Originally Posted by
soberlicious 
Do you think it is possible for everyone to consistently make responsible choices about how much they intend on drinking once they're drinking? and if they cannot, does that mean it's because they "don't really want to moderate"?
These are difficult question but yes, I do think this is possible. So, to your second question, I think it's not that they cannot but that they don't want to make the responsible choices if they don't really want to moderate.
Originally Posted by
soberlicious I def don't think a "loss of control" occurs every time someone with a current or past addiction uses. I do think that "loss of control" is certainly a possibility though. Any time any person uses a substance, some amount of control is relinquished. That's evidenced by research done on physical reaction times of ppl who have ingested even moderate amounts of alcohol. I mean there is no denying the brain is in an altered state. Even "a little" altered can lead to one making different decisions they would otherwise make with zero substances acting on their brain.
I think if something is able to cause a loss of control then must always cause a loss of control; it wouldn't be able to do this some times and not others. If it could, what would be the explanation for the times when you kept self-control? It must be that you ultimately had the last say on what you decided to do, and if you were able to override the effects of drinking on one occasion then you would always be able to do it. I think it is very much like this: if all engines of a plane failed then the plane goes into free-fall and the pilot, clearly, has loss of control.And this will happen every time all engines fail.
I agree that alcohol and drugs affect the brain and alter our consciousness. This is a philosophical question but I believe that our consciousness is still more than just our brain states and while the brain can affect our consciousness it does not fully determine it: we can still decide on how we act on our thoughts and feelings. If we have a drink for example this may cause a thought and urge to have another but it cannot make us decide to actually do so.