Punks and Hard Drugs

There was talk of acid earlier... try and stick with mushrooms if you like psychedelics. Acid... isn't always LSD. And unless you know your source (which, if you're outside the US or the "hippie" community, I highly doubt) there's no way to know until you try it. I've had some "not-acid" both in liquid form and on blotter which not only was unpleasant, but very neurotoxic in feel.

I recently quit cigarettes (one week last sunday) and incidentally stopped smoking weed. I don't see anything wrong with smoking green, I just haven't because it can make me paranoid, I recently lost my job, and I don't want to deal with the dealer-buyer relationship. The last time I did anything else was last march... some good LSD and had my first bump of coke on a vacation. Moderation is key in my eyes. As far as alcohol, stick to wine and craft/local beer is my advice.

 

If it were a football club we'd be using steroids! If I were a rich house wife, I'd be guzzling bottles of pain pills. Same difference, punk rock isn't about using. Being an addict is what using is about. So if you don't want to be an addict, don't use. At least there's always rehab!

 

Marijuana and Alcohol are the only things I do now. I used to do pills, stopped before it became a problem. I don't think I really want to try hard drugs.

 

i tired x recently for the first time. i've had all sorts of pills before but usually stuff like valiums n zanex, n some tranquilisers a mate gave me, dunno what they were tho... x was alrite i guess but i was already so fucked i dont think i got the full benefit, from my experience i dont really understand the hype around x.
I think like most people its usually just booze and weed, but i dont see either as a drug really. Speed is another thing i've been doing a bit of at times, n bass too, i no they round about the same thing but dont get the difference apart from its appearence really (anyone clued up that wants to give me a non scientific answer would be welcome).

I see alot of people on skag n that in the scene, and where booze as become a problem instead of a intoxicant or a thing just to elevate you during certain times, which i dont think really goes hand in hand with punk itself, those problems are everywhere. To me now, Speed is just a fuel for gigs to keep you dancin into the early hours. If you at an all dayer n you've been in the pit for like four hours, its impossible to stay there without it. I dunno if you could class speed as a hard drug though... But then of course you need K afterwards else you end up speeding past when you need it, its a tricky ballance hahaha

 

The pills in AUS suck, i need to take three or four of them before they do anything. Speed and Glue work wonders over here although most of the good stuff in glue has been taken out just about every other country.

 

Used to bang for years. Speed for a week then when I wanted to go to sleep heroin. Crack, weed, alcohol, acid shrooms whatever else I could put in my tank. Now its is just weed,hash, xanax nothing with needles.I guess I am going soft. I love drugs if they all went away I would huff gas, rubber cement or drink a truckers bomb or something

 

Weed and nicotine for me. Nothing else!

 

Ive done around 60 different drugs and am trying to get off opiates. Personally I feel defeated, and as a punk it seems very degrading to me.
Although I quit smoking cigerettes. Here in canada the native reserves sell extremly unhealthy cigerettes. So im ether a slave to the government or the people that are very pissed off becuase that very same government almost destroyed them. Population control at its finest.

 

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, drugs
psychedelics and lots of free brew for the good times
and then other shiet for the bad times

 

drugs and anarchy

as an anarchist, i believe in freedom of choice in regards to drug use and pretty much everything else. However, as a recovering heroin addict, I am also well aware of their potential to enslave individuals as thoroughly as any government. This raises the question, what role should drugs play in a truly free society? Freetown Christiania, a largely anarchist collective in Denmark, chose to allow open sale and consumption of marijuana while prohibiting the sale of hard drugs like heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, etc. Another system of managing drugs to look at is in Portugal, where they fairly recently decriminalized all drugs, opting instead to spend tax dollars on providing elective rehab and other services to drug addicts. Keep in mind that alcohol and nicotine are scientifically categorized as hard drugs due to their high addictive potential. An obvious response is to encourage education, but this often, especially in the US and other countries, devolves from honest analysis of their costs and benefits into demonization of illegal drugs, which often proves counter-productive. Any thoughts?

 

Re: drugs and anarchy

I don't see why drugs should play any role in society, their usage is a choice made by the person using them not society. Maybe I'm not understanding that question correctly? Nobody has a right to tell somebody else what they can or can't put in their own body. It's basically the same as abortion, their body their decision. If I choose not to respect someone for doing a certain type of drug that's my perogitive, but I support their right to choose for themselves.

 

Re: drugs and anarchy

i'll rephrase the question: given the dynamic between a person's freedom to do what they will to their own body and the fact that addiction is antithetical to freedom, how do you think a free society should deal with this issue? obviously any strong-armed restriction of drug use is far from anarchistic, but there are many options available here.

 

I haven't thought of it in that light before, really. That being said, this seems right off the top of my head. It may not be perfect, and may not necissarily be my "final answer".

I can see how drug addiction can become an illness of sorts, but it's not the same as someone being quadroplegic/having severe mental retardation/being bedridden with cancer etc.

If people can use drugs and still adhere to the "from each according to his/her abilty" part, while not presenting a danger to anybody else--I don't see an issue.

Now if they weren't contributing, or were presenting a danger to someone else that would be another story. They'd need an intervention or something. If they weren't open to receiving help and the situation got out of hand, it would be up to the other members of the community to vote on whether the person should leave or what other steps should be taken.

 

And for the other part of the thread:

I used to be a big pothead and beer drinker. I've tried other things here and there with varying opinions on the high/effects, but not on a regular basis. I haven't smoked weed in almost 2 years, but i haven't ruled it out and may choose to do it in the future. I drink on the rare occasion, usually at shows or at holiday gatherings to be sociable. Alcohol tends to amplify whatever mood i was already in, so I've learned when to drink and when not to. My main vice now is coffee, which I admit i consume to excess. I've also taken up smoking cigs, something I swore i'd never do. I was smoking spice for a bit, but they decided it wasn't legal anymore and the smoke shops stopped selling it.

 

within the local community/collective/commune we "agreed" on a strict and rigid "no dope" rule - this includes the keeping of substances and gear at home too and even the presence of visitors with a known addiction - the rule is a "strict" one - becoming addicted or breaking the rule several times without giving any sign of insight means to be told to leave without any discussion or delay.
nobody is happy with the rulez and nobody really agreed from the bottom of the heart - it's just the consequence that we had to accept that we can not deal with addicts under our current conditions and opportunities.
we live with kids and enjoy the cops special attention here and there, it's not necessary to confront the young now with stuff they might explore for themselves when they are old enough and we don't want to do the cops a single favour.
on the other hand: no room in the commune is locked, food and non-personal stuff is free for every person present - and we like to keep it that way, it's a little bit of collective freedom: to each according to need...
it works well as long as everybody is her/his one and only authority - and able/willing to take over a little responsibility to keep up the community's fundaments/means of living.
being addicted means to be ruled by addiction and this doesn't work - and we just can't deal with that.
it's a really frustrating capitulation but by now we never found an acceptable alternative.

i've never done more than nicotine, thc and alcohol - lost the appetite on weed while i was at the university and got a bit bored with the pot headed mates, i never smoked much and lost it completely when i was told "congrats, you are pregnant", since the girls were born i just don't started to smoke again, i don't miss it.
alcohol is somehow still a mystery to me, my tolerance is extremely low and the local beers are strong...
so i give it a try here and there, just to find out - and pay dearly for this bravery with big bad hangovers.

 

I find a lot of your takes on the subject very interesting. I personally have struggled through excessive drug use and addiction, at 14 I was addicted to painkillers, at 15 I nearly died of alcohol poisoning. The point being, despite these issues, I still choose to drink, and partake in Marijuana and Salvia use. But only in moderation. I don't think the usage of these substances is in any way bad so long as it is controlled (not by the government or any outside force, but by the user)

 

I've used a LOT of drugs, and I can honestly say that most experimentation is relatively harmless as far as I can tell, provided the user is smart enough to educate themselves before using a drug for the first time. However, I was also addicted to heroin for 2.5 years, and only recently kicked the habit. it's a fun way to live... about 5% of the time. the other 95% of the time is fucking awful. it slowly takes away a person's ability to care about anything or anyone else. that's not to say, however, that it's impossible for addicts to function. i know plenty of junkies who hold down steady jobs for the sake of supporting their habit.

that's kind of how i see it. i would optimistically theorize that in a truly free society, drug addiction rates would probably fall for a variety of reasons, including a decline in the depression and desperation that is rampant in our current civilization, a decline in drug production due to the lack of profit generated by prohibition, etc. however, that is not to say it would disappear, even if that theory is accurate.

i read this article a while back by Gore Vidal, which proposes legalizing all drugs but providing buyers with honest descriptions of their effects. Unfortunately, I haven't found a link that works.
i think that proposal is probably the best we can do to try to prevent drug use. after addiction gets bad enough that the user starts infringing on the rights of others, however, i would think the collective/commune should give the addict a choice: rehab or finding a new place to live. if rehab repeatedly fails, that choice would be withdrawn until the addict can prove he has sufficiently changed. i don't know if that would be the absolute best way of dealing with it, but that's the best i can come up with right now

 

I think that the effect that drugs can have on a persons life depends on the person. If you use drugs to hide from your problems then you should not be doing them. If you use drugs to feel good every now and then and you are fine if you go a few days with out it/them that okay. I believe it's up to the person weher they should use drugs or not. If something makes you feel good and gives you a boost to get through the day then who the fuck is someone to tell you that you are wrong. As long as they do not control your life and you can still make conscience decisions then they are fine.