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Comment by cpncrunch | Hacker News Reader

Not sure why you'd think it "interesting". Why would you want any kind of drug-induced high? It's basically just screwing around with your neurotransmitters and giving you a similar experience to what you can achieve naturally, but with the disadvantage of receptor downregulation. I've tried weed, and to be honest the stoned "high" wasn't really much fun or very interesting -- I have much better experiences in real life. (If you haven't, I'd perhaps suggest that you're doing real-life wrong).

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>> Why would you want any kind of drug-induced high?

While I wouldn't want anyone getting into synthetic cannibinoids like in the article... If you don't understand this at all, if you don't understand why people enjoy drugs and drink, that makes you the odd one out, not him.

>> I have much better experiences in real life. (If you haven't, I'd perhaps suggest that you're doing real-life wrong).

You can have both. You don't have to have either great life experiences or enjoy a drug once in a while. That's a weird attitude. Oh, and if you can naturally do anything that comes close to either MDMA or LSD, I'll eat my hat. And my shoes.

>if you don't understand why people enjoy drugs and drink, that makes you the odd one out, not him.

I understand why they enjoy it, I just think the downsides (downregulation) far outweigh the benefits.

>Oh, and if you can naturally do anything that comes close to either MDMA or LSD, I'll eat my hat. And my shoes

Lucid dreaming would be the natural equivalent, and with the benefit of zero health risk (including no downregulation of anything) and control over the experience.

I've had amazing lucid dreams but it's not comparable to MDMA or LSD.

Lucid dreaming would be nothing like to either of those, amazing as it is.

Downregulation is temporary and personally I want to experience everything. My time with likes of LSD is over now, but I'm glad I did it.

Perhaps you need to do some more research. Downregulation lasts about a year if you're a chronic user/abuser. Even a single bottle of whisky causes downregulation for something like a week (that's from memory -- I can't find the reference right now). This probably applies more to alcohol/cocaine/opiates rather than LSD.

> Why would you want any kind of drug-induced high?

Fun and entertainment.

> I'd perhaps suggest that you're doing real-life wrong

Why be so combatitive? Your experiences maybe valid for yourself, but that doesnt make it right for everyone else

Not combative, just my impression after seeing the after-effects of alcohol/cocaine dependence by friends and family (including my father, who died recently). It's not fucking pretty, and certainly not fun when you get to that state. What's your personal experience of addiction?

My best friend died from an overdose. While a tragedy on all levels it doesn't change the fact that he was abusing while I am using.

I'm curious about what your definition of using vs abusing is. Can you completely stop for a month and have zero side-effects?

I'm sorry but if you've only tried weed you haven't really tried drugs at all.

Perhaps, but as I said before I don't think the benefits outweigh the risks.

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