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Tigero
Rivendell
Apr 20 2014, 8:48am
Post #2 of 11
(804 views)
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High-functioning stoners indeed.
Pessimists have no disappointments.
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DaughterofLaketown
Gondor
Apr 20 2014, 1:18pm
Post #3 of 11
(795 views)
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I will never understand the need for people to do this to themselves. I can only think that they are so miserable they use it as some kind of escape.
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Annael
Immortal
Apr 20 2014, 2:56pm
Post #4 of 11
(777 views)
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there are a lot of ways a person can numb out/run from shadow issues, but that just makes them loom larger in the corners of one's mind. The scariest and bravest thing anyone can ever do is stop and turn and face these monsters. The amazing thing is, as soon as you do, you see they're actually pretty little. The shadow they cast may be huge (like Sam in Cirith Ungol) but really, they have hardly any power when you really look at them. I found this out for myself. Alas, no one learns from another person's experience, so me telling people this rarely helps them. But I always hope it will. The real problem is that the more someone relies on a "numb out" drug (which can be eating, shopping, gambling, sex, gaming . . .) the more power THAT gains over them, and getting free can be a huge struggle. A lot of people do make it, but stop there and don't go on to deal with what drove them to use in the first place. I get that; they're exhausted from the effort it takes to keep sober. And those shadows are still scary. It's kinda like climbing Everest and getting to the Hillary Step: one more effort, and you win through! But that takes a huge amount of faith and strength. So I don't judge. I just try to keep suggesting that it will all be worth it in the end.
The way we imagine our lives is the way we are going to go on living our lives. - James Hillman, Healing Fiction * * * * * * * * * * NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Tigero
Rivendell
Apr 22 2014, 5:55am
Post #5 of 11
(705 views)
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Did they seem 'miserable' and wasted, was the substance getting over them? No. They were two people chatting and having fun, what are you to judge it as miserable escapism, maybe if you look to mirror you see true misery. Accept people as they are, especially when they do no harm to others nor themselves.
Pessimists have no disappointments.
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Aragorn'sSexyScar
Rohan
Apr 22 2014, 4:52pm
Post #6 of 11
(688 views)
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I saw the masses in Colorado on the news, the air was filled with acrid smoke and I thought---who going to pay for the clean-up of all the detritus left behind afterwards? Not exactly an environmentally-friendly event !
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DaughterofLaketown
Gondor
Apr 22 2014, 10:25pm
Post #7 of 11
(672 views)
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Accept people as they are, especially when they do no harm to others nor themselves. But they are doing harm to themselves. I am all for escapism sometimes. I daydream all the time. That is my way of escaping. However escaping in such an unhealthy way, (drugs can kill you) is just a terrible use of your time. If you really don't like your life at least wallow in pity in way that doesn't harm yourself, or better yet go do something for someone else.
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Starling
Half-elven
Apr 23 2014, 12:08am
Post #8 of 11
(666 views)
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If you think of a continuum of drug use and abuse, it is a complex issue. Although I would rather watch paint dry than watch a clip of a couple of stoners, I don't think you can extrapolate from watching that clip that they are miserable and trying to escape their lives. Many people are casual drug users and manage to function perfectly well. Many people use drugs for a while and then stop. Occasional drug use does not mean you are a drug addict, just as my having a glass of wine with my dinner does not make me an alcoholic. Am I miserable and trying to escape my life? No. But I do drink wine sometimes. It's a drug too. I have seen the harm that drug and alcohol use can cause. There is no denying the destruction and wrecked lives, not only for the addict, but those around them. I don't think that stoner TV show is an example of it.
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Tigero
Rivendell
Apr 23 2014, 1:59pm
Post #9 of 11
(655 views)
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Just by living in a crowded city you inhale asphalt dust, mold, exhaust from cars which is a coctail of 'deadly substances' and mold and who knows what, hardly any better than smoking now and then. Abusing of drugs or anything that helps one do what you call escapism is always going to end up real bad, but did these two guys seem wrecked and smoking only not to feel bad? And how can you tell that their smoking was more harmful than the stress it helped to relieve? I am pretty sure that we wouldn't have our dearest of books without pipe tobacco, too. “I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgement in all human affairs.” -Albert Einstein
Pessimists have no disappointments.
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Brethil
Half-elven
Apr 24 2014, 3:54am
Post #10 of 11
(628 views)
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I am compelled to agree with you Starling
[In reply to]
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I know its a complex question. But the idea of 'no harm' is patently false. So whatever flaming may follow, I do feel I must say that you are right. And its not my subjective opinion, or a moralization: its by the numbers. I have seen about 1,000 patients critically injured because of drugs and alcohol. Alone and combined. Over 100 of them were 14-20. A good majority of the rest were under 40. A large majority of them I send to the morgue or to the OR for organ donation. Many others are permanently brain injured. I am only one person, and I don't work every day - yet that is what I have seen personally. This is an accepted part of my work - at certain times of the year our unit is 80-90% substance related injuries. Sadly, including those who were mere bystanders as well as those who were involved with the substances themselves. And I agree, showing a program designed to show harmless fun and amusement in that context is just sad.
The Third TORn Amateur Symposium kicks off this Sunday, April 13th, in the Reading Room. Come and join us for Tolkien-inspired writings! **CoH Rem. Just sayin' **
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Cirashala
Valinor
Apr 24 2014, 6:42am
Post #11 of 11
(624 views)
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Whether a drug be legal or illegal (cigarettes are drugs too), they are harmful. The effects may not be seen immediately sometimes, but they are harmful. My friend's coworker and friend (I also know her by acquaintance) just got diagnosed with lung cancer. She's 63, and has smoked cigarettes a good majority of her life. She had to suddenly quit (luckily my friend is the manager, and as close to her as if she were her grandmother), and cannot work because of the medications she's on to help deal with the pain. She's awaiting a pet scan to find out the extent of the damage, and whether or not it's metastasized (spread- I know you know this, but others who are reading the thread may not). And her cancer is directly caused by her drug use (cigarettes). I also have adopted siblings in law who are suffering from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (among a host of other things- they were severely abused in all ways possible in both bio home and foster care, and are seriously messed up mentally) and Fetal Drug Effect from all the drugs their mother used while pregnant because she was more concerned with getting high and drunk than her baby's health (and her own). And because the damage is permanent (both emotionally/psychologically and physically) these kids will NEVER be normal. It's horrible. Saying that drugs are not harmful to others is most definitely false. People do use drugs for different reasons, and some (like the glass of wine with dinner Starling mentioned) are not automatically a means of escape. Someone could just want to "have fun", or are simply bored. Or everyone else is doing it, or so they think. But they are definitely harmful, and I am saddened by the number of people who either think "it won't happen to me", or "It doesn't hurt anyone". It does. And when someone is 63, and suddenly looking at cancer, unemployment, chemotherapy, and quite possibly death in the near future, I can guarantee they look back and think that the most stupid thing they've EVER done in their life is start using a legal "drug" in the form of cigarettes
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