trent333

I read here awhile back about someone asking if people thought alcohol was the same as other drugs. It isn't. I'm going to replace the word alcohol with other drugs so you can see the insanity our society lives in.

I went to my parents place the other day I haven't seen them in awhile so they cooked me a nice dinner and then we had a couple lines of coke to relax and visit afterwards.

When I watch TV I usually see at least one but sometimes many commercials for black tar heroin. Most of them have attractive women jumping around smiling or a perfect beach with a young couple relaxing.

When I went to Christmas dinner about 80% of the people in the room were smoking crack within varying amounts.

I can pay with my credit card to get my cocaine plus I earn air miles that way.

When my Grandfather died we all went back to my dads place after the funeral and most of us ended up smoking a little PCP. The same thing usually happens after a first born child I find.

On my way home from work I see at least 10 different places selling or serving people cocaine.

At most places in town you can smoke all the weed you want as long as you take your last hit by 2 or 3 and take a cab home to avoid trouble.

The bottom line is no I dont think alcohol is like any other drug although it most certainly is one. The fact of it being legal and socially acceptable what ever that means, makes it one of the hardest drugs of all to quit. It is second only to an eating disorder because food is basically a concoction of drugs needed to survive. Im 22 and being young and upset I want to tell you all im ashamed of societies view on alcohol and honestly believe that it only exists because of the evil forces at work on this planet. There is no other way to explain this insane ,unforgiving, and ruthless drug. God bless you all my friends.

caboblanco

so do you do alcohol or other drugs? i missed that

suki44883

Alcohol is legal. Alcohol is accepted in society. Alcohol is everywhere. That's what makes alcohol different.

trent333

I am an alcoholic struggling a lot with sobriety. I have gotten a 17 a couple 7 day periods and a few other sober periods in. I'm on day one again. Just came on here to express my thoughts and resentments for this drug. I don't do other drugs anymore other than nicotine the other legal and explainable drug. What I feel most angry about is that other people just like me are going to end up in my position because of the special treatment of this specific drug in our culture.

trent333

*unexplainable drug

pravchaw

Trent, your post is prob the most thought provoking I have read today. Alcohol is unique in its ubiquity.

trent333

thanks pravchaw. yes it certainly is "unique"

LadyinBC

All I know is that alcohol and drugs can both kill you if you don't stop.

DarkDays

AlcoHELL . Mass possession/ brainwashing.

Threshold

I get the point of the OP, but what made chills go down my spine is how many of those things actually ARE quickly becoming reality about other drugs.

Watch primetime TV, the glorification of drug use may not be on the 30 second commercials, but sometimes the ENTIRE program itself is one long advertisement for the drug culture.

I know many people who pass a dozen proprieters for their DOC on the way home from pretty much anywhere. AND their dealer not only provides door to door svc...but they call them regularly to take such orders.

At my brother's wedding 30 years ago, his friends were gathering to snort Coke in celebration. The number of people I know who were introduced to pot smoking (yeah, I know many don't consider that a drug to be concerned about either) by their parents and still sit around and share blunts at family gatherings, shocked me.

A large percentage of hit songs are about drinking, drugging, partying and sex hook ups. Watch some music videos.

I'm not arguing that alcohol isn't different. But I guarantee you, there is a grocery store I visit regularly and the dealers are parked right out front and sell in daylight hours and don't even try to hide it.

john44

I think you basically disproved the point you were trying to make.

If you now read you post but take the view that the other drugs were legal and advertised as alcohol is, your post wouldn't raise an eyebrow. On the other hand, if alcohol had been illegal and demonized for as long as the other drugs, using the word "alcohol" in your situations would also seem ridiculous.

theHomerSimpson

I re-read the last post and both my eyebrows are still in a raised position! Were you offended by the OP posting, I freggin lost now.

tomsteve

i am a recovering alcoholic and addict. through personal experience i have learned a few things.
alcohol is the one thing i know of that death can result from goin cold turkey.
heroin is the hardest to quit.

at one time, alcohol was illegal in the US. it wasnt any easier for people to get sober then.

when i started looking at everything differently, i saw it wasnt society's perception on alcohol; it was mine, a close minded perception that was only looking at it from one view. when i opened up and saw the truth: not everone believes it is socially acceptable to get knee slappin drunk.


now ontot he real topic: are you ready to get sober? are you redy to stop lookin at everyone and look in the mirror and work on you? are you willing to do something different? it diesnt read like what you have been doin has been workin too good. i hope ya make a decision to do something different.
sobriety rocks when i work on me and leave society out of it.

BackToSquareOne

I tend to agree with the original poster. There is a lot of psychology going on simply because alcohol is legal, socially acceptable and everywhere. You just don't have that same sense of doing something wrong that you get when you call your dealer to score some coke, meth, heroin or whatever.

I was brought up in the Catholic faith and we even use wine in our church services. In the Bible Jesus turned the water into wine if they ran out to keep the party going. In ancient Roman culture booze was already a big problem. So yes, the social acceptance of alcohol does put it in a class all its own.

paul99

Sure alcohol is legal, socially "acceptable", etc. and doesn't always have the stigma that drugs have in regards to abuse. Grandma having a few nips of rye during her midday TV shows seems innocent compared to the grandson stabbing himself with a needle in an alleyway, even if she can easily be going down a path of danger of her own. Alcohol is a drug, but a legal one.

I certainly have heard people say that there isn't much difference between alcohol and drugs, in an overall way, that there isn't much separation between the two. I would argue that, especially from a recovery point of view. I am not an addict, so I don't know how to relate to an addict in a practical way. Sure I can identify with core feelings of feeling isolated, or having low self-esteem, or of not feeling comfortable in my own skin, etc. but outside of that, I can't relate to the cravings, the mechanics, the things that addicts to do get their DOC compared to what I can do to get alcohol (which is just go into a store). The physical, psychological and mental aspects are completely different. Withdrawals are different.

So I understand what the OP is trying to say - but in the end, although I disagree with the "a drug is a drug is a drug" mentality, I do agree that the end result is the same - incomprehensible demoralization, insanity, death.

pravchaw

Agree with you 100% Tom Steve, that the alco/addict must want to recover before he recovers. However the point of the thread is the harm alcohols legal status and ubiquity does to susceptible individuals and society in general. Here is an article in the Economist I recently came across which illustrates my point.

stopaddiction

Trent, my daughter is 22 and an alcoholic. She can't seem to kick it either. I thought she was going to when she had an eye opening DUI in Dec, but nope..she got sober and stayed that way for awhile. She was going to AA meetings, carrying that chip and reading the AA book, and swore off alcohol. She had been drinking so much she never realized she was drunk that night. When they finally got her to jail 5 hours after being arrested she still blew a .45. For goodness sakes we live in a dry county in KY. You have to drive 45 mins to get a bottle of anything. Well, I seen her go thru wds hard for 3 days, and then after a restless, teeth brushing constantly, black coffee with sugar (pot after pot each day) for the next 2 weeks..she was clean of alcohol. But, she got back with her ex, and she's back to drinking and smoking pot. She believes she can be a sociable drinker, but she can't. I hope she realizes it before she kills herself or some innocent person/family on the road. God bless, and I hope u can will yourself to beat the disease.

pravchaw

The additional problem with other drugs like pot, coke, opiates etc apart from being harmful are that they are illegal. So in addition to harm - they also breed criminality - both in the addict as well as the supply chain. Looks like pot is going to go the legal way in the next few years. I have mixed feelings about it. At one level having legal status reduces criminality, at another level legal status gives it the legitimacy of Alcohol & Cigarettes and all the legitimacy of commercial interests trying to increase demand.

kthopkt

I agree!

Justfor1

Drinking like an alcoholic is no longer accepted in society. Driving intoxicated is frequently frowned upon & the laws are extremely. My friend just got his 3rd DUI in five years & had to do mandatory "community service"! Going out to work with co-workers for lunch & having one 12 oz beer may be accepted. Consuming shots & a 6 pack at lunch & stumbling back to the office will be frowned upon. Society hates alcoholics just as much as drug addicts. People who think alcohol is accepted are simply not facing the reality.