Substance abuse: Medicinal vs. Recreational

I council people with addiction all the time...AA is a defeatist approach that never really solves the root of the problem.Addicition is not a disease. It is our body craving somehting we intuitively know we should have. Any feeling or experience we get from drugs we can obtain naturally but we are never given that alternative. Since this society uses drugs for EVERYTHING we obivously go there first.If we learn the natural way to attain these experiences internally, then we use that addictive drive to achieve what we want.Pot does in a way lead to other drugs. Its like nything else you do, eventually you plateau and being high all the time become the new normal and you need to move further. Some people might be more complacent than others, but in my experience the seekers are always gonna find the next "best" thing.I was into hard drugs since I was 13 and was also an alchoholic. I never was really "addicted" to any one drug. I just could not handle the sub-medicority of sobriety. In my eyes the people who weren't doing drugs and were as miserable and sick as everyone else were the fools.Nowadays, after taking responsibility for my life experience, i denounced the poisons of the masses and worked to rediscover the natural high. Through a strict raw natural diet, intensive, meditation, and extensive intuitive contemplation, I find myself on the path to the heights I once sought through substances.The natural state of humanity is to feel as good as we can possibly feel. I mean think about it, why would the "best feeling" even exist in our consciousness if we were not meant to be naturally experiencing it.Substances are just extra baggage on the trip. Medicinal uses make sense but lets be honest, how often is it not exploited and used for the numbing of the masses and the silence of the voice of change.We need to stop destryoing our bodies and minds with the poisons of industry and apathy so that we can reclaim our natural birthright of spiritual, mental, and physical freedom. These "crutches" we create are just reinforcing the illusion of a "limited" reality. We want to step outside the box or the "illusion" , but with drugs we just create a different box or a more appealing illusion. Break through! We are beings of infinite potential echolynnrain said:

K, I watched it.
First let me say, the "gate-way" theory has already been debunked over and over but let me make a point...I stole a sip of whiskey from my dad at 3 yrs old...it was like candy! They didn't allow me to drink but later on I became an alcoholic. Now...just because I had a pre-disposition to alcoholism...does that mean that others cannot drink responsibly and lead happy, fruitful lives? Ofcourse not. Just because I and thousands of others cannot handle alcohol...should it be outlawed?Ofcourse lots of people who try any drug will be one whom cannot handle it and should probably abstain alltogether if they can't moderate. And yes they will become addicted.I don't mean to sound uncompassionate at all...I have huge compassion for addiction! I've been around AA since I was 16 and I'm now 37. So I have many addict friends...a lot of peeps in AA are addicted to anything they can get their hands on...not always just to alcohol.Just my 2-cents.

updated by @didjeridurian: 07/22/15 08:26:29AM

I totally agree that prohibition is folly.We should be given enough credit to make our own decisions. I don't think anyone would have a leg to stand on if they took the side of the legislation. Its really just about revenue and control anyway. They don't care about people's safety. If they did then they would see your point regarding the dangers of prohibition.I don;'t want people to think that just because I oppose the use of something that I think it should be made "illegal". The only real law is natural law because natural law is self enforcing. Any "laws" that need to be enforced are arbitrary at best. Heck there are loads of things that I don't think should be consumed by people, and 99% of them are not only legal, but heavily promoted. ger hunt said:

prohibition is making it more dangerous for people, at least in europe, there has been weed circulating through the uk and ireland covered in microscopic glass beads to increase the weight of the bud, i believe it was called grit weed. and as for hash it's mostly cut with henna and milk powder and ketamine with nasty crap like industrial resins to help it stick. so which is worse?

This is a video I made for my Raw Natural Living blog a while back. It may ruffle some feathers but it seemed relavent.

no matter if a drug is legal or illegal ppl are going to abuse it. i say since its proven to help sick people legalize it. i mean come on i know im not the only person who knows that people die everyday from drug overdoses from drugs that are considered legal and medicinal for the same things that medical marijuana is supposed to help with such as pain. like the one person said ppl die from over using tylenol the most someones gonna do overusing weed is just pass out. i think they should have laws on it such as alchohol and cigarettes and i think u shouldnt drive on it but i mean cmon we could then put the people who really deserve it (such as pedafiles, abusers and rapists and of course murderers) in prisons that are now filled with pot smokers/sellers and growers.

Alright well... one could argue (me lol) that the whole "weed is natural" stance doesn't hold much water. Marijuana is natural as can be but putting fire to it is changing its chemical makeup. Its a man-made manipulation of nature. It is no different than the manipulation referred to as "cooking". An apple is an apple but when you bake it, its completely different structure with different composition and properties. We are literally de-naturing such things with our manipulations. Go ahead and argue the whole medicinal thing, but if we were living correctly and naturally in the first place we would not need to differentiate between medicine and food.

absolutely, however that means eating raw buds, NOT cooking the into other fats as is traditionally done in butter and such. This would be just as denaturaing.The point is, eating it raw will not provide the tremendous "Highs" that you obtain from the other methods.The other point is that just becasue it is natural doesnt mean its safe. I don't have to tell anyone the long list of deadly herbs out there. Nature means more than just existing. We have to study the chemical interactions among other things. For instance psillocybin works by making us feverishly ill and simulates food poisoning that causes the trips and such. We are constantly manipulating nature without regard for our health or the balance of nature. Anyhting we want to experience can be experienced from within ourselves if we are brave enough to really dig. I must admit that psychedlics had a very large impact on who I have become but at the same time it created a new, more translucent obstacle for me to have to break down to be able to advance on my path. ger hunt said:

but if you eat it is it not still natural?

Didjeridurian said:

Alright well... one could argue (me lol) that the whole "weed is natural" stance doesn't hold much water. Marijuana is natural as can be but putting fire to it is changing its chemical makeup. Its a man-made manipulation of nature. It is no different than the manipulation referred to as "cooking". An apple is an apple but when you bake it, its completely different structure with different composition and properties. We are literally de-naturing such things with our manipulations. Go ahead and argue the whole medicinal thing, but if we were living correctly and naturally in the first place we would not need to differentiate between medicine and food.

I do know that eating raw cannabis causes some strong laxative action from what experts have said and I don't think it's recommended, although not 100% sure about the latter but pretty sure.Didj...I am working towards becoming natural. I am far behind you that's for sure. I wish someday I could be completely free and close friends and family and my doctor know this. My body is seriously damaged though at this point, it's too late maybe. I wish my nervous system would heal and I didn't need anything. When I go off pot then I end up needing xanax. I end up with such bad anxiety and panic attacks. Earlier this year in May I had an operation and was having real bad attacks. The meds were making me so sick...the xanax and darvacet, so I refused to take them and it got extremely bad. Which seemed to in turn by not taking them cause furthere damage to my nervous system. But taking them is like disintegrating to my system. I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. It's not a good thing. I can't journal anymore cause of my hands being so bad, the nerves. It's super hard for me to close buttons on my daughters clothes...sometimes actually impossible. Xanax makes me turn yellow now...like drinking. Those tranq will literally kill me because my brain thinks it's alcohol...I start to get dope sick for it and I experience the same kind of withdrawl as alcohol. And Didj...once you become physically addicted to alcohol as bad as I did yes it is a disease...or morphs into one. I've had over 200 seizures from alcohol withdrawl. I stopped drinking once for 2 yrs...drank one night...and had seizures for the next 4 nights, as usual. Like I didn't skip a beat, kwim? Pot is the best medicine I've found so far. Do you really think you could help someone like me with your raw diet instruction? Think there's a better chance of recovery in a physical sense of healing? I am dead serious about what your opinion is. Because now like I can't stand chronic pain and it makes me irritable...which irritability is even worse than the pain. Sorry this is getting so long so btw. And I am still around the AA fellowship but rarely attend a mtg. anymore...just thought I'd add clarify that. They are still family to me. Because I could say a lot of stuff about AA and what I don't like about it...but that's another topic, lol.

Alright...just watched your video. You have many good points. But keep something in mind...everyone has their own passions and gifts. I love animals but PETA is not where my calling is to put forth all my energy. I respect your thing...totally. One thing you did though was say how the pot activists use the alcohol thing...but then later you went on to say that's your stance on it as well. You end up just upset sounding that those peeps are not putting forth their energy to your passions. I don't eat Kelloggs btw and I was crackin up there, but honestly I see your point and yet see it kinda from both ways I guess. Didjeridurian said:

This is a video I made for my Raw Natural Living blog a while back. It may ruffle some feathers but it seemed relavent.

Wow this has turned into a good discussion. But in the future, we should probably try to keep the cannabis talks to the cannabis group. Since we invite kids to bring their parents on here (the ones who arent sure of their kids having dreadlocks and such) And if they see the "Healthy Dope" discussion it might further the dreadlock pothead stereotype. :o)

Jo...right on. I didn't even think of that. Maybe SE can move this when he hets a chance.