the body are in a constant state of metabolism, in other words are constantly renewing. When they are damaged faster than they can renew, permanent damage results.
So - you want to know how I decide what to believe: I experimented with drugs personally (ca. 20 yrs ago and including Heroin, LSD, Marijuana, Mescalin and Meth), and have witnessed close friends do it, including one who never quit and subsequently died at an early age.
I quit the drugs and focused on having a life.
Then I studied anatomy and used common sense to come to my conclusions on drugs and the damage they can and will do if overused, based on all available information.

Answer 3

What I would do in a case where I want to do drugs? I would do them without even looking for the information. When I did my stints with drugs a few years back, I never really cared to look at the "nutritional labels". I felt that it was probably not going to make me any healthier, so why even waste my time on research. The thing is that I believe that a lot of toxins you put in your body are not that great for you. Drugs are called Drugs because they create a chemical imbalance in your brain, it's your call if you want to cause that for yourself. I will say though that once when I was reading about mushrooms I read that if there happens to be just one bad spore out of millions, it could kill you. I have never done mushrooms nor plan to, in my life! Some stuff like that just bothers me and I think that is part of the reason why I never wanted to know, when it comes down to how bad you might end up, sometimes ignorance is bliss.
Another take on it is that sometimes over the counter stuff you buy for cold and headaches could mess you up worse than stuff you find in the black market, but that whole argument is for another time.

Answer 4

The problem that you are running into is the massive amount of research studies that are out there that have conflicting information. Any group can grab a poorly done study and claim that their side is right. Some of these studies have been poorly done on purpose, to supply a certain "finding" to special interest groups on both sides. If you really want to know the "real facts", you need to take a college course like Physiologial Psychology or do some real reading on the topics to find unbiased sources of information.

Answer 5

as for brain damage, any chemicals that alter human brain chemistry could do brain damage in substantial use. I think LSD is far worse than MDMA. As to overdose, most chemical can kill you if you use enough of it. The question is how little does it take. Again I think LSD is far worse, since it has the greater physiological effect. What I heard, death by MDMA is rare and it is ussually accompanied with another cofactor. My belief is that mind altering drugs, do what it says it does it alters your mind. I wouldn't want to screw around with something that important.

Answer 6

It's Jeremy's problem to deal with. I really have no thoughts, good or bad. Nascar is dealing with it and as more news comes out, the situation may not be what most people think. As of right now, Mayfield is not "out for good." He's only on suspension and can be reinstated when he proves to Nascar that the situation has been fixed. Heck, I wonder if some strong cold medicines could trigger a positive test.

Answer 7

First of all, they are illegal which is enough for me. I don't want to lose my house or my car or any other property because I'm caught with recreational drugs. If I get the urge to have a joint, I'll fly to Amsterdam. I've never had the urge to try anything stronger. I like my life too much.

Growing up in the 70s, I saw enough people really mess up their lives. In the 80s and 90s I saw quite a few friends lose everything over cocaine.

Answer 8

My way of dealing with all recreational drugs was and is to say that I want to be in control of my faculties.

From the number of dead celebrities at the hands of recreational drugs, I would say that it does not matter what anyone says, they are all dangerous.

Every person has a different tolerance and weight. There is no way to say what an overdose is for one person verses another, but there is always an overdose amount. There is no such thing as, "You can't overdose!!"

Take care,
Troy

Answer 9

Recreational drugs? There are no such drugs! There are either legal or illegal drugs, and you can get hooked on either. It's easier to get help getting off of legal drugs than it is for the illegal drugs,plus you won't go to jail for the legal ones. Doctors can get you addicted to legal drugs as easy as some dope peddler on the street. I know, I got hooked on percodan, the Dr. said if one doesn't help take two and then if that doesn't work try taking them more often and so on. Pretty soon you're hooked! So stay away from the "street drugs" you don't know what's in them or who made them. And watch out for the right Dr. if you're taking pain meds.

Answer 10

I believe what is proven to me. Anyone can say anything, but proof is a whole different thing. In this circumstance I would find sites on LSD and read, read, read... answer the question for myself. Sometimes it's as simple as a discussion of facts, with no further research required, depending on who you're talking to.

Answer 11

You need to find unbiased sources, which can be difficult. The government is biased. They do present factual information, but they also leave out other facts that are pertinent. Medical sources are better (a good one is the medical links on sciencedaily.com), but medical journals can be hard to read (due to all the technical language). Only by reading broadly on the topic will you be able to get a handle on the truth.