Drug Use Among Physics Majors: Trends & Implications

[Gza]

Anyway, after reading the posts here, I've been dumbstruck! how the hell do you get "high" on poetry?? Hell, I've read some literary pieces in my life which have astounded me but, hell, it's nothing like the high you get from being drunk or stoned.

Hey, they're high on life man; high on life...

I expected responses based on external chemical induced highs.

 

[Kerrie]

It's pretty common knowledge. There are 4 nude photographs still in existence. You will find them in one of these two books (I forget which):

Reflections in a Looking Glass : A Centennial Celebration of Lewis Carroll, Photographer




Many other nude photographs were destroyed when he died (I believe this was his wish). You can read some articles on the subject http://www.ahcca.unimelb.edu.au/screenscape/alice.htm.



I'm not judging him. I don't have enough information to judge him.

thanks, so what is your reason for bringing up this point in relation to this thread?

 

[Gokul43201]

I think the point was something like : "a brilliant mathematician does not, a non-drug user imply".

 

[Bad_Boy_Blue]

You guys obviously don't know how many drugs are in existence. Recreational drugs are not limited to cocaine, meth and heroin.

But anyway, if you smoke weed (instead of using a vaporiser) it is far more physically harmful than using heroin and various other drugs.

 

[Prometheus]

All drugs should be legal IMO. Prohibition causes far more damage than the drugs themselves.

I agree with you that prohibition is a source of far greater pain and problems in this country that the drugs themselves.

Furthermore, in a country where we are supposedly free, I believe that the government has no business pretending that it is trying to protect its citizens from themselves.

 

[Prometheus]

But anyway, if you smoke weed (instead of using a vaporiser)

What is a vaporizer?

 

[Prometheus]

i support cannabis but NEVER any other drug such as heroin extacy, cocaine, or anything of that nature.

I see that you are from Canada. I really don't know much about traditions in Canada.

In the U.S., we pretend and tell the world about how we are a free country, and that people have liberty here. Therefore, to me the most important point is that making laws to restrict liberties is not the repsonbility of a government that pretends that it is all about liberty.

Whether or not you like drugs, whether or not you use drugs, whether or not you would dump your best friend the instant you find that he has ever used a drug is your business. In the U.S., people should have the right to use drugs without having to deal with criminals in order to obtain them and without the fear of life-altering action by the government that pretends that it is protecting them.

 

[hypnagogue]

Frankly, I don't understand people who claim not to understand why anyone would ever want to try a drug. Might as well ask, why would anyone ever want to watch a funny movie, or travel to an exotic land?

Drugs alter the character of one's mind in ways that are by and large not accessible otherwise. They can provide experiences that are novel, entertaining, or even profound-- many times in orders of magnitude well beyond what one experiences in day to day life. To ask why anyone would ever want to try a drug is essentially like asking why anyone would ever want to seek out entertaining or profound experiences, especially in novel ways.

Of course there are dangers involved, and of course altered states are not for everyone. Personally, I would never want to go skydiving, but I can understand why other people might, and I can even endorse it as long as it's carried out with the proper precaution. Unfortunately, one can't really endorse drug use with a right mind in today's world-at-large-- but this is a consequence of the absence of the kind of environment that would promote proper levels of precaution, safety, knowledge, and respect (such as exists for skydiving) more than anything else. The right kinds of drugs used in the right kinds of circumstances can provide extremely valuable and rewarding personal experiences, well beyond what most can fathom. It's just a matter of some enlightened society creating and enforcing that proper kind of environment. Until that happens, the predictable pattern will continue: we'll inevitably continue to have people playing with fire unsupervised, and some of them will inevitably burn themselves, and the critics will inevitably remind us that fire is to be avoided at all costs. What good can come out of fire, after all?

 

[Bad_Boy_Blue]

I see that you are from Canada. I really don't know much about traditions in Canada.

In the U.S., we pretend and tell the world about how we are a free country, and that people have liberty here. Therefore, to me the most important point is that making laws to restrict liberties is not the repsonbility of a government that pretends that it is all about liberty.

Whether or not you like drugs, whether or not you use drugs, whether or not you would dump your best friend the instant you find that he has ever used a drug is your business. In the U.S., people should have the right to use drugs without having to deal with criminals in order to obtain them and without the fear of life-altering action by the government that pretends that it is protecting them.

An example of a vaporiser would be a light bulb with the cap taken off. The cannabis (or another substance that has a sufficiently low boiling point) is placed inside the inverted bulb, which is then heated with a lighter from underneath. The bulb is heated until the psychoactive cannabinoids (e.g. THC) vaporise, which can then be inhaled using some sort of metallic tube (such as a piece of an aerial).

This allows you to smoke weed without having to inhale any smoke. The high is subjectively different, as the ratio of other cannabinoids to THC is altered (this prevents me from having to use heroin, benzos or GHB to reduce paranoia, as I don't get that when using this smoking technique).

Another interesting point is that it is far more efficient than smoking with a joint or pipe. You can use a very small amount of weed and still get completely off your face.

When making cannabis paraphernalia, remember to not use aluminium foil (alzheimer's disease).

 

[Evo]

Let's not start telling people how to make illegal drug paraphanalia, ok?

 

[Loren Booda]

And how's life without these elaborate, escapist rituals?

 

[Bad_Boy_Blue]

Let's not start telling people how to make illegal drug paraphanalia, ok?

I thought it would be tolerated, since it will directly reduce the harm done to one's self while using cannabis.

It isn't illegal to own or use a vaporizer.

 

[Gokul43201]

While this is true, there are too many youngsters roaming these boards with no clue about what's going on.

If discussing specific methods and techniques, it would be inappropriate, unless all the backgound information including the pros and cons of short and long-term neurological/physiological effects of the specific method described are also provided. Just my thought. I wouldn't like impressionable youngsters to follow instructions without having access to the whole story.

 

[Gza]

While this is true, there are too many youngsters roaming these boards with no clue about what's going on.

Probably because they're all high as fu**.

 

[Prometheus]

An example of a vaporiser ...

Thanks for the insight.

 

[Prometheus]

If discussing specific methods and techniques, it would be inappropriate, unless all the backgound information including the pros and cons of short and long-term neurological/physiological effects of the specific method described are also provided.

Please don't feel offended when I tell you that this is the most ridiculous thing I have read in quite a while. You are making not only impossible demands, but quite ridiculous demands, and quite foolish as well. You seem to have a major problem, which you are venting here.

Just my thought. I wouldn't like impressionable youngsters to follow instructions without having access to the whole story.

Get real. No one ever has access to the whole story about anything ever. You are introducing impossbile and unrealistic demands as a pretense in order to achieve your otherwise also unattainable goal.

My question to you is why are you so categorically against the recreational use of drugs by anyone?

 

[Kerrie]

My question to you is why are you so categorically against the recreational use of drugs by anyone?

don't assume this, it IS inappropriate for the methods of using illegal drugs to be discussed in a public forum where people under the age of 18 are reading. having this information so public would give PF a bad reputation and perhaps have the parents disallow our younger members to read. if you care to share your methods, do so in a PM

 

[Gokul43201]

Please don't feel offended when I tell you that this is the most ridiculous thing I have read in quite a while. You are making not only impossible demands, but quite ridiculous demands, and quite foolish as well. You seem to have a major problem, which you are venting here.


Get real. No one ever has access to the whole story about anything ever. You are introducing impossbile and unrealistic demands as a pretense in order to achieve your otherwise also unattainable goal.

My question to you is why are you so categorically against the recreational use of drugs by anyone?

Not only am I not against the recreational use of drugs (show me where I've vented this opinion), I'm for the legalization of it. And I've made this clear in previous discussions on the matter.

If, on this forum, I was teaching someone, say, how to synthesize Yttrium Barium Copper Oxide ... it would be negligent of me, if I didn't mention the hazards of improperly handling rare Earth oxides (which are toxic), and the care needed when annealing the sinter at high temperatures. Now, even if the question was raised by someone with experience in synthetic inorganic chemistry, for whom this might seem trivial, my post will be read by others - especially school kids that frequent this site - with little knowledge in the area. I simply don't want such folks to think that nothing will go wrong if you strictly follow the recipe.

 

[Evo]

Please don't feel offended when I tell you that this is the most ridiculous thing I have read in quite a while. You are making not only impossible demands, but quite ridiculous demands, and quite foolish as well. You seem to have a major problem, which you are venting here.

Sorry, I have to disagree. It is very inappropriate to be teaching people how to use illegal drugs on this forum. I cannot think of one single positive about it, or why it would be in line with what this forum is about.

 

[Prometheus]

Not only am I not against the recreational use of drugs (show me where I've vented this opinion), I'm for the legalization of it. And I've made this clear in previous discussions on the matter.

I am sorry that I misunderstood your viewpoint and that I responded to the misrepresentation as I did.

I still greatly dislike and disapprove of your other point, but I do apologize for this error in my understanding.

 

[franznietzsche]

And any who do think it is appropriate should be promptly banned on the basis of promoting illegal and dangerous activities on a site meant for the discussion of physics, no illegal and dangerous activities.

 

[Prometheus]

Sorry, I have to disagree. It is very inappropriate to be teaching people how to use illegal drugs on this forum.

I believe that you are disagreeing with me for no other reason than to make your point.

The original argument did not argue against teaching people how to use illegal drugs at all. It had to do with requiring that a much broader context be taught, not a lesser context as you seem to prefer.

 

[decibel]

Something i know about Marijuana is that it is not very addictive, i'v been smoking for 5 years, and i quit on the first day of October,its been 18 days and I'm fine with it, i don't feel the need for it at all.

 

[Evo]

I believe that you are disagreeing with me for no other reason than to make your point.

The original argument did not argue against teaching people how to use illegal drugs at all. It had to do with requiring that a much broader context be taught, not a lesser context as you seem to prefer.

Good point. I did misread your post.

I will, however, stand by what I said. Instruction in the illegal use of drugs in any form is inappropriate here.

Discussions about drugs in general should include the information Gokul described. I don't think it would be impossible to discuss them.

 

[Prometheus]

I will, however, stand by what I said. Instruction in the illegal use of drugs in any form is inappropriate here.

I believe that you and others have made this point.

Discussions about drugs in general should include the information Gokul described.

I could not disagree more.

 

[Evo]

Discussions about drugs in general should include the information Gokul described

I could not disagree more.

Really? Why do you disagree that people should know the potential harm from drugs? When is making an uneducated decision a good thing?

 

[Prometheus]

Really? Why do you disagree that people should know the potential harm from drugs? When is making an uneducated decision a good thing?

Once again I believe that you are greatly misrepresenting my position. Look at the original words:

If discussing specific methods and techniques, it would be inappropriate, unless all the backgound information including the pros and cons of short and long-term neurological/physiological effects of the specific method described are also provided.

I contend that there is an extreme distance between this position, that ALL possible background information be made available in order to be entitled to broach the subject from any perspective, a completely unrealistic demand that could never possibly be satisfied under any practical conditions for anything, and your misinterpretation that my disagreement with this ridiculous impossibiity therefore means that I must be proponing that people are better off unaware of the potential harm from any experience or that I believe that uneducated decisions are ever desirable.

Don't you see that disagreement with the one in no way comes close to implying its opposite, as you seem to suspect?

 

[Gokul43201]

I agree that demanding ALL possible information is unrealistic. I would have been happy with a simple warning and a link to an information resource.

What PF considers appropriate is a different matter.

 

[Evo]

I contend that there is an extreme distance between this position, that ALL possible background information be made available in order to be entitled to broach the subject from any perspective, a completely unrealistic demand that could never possibly be satisfied under any practical conditions for anything, and your misinterpretation that my disagreement with this ridiculous impossibiity therefore means that I must be proponing that people are better off unaware of the potential harm from any experience or that I believe that uneducated decisions are ever desirable.

Don't you see that disagreement with the one in no way comes close to implying its opposite, as you seem to suspect?

Your taking the "all" in Gokul's post literally is a bit silly. I think most people were able to understand the gist of his post. You did too, you are just being argumentative for the sake of arguing and it's not really serving any purpose.

 

[Prometheus]

Your taking the "all" in Gokul's post literally is a bit silly. I think most people were able to understand the gist of his post. You did too, you are just being argumentative for the sake of arguing and it's not really serving any purpose.

Now, you are being ridiculous. Your defense of your error is what is silly. You made an error, and now you are blaming me for your error. How dare you tell me that I should understand that someone did not mean what he clearly said? How dare you tell me that I am just arguing for the sake of arguing, when it is you who are guilty of this very thing.

He said what he said, and he meant what he meant. I claimed that it is ridiculous. If you thought that it was obvious, you could have said so earlier, rather than support a ridiculous contention and tell me what you know that I really think.

I understand your interest in this topic, I suppose. To defend it with hyperbole, and to attack me for not appreciating the ridiculous nature of it, is quite inappropriate. Think of the example that you are setting for all of the young minds out there who look to you for how to respond when you discover that YOU misunderstood another person's post.

 

[Bad_Boy_Blue]

Instruction in the illegal use of drugs in any form is inappropriate here.

Fair enough, but I think you're missing the bigger picture here. Had I not told the person about vaporisers, he would still use cannabis (probably in the form of a marijuana cigarette/joint). Therefore I am reducing the damage he will be potentially doing to himself, and this can only be a good thing.

I'm promoting harm-reduction, not drug use.

 

[Evo]

Now, you are being ridiculous. Your defense of your error is what is silly. You made an error, and now you are blaming me for your error. How dare you tell me that I should understand that someone did not mean what he clearly said? How dare you tell me that I am just arguing for the sake of arguing, when it is you who are guilty of this very thing.

He said what he said, and he meant what he meant. I claimed that it is ridiculous. If you thought that it was obvious, you could have said so earlier, rather than support a ridiculous contention and tell me what you know that I really think.

I understand your interest in this topic, I suppose. To defend it with hyperbole, and to attack me for not appreciating the ridiculous nature of it, is quite inappropriate. Think of the example that you are setting for all of the young minds out there who look to you for how to respond when you discover that YOU misunderstood another person's post.

What on Earth are you talking about? You went on a pointless rant.

 

[Evo]

Fair enough, but I think you're missing the bigger picture here. Had I not told the person about vaporisers, he would still use cannabis (probably in the form of a marijuana cigarette/joint). Therefore I am reducing the damage he will be potentially doing to himself, and this can only be a good thing.

I'm promoting harm-reduction, not drug use.

Surely you don't expect me to buy this.

 

[Bad_Boy_Blue]

You think I want others to do drugs so that I'm not the only one that gets ****ed up?!

If so, you're wrong.

 

[Evo]

Once again I believe that you are greatly misrepresenting my position. Look at the original words:

You are the one mistaken, here are the posts.

(post #75)
Discussions about drugs in general should include the information Gokul described.

(post #75)I could not disagree more.

(post #76)
Really? Why do you disagree that people should know the potential harm from drugs? When is making an uneducated decision a good thing?

I'm not misrepresenting your position. When I said "Discussions about drugs in general should include the information Gokul described." You answered "I could not disagree more."

I asked you why you disagreed and you never answered my question.

 

[Evo]

You think I want others to do drugs so that I'm not the only one that gets ****ed up?!

If so, you're wrong.

No, I think you like to discuss doing drugs.

 

[Bad_Boy_Blue]

No, I think you like to discuss doing drugs.

Are you hot in real life?

 

[Evo]

Are you hot in real life?

No. I'm pretty chilly.

 

[Gokul43201]

I like the direction this thread is headed... <rubs hands together>

 

[pig]

This allows you to smoke weed without having to inhale any smoke. The high is subjectively different, as the ratio of other cannabinoids to THC is altered (this prevents me from having to use heroin, benzos or GHB to reduce paranoia, as I don't get that when using this smoking technique).

Wow, thanks, I had no idea about this. I don't smoke much lately, but my lungs would be very thankful for this a couple of years ago.

 

[Bad_Boy_Blue]

Wow, thanks, I had no idea about this. I don't smoke much lately, but my lungs would be very thankful for this a couple of years ago.

THERE YOU GO!

 

[Bad_Boy_Blue]

Hey everyone, I haven't used drugs for three days!

 

[Kerrie]

Hey everyone, I haven't used drugs for three days!

really? could have fooled me...your intelligence factor seems to have been wasted away alongside your brain cells from your drug use

 

[Bad_Boy_Blue]

really? could have fooled me...your intelligence factor seems to have been wasted away alongside your brain cells from your drug use

Based on maybe one or two posts, you have conluded that I am an idiot.

You're not a very nice person. ***** :)

 

[Prometheus]

What on Earth are you talking about? You went on a pointless rant.

If you are only going to blather, pelase do not respond to my post.

 

[Prometheus]

I asked you why you disagreed and you never answered my question.

Did you not notice my post number 77?

 

[Prometheus]

really? could have fooled me...your intelligence factor seems to have been wasted away alongside your brain cells from your drug use

Wow. What a powerfully phrased attack that is so well phrased.

Everyone can see the brilliance behind your point, except perhaps for the others of us on this forum.

This was a very cheap shot, completely uncalled for, unjustified, and unsupportable. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

 

[Kerrie]

i don't appreciate members of this forum sharing how to use an illegal substance when we have young people-including my kids one day when they are old enough to participate-reading crap like this. i am sure there are a million other websites that will tell you how to smoke crack, but PF is not the place. my "cheap shot" was definitely needed in this instance.

 

[Evo]

Did you not notice my post number 77?

Yes, that's the post I was responding to.

 

[Evo]

THERE YOU GO!

That's been around for ages. No different from using pie tins and bicyle spokes for opium and hash.

Real healthy.

Sorry, PF is not the place for teaching people how to do drugs.