Why are so many people so stupid when it comes to drugs?

Question

Is our drug education that F-ed in this country???

For example, these are the comments that I see on here that piss me of the most:

1. "Pot will ruin your life!"

2. "What's stronger a percocet 7.5/325 or a 5/500?"

3. "Don't take 2 Vicodin! You'll overdose!!!"

Does anyone know what I mean? Like are people totally buying into the hype or what?

And how come people take prescription drugs that they have absolutely no freaking clue about??? Yet, these same people will claim that you can OD on pot or that it will ruin your life?

Any thoughts?

Answer 1

They believe what they are taught from television. Carl Sagan and Morgan Freeman used pot all of their lives, it didn't seem to do them any harm. But if you don't have direct experience or the urge to find out by research, most tend to accept whatever they are told.

Answer 2

I personally agree that drug education is not working, although I am not sure if for the same reasons. Was horrified when I read yesterday (reference below) about a girl who has been in a coma for six years or something after taking heroin while seven months pregnant at the age of 17. Obviously she lacked some form of understanding of the dangers of her actions there.

1.
In Britain police are finding an increasingly higher number of cannabis plants are being home grown by users. Tests on many of these plants have found they produce a much stronger strain - known as super skunk - where the main active ingredient THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is up to six times higher than cannabis resin.

This can be much more dangerous for younger users, who run a higher risk of developing mental health problems after smoking it.

According to the Institute of Psychiatry, around a quarter of the population are also genetically predisposed to severe psychological side effects after taking it, giving them a ten times higher risk of such problems compared with those without a genetic predisposition.

It is a common misconception that cannabis has never killed anybody, but there are increasing numbers of people who kill themselves, while in deep depression or while suffering other mental illnesses caused by cannabis use, as detailed above.

Ergo: Pot may ruin your life!

2 and 3: No idea what percocet ot Vicodin are.

4. Ýou could argue that we all take some form of drug, whether nicotine, alcohol, asprin, the dangers and stigma attached to the use of these however are quite different to others which are illegal, rightly or wrongly.

Answer 3

It's not drug education that's screwed up -- it's the American attitude of taking drugs for any problem. It's like drugs are the answer for everything. Sure, Tylenol is good for the occasional headache, and most doctors only prescribe drugs for people who need them, but if you're running to your medicine cabinet every time you have a little cough or a little pain, you have a problem. Ditto that if you need to smoke weed or snort coke or take X to "feel better."

Let's address your examples:

1. Marijuana CAN ruin your life, but so can alcohol.

2. People who can't answer this question obviously don't read labels.

3. Two Vicodin won't cause an OD for most people, but you should still follow doctor's orders when taking it -- that way you know you're safe.

BOTTOM LINE: No one should take drugs without a darned good medical reason. Recreational drugs like alcohol and marijuana have a great potential to harm in countless ways, so they should be avoided (too bad one is legal and the other one isn't).

Answer 4

Back when I was in high school & college, they were showing us movies about how smoking pot will definately lead to stronger drugs, such as heroin addiction. I experimented a bit back in college, but never got hooked on anything. Now it seems like prescription drugs have taken over. I have pain pills which I only take when I really need them. (I have osteoarthritis) I let some so-called friends stay with me. They found them & took them. It's weird how the public is only now starting to realize that prescription drugs can be abused also. I guess the drug companies have too much power.

Answer 5

So are you saying that pot will NOT ruin your life? ...or that you won't overdose if you take 2 Vicodin? I personally don't know the answers to these from experience, but I will tell you from my experience in working in the Healthcare industry for 12 years that it IS possible to OD on two vicodin depending on the miligrams...whether or not you're allergic to it, how much you weigh, whether or not you've eaten....whether or not you take it with alcohol...but to must make a generalized statement that you cannot overdose on two Vicodin is wrong!

I think the goal of our country's drug education program is to point out the dangers of the drugs...not to point out the perks to them which seems to be what you are implying!

Answer 6

You might not overdose on pot, but it does mess around with your brain. I know too many people who smoke the stuff - you can't have a coherent conversation, they're useless for anything. Look at older people who've taken drugs for years and see how they behave. It might open your eyes.
As for legal drugs - well, they are checked out to see if they can harm you. Which is why chemists and pharmacists and doctors go to university and study to get the dosages right. You take a prescription drug with the knowledge that someone who knows what they are doing, are behind them. Can you say the same for illegal drugs?
Sorry, but my son and my nephew have had drugs ruin their lives. You are naive if you think it doesn't affect you.

Answer 7

Drugs, legal and illegal, can ruin lives.

Not just the users of such but also what about every time they get into their car.
They take others' lives in their hands as well.

My daughter was struck and killed by a stoned driver.
That driver can go to rehab and improve.
It is too late for my daughter.

My take on drug usage???
If it is illegal, don't mess around with it.
If prescribed for you, take it responsibly and follow the directions.

If you take a mind altering drug and get behind the wheel or operate dangerous machinery then you are irresponsible and foolish.

Sorry about the rant.
I just miss her so much!

Answer 8

People are stupid in general, drugs is just one facet of that general ignorance.

Plus, the media controls the minds so well here in the US people really base their lives on it, and rumors others say. People lack the critical thinking to look things up themselves.

If I were to have to take any drug, I'd take weed. Or the Cacao plant cocaine is derived from, or stick with my routine of caffeine. Anything natural is superior because you the natural enzymes in the product prevent you from doing worse things to your body. Synthetic things usually are far inferior to natural things.

Oh, and about prescription drugs. I think possibly the immense drug lobby might play a tad part in it.

Answer 9

Drug education is totally f*ck*d throughout the whole world.. pot wont ruin your life,7.5,I doubt that you would overdose on 2 viks but you know some people are just naturally stupid and dont really care what they are doing as long as they get a buzz... thats why we have poison control haha

Answer 10

Most people like what they know instead of knowing what they like,,,because they simply follow the crowd and do the same things that they see their friends doing,,,without ever questioning the wisdom of their actions. It has been said that ignorance is bliss and this is why so many seem to be so happy as they ruin their lives with drugs. Real life is so hard for some people to experience that they just prefer to live in a drug induced cloud of semi awareness so that it makes their lives EASY,,,,when in fact they are killing themselves slowly.The "escapist" mentality of the crowd tells everyone that it is O K to live this way,,,but all of those "problems" that they left behind them in that fog of drugs is still WAITING for them at the wakeup end of their drug dreams.

Answer 11

People are very unaware when it comes to drugs illegal or prescription. I think that the doctors are just pushing the prescriptions on ppl without the proper knowledge so they can get their share of the money and I also think that illegal drugs are getting to the children at a younger age then what they used to and so they are very un aware of the consequences.