The recent death of Prince and a rash of overdoses in the NE have brought opiate addiction to the foreground again. I say again because this is a periodic plague in this country. In the 1940s, heroin was a big problem but, to be very blunt, not many people cared because it mostly affected the black ghettos. Sorry, but we were even more racist then than now.
Heroin made a big comeback in the 70s. It was cheap and a lot of folks I knew were trying to come down from the hangover left by the acid days. That was a bad plan. Now, we are swamped with high quality heroin from Afghanistan. Odd, the Taliban had stopped opium growing, then, when we invaded they started again to finance the war. Even more odd is the fact that some of our allies there are opium smugglers and now we have a glut of junk. Of course, I am being sarcastic. The American CIA has a long history of drug smuggling, from Vietnam to Columbia and now to Afghanistan.
The timing is obvious. The pharmaceutical companies flooded the market with Oxycodone, which was said to be non-addictive. Of course, it turned out to be horribly addictive, supplies got cut off as doctors put away their prescription pads, and folks everywhere discovered that they had to feed the monkey on their back. And, right on time, cheap heroin shows up and suddenly you have Moms and Dads, even Grandmas and Grandpas, nice middle class folks, out scoring smack.
But, that aside, what of the drugs? Well, they have medical use. They are the only really effective pain killers. Anti-inflammatories work by easing inflammation which, to a degree, eases pain. Opiates kill pain. And that is the problem. They work better than anything else and they are highly addictive. For those suffering chronic pain, I empathize, having been through bouts of that myself. I have no answers except to say, avoid opiates as much as possible. Sorry, that's not much help, but it's all I have.
Then there are 'recreational users' although what's so much fun about sleeping is beyond me. That is really all you do when high on opiates, doze. However, there is a less obvious effect, well 2 really. One, seldom mentioned is the rush of warm pleasure that flood the body when the drug hits. It really is an amazing rush and it is over quickly, so, using for that reason is idiotic. Then, after the rush, you feel wonderful in an odd way. When you are awake enough to notice, you feel like you are in a warm, little cocoon. safe and completely unattached to the world and its woes. You are completely at ease and I understand the attraction of that, but, again, the feeling is short lived.
Opiates come in many forms, but there are 3 basics. First, opium; usually smoked, not easy to get, and relatively mild. Second, codeine, one component of opium; I never found it to be that great as a pain killer, but, short of terminal illness, it's about all a doctor will give you. It always made me cranky and constipated (a side effect of all opiates). Third, morphine and its derivatives; the other component of opium, it is vastly superior to codeine as an analgesic and much more pleasurable. All 3 have this in common, they are powerfully addictive and withdrawal is nightmarish. I have been with friends who were withdrawing and it is brutal. They all agree that if you imagine the worse case of flu you ever had and multiply by about 10, that is what withdrawal is like.
If you have to take opiates for any medical reason, be very careful. Keep the doses minimal and get off the drug as soon as you can. If you take opiates recreationally, you are an utter fool and you need to get yourself into rehab ASAP.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Friday, June 3, 2016
America and Drugs - Psychiatric Drugs
I am not an expert on the chemicals used by psychiatrists, in fact, my knowledge of them is scant, but, I do have a few words to say on the topic. I have never been prescribed any behavior modifying drugs, although I sure there are those who would have thought it a good idea, but, I have had friends who were and, just to see what they were going through, I sampled them, minimally.
Ritalin is often given for Attention Deficit Disorder, hyperactivity. It is amphetamine-like, as is the current favorite, Adderall, but the effects are not exactly the same. On Ritalin I found that I had none of the speed rush, but I was jittery, like I had downed a pot of coffee in 15 minutes, and had a splitting headache. For sure, I could concentrate, but I had no control over what I was concentrating on. I set out to read a book but rapidly found myself fascinated by the patterns in my bedroom wall's plaster. I have known folks who benefitted greatly from Ritalin but, I have known others given the drug to have a dreadful time with it. I have known no kids who were given the drug but, I am told that often it is prescribed when not needed and I cannot imagine what that might do to a kid.
My Mom, as a side effect to a drug she took for Parkinson's Disease, suffered intense hallucinations. When she called and demanded that I come over and kill the golden lizards that were swarming all over her front porch, I called her doctor who prescribed Haldol, an anti-psychotic. It worked wonders. I never sampled that so I don't know what it feels like, but, it worked wonders for her.
On the other hand, I have had friends given Thorazine and after seeing them become zombie-like, I gave it a try, actually twice. I knew it was an anti-psychotic and had heard that it would bring you off an unpleasant acid trip. It does. Five hours in and having a bad time, I took 1 and in no time, I was completely straight and had no noticeable side effects. The other time, to see what my friend was going through, I took one and had a nightmarish experience. I felt dead, could not think and moved very, very slowly. Now, my friend was troubled and truly weird, but by no means were they psychotic, and the drug was doing nothing but numbing them. They stopped taking it, changed some of their habits and began functioning well, after they quit taking the drug.
Another friend suffered from depression and took Stellazine. It worked wonders. Of course, out of curiosity and with a demented interest in scientific exploration, I took one. Well, I wasn't depressed; I simply became numb and lost the ability to walk a straight line for awhile; again, a nightmarish experience.
Of course, these days there are a wonderland of drugs to treat hyperactivity, psychosis, depression, mania, obsessive-compulsive disorder, etc. So, what is the meaning of all of my rambling anecdotes. Just this. Some people do have legitimate chemical imbalances and they are greatly helped by these drugs. there is no doubt of that.
At the same time, there are doctors who are prescription happy and all too willing to give these extremely powerful and dangerous drugs to anyone with a little problem. Feeling sad? Take this. Feeling too excited and happy? Take this. Can't concentrate? Take this.
If you go to a therapist or doctor and the first thing they do is whip out a prescription pad, run quickly from their office. If, on the other hand, they order a physical exam and full blood work, and mention the possibility of things like brain scans, and, if, when they have a full view of your physical state, in your body and brain, and they have spoken to you at length about your life, your habits and those you associate with, they then recommend a drug, trust them and do as advised. This is especially true if you are having your kids evaluated. Just because a kid is jumpy and acts up and doesn't do well in school, doesn't mean they have ADD. It might just be that they are doing what most kids do so well, being annoying and difficult. Find a doctor who will rule out every other possibility before you let him put your kid on a drug. Remember, these are powerful drugs, no one really knows exactly how they work, and a human brain is not fully formed until they are around 20.
Do not put anything in your brain that you a) don't understand and b) that is unneeded. If you have a good doctor, trust him. If not, find one. If you have horrible side effects, talk to the doctor. If he doesn't listen, find another. The drugs used by psychiatrist are useful, even vital for some folks and you should never feel ashamed or stigmatized if you need them. The chemistry of our brain is unbelievably complex and it does, here and there, get off balance. On the other hand, medicating yourself into oblivion for no valid reason is just as bad. Be careful.
Ritalin is often given for Attention Deficit Disorder, hyperactivity. It is amphetamine-like, as is the current favorite, Adderall, but the effects are not exactly the same. On Ritalin I found that I had none of the speed rush, but I was jittery, like I had downed a pot of coffee in 15 minutes, and had a splitting headache. For sure, I could concentrate, but I had no control over what I was concentrating on. I set out to read a book but rapidly found myself fascinated by the patterns in my bedroom wall's plaster. I have known folks who benefitted greatly from Ritalin but, I have known others given the drug to have a dreadful time with it. I have known no kids who were given the drug but, I am told that often it is prescribed when not needed and I cannot imagine what that might do to a kid.
My Mom, as a side effect to a drug she took for Parkinson's Disease, suffered intense hallucinations. When she called and demanded that I come over and kill the golden lizards that were swarming all over her front porch, I called her doctor who prescribed Haldol, an anti-psychotic. It worked wonders. I never sampled that so I don't know what it feels like, but, it worked wonders for her.
On the other hand, I have had friends given Thorazine and after seeing them become zombie-like, I gave it a try, actually twice. I knew it was an anti-psychotic and had heard that it would bring you off an unpleasant acid trip. It does. Five hours in and having a bad time, I took 1 and in no time, I was completely straight and had no noticeable side effects. The other time, to see what my friend was going through, I took one and had a nightmarish experience. I felt dead, could not think and moved very, very slowly. Now, my friend was troubled and truly weird, but by no means were they psychotic, and the drug was doing nothing but numbing them. They stopped taking it, changed some of their habits and began functioning well, after they quit taking the drug.
Another friend suffered from depression and took Stellazine. It worked wonders. Of course, out of curiosity and with a demented interest in scientific exploration, I took one. Well, I wasn't depressed; I simply became numb and lost the ability to walk a straight line for awhile; again, a nightmarish experience.
Of course, these days there are a wonderland of drugs to treat hyperactivity, psychosis, depression, mania, obsessive-compulsive disorder, etc. So, what is the meaning of all of my rambling anecdotes. Just this. Some people do have legitimate chemical imbalances and they are greatly helped by these drugs. there is no doubt of that.
At the same time, there are doctors who are prescription happy and all too willing to give these extremely powerful and dangerous drugs to anyone with a little problem. Feeling sad? Take this. Feeling too excited and happy? Take this. Can't concentrate? Take this.
If you go to a therapist or doctor and the first thing they do is whip out a prescription pad, run quickly from their office. If, on the other hand, they order a physical exam and full blood work, and mention the possibility of things like brain scans, and, if, when they have a full view of your physical state, in your body and brain, and they have spoken to you at length about your life, your habits and those you associate with, they then recommend a drug, trust them and do as advised. This is especially true if you are having your kids evaluated. Just because a kid is jumpy and acts up and doesn't do well in school, doesn't mean they have ADD. It might just be that they are doing what most kids do so well, being annoying and difficult. Find a doctor who will rule out every other possibility before you let him put your kid on a drug. Remember, these are powerful drugs, no one really knows exactly how they work, and a human brain is not fully formed until they are around 20.
Do not put anything in your brain that you a) don't understand and b) that is unneeded. If you have a good doctor, trust him. If not, find one. If you have horrible side effects, talk to the doctor. If he doesn't listen, find another. The drugs used by psychiatrist are useful, even vital for some folks and you should never feel ashamed or stigmatized if you need them. The chemistry of our brain is unbelievably complex and it does, here and there, get off balance. On the other hand, medicating yourself into oblivion for no valid reason is just as bad. Be careful.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
America and Drugs - Tranquilizers
Ah how wonderful to float through your day, troubled by nothing. Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. However, like most everything, the reality of tranquilizers never matched the reality.
The first tranquilizer I remember is Librium, a wretched drug that left you feeling sluggish and muddy-headed. Then came Valium. Valium seemed at first a wonder drug. Take one and you could function without caring, at least that was the pitch. Tranquilizers do have some limited medical and psychiatric uses and had folks stuck with those and taken the darn things only when needed, all would have been well. But, people are what they are, and they started practicing preventative medicine. Why wait until you're upset to take the pill? After all, something is bound to upset you each and every day, so why not get ahead of the curve and take 1 every few hours? Make sense, except, things just don't work that way.
Start taking 3 a day, which most doctors okayed and fairly soon, those 3 just aren't doing the job. I knew a few folks who stayed at that level, but not many. In fact, I knew a lot who took 3 at a time. They ran into a few difficulties, but really so did those who took them as directed. It just took the latter longer to see the troubles.
Like about every other drug that hits the market, Valium was said to be non-addictive, and like all of those drugs, it was in fact, horribly addictive. For a long while, this didn't trouble most folks because doctors dispensed them like M&Ms. But, finally, the Federal Government stepped in and prescriptions became harder to get. Those addicted to low doses went through some extreme agitation, tremors, anxiety and heart palpitations when they ran out. Those used to taking large doses had bigger problems. A friend of mine got so upset, he went out wandering around, the cops thought he was acting weird, arrested him, then transferred him to a mental ward. He denied using drugs (this was before drug tests were ubiquitous) and that night, went into convulsions. He died. Later, when family notified the attending physician of the guys Valium, intake, he shook his head and sadly said that had he known that, he could have saved him. The man died of Valium withdrawal.
There were other, less dramatic effects. When the stuff first hits, for a brief while, as your body and mind relax, you feel kind of energized, in a floating sort of way. Heck, you're ready to get busy. That is a bad move because at any time, and that time is very unpredictable, you will feel slow and fuzzy-brained. I have been driving when this happened and had to pull over and let the other person in the car take the wheel. Then, there is the issue of sleep. Valium doesn't really put you to sleep, but it is easy to doze off when under its influence. When you wake up, your brain feels like a soggy, smelly gym sock, unpleasant and annoyingly useless.
All in all, Valium was a disaster. Now, the same folks who gave us that, have settled on Xanax and Ativan as the prescription tranquilizers of choice. Chemically, they are different from Valium but I can tell you from personal experience, they have the same effects and the same problems.
Do yourselves a favor folks. Find another way to deal with stress. Exercise, read, meditate, play with the dog, there are a myriad of activities that reduce stress. Stay away from tranquilizers.
The first tranquilizer I remember is Librium, a wretched drug that left you feeling sluggish and muddy-headed. Then came Valium. Valium seemed at first a wonder drug. Take one and you could function without caring, at least that was the pitch. Tranquilizers do have some limited medical and psychiatric uses and had folks stuck with those and taken the darn things only when needed, all would have been well. But, people are what they are, and they started practicing preventative medicine. Why wait until you're upset to take the pill? After all, something is bound to upset you each and every day, so why not get ahead of the curve and take 1 every few hours? Make sense, except, things just don't work that way.
Start taking 3 a day, which most doctors okayed and fairly soon, those 3 just aren't doing the job. I knew a few folks who stayed at that level, but not many. In fact, I knew a lot who took 3 at a time. They ran into a few difficulties, but really so did those who took them as directed. It just took the latter longer to see the troubles.
Like about every other drug that hits the market, Valium was said to be non-addictive, and like all of those drugs, it was in fact, horribly addictive. For a long while, this didn't trouble most folks because doctors dispensed them like M&Ms. But, finally, the Federal Government stepped in and prescriptions became harder to get. Those addicted to low doses went through some extreme agitation, tremors, anxiety and heart palpitations when they ran out. Those used to taking large doses had bigger problems. A friend of mine got so upset, he went out wandering around, the cops thought he was acting weird, arrested him, then transferred him to a mental ward. He denied using drugs (this was before drug tests were ubiquitous) and that night, went into convulsions. He died. Later, when family notified the attending physician of the guys Valium, intake, he shook his head and sadly said that had he known that, he could have saved him. The man died of Valium withdrawal.
There were other, less dramatic effects. When the stuff first hits, for a brief while, as your body and mind relax, you feel kind of energized, in a floating sort of way. Heck, you're ready to get busy. That is a bad move because at any time, and that time is very unpredictable, you will feel slow and fuzzy-brained. I have been driving when this happened and had to pull over and let the other person in the car take the wheel. Then, there is the issue of sleep. Valium doesn't really put you to sleep, but it is easy to doze off when under its influence. When you wake up, your brain feels like a soggy, smelly gym sock, unpleasant and annoyingly useless.
All in all, Valium was a disaster. Now, the same folks who gave us that, have settled on Xanax and Ativan as the prescription tranquilizers of choice. Chemically, they are different from Valium but I can tell you from personal experience, they have the same effects and the same problems.
Do yourselves a favor folks. Find another way to deal with stress. Exercise, read, meditate, play with the dog, there are a myriad of activities that reduce stress. Stay away from tranquilizers.
Thursday, May 26, 2016
America and Drugs - Deliriants
Deliriants are an odd and little mentioned class of drugs, yet they are used. Certain plants such as Datura (jimson weed, may apples, devil's weed are some of the common names) are consumed. There are also closely related plants such as Angel's Trumpet, belladonna, and deadly nightshade.
All of these have been used throughout history by shamen, healers and practioners of certain forms of occult magic. They are often mistakenly referred to as hallucinogens, but they definitely are not, The effects are a sort of blend of drunken stupor with visual distortions and periods of an odd kind of sleep with vivid dreams. Most find the effects extremely unpleasant. Yet still, from time to time, you hear reports of people, usually kids, turning up at hospitals after consuming these plants. Angel's Trumpet seems to be the usual culprit, maybe because it is such an attractive flower.
The effects of these plants come mostly from 2 chemicals, atropine and scopolamine. Both have some limited medical use. Scopolamine in particular was one of the drugs tested by the government in the infamous MKUltra era. The thinking was that since, among other things, scopolamine robs one of their will power, they might be useful in interrogations. Such testing was abandoned because it seem s that the drug was too strong to be controllable.
I had a friend once who took belladonna, a drug found in deadly nightshade. At that time it was used in asthma medicine and he took a bunch of that all at once. I didn't see him until after his experiment or I would have called an ambulance. His roommate at the time, just left him alone and fortunately, he lived. For 3 days he laid in bed. Most of that time, he seemed to sleep, however, here and there, he woke up and had what seemed to be fascinating conversations with folks who were not there, For 3 days after he came around, he could not see well enough to read. Finally, everything wore off and he was fine although he later told me it took weeks before he felt right.
There is another drug, quite common, that is a deliriant, diphenyl hydramine. commonly known as Benadryl. Take a little too much of that and you are guaranteed to have a most peculiar and likely unpleasant, evening. I know that from experience.
These are not commonly abused drugs and I hesitated to bring them up. However, their abuse, especially of the plant forms, is something that does pop up from time to time and when it does, it is like a mini epidemic. There is a bunch of usage, again usually by kids, then it fades away, only to return at another time. If you know anyone contemplating the use of these substances, do all you can to stop them and if you run across anyone who has consumed them, get them to a hospital ASAP. These drugs are psychologically damaging and physically, they can be fatal.
All of these have been used throughout history by shamen, healers and practioners of certain forms of occult magic. They are often mistakenly referred to as hallucinogens, but they definitely are not, The effects are a sort of blend of drunken stupor with visual distortions and periods of an odd kind of sleep with vivid dreams. Most find the effects extremely unpleasant. Yet still, from time to time, you hear reports of people, usually kids, turning up at hospitals after consuming these plants. Angel's Trumpet seems to be the usual culprit, maybe because it is such an attractive flower.
The effects of these plants come mostly from 2 chemicals, atropine and scopolamine. Both have some limited medical use. Scopolamine in particular was one of the drugs tested by the government in the infamous MKUltra era. The thinking was that since, among other things, scopolamine robs one of their will power, they might be useful in interrogations. Such testing was abandoned because it seem s that the drug was too strong to be controllable.
I had a friend once who took belladonna, a drug found in deadly nightshade. At that time it was used in asthma medicine and he took a bunch of that all at once. I didn't see him until after his experiment or I would have called an ambulance. His roommate at the time, just left him alone and fortunately, he lived. For 3 days he laid in bed. Most of that time, he seemed to sleep, however, here and there, he woke up and had what seemed to be fascinating conversations with folks who were not there, For 3 days after he came around, he could not see well enough to read. Finally, everything wore off and he was fine although he later told me it took weeks before he felt right.
There is another drug, quite common, that is a deliriant, diphenyl hydramine. commonly known as Benadryl. Take a little too much of that and you are guaranteed to have a most peculiar and likely unpleasant, evening. I know that from experience.
These are not commonly abused drugs and I hesitated to bring them up. However, their abuse, especially of the plant forms, is something that does pop up from time to time and when it does, it is like a mini epidemic. There is a bunch of usage, again usually by kids, then it fades away, only to return at another time. If you know anyone contemplating the use of these substances, do all you can to stop them and if you run across anyone who has consumed them, get them to a hospital ASAP. These drugs are psychologically damaging and physically, they can be fatal.
Monday, May 23, 2016
America and Drugs - Inhalants
Today, I want to talk about a class of drugs you hear very little about, yet their use is widespread and they do an incredible amount of harm. I am talking about inhalants
Inhalants are just what they sound like, drugs that you breath in. You inhale the fumes. As far as I know, they are all hydrocarbons and include various glues, many cleaning products, gasoline, transmission fluid and even no-stick pan sprays.
The high is a sort of drunken stupor mixed with dream-like hallucinations. Once, many years ago, just to see what the fuss was, I sniffed glue. After a few breaths, I fell back on the bed, closed my eyes and was attacked by a cartoonish green train made of something that looked like jello. Sounds funny, but it definitely was not A few minutes later, I got up staggered around, nauseous, with a splitting headache, and disposed of the glue. Remember, that was after a very brief exposure. Yet, I knew a lot of kids who spent a lot of time huffing the rotten stuff, and doing such idiotic things as trying to summon the Devil. I guess, in a way, they did.
I have known people who huffed gas, transmission fluid and carbon tetrachloride. The effects are always about the same; it does not seem to matter what is used as long as it is a hydrocarbon. That is the problem and why this subject is seldom brought up. All of these products are vital to the functioning of our society and cannot be banned or legislated against. Heck, they are all common products found in about every household. And kids have ready access to them.
It is hard to find exact statistics on the use of inhalants but they are widespread. Kids are drawn to them because they are easy to obtain and cheap. They cannot buy liquor, well, in theory they cannot, and they generally cannot put enough cash together to buy weed, so, they dig around the house and find cheap highs.
These drugs are extremely toxic. The body is badly damaged by their use and if it becomes chronic, the damage can be permanent. Especially damaged are the liver, kidneys, lungs and brain. Physical damage aside, their use puts you in a temporary state of psychosis and has led to very violent behavior. Yet, society ignores this problem, probably because there is no easy solution. I certainly have no suggestions, but sweeping it under the rug is definitely not a viable option.
I suppose the best and only solution is to have one of those often dreaded talks with your kids. Be blunt. Tell them the facts and hope that you have raised them to make sane decisions. If you catch them using inhalants, get them into some kind of treatment immediately. As far as adult usage, well I am afraid that any adult using inhalants is in a world of trouble and is not likely to be around for long. To say we have a war on drugs is ridiculous when we ignore such damaging substances.
Inhalants are just what they sound like, drugs that you breath in. You inhale the fumes. As far as I know, they are all hydrocarbons and include various glues, many cleaning products, gasoline, transmission fluid and even no-stick pan sprays.
The high is a sort of drunken stupor mixed with dream-like hallucinations. Once, many years ago, just to see what the fuss was, I sniffed glue. After a few breaths, I fell back on the bed, closed my eyes and was attacked by a cartoonish green train made of something that looked like jello. Sounds funny, but it definitely was not A few minutes later, I got up staggered around, nauseous, with a splitting headache, and disposed of the glue. Remember, that was after a very brief exposure. Yet, I knew a lot of kids who spent a lot of time huffing the rotten stuff, and doing such idiotic things as trying to summon the Devil. I guess, in a way, they did.
I have known people who huffed gas, transmission fluid and carbon tetrachloride. The effects are always about the same; it does not seem to matter what is used as long as it is a hydrocarbon. That is the problem and why this subject is seldom brought up. All of these products are vital to the functioning of our society and cannot be banned or legislated against. Heck, they are all common products found in about every household. And kids have ready access to them.
It is hard to find exact statistics on the use of inhalants but they are widespread. Kids are drawn to them because they are easy to obtain and cheap. They cannot buy liquor, well, in theory they cannot, and they generally cannot put enough cash together to buy weed, so, they dig around the house and find cheap highs.
These drugs are extremely toxic. The body is badly damaged by their use and if it becomes chronic, the damage can be permanent. Especially damaged are the liver, kidneys, lungs and brain. Physical damage aside, their use puts you in a temporary state of psychosis and has led to very violent behavior. Yet, society ignores this problem, probably because there is no easy solution. I certainly have no suggestions, but sweeping it under the rug is definitely not a viable option.
I suppose the best and only solution is to have one of those often dreaded talks with your kids. Be blunt. Tell them the facts and hope that you have raised them to make sane decisions. If you catch them using inhalants, get them into some kind of treatment immediately. As far as adult usage, well I am afraid that any adult using inhalants is in a world of trouble and is not likely to be around for long. To say we have a war on drugs is ridiculous when we ignore such damaging substances.
Sunday, May 22, 2016
America and Drugs - Stimulants
Today, let's visit the weird, wacky, and horrible world of stimulants. Now, I am fairly sure that most of us use one stimulant, maybe two. I am, of course, talking about caffeine and nicotine. These, unless you go completely nuts using them, are relatively mild and pretty darn effective. But, there are others.
Speed is the generally used name for a group of powerful stimulants: Benzedrine, Dexedrine, Ritalin, Adderall, Amphetamine Sulfate, Methedrine, and a few variants. They all work about the same. Back in the days of my mis-spent youth, we took speed in pill form. Yes, there are medical uses for these drugs. Treatment of narcolepsy is one, and, at that time, they were given as appetite suppressants. Prescriptions were easy to get and there was huge black market trade. Remember, not just us young 'hippies' took them. Truck drivers, cab drivers, folks working odd shifts, and students needing to cram for exams all sought speed. The difference: those folks needed them for work; we just took them to get high. And boy, did they work. When they hit, if you take enough, you feel like a combination of Batman, Superman, and The Flash. The rush of power and pleasure is amazing. Usually, that was about all we did, sit and rush and, in fact, that is about all you could do when you took enough to get good and high, just rush and talk and, get higher. Yeah, when speeding, we smoked a lot of weed, which was okay until you figured out how much you were spending. Then, we switched to beer. Much cheaper and it really went good with speed. It made you feel like King of the World. Trust me, there is almost nothing as dangerous, obnoxious, and useless as an energetic drunk. You had fun, those around you, did not.
But, all of that aside, inevitably, you start coming down, and that is a nightmare. You feel exhausted, your muscles ache from the tension speed causes, you are jittery, have a headache, your sinuses start pouring out snot, your mind is muddled, you cannot quite sleep, and those are the milder issues. If you have been up long enough, you will be extremely paranoid, possibly you will hallucinate, your pulse will range from a fast pounding beat to barely existing, and, listen up guys - you will be very impotent, for a while. Then, to make things worse, your brain, which is not always your best friend, will start screaming at you, "Hey, dummy, you can stop all this by doing some more, I want more," and a whole cycle of destructive and potentially terminal behavior begins.
Cocaine is similar, but more insidious. The rush is sweeter and the wired feeling is not as intense. It is, in ways, an even dumber drug to do. At least with speed, a dose lasts a long while. The coke high fades quickly and it is easy to find yourself, very quickly, shoveling the stuff up your nose at a frantic rate. I never smoked the stuff but, I am told, that the high is more intense and shorter lived and, as a result, far more addictive. The long term results of coke use is about the same as speed use, except it costs a lot more and you will go broke faster.
How wide spread is the use of speed and coke? Of coke, I honestly am not sure. Statistically, it is still significant, or so the government says, but I do not trust government statistics and I do not travel in the circle of coke users. Of speed, I am more sure. It is still a horrible problem and probably will not abate for awhile. The pills we took, gave way to crystal, crank, whatever you want to call it, and that crap is cheap and easy to make.
Why do people put themselves through such agony? Short answer, the rush, that feeling that you are brilliant, powerful, filled with super human energy. The long answer is way more complicated, and, as I will attempt to answer that at the end of this series.
One last note which I will take up when I discuss psychiatric drugs: Keep in mind the names Ritalin and Adderall that I mentioned above. They are powerful stimulants that are often given to kids for ADD, and I will have a lot to say about that.
Speed is the generally used name for a group of powerful stimulants: Benzedrine, Dexedrine, Ritalin, Adderall, Amphetamine Sulfate, Methedrine, and a few variants. They all work about the same. Back in the days of my mis-spent youth, we took speed in pill form. Yes, there are medical uses for these drugs. Treatment of narcolepsy is one, and, at that time, they were given as appetite suppressants. Prescriptions were easy to get and there was huge black market trade. Remember, not just us young 'hippies' took them. Truck drivers, cab drivers, folks working odd shifts, and students needing to cram for exams all sought speed. The difference: those folks needed them for work; we just took them to get high. And boy, did they work. When they hit, if you take enough, you feel like a combination of Batman, Superman, and The Flash. The rush of power and pleasure is amazing. Usually, that was about all we did, sit and rush and, in fact, that is about all you could do when you took enough to get good and high, just rush and talk and, get higher. Yeah, when speeding, we smoked a lot of weed, which was okay until you figured out how much you were spending. Then, we switched to beer. Much cheaper and it really went good with speed. It made you feel like King of the World. Trust me, there is almost nothing as dangerous, obnoxious, and useless as an energetic drunk. You had fun, those around you, did not.
But, all of that aside, inevitably, you start coming down, and that is a nightmare. You feel exhausted, your muscles ache from the tension speed causes, you are jittery, have a headache, your sinuses start pouring out snot, your mind is muddled, you cannot quite sleep, and those are the milder issues. If you have been up long enough, you will be extremely paranoid, possibly you will hallucinate, your pulse will range from a fast pounding beat to barely existing, and, listen up guys - you will be very impotent, for a while. Then, to make things worse, your brain, which is not always your best friend, will start screaming at you, "Hey, dummy, you can stop all this by doing some more, I want more," and a whole cycle of destructive and potentially terminal behavior begins.
Cocaine is similar, but more insidious. The rush is sweeter and the wired feeling is not as intense. It is, in ways, an even dumber drug to do. At least with speed, a dose lasts a long while. The coke high fades quickly and it is easy to find yourself, very quickly, shoveling the stuff up your nose at a frantic rate. I never smoked the stuff but, I am told, that the high is more intense and shorter lived and, as a result, far more addictive. The long term results of coke use is about the same as speed use, except it costs a lot more and you will go broke faster.
How wide spread is the use of speed and coke? Of coke, I honestly am not sure. Statistically, it is still significant, or so the government says, but I do not trust government statistics and I do not travel in the circle of coke users. Of speed, I am more sure. It is still a horrible problem and probably will not abate for awhile. The pills we took, gave way to crystal, crank, whatever you want to call it, and that crap is cheap and easy to make.
Why do people put themselves through such agony? Short answer, the rush, that feeling that you are brilliant, powerful, filled with super human energy. The long answer is way more complicated, and, as I will attempt to answer that at the end of this series.
One last note which I will take up when I discuss psychiatric drugs: Keep in mind the names Ritalin and Adderall that I mentioned above. They are powerful stimulants that are often given to kids for ADD, and I will have a lot to say about that.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
America and Drugs - Sedatives
I will begin this series on drugs in American society with a brief discussion of sedatives. There are 2 ways sedatives are used, One is somewhat legitimate; one is a really bad idea.
There are occasions when, for any of a variety of reasons, folks just can't get to sleep and a doctor may prescribe a sedative. Used on a short term or very infrequently, they are okay. Not great, because, no matter what those nice commercials you see on TV tell you, you actually do not wake up refreshed. Sedatives disrupt normal sleep patterns and while some sleep is better than none, you will not feel all bright eyed and bushy tailed the next morning. But, here and there, they are better than no sleep at all. If you are a true insomniac, try to go to a sleep clinic and find out what the real problem is. Long term use of sedatives is a bad idea.
There is another use for these drugs and that is what we now euphemistically call 'recreational.' In other words, to bombed out of your head. Now, a sane person might ask, 'what kind of fun is it to take a pill and go to sleep?' and the answer is, 'none.' But, what if you do not go to sleep? What if you stay up? Then, you find yourself drunk out of your mind, sort of like drinking a lot of whiskey really really fast. You stagger and slur your speech and generally make an ass of yourself, just like any drunk. The thing is, when drinking, and you start feeling the effects, you can stop when you think you are going too far. Take 2 or 3 sleeping pills and you have no option - you are going to get wasted, and they hit you all at once.
I believe the first sedatives were Chloral Hydrate and phenobarbital and both were unpleasant. In my day, we had barbiturates. Folks I knew liked them because they could get drunk without the alcohol hangover. Well, yes, but they did produce a hangover of their own, a dull, half dead feeling the next morning. They were also quite addictive and I am told that barbiturate withdrawal is an especially unpleasant experience.
Then, they pretty much disappeared and Quaaludes showed up. They were a little different. They were called a hypnotic and, instead of knocking you out, they put you in a trance like state and you could drift off if you laid down, or stay up enjoy a sort of floating feeling, or so some said. I hated them; for some reason, they just made me feel aggressively hostile and grouchy. They were of course said to be non-addictive and of course they were actually very addictive, so they disappeared and were replaced by Placydyl, which was about the same thing in a jelly capsule. The only difference I ever found is that they left a horrible taste in your mouth the next day. Both produced the same dull hangover and both have, blessedly, disappeared.
Now we have drugs like Ambien, which I have never taken, but, from what I hear, its about the same. My advice? Avoid sedatives unless prescribed by a doctor and then only take them when absolutely necessary and even then, think twice.
Why do folks want to get that wasted? Ah, there is the question and I know no one who has ever answered that satisfactorily. I am going to give it a shot at the end of this series, but, I can't promise that I can do any better than anyone else. However, we have a ways to go first and next time I will discuss the polar opposite of today's subject. I will visit the lively and dangerous world of stimulants
There are occasions when, for any of a variety of reasons, folks just can't get to sleep and a doctor may prescribe a sedative. Used on a short term or very infrequently, they are okay. Not great, because, no matter what those nice commercials you see on TV tell you, you actually do not wake up refreshed. Sedatives disrupt normal sleep patterns and while some sleep is better than none, you will not feel all bright eyed and bushy tailed the next morning. But, here and there, they are better than no sleep at all. If you are a true insomniac, try to go to a sleep clinic and find out what the real problem is. Long term use of sedatives is a bad idea.
There is another use for these drugs and that is what we now euphemistically call 'recreational.' In other words, to bombed out of your head. Now, a sane person might ask, 'what kind of fun is it to take a pill and go to sleep?' and the answer is, 'none.' But, what if you do not go to sleep? What if you stay up? Then, you find yourself drunk out of your mind, sort of like drinking a lot of whiskey really really fast. You stagger and slur your speech and generally make an ass of yourself, just like any drunk. The thing is, when drinking, and you start feeling the effects, you can stop when you think you are going too far. Take 2 or 3 sleeping pills and you have no option - you are going to get wasted, and they hit you all at once.
I believe the first sedatives were Chloral Hydrate and phenobarbital and both were unpleasant. In my day, we had barbiturates. Folks I knew liked them because they could get drunk without the alcohol hangover. Well, yes, but they did produce a hangover of their own, a dull, half dead feeling the next morning. They were also quite addictive and I am told that barbiturate withdrawal is an especially unpleasant experience.
Then, they pretty much disappeared and Quaaludes showed up. They were a little different. They were called a hypnotic and, instead of knocking you out, they put you in a trance like state and you could drift off if you laid down, or stay up enjoy a sort of floating feeling, or so some said. I hated them; for some reason, they just made me feel aggressively hostile and grouchy. They were of course said to be non-addictive and of course they were actually very addictive, so they disappeared and were replaced by Placydyl, which was about the same thing in a jelly capsule. The only difference I ever found is that they left a horrible taste in your mouth the next day. Both produced the same dull hangover and both have, blessedly, disappeared.
Now we have drugs like Ambien, which I have never taken, but, from what I hear, its about the same. My advice? Avoid sedatives unless prescribed by a doctor and then only take them when absolutely necessary and even then, think twice.
Why do folks want to get that wasted? Ah, there is the question and I know no one who has ever answered that satisfactorily. I am going to give it a shot at the end of this series, but, I can't promise that I can do any better than anyone else. However, we have a ways to go first and next time I will discuss the polar opposite of today's subject. I will visit the lively and dangerous world of stimulants
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